Warning !! Cuteness ahead !!

This year has certainly been eventful, with one very important milestone in my life happening on 29th August. I became a Nan to this little chap, Riley John. He's growing up too fast, at 12 weeks old already.

It's a pity we don't hold traditional Baby Shows anymore here in Australia. In the 1960's and 70's you'd take along your freshly washed and groomed baby to be weighed and examined by a group of nurses and judges, usually from the local Council and sponsors' reps. My mother used to enter my brother's Warren and Anthony in them, they were both bonnie babies. The judges looked for healthy, alert, active and yes, cute, babies who were weight for age and looked like the "ideal" baby, whatever that was. Both of them won small prizes, usually baby clothes or photo albums or such things.

The Shows were sponsored by baby product companies and there was a token entry fee paid by the doting mums which went to a charity. All a lot of fun, and I suppose it did encourage the young mums to take pride in their cute offspring. Australia never took it as seriously as they do now in the US though. We still have competitions but they are photography based and are usually talent spotting for advertisers.

Mum couldn't afford to put me in baby shows when I was little, as I was her first child. Anyway, I'd already won one title, Miss Royal North Shore Hospital 1954. I was the first baby born in that year, at 12.40 pm on 1st January. I received a certificate and a small gift.

Riley could certainly win a prize with his cheeky smiles, and now he's starting to gurgle and giggle when you play with him. Definitely tugs at the heart strings to hear him vocalise, takes me back to his Daddy doing it, 30 years ago.

No good me getting all clucky though, will have to give Riley extra cuddles when I see him. Looking forward to meeting my little granddaughter who is due in February too, I'll have 2 littlies to play with then, LOL.