cleaning items of choice

cleaners
janola bleach
hand andy
jif surface cleaner

utensils
scrubbing brush
mop
sponge
scourer
old t-shirt for dusting

First night with Matthew home. He's sleeping now. I've got the BabyCom portable monitoring device rigged up, bottles and breast pumps boiling on the stove to sterilise, and Deb trying to snatch a couple of hours sleep.

It's comforting to hear him gurgle and sigh and cough through the monitor. No crying yet. I guess when he does we get up and change and feed him.

We were sitting in the living room tonight - two cats, one on either side of the heater, a truce declared in mutual pursuit of warmth; the baby on Deb's lap feeding, and her and I looking at each other . I know it's kinda gushy, but it was a warm, quiet, family moment. Our first.

Driving home from the hospital today, we talked about how we would introduce Matthew to the cats. We both favoured an open forum. Sit all parties around in a circle, start with a couple of ice-breakers, and then really encourage an open exchange of feelings. We felt it so important for the cats to be able to share with Matthew how they felt, any anxieties they might have, and their expectations for their new sibling.

They, of course, were having none of it. Tess ventured a close peek and sniff at the new thing just arrived. She knows it's not a cat, and she knows it's alive, but quite what it's for and what it does; well, she's kinda unsure. Gump has royally ignored Matthew all night.

The house is starting to become redolent of baby smell. That mixture of cream and powder and clean flannel nappies.

It's chasing away the bleach and floor cleaner smell which the house was redolent of earlier today. My parents came round this morning and we embarked on a two-yearly or new baby, whichever comes first, cleaning mission. They arrived like the cavalry - bearing mops, buckets, cleaners and rags.

Dad tackled the kitchen floor. He could not believe we have never scrubbed the floor in over two years. Vacuumed, yes, and the occasional mop, but never scrubbed. He works on a ship and told me, "I make sure the crew scrub all the decks once a week". Halfway through the floor, Gump, as she is wont to do, trotted in and deposited a dead mouse at his feet. To him it kinda summed up the state of our housekeeping.

But now, the house is shiny and clean as it's never been. Surfaces shine, floors have changed colour as the dirt's been removed, and the dust has been chased away. I figure we have a week's grace period before the house begins it's slow, inexorable slide towards moral turpitude again.