Thursday 10 December

Just a bit of an update since our return from Australia.

We had a real shocker as soon as we got back to London. We think Joshua picked up a vomiting & diarrhoea virus while we were waiting to be seen at the hospital about his allergic reaction and that lasted a whole week after we got back. As he was on the road to recovery, he then had another allergic reaction!!

The first reaction happened after he ate some strawberry yoghurt and the hospital thought strawberry was the most likely culprit. But the second one happened after he had some milk. So now we think he is allergic to cow's milk.

Fortunately we managed to get to see a paediatrician relatively quickly and he advised staying away from cow's milk, strawberries and a couple of other things just to be sure. The doctor also suggested we try soy milk and we were very relieved that he managed to survive that trial without any further reactions. That means we can use a soy-based formula for him which is fantastic.

Unfortunately we then seemed to infect everyone we know with the vomiting and diarrhoea bug. We thought we were all over it - but in hindsight it must have been lingering ... to the detriment of everyone we saw the weekend we finally managed to get out and about.

At the end of all those bodily fluids, the jet lag, the wet washing hanging indoors on cold, dark days, the short days, the sadness of having left Australia and the lack of good sleep for many many weeks, Fiona was pretty depressed. Things are improving but it has been a bit grim for a really long time.

Sleep is still not really happening with Joshua and he's very unsettled between 1am and 7am every night. We are looking forward to the visit from the Health Visitor on Friday to see if she has any suggestions to encourage him sleeping through the night - a joyous occasion which disappeared on our arrival in Sydney at the beginning of October.

One suggestion the Health Visitor made last week was to put some more protein and carbohydrates in Joshua's diet. Fiona had been feeling nervous about giving him new foods after the allergic reactions and the buckets of vomit from the bug so she needed the encouragement to be a bit bolder. Lacking confidence in her culinary abilities, she's been very grateful for the help of a recipe book which her friend Jo lent her a little while ago. She's even managed to make a couple of tasty meals ... to her surprise.

On Wednesday night Fiona led their bible study which was another real encouragement. It was great to think again about who Jesus is and to be lifted up by our bible study group members as we studied 2 John together.

We're counting down the days until our first Christmas together as a family in our new house. We love our Christmas tree and we're looking forward to another Newcombe Christmas. We're also hoping that Nanna J and Pa will be able to visit next year for Joshua's first birthday and we are starting to make some plans.

Sorry for all the details. But it's important to be honest about the rubbish stuff as well as the fun stuff :)