Thomas' Christmas Trike

This Christmas, Thomas first experienced the joy of unwrapping presents (though daddy seemed more excited by some of his toys). He wasn't as quite as overjoyed at meeting Santa, bursting into floods of tears at the mere sight of him.
One of his favourite presents was from nanny and grandad - a brand new shiny tricycle.

"A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood..."

Thomas was lucky enough to meet one of his favourite storybook characters, the Gruffalo. He was a very brave boy and did not baulk at his "terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws". Although it did seem that mummy was more excited to meet the Gruffalo than Thomas!

Thomas Bounces in Excitement

Apparently, babies love fish as they're colourful and bright and constantly on the move. We decided to make a family visit to the London Sea Life Aquarium and you can see just how much Thomas enjoyed himself....

Lin Turns 30!

We celebrated Lin's 30th with dinner at Galvin at Windows. We had magnificent views of London from the 28th floor of the Hilton Park Lane. The food and wine were excellent and I would be 30 more often if it meant Chris took me out a bit more!

Hibbett Gets Hitched to Chris, "the Greek"

Lin was honoured to be a bridesmaid to long-term friend Louisa, in the idyllic setting of Preston Court Manor House near Canterbury.
The day started with the ceremony taking place in a lovely church in the grounds; continued with Champagne on the lawn by the lake; followed by the reception in the 17th century Kentish barn; and finished with Thomas vomiting multiple times over Lin's bridesmaid dress. Sadly we ended up in A&E and missed all the fun, food and dancing!

Congratulations Chris & Louisa!

Thomas Starts Eating "Solids"

Cornwall - Our First Holiday with Thomas

With Chris heading down to Dartmoor for a client conference, we thought we'd make use of the miles and carry on into Cornwall for a holiday.  Having Thomas meant that we had to load the car up with all sorts of things we've never needed on holiday before - no more travelling light.  We stayed in a lovely little holiday cottage in the village of Perranwell, ideally located for visiting different parts of Cornwall.  We certainly managed to see a lot - The Eden Project, Tintagel Castle, The Martime Museum in Falmouth, St Michael's Mount, The Lost Gardens of Heligan - and visited some pretty Cornish villages and towns - Padstow, Mousehole, Mevagissey.  Thomas seemed to enjoy himself - observing and making sense of lots of new things.  He had a relatively fuss-free week - probably too tired out to fuss!  Which meant that Mum and Dad had a great time away too.

Click on the album below to see our photos from the trip:

Cornwall - June 2010

FA Cup Final for Chris' Birthday

Chris was lucky enough to win some tickets to the FA Cup Final at work - which just happened to be on his birthday! After the Monaco Grand Prix last year, attending iconic sporting events in May is becoming a bit of a habit. Nanny & Grandad Allen and Auntie Lizzy took Thomas for the day and we headed to Wembley. The seats were in Club Wembley (the posh bit) so we had an excellent view and great facilities. Chelsea vs Portsmouth - Chelsea won 1-0 on the pitch (match report) but the Portsmouth fans were fantastic - you would have thought they had won.

Animated Thomas

The First Election Debate

Pretty much how it went...

Three Generations of Allens

We don't know where Thomas got his good looks from...

The Many Faces of Thomas

The Many Faces of Thomas

Say "Cheese!"

Thomas' First Week...

And what a week it has been! Crying, sleeping, feeding and pooing in equal quantities. Great for Thomas. Very tiring for Mummy and Daddy (especially Mummy). Throw in meeting the family, a visit to the breastfeeding cafe, an outing to Mothercare, trying out the new wheels and a first blood test, and it's been an action-packed week.

We've pulled together photos from week 1 in the album below:

Thomas' First Week

Chris and Lin are excited to announce...

... the birth of Thomas Joshua Allen on 8th January 2010.  After a long and difficult labour lasting 39 hours, Thomas popped out at 4:12pm, weighing a healthy 7lbs.  As you can see in the picture below, we were very chuffed with the little fella.