KELLY BROWN Mum's The Word...Happy arrival means at last the word is mum-of-two

But it is my little boy who is being spoilt rotten.

Despite my cynicism, our beautiful little girl arrived in this world all by herself, sparing mummy and daddy the two-day show her brother decided to put on.

Instead it was a simple six-hour labour which left us exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

We arrived at St Richard’s Hospital in the middle of the night and I had her at 8am, before choosing to go home that afternoon feeling a strange maternal need to have all my family together under the same roof that night.

By the time my husband and I got to bed we had been continuously awake for 40 hours.

I managed a little power nap after the main event, as did my husband who actually nodded off between my contractions and was only woken up by the sound of my lovely midwife coming back into the room.

Needless to say we were running on excitement and adrenaline and I was amazed at how great I actually felt considering what I had just been through.

When my little man – having a lovely day with his grandparents – came home to meet his little sister, we wondered what his reaction would be because he had spent the past couple of weeks telling us baby was most definitely a boy.

The idea of baby being a girl was not up for discussion.

But when he peered into the moses basket and saw her he immediately accepted her – perhaps helped by the fact our clever little girl had already been to the shops and bought him a present.

‘Thank you for my team’ he told her after excitedly unwrapping members of Bob the Builder’s team. Just how did she know?

But this was not the end of the attention and gifts he has received, with both sets of grandparents, aunties, friends and even all our neighbours buying him a present as well as one for the new arrival.

The result? As well as a sea of pink clothes we also have cars, books, puzzles, DVDs and teddies to add to his collection.

So in the eyes of my little man, having a baby sister really does have its benefits, and I can bring home as many little ones as I like!

** You just don’t miss it until it doesn’t work!

In this age of mobile phones the humble home phone is completely neglected.

Last week we noticed our landline was not working, but have no idea how many days we were without it before we actually noticed.

So as the telephone company continues to dig up more of our road to find the fault, we are left cursing the loss of something we hardly ever used.

@KellyBrownMTW