Stanley's coming home

Stanley's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming ...

Hang out the bunting, break open the brandy. My daughter's phoned to say that she and her baby Stanley can go home. Until today it had been uncertain when he'd be cleared to come out of hospital. Now the doctors have said they can continue the tests and monitoring on an outpatient basis, while his drugs can be administered by his mum and dad. It means going back to the hospital every day but since they only live across the road that's no major problem.

No doubt there are more downs and ups to come, but today the sun is shining and all is well with the world.

A good cry and a play

Seventy grams, as anyone who has ever bought or sold certain substances can tell you, is exactly two and a half ounces. And depending on the substance, two and a half ounces can amount to quite a lot.

It’s also a lot when you’re measuring the weight gain of a premature baby. So the news that my grandson Stanley has put on 70 grams in the past 24 hours is an encouraging sign to set against the fact that his jaundice is back and his sodium levels have been rising again.

The doctors are now talking about getting him to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital for further tests as soon as possible, instead of in two to four weeks as previously intended. On top of my own anxieties about the prognosis, I have this almost unbearable empathy with the feelings of my daughter and his dad. I’m not supposed to get the glue wet that they stuck my eye back together with after my football injury on Wednesday, but I couldn’t stop the tears once they started at the National Theatre’s production of War Horse the other night.

I heartily recommend both – a good cry and the play, which includes puppetry of a kind that makes you gasp with wonder and delight. Apart from the trio who play the horse, there's a virtuoso performance by Finn Caldwell as a goose, gets the biggest ovation of all at the finish. There are a few £10 Travelex tickets left for recently-added dates in the new year, if you get in quick.