Amelie's two months old today, and to mark the occasion, Lisa's taken a photo of her for the first time...


Lisa claims she's sucking her thumb. Personally I think she's recreating the face-hugger scene from 'Alien'.

Anyhoo, there's only one way to celebrate your two-month birthday, and that's to head down to the doctor's surgery for your first vaccinations. As of 3pm this afternoon, Amelie is officially safe from the five-pronged attack of diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib. We stock the injections at work, so to be honest I could have done it myself. If nothing else, it would have saved her the indignity of an examination by Lisa's doctor, which is a bit like being attacked by a baboon at the safari park. Amelie went in with a small flap of skin on her belly button, and came out with a blood soaked bandage on her tummy. Apparently other doctors use a scalpel. Ours prefers a piece of old cotton.

Having hacked her navel to pieces with a sewing kit, she then tried to claim that one of Amelie's eyes doesn't open as wide as the other. Bearing in mind that I take about thirty photos of her a day, I think I might have noticed if she had a permanent wink problem. Frankly the woman doesn't know what she's talking about.

As for the injections, Lisa said that Amelie "cried and cried and cried". Apparently she was distressed, distraught, and writhing about in pain. So I asked if it was worse than when I elbowed her in the head. Lisa said no.

But the good news is that I've consulted the NHS 'Birth to Five' book ("everything you need to know about becoming a parent") (including the adoption line number), and the helpful chapter on immunisation says this:

"It is quite normal for your baby to be miserable for up to 48 hours after having the injection."

The question is, will we notice the difference?