Introducing...

..my niece Olivia Jane Clark! Born on 18th January 2006, weighing 7lbs 7oz with blonde hair and blue eyes. I met her for the first time this weekend and have to say she's the tiniest baby I've ever seen! I've never seen one that freshly baked before.

I held her very briefly which was quite scary as I wasn't quite sure which end was which, but Matt pointed me in the right direction. Baby fact number 1: They have stupidly soft skin and hair. You could stroke them all day and never get bored!

She was a bit grizzly - hope it's nothing I did! - so Matt took her back. I'm sure I'll do better next time. I think I did a reasonable job of not going too gooey publicly, although inside I was obviously going "Oooh, isn't she cute, cootchie-coo, I want one" and I did do my best not to look at Gavin with too much of a twinkling in the eyes. :-) I think I must have succeeded cos he's not taken to the hills yet.*

The proud grandparents invited a few people round to wet the baby's head and many a lady of a certain age cooed and had a cuddle of aforementioned baby. Even a couple of the blokes had distincly moist eyes - there must have been a swarm of flies about somewhere. I kept finding excuses to go to the kitchen so that I had to walk past the cot, which was standing in the hallway. Whilst passing, obviously I felt it my auntily duty to have a look, make sure she's all right and stroke her cheek in an "ooh, you're so soft" sort of way. Although, to be fair, I did have to keep refilling my glass with bubbly so I did sort of have a legitimate reason to be hanging over Olivia's cot every five minutes...

Later the same day, bathtime became a public event as Auntie and Grandma wanted to check she had all her bits in the right place (and no extra ones!). The newest Clark does NOT like bathtime or having her nappy changed. *NB - sight of baby poo took care of that little twinkle in my eye pretty quickly...* Very sensibly, she prefers to keep her clothes on and doesn't like to get all wet. Very inconvenient. But Mummy and Daddy continue to put her through this ordeal and I'm sure she'll forgive them eventually. In the meantime, she's punishing them in the only way she knows how - by screaming as much as possible until she's firmly back in her romper suit. She doesn't seem to agree with feeding too much either. It means she has to stop sleeping for a bit, which is also a great inconvenience but, evidently, a good cry for an hour after each meal shows everybody who's boss.

Now I can't see her again for a good six weeks because of inconveniently placed shifts at work. Boo! In the meantime, Gavin has been instructed to keep me up-to-date with weekly newsletters and photos. Matt and Ticki are proud as punch and showing her off at every opportunity, so I'm sure I won't miss too much. Yay, I'm an auntie!

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