Ordinary fool

For the best part of the last four weeks Ivy's had the good fortune to have her grandparents to stay. Nicola's parents - Alan and Carol - have given Ivy loads of grandparent time, helping us out, and telling stories about when Nicola was small. It's been lovely to have them to stay. Safe home!

Nicola's parents are staying with us, helping out wonderfully. They came bearing many gifts for Ivy from New Zealand. Amongst the many wonderful things, was this crocheted shawl from Ivy's granny Marian. It's soft, beautiful, and will keep Ivy wrapped and warm for years to come. Thanks Mum!

Today we received in the mail a most fantastic gift. I know Margaret Pearson from my time conducting Schola Sacra in Wanganui, New Zealand. Wanganui was three hours drive from Wellington, where I lived. I would billet, staying overnight after each week's rehearsal with a different choir member. When it was my turn with Margaret we would often stay up into the wee small hours. One legendary night I helped Margaret clean out her wine cellar. Before you jump to conclusions, I mean 'clean out' quite literally! Sadly, most of Margaret's wine had passed its best, so we uncorked it all and poured it down the drain.

But I digress. Margaret makes quilts, fantastic quilts. Ivy is the proud recipient of a Margaret Pearson original. It'll hang on her wall above her cot, and I'm sure she'll always treasure it. Thank you so much Margaret! It's wonderful.

One with Daddy in it, for a change. I doubt he's shaved since I was born. I wish he would though, he scratches my face with his stubble. Anyhow, what's out that window…?

I stumbled across Let them sing it for you today. Click here to listen to the following work of art:

We adore our gorgeous little baby. She is cute and small and oh so pretty. OK it's true sometimes she may cry, but we love our little baby.

Mother and baby arrived home today, 36 hours after baby was born. Both are fine! As always, there are a few photos of the event.

Oh, and we've decided on a name: Ivy Cecilia Leicester. What do you think?

She's here, born this morning at 3:06am, weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces, measuring 48cm from head to toe. She's beautiful, with a complete set of digits, eyes and ears. Once we arrived at the hospital Nicola took three hours to give birth; no drugs. She's very well, and expected home this afternoon if all continues to go well.

We've got a name in mind, but we're going to give it a few days before we announce it. So for now, here 'she' is, opening her eyes for the first time: her first look at the world.

With an average of 7 minutes between contractions there's still time to knock up a chart in OpenOffice. I'll keep it updated as long as I can, but if it all goes quiet you'll know why.

We paid an Easter visit to Loughborough to see Nigel and Melitta. Good company, beautiful weather, peaceful walks along the canal, and a day trip up to the Crich Tramway Museum.

In other news today, my old friend Mike and his partner Sarah had a baby girl this morning. Congratulations! We'll know what it's like soon enough; six weeks in fact. For those of you interested in seeing just how round Nicola has become, here are some photographs. Be sure to check out Flickr's new 'Map' link: now you can see exactly where the photo was taken.

For the last six months I've been involved in a startup called Careershifters. Careershifters is an online community for people thinking about changing their career. The site offers stories by successful career changers talking about the challenges they faced; diaries written by people going through changes; experts who can answer specific questions; expert advice in the form of columns, articles and exercises; and face-to-face events that you can sign up for (London only so far).

The reason this spiel sounds down pat is that I've given it to hundreds of people visiting our Careershifters stand at the One Life Live event, in Olympia. With all the online community building I've been involved in, it's easy to forget there are real people out there. Anyhow, check out the site and let me know what you think!