Bonjour tout les monde

As you have probably guessed, we've just returned from our first holiday abroad with Thomas. With all the equipment you need to take for a small person, we decided to drive down. We caught a later afternoon ferry from Dover which arrived in Calais just after 8pm and then drove until 1am while Thomas slept in the back in his special carrycot (it straps baby in and then straps into the car using the seatbelts). We stopped for a few hours sleep at a motorway hotel near Dijon and continued our journey in the morning reaching Albiez le Vieux just after midday. This reduced our stops to just filling up with petrol and suited Thomas really well so our holiday started fairly stress free.

Our destination was in the French alps. Last year, the Smith family invested in an old rundown farmhouse in a very pretty village in the mountains which also happens to have about 50kms of skiing. The house was in need of a lot of work and Grandad Peter has spent about 12 weeks over the last 15 months knocking down walls, building new walls, insulating and installing various toilets, bathrooms and of course a kitchen. Of course the rest of the family has helped where possible but often more of a hindrance! Although this was our first holiday, our bedroom in the farmhouse was still just bare plaster so for the first four days we were very busy painting, wallpapering and tiling. Mummy and daddy rented a small Gite for five days and took turns looking after Thomas and cooking for everyone. By the end of the four days, the room was looking good and now needs a little plumbing and electrical work doing before we add a bed, curtains and some loving touches. We're hoping it might be possible to visit some time this winter and even perhaps manage a bit of skiing!!

We left Albiez on the Friday and drove a little further south to Avignon where we allowed ourselves a couple of days R&R. The weather was fantastic, sunny and warm which suited us very well. It was a shame we had to leave on the Sunday however, we had one more night to look forward to in Puligny Montrachet, the home of our favourite white wine. The journey home wasn't quite so easy as Thomas did get frustrated at being locked into his car seat for longer periods however, mummy sat next to him in the back and did her best to entertain him.

Thomas is obviously growing and now weighs about 14½lbs. He's smiling, cooing and laughing lots. He is having some problems with his left shoulder and arm which we were told months ago could happen as a result of his brain hemorrhage. This will have some affect on his mobility development so his neonatal consultant (Tosin) has referred him to a specialist physiotherapist and we are currently waiting for an appointment. There have been no other problems (touch wood) in particular relating to the shunt in his head. There is a 30% chance of a problem in the first year so we're not out of the woods yet.

Apart from holidays, hospital visits and visits from the local health visitor, Mummy and Thomas are very sociable. On Tuesdays, Thomas has a little sing along and exercise at a local yoga group. Every other Friday, he gets to see his old friends from the neo-natal unit, Tom & Jack the twins, Aayla the little girl born fifteen weeks prematurely and Joshua who was born about two weeks after him. In between all this mummy tries to catch-up with as many of her friends as possible so time flies by.

Well that's all for now so we'll finish with a picture of the little star himself on holiday in France!