OMG. Are you on pins and needles waiting to catch the first glimpse of Kate Middleton and Prince William's royal baby? With any luck, we'll get to "meet" the Prince of Cambridge at some point today, as his parents prepare to take him home to Kensington Palace and start their lives together as a family of three.
But even though this child will technically be residing on palace grounds, the royal baby's first home, Nottingham Cottage, is actually a bit on the small side and very quaint -- with only two bedrooms. (Where the heck is the royal nanny supposed to sleep?)
Huh. It sounds almost like a house many non-royal new parents bring their first-born home to (but not really).
The couple and their son are expected to stay at the cottage until Prince William's paternity leave is over. Kate will then head to her parents' pad in Bucklebury until his current tour of duty ends in September.
And then they'll be all cozy and happy in their little cottage again with the new baby -- until the renovations on their Kensington Palace apartment are complete, hopefully in October. For their sake, let's keep our fingers crossed that the new 20-room pad is done by then, because they'll definitely be ready for a bit more space once their little one gets out of the newborn phase.
When you first come home from the hospital, it really doesn't matter where you live since the majority of your time is spent in the baby's nursery feeding him, changing diapers, and trying like hell to get him to sleep for more than an hour or two at a time. Honestly, it's probably easier to manage things living in a smaller space -- so you don't have very far to walk between the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, etc. (Less travel time = less stress on mommy = way less crying.)
But after a few months when you've finally settled into a good routine and baby gear and toys completely take over your household -- it's preferable to have a bit more room to spread out. And something tells me a pad with 20 rooms will probably prove to be more than sufficient for Kate and William and their little heir. Oh, and it even has its own walled garden for their little guy to enjoy playtime outdoors (once he's old enough to run around, of course).
Even though we know the baby's first digs are only temporary, it's still kind of fun to picture his first nights in that little cottage with Kate and Prince William. Wouldn't you pay to be a fly on the wall in that place over the next few days?
Was your baby's first home large or small?
Image via ciao_yvon/Flickr