Old sections of the diary:

• March 31st - April 13th 1998

• April 14th - April 27th 1998

• April 28th - May 11th 1998

• May 12th - May 25th 1998

26th May 1998	Daddy's been working on some cards to send to people - they've got my prints on them, and Mummy and Daddy are also going to include some photos of me. I think they're gonig to send them to family and friends who have sent stuff and things. Looks like quite a big effort, I didn't realise there were so many people that I have to thank! I went to Mum's lecture with her today. It was all a bit of a rush, but we managed OK.
27th May 1998	Today it was raining lots. Mummy was really tired in the morning, so Daddy took me in the pram for a walk before his lecture. And then we messed around for the rest of the day. Grandma rang from Wellington, apparently her and Granddad are coming down this weekend to see me.
28th May 1998	Mummy and Daddy took me to the hospital again, and they talked to a woman there about scans and kidneys and other stuff. I didn't follow any of it, but we left without them doing anything to me, so that wasn't too bad. Then we went to plunket and we watched this video about me sleeping and stuff. I didn't follow it too well, but Mum and Dad obviously did, because when we got home they put me to bed, and didn't come the minute I started crying. I think things are going to start to toughen up around here.
29th May 1998	Today Daddy had a meeting down on campus, so he left me with Mummy for quite a while. He also found out how he did on his essay and seminar - he got an A- for both of them! So that was pretty good. In the evening we watched a Clint Eastwood movie called Absolute Power, and that was OK.
30th May 1998	Grandma and Granddad arrived today. Daddy drove me out to the airport to meet them, while Mummy caught up on some sleep. Then after they arrived they gave me some presents and then we all went shopping and bought some food, and then Daddy's birthday present - some shoes. I was getting pretty tired by then, so we came home and Mummy made dinner and stuff.
31st May 1998	Today we all went out to lunch with Grandpa at a cafe. After lunch Daddy and his Daddy played pool against Mummy and her Daddy. Each side won once. Then we went home and watched some videos on the TV. I slept for several hours in the evening, which amazed Mummy and Daddy. But then a little bit after they went to sleep, I woke up, and I don't think they ended up getting too good a night's sleep, so I'm not sure how happy they were with the whole thing.
1st June 1998	Today we went to a cafe for lunch with Daddy's cousin Mya. Then we went and did some shopping, while some photos were being developed. After we came home, Grandma gave me my bath. She seemed to like it, and she didn't do too bad really. Grandma and Granddad are leaving early tomorrow morning. I wonder when they'll be back?
2nd June 1998	Today we went to a movie in the afternoon. It was called Hard Rain. It was OK. I slept through a fair bit of it, but I know there was lots of water involved. Daddy's birthday is coming up though, which will be good. I've never seen anyone else's birthday before.
3rd June 1998	Daddy had a test today. And straight after that we went on a march. They tried to get into one building, and then another one. There was lots of yelling, but I slept through most of it. Was kinda cool. After that we went and bought Mummy a jersey, and then went home. And then, what do you know, but we got on TV3 news! Only a little bit, but you could see my pram!
5th June 1998	Today Mummy took me to her lecture, and I talked to the class for a while. Mum said I was very funny. Then in the afternoon we all went shopping, and got some videos and some food for Daddy's virthday tomorrow.
6th June 1998	Today was Daddy's birthday. When we woke up in the morning we opened his presents. Then some friends came around for lunch, and to celebrate his birthday. Some of them stayed into the evening and played Famous Name Game and Monopoly. It was so much fun. I was playing with d'ugh and Baxter. Kept them entertained for ages.
7th June 1998	This afternoon we went down into town to Granddad's flat, and showed some people around it because they're going to move in. Then we went to the movies and watched US Marshals. I was a bit unsettled the whole movie, so I didn't watch it too much, but Mum and Dad seemed to like it. Then we came home and I had a bath, and Dad played on his computer, and Mum read and watched TV.
10th June 1998	Something is wrong with Daddy's computer. He wasn't able to go 'online' at all yesterday, and it's taken him all day to fix it today. He was saying all sorts of nasty things about IHUG, who apparently messed up.
11th June 1998	Daddy is muttering something about a programme on his computer being broken. I wonder if he's going to be able to update my diary without it?
13th June 1998	d'ugh and Toni-Ann came around again tonight to visit. They did something on the computer and talked with Mum and Dad for a while. I was trying to pull d'ugh's hair, but he wouldn't let me, no fun.
14th June 1998	We had a nice lazy day and didn't really do anything.
15th June 1998	This morning Daddy was playing with me and I got excited and swung my arms around and accidentally hit him on the mouth. Whoops! I hope he doesn't think it was on purpose. Granddad came back from Nelson today, and he brought us a big box of fruit. Daddy says that he's finally got the computer working again, but that he couldn't remember what happened over the past week, so my diary would have some holes in it. I'm thinking about laying a complaint.
16th June 1998	This morning Daddy and I took Granddad to the airport. Apparently he's off to be with Grandma over in England. I don't know where that is, but I'm sure they could have taken me for at least a while. I just need my Mum, Dad, and some nappies. When we came home Mum had had a bit of a sleep, so she seemed a bit happier than she does most mornings.
18th June 1998	Today the plunket nurse came around and checked me. She talked to Mummy and Daddy for quite a while about my sleeping and stuff. I didn't understand what they were saying, but it didn't sound too good for me. My suspicions were confirmed later that afternoon when Mummy and Daddy put me to bed, and left me there when I cried! What sorta shoddy deal are they running here anyhow?
19th June 1998	Nothing too much happened today. Daddy was supposed to go to a meeting, but it was cancelled so we went shopping instead. Mummy and Daddy also got a couple of videos out. One of them looked really scary, but I was asleep by the time they watched it, so I couldn't tell. They seem pretty firm on this making me go to sleep thing, they did it again today! I wonder if there's anyone else's parents out there who would be a bit nicer to me?
20th June 1998	Mummy took me to her friend Brooke's house this afternoon, while Daddy stayed at home and did stuff on the computer. Then Daddy came and picked us up, and we went home and Daddy and I watched some rugby. It was OK I guess, but I don't quite see what all the fuss is about it. It's just a game isn't it?
21st June 1998	Today was such a busy day. In the afternoon we had the third reunion of the home birth class here at our place. It was fun! I slept for a bit of it, but I got to see all the other babies and their parents. Then after they left Mummy put me in the 'jolly jumper' that Grandma and Grandpa bought for me last time they visited. It was pretty weird, but I had so much fun, bouncing around all over the place. Wheeeee!!!!
22nd June 1998	Mummy has got her exam tomorrow, so Daddy and I are trying to be nice to her so that she can get some study done. We also watched a James Bond movie. Gee, what a lot of explosions! Fun to watch though.
23rd June 1998	This afternoon Mummy had her exam. We took her to the special room she had so that she could breastfeed me when I got hungry. Then I went off with Daddy and took the video back and went to the supermarket. Then we went looking for Mummy, and found her! She didn't seem to happy, so I guess the exam didn't go too well. So I gave her a cuddle and we went home.
24th June 1998	Today Mummy and Daddy put me to bed in the afternoon and I just slept and slept. They were wanting to go somewhere, and I slept two extra hours, so they were really delayed in going out. I think they didn't want to wake me up though, because I'd been so tired and they were just glad to have me asleep. Then we went and played a game of pool, and Mummy went to some places to look at getting a bit of gym gear to keep her "toned". And then we went home and watched TV, including a "Mad About You" programme which was about making babies go to sleep by leaving them to cry. I was snoozing in solidarity with poor Mabel as she went through this difficult time.
25th June 1998	Mum and Dad are talking about some sort of holiday that we're going on soon. I wonder where we're off to. It's very cold down here at the moment. We were supposed to have a plunket appointment this afternoon, but the plunket nurse couldn't make it. We did go to see Dr Worsnop though, and she had a good look at me, and then Mummy and Daddy went to the Chemist to get some antibiotics - something about having a cough for several weeks. Then we came home and Mummy and Daddy watched a couple of videos while I had a good sleep.
26th June 1998	Today we went on a really big march - there were lots of people in firefighters uniforms, so I figure it had something to do with them. It was pretty cold, but I was well wrapped up, and I had my cover on my pram so I didn't notice too much. Then after that I went home with Mummy and Daddy did some work at the student association. Then after my bath Mummy and Daddy sorted out some clothes for me to go away with and packed them in a bag. How exciting, we're going tomorrow!
27th June - 30th June 1998	Oh holiday, check out the holiday page.
1st July 1998	Wow, I think I gave Mummy and Daddy a big scare today. I hadn't been feeding well or sleeping much all day, and I'd been very unhappy. Finally in the evening they decided to give me some Pamol to see if that helped me settle down. Wow, did I throw that back up, and it went all out my nose. And boy did that hurt. So I screamed and screamed, and let them know just how bad it was. They were pretty worried about me, so they took me down to the after-hours doctor, and he checked me out. By the time we got down there in the car after changing me, it didn't hurt anymore, so I think Mummy and Daddy felt a little silly with this "sick" baby happily smiling at the doctor. Anyway, he said I was OK, so we went home again. Oops!
6th July 1998	Today Karen from Plunket came to see me again. She talked to Mum and Dad some more about my sleeping and stuff. She weighed me and said that I hadn't gained quite as much weight as she would have hoped.
8th July 1998	This afternoon Mummy and Daddy took me down to plunket for a parent's group meeting. Jenna from the home birth class was there, with Bruno, so that was kinda cool. We were a bit late, but they talked a little bit about sick babies and stuff to watch for. Mummy and Daddy talked to Karen a bit more about me, and why I might be sick. They talked about something called Gastric Reflux. I'm not quite sure what that was, but it sounded very interesting. Hopefully they'll be able to sort something out.
9th July 1998	This afternoon we went out and looked at some houses. They looked pretty cool. Mum and Dad were particularly interested in one, I think Mummy wants to buy one. Today was also Granddad's birthday, so we called him up on the phone and wished him happy birthday, and I squealed a little bit at him.
11th July 1998	Gee, what a busy day. Dad was doing some workshops or something today, so Mummy and I went along to listen to that. After a while I got bored with listening to Daddy talk and stuff, so I started to talk myself, and Mummy talk me away for a walk! Then after we came back Daddy was finishing his workshop, and we went to pick Granddad up from the airport. He was coming back from England. So we sat down for a while and I said hi to him, and then we went back into town. We dropped Daddy off so he could do some more stuff at his workshops, and went home. Oh, and Daddy got his results today from his exam, he got an 'A-'! I was so proud.
13th July 1998	Mum and Dad said something about school starting again today. Both of them had a lecture, so I was passed around a little bit during the day. They both seemed to enjoy it, so that's cool. Mummy is also talking about training to become a teacher some time, so she's been looking into that. Wow, that would be pretty cool. Dad thinks he should be able to finish his degree after this semester, so he's also thinking about what he could do after that.
15th July 1998	Everyone says that I've changed so much over the past few weeks, so I thought I'd give you all a bit of a run-down on me as at now. I've gotten a bit bigger - 68.5 cm long, and I weigh 14lb 8oz. My head is now 43 cm around. But the big differences are that I love to look at people,a nd things. I recognise people across the room, and love to be in groups. I'm now a very vocal baby, and I chat away quite happily and squeal lots too. Mum and Dad say it's amazing just how talkative I am, and the range of noises that I make. Mummy, Daddy, Plunket, and the doctor all think I've got gastric reflux, and occasionally Mummy and Daddy give me Gavascon to help with that, but they find it a bit inconvenient and difficult to fit it in. I've got even more red hair than when I was born, and I love to smile at people.
19th July 1998	Daddy didn't seem to well today. In fact, he spent the whole day in bed and seemed pretty sick. Something about having the flu. I hope he gets better soon. So Mummy got to look after me all day, and I think I wasn't too good for her - she certainly seemed to find it stressful enough. But she was having trouble feeding me, so she gave me my first bit of solids - some baby rice. That seemed to be OK, it got her very excited anyway, I think most of it got dribbled back out again.
27th July 1998	Oh, let's see what has happened in the past week. Daddy seems to have gotten better, though he still coughs a lot. Granddad has found a place to live and moved in there over the weekend, and we were down there today and it seems quite nice. Mummy and Daddy say I'm sleeping really well during the night - generally seven or eight hours first go, and then another three or so the second time around. They say that I could still do with some more work during the day though. Mummy gives me some solid food occasionally, but I'm still basically a breastfed baby.
2nd August 1998	Today Daddy took me down to the town hall in the car because he wanted to see the computer expo that they were running there. He said it wasn't too good, and I had to agree with him. But, when we left, there were little fluffy bits of white stuff falling out of the sky and onto us. Daddy said it was my first snowfall. It kept on coming all through the afternoon, but it wasn't very heavy so it didn't stay on the ground too much.
7th August 1998	Today Daddy and I went to hear Winston Peters. He's some sort of politician that Daddy doesn't particularly like. I didn't find him too interesting, so after a while I fell asleep in Daddy's arms. He certainly wasn't saying anything that interested me.
8th August 1998	Today we had lunch with Daddy's relations - Uncle Paul, Aunty Sandra, and his cousin, Mya. That was pretty nice, I entertained them for a while, and talked to this older baby who was sitting near us who was crying lots, and then eventually fell asleep in Daddy's arms. Hehe.
9th August 1998	Today we all had a big surprise - Aunty Sarah came to see us. Sarah is Mummy's half sister. She lives up in Christchurch, and she came down with some friends to see us. That was cool, first they visited us here, and then Mummy and I went down to a cafe with them and played pool and everyone held me and played with me and stuff. So I had a really cool day.
10th August 1998	Karen the plunket nurse came to see me today. She said that I was gaining lots of weight and was looking very healthy, and that my feeding and sleeping patterns were improving, even though I was still keeping Mummy and Daddy busy. So I now weigh 7.40 kg, and my head is 44.5 cm around.
13th August 1998	Today Mummy and Daddy took me down to the hospital to get the results of the scans that I had last month. We were only there for a couple of minutes, because apparently the scans are all fine! So no worries about my kidneys then. Also, yesterday I rolled over for the first time (Mummy got a look of fear in her eyes for some reason), and also had a bit of milk out of the bottle for the first time in ages - I'm not sure why Mum and Dad kept on trying to feed me that way, but I figure I'll go along with it for a little bit. And (finally), tonight Daddy fed me solids for the first time - banana and yoghurt. He did OK, I managed to get most of it on my chin and the bib, so it was pretty successful.
19th August 1998	This afternoon was horrible. We went to see the doctor, and she gave me a good checking over. That was all OK, especially since she said that I was very healthy. Then we went into a different room, and this nurse came in. After a while she got a needle out, and stuck it in me! It was so horrible, so I screamed and let Mummy and Daddy know that I was very unhappy. Then the nurse got out another needle, and stuck that in me as well! I'm sure that I'm being ripped off somewhere here.