screaming baby!

i heard someone say not too long ago that the sound of a baby's cry is almost unbearable unless it's your own.....how wrong they can be....Isabelle has a cold or something and, whilst I was planning a night in front of the TV (Lou is at Fiona's) and updating my blog with some of the pics of Isabelle's party and subsequent birthday, Isabelle has other ideas!

She's now been awake for just over an hour, Lou is out, my bottle of red is nearly gone and Big Brother 7 'The Final' has now been on pause for around 50 minutes....plus I'm almost out of cigarettes!!! (but don't tell Mum or Jo Jo!!!)

The sound of your own baby screaming bearable? My arse!!!!

31,536,000 seconds pass

Isabelle was a year old today. It's been a great one.

I expect there will be a Stock Exchange newsflash in the morning announcing that Early Learning Centre's profits have soared and Toy R' Us haven't done too badly out of the people we know either! We have the biggest pile of toys you could possibly imagine in our living room and dining room....Isabelle has loved every minute of it - it's amazing to me that a baby of her age can interact with and enjoy the company of so many people in such a short space of time but at it's peak, 11 people were calling her from one side of the room to the other and she handled it better than many adults I know - although she understandably fell asleep almost the second we put her down at 7:25.

It was exactly a year at 7:20 this evening, so I suprised Lou (who was in the middle of giving our bundle of joy her last feed of the evening) with a glass of champagne, to celebrate. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to thank someone for giving you the gift of a baby like Isabelle: If only there were a way to express the gratitude one feels.

At some point in the next few days I will have to write a very long entry to include some of the great photos from the party on Saturday and some of the pictures from today so I will save anymore thoughts and comments for then.

(If anyone techinical reads this and can suggest a way I can upload a video clip to my postings, I would be very grateful.)

When Isabelle was born a year ago today, I wanted to hold her as she was and never let go. Never wanting her to grow up, never wanting her to leave my sight, hoping she would be everything both Lou and I had hoped for but obviously apprehensive at becoming a dad for the first time. A year on, I have learned that how she was then is exactly as she is now, she's just able to do more and she's bigger. I have learned that even when you can't hold your baby close to you, you can never let go. I have learned that when she's out of sight, you can still see, feel and hear her, I've learned that hoping she is everything you wish for is mostly down to how you nurture her and that apprehension IS just a word you use in those early days. Being a mum or dad, whether it be the first or twenty first time, is an experience to behold and treasure. It's a journey through every high and low imagineable, a cycle of tears and laughter, pleasure and maybe sometimes, anger. But mostly, for me at least, it's been the discovery of the deepest, purest love imagineable.

31,536,000 seconds have passed since Isabelle arrived and so much has happened. What will the next ones bring? I can't wait to find out.

Goodnight.

The Compagnone's!!!

Well, here we are - the Compagnone blog. I've put it off and put it off for ages but now I have to give in and write my own. This will or actually, this MAY be regularly updated with news and gossip from our quiet little road and hectic lives. Everything from music to monsters, wine to wind chimes, babies to birthdays and much more (in a 'smashy and nicey' sort of voice) will be covered if I have the time and patience to write something as often as it should be done.

In trying to put this first page together, I have managed to delete all the interesting stuff from the right hand side of the page - I need to wait for a techie to read this and tell me just how I've done that - there should be links to my favourite webites (well some of the at least - my mum and dad will see this after all) and some very interesting information about me that you probably all knew but it's just something us 'bloggers' (and I am one now!) have to put on here (ignore this, I just found where it had gone, so it's back now!).

I'll try to include pictures as I go to keep the interest - ADHD can affect even the most stable of adults when they get bored!! So, (in another cheesey DJ at a fairground type voice) strap yourselves in scream if you wanna go faster and enjoy the ride on the rollercoaster that is '@ FAMILY C'......


So for the first time, welcome to the Family C blog. A (hopefully) regular posting bringing you up to date with all the goings on in the life of Dom, Lou and Isabelle.

Before we get too much into the general banter, here's a brief run down of the family:

Name: Dominic Adrian Peter Compagnone
Age: 28
Height: 6ft
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Mum: Carol
Dad: Adrian
Brother: Jamie
Work: Sales Specialist for BD Pre-Analytical Systems
Fun: Drinking wine and playing drums - not always at the same time

Name: Louise Sarah Compagnone
Age: 31
Height: 5ft 6
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Greeny Grey
Mum: Jo
Dad: John
Brother: Martin
Work: Hairdresser
Fun: Reads books about rape, assault and general violence towards women!

Name: Isabelle Louise Compagnone
Age: 1 (today)
Height: 75.5cm
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Brown
Mummy: Louise
Daddy: Dominic
Work: Nursery once a week
Fun: Ripping paper, emptying bags and boxes, laughing, walking, playing with my new toys




Above left: Family C
Above right: Isabelle

Those of you who have read Martin's most recent update will know that to celebrate Isabelle's 1st birthday, we let her have a Pirates and Fairies Party.

These are these invitations we sent to the girls (click to see the full size):



And these are the invites the boys received:




It was great to see almost everyone in fancy dress. As and when I have the time, I will sit and put a load of them on here for all to see because there were some great outfits.

All the grand parents and us made some food so we're still all eating pasta, rice, sandwiches (cut into triangular quarters of course) and sweets. I've been on a sugar saturated carbohydrate high since Saturday!

Dad and Nadia bought us an incredible bouncy castle for Isabelles second party coming up this weekend as a suprise but because the weather was so bad and we had to change our venue to one with a roof, he bought it out early so we had that set up in the hall - it was amazing - the little one's loved it.....actually, Lou did too!!!

Needless to say, we were shattered at the end of the day but it was bloody well worth it to see Isabelle running round the room holding the hand of the nearest big person with a massive smile on her face!



So today is the actual birthday - I'm working this morning (as you can see - although this is very easy and very quick to do!) and then I'll be stopping around lunchtime to spend the afternoon with the family. We were going to go to Blackberry Farm near Uckfield but we've decided to save that for another day and spend the afternoon wheeling Isabelle around the Park on her new bike (from Uncle Marvy and Aunty Andrea)


The rest of the day (from about 4) will be taken up with everyone we know and probably even some we don't, popping around to see Isabelle....she's had so many cards - more than I got on my birthday!!!!!

So that's where we're up to. Today is a very very very special day for all of us. It's amazing to think that it's a year ago today that Isabelle came into our world. In fact, as I write this, I've realised that exactly one year ago now, Lou and I were sitting downstairs in the living room with Melanie, our friend and midwife, waiting for the next contraction to come.....the hours that day seemed to pass so slowly - the year since has absolutely flown by.

I can't leave this post without mentioning those we wish were still here to celebrate the day with us:

Lou's Dad, Andrew





My Grandpa, Aldo



The memories we shared with these amazing peoplee will never be lost, we just wish they were here to share the memories we are creating now.

So, I'm off to celebrate with Family C now, look out for another update in the next few days.

Happy 1st Birthday Isabelle!!!
xxx