At last, grandchild number five, grandson number three Oliver Anthony entered the world at 1.41pm yesterday 9th August. Mother and baby doing very well, father exhausted as he sat up all night with mother. Very proud big sister Tori is very excited and wants to see him as soon as she can but small brother Alex as yet unaware of what all the excitement is about so I guess the reality will dawn on him when this small creature cries and he realises it is a new baby and not one of Tori's baby dolls left around the house.

We had a busy day yesterday,Trev took Tori to school but Alex ( see photo attached) was home all day. He got up about 4am so by mid-afternoon Alex and Granma were very tired. We had to go over and collect Tori from school so Pa Ray did not get an afternoon nap either, so he was very tired too. Trev and Steve came over in time for dinner so we had pasta salad and sausages, a quick and easy meal. Steve was wanting to go home and sleep, but torn between that and staying to play with the kids for a while. He says he really misses them.

Tragedy struck late-afternoon when Tori jammed her index finger in the exercise bike between the cog and the chain and squished it badly. Loud cries and dramatic statements followed but ice and pressure did the trick and deadened the pain but not before she had howled like a banshee for a couple of hours straight. I suspect the finger was the presenting problem but the drama going on elsewhere in the family had finally impacted and the tears would not turn off. There was a certain amount of guilt too as she knew she should not have undone the catch that prevents accidents from happening. She got up this morning and the finger works, it is just a little sore and discolored at the site of the injury.

It seems there is so much emotional impact with the birth of a child. I couldn't take it all in yesterday and although I took all the details down and phoned, emailed and passed on messages about his birth I didn't really believe he was here until I saw him today. Then as I cuddled him and gazed at his tiny face I could really believe that he was here. He is the same as the others in face shape but different in other ways, very dark eyes which will probably be brown, sqiggley curls plastered to his head. He has long fingers and toes so will probabaly be tall. The important thing is that he is healthy and so is his Mum. He liked his Granma though, I could tell, he cuddled in real tight and went to sleep as soon as I started to rock him.

My daughter in law likes me since I became a Granma, as a mother-in-law I was okay but as a Granma I am much loved. It is funny how much she has changed during the years since she first gave birth, we laughed together today when she said: "I wasn't going to have kids and here I am with my third. I think I had better find out how to stop!". We did get to have a good talk as I stayed a couple of hours and the only interruptions were the nurses coming and going doing the usual second day checks on Mum and Bub.

Soon the house will fill up again as Ray comes home from his Scallywags group, the kids and their father return from school and pre-school and Uncle Trev comes home from work. Life will flow on in its usual way. And that is good too.