James was born on Monday the 2nd of June at 1:13am, weighing 7lb 13oz (or the same as about 3 and a half bags of sugar). We have been somewhat inundated with kind words, presents and facebook wall-writings from friends and family, for which I would like to say a huge “thanks“. I think, all things considered, we’re doing pretty well. Mary isn’t getting much sleep at all, and I’m getting an awful lot less than I’m used to, but we are alive, and we’ve even managed to venture out of the house as a whole family a couple of times.

James’ big brother is sliding into the role beautifully, with the confidence that comes with having “magic big-brother fingers”. He has, of course, been spoilt rotten, and will no doubt expect the same ‘double-birthday’ effect this time next year; that might be a hard lesson to take…

The birth was at Canterbury Birthing Centre, a midwife-led unit based at the Kent & Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury. Mary and I cannot recommend this place enough; the staff were wonderfully supportive, helping us to give birth to our baby rather than have him delivered. After the birth, we were tucked up in a double bed with tea and toast from the kitchen down the hallway. Later that day we were free to welcome our visitors, make them cups of tea, and relax in the large lounge. Despite being in a hospital, the experience wasn’t medical in the slightest, and we couldn’t think of a better way to welcome James into the world.

For those of you wanting a blow-by-blow account of the birth, please bear with me; I’m working on it. It’s a busy time at the moment, and I’m finding it a little bit tricky to put feelings into words.

Today marks the first anniversary of my marriage to Mary. Thanks again to everyone who made the 31st of March, 2007 so special, not least my lovely wife. Here’s to many, many more years.

There was an old lady,
Who swallowed a fly,
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly,
Perhaps she’ll die.

(A fly, on some kind of furry plant, at Grove Ferry. I should be a botanist…)

(This is quite a tight crop of the original image, which had a far too shallow depth of field. Hence the sharpness isn’t quite there (even I can’t handhold an effective 480mm at 1/400s), but I do like the glassy effect of the crystals and the bokeh in the fore and background.)