Got teeth!

Got teeth, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I think a halo would suit me...

I think a halo would suit me..., originally uploaded by Racmol.

This is my favourite picture from our trip to New Zealand, taken by Harold on the lawn at Hawea Flat. A wider selection can be found on flickr, including Sofia's first meeting with Vino. (They got on well - he was very licky, but she seemed to like that in a dog.)

Our first week at home was a bit of a trial, with Sofia waking up at least once every night. At 4 am on Friday she was particularly vocal, which turned out to be due to the emergence of two front bottom teeth.

We're all off to New York for a long weekend on Thursday morning instead of a Christmas holiday, as Jules has agreed to work between Christmas and New Year.

We've also booked our New Zealand holiday and will be jetting in again on 21 January.

Bathtime

After the bath, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...was much easier when Sofia was less mobile!

Another visitor to our garden

Robin, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sitting up

Sitting up 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Grub-Grub Heath gets to grips with solids

Grub-Grub Heath gets to grips with solids, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We moved Sofia to her own room at the weekend with zero drama. Seems we miss her more than she misses us - although Wom is triumphant to have seen off the interloper at last!

Six weeks tomorrow until we arrive in New Zealand.

Carrot, parsnip and kumara - all gone

Well fed, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sofia's room - after painting

Sofia's room - after 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sofia's room - before painting

Sofia's room - before 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

A very relaxed visitor

The fox in our garden, early morning, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Ready for the World Cup

Ready for the World Cup, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Valencia - our first family holiday

Enjoying a seafood stew in Valencia, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We left for Valencia on Friday morning, carrying everything Sofia might possibly need for three days in Spain - no chance of getting away with just hand baggage this time.

Sofia made friends with the official in charge of the baggage scanner - he offered to hold her while Jules folded the pushchair and she smiled and laughed and patted his face. 'That went a lot better than I expected!' he said, sounding quite chuffed!

That night we got a cab out to the port and had dinner at a place that specialised in rice - not spectacular but quite edible.

On Saturday we went into the old town and Jules and Annie climbed the tower at the cathedral and then we had great tapas for lunch. In the afternoon we went to IVAM, the modern art museum, where there was a clever installation of neon lights, water and tv screens - hard to describe but very effective.

That night was wet, unbelievably, so we just went out for italian near the hotel - not particularly memorable.

On Sunday we went to the Oceanographic - a large aquarium split over several buildings. Introduced Sofia to beluga whales and walruses, as well as the obligatory dolphin show, but she was really more interested in the other people, who I'm sure she sees as her public! She has an equally large fan club in Spain as in England!

Sunday night we went into the old town for dinner and had our first really good evening meal - here we are eating some of it in the picture. Sunday was a lovely hot day as well so it was a very balmy evening and we ate outside.

Monday was mainly spent getting home - we went to the science museum in the morning because it was close to the hotel, but it wasn't great and we didn't stay long.

Sofia was an excellent travel companion - slept obligingly in her pushchair at dinner time (mostly!) and didn't object to sleeping in the travel cot the hotel provided. In fact the first morning she slept until 9 am and we nearly missed breakfast.

So, yes, we'll be doing it again soon.

Jules and the bike

Jules and the bike, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Just for Harold, here is Jules and his new bike. He refused to get back on and ride up the street again so this will have to do.

And now perhaps we can move on and talk about Valencia.

What's coming out of the oven?

What's coming out of the oven?, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sofia and Daisy

Sofia and Daisy, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Daisy the donkey is the toy du jour, and favourite pushchair companion. Zippy the zebra is finally having his much-needed bath at the moment - in the washing machine in one of those little bags that you put washing tablets in. The Marshall Wace duck is in the machine as well, having been pooed on yesterday (not the best look if you're a white duck!)

Another 15 minutes until we know if either of them made it in one piece...

Blackberry pie

Blackberry pie, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I'm not sure if a rampant blackberry crop is something to be proud of but the pie I made with them was delish! I also made the pastry with the magimix, so I felt very domesticated.

High-quality baby seats - exhibit A

Sitting up, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We took Sofia for her first swim at the pool on Sunday and she loved it. Plenty of giggling and not a bit worried by all the water, people, other babies, compulsory showers...

As of today she is 5.62 kg (12 pounds 6 oz.)

Getting to grips with Zippy

Getting to grips with Zippy, originally uploaded by Racmol.

After two trips to Swiss Cottage today, Sofia is signed up for Aquatots swimming lessons, starting on 10 September.

Our first trip was wasted as we couldn't register for the lessons without Sofia getting a child membership for the leisure centre, and she couldn't get a membership card without her passport. Baby swimming lessons, passport...the connection is obvious, really, isn't it?

Anyway there were only four places left in the September classes, even though registration only opened today, but luckily we snuck in under the wire on my second trip (with the passport).

In other news, Zippy the zebra is getting a good workout, with lots of stretching.

Reading in the beanbag

Reading in the beanbag, originally uploaded by Racmol.

A few more photos are now up on flickr. This is Sofia's favourite book - she enjoys the different textures and the fact that she can turn the pages herself.

In other news, we have a fox as a regular visitor to our garden. Photos to come as soon as the wildlife photographer gets her act together...

Sofia's new baby friend

Millie and Sofia 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

On Saturday we met up with Adam, Angeline and Millie in a big park called Paddington Recreation Ground. Would you believe Millie is eight weeks younger than Sofia?

Sofia's new friend

Sofia's new friend, originally uploaded by Racmol.

A range of pictures of our new garden are now on flickr.

Club Scream and projectile poo

Yesterday Sofia and I went to see The Painted Veil at the Everyman cinema in Hampstead Village with a friend from antenatal class and her little boy. The film was a bit depressing (although beautiful) but it was very funny when a screaming baby on screen set off all the babies in the audience!

Afterwards we had lunch at Giraffe, which was lovely, and all the waiters were captivated by Sofia. I think she was smiling over my shoulder at them. One said I could have a free lunch if he could have her, but I didn't think that was a very good deal...

...Until this morning, that is, when my daughter pooed on me while i was changing her nappy. Somehow I sensed another poo was coming, so i positioned the dirty nappy underneath her in readiness but the poo shot out of her bottom at high speed, arcing over the nappy and the changing mat and landing on my hand and sleeve. No wonder I spend most of my life doing the washing!

Speaking of washing, I guess i'd better do some dishes so we can have tea.

Signed, sealed and exchanged

Brief update: we finally exchanged contracts on the flat on Wednesday morning, to everyone's great relief. Completion is Monday 14 May (i.e. that's the day we get the keys) and the movers are coming on Thursday 17 May.

We are officially very poor, but happy!

All smiles

Smiley girl, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We have a mortgage. Our solicitor has our deposit. We think we have a flat.

Hopefully we can actually exchange contracts tomorrow (Wednesday).

Sofia update - 3.43kg and immunised

Bouncy cradle 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

According to the growth charts in Sofia's red health record book, our daughter is smaller than 96% of eight-week-old babies. She's also smaller than her brand new friend Millie (Angeline's baby) who weighed 9.5lbs at birth on Tuesday.

However, Sofia's doctor says she's healthy in all other respects, even though he wants her to come back and be weighed again in three weeks time.

You can see why little kids don't like going to the doctor. First you have all your clothes taken off so you can be weighed by the weighing person, then you get dressed again only for the doctor to take off your clothes again and poke you all over, then you get dressed AGAIN and get sent through to the nurse, who takes your trousers off and jabs you with a needle in each thigh...

In other news, we're hoping to exchange contracts on the flat in Queens Park on Tuesday but this all depends on whether I can convince the bank to fax the mortgage offer to our solicitor tomorrow.

The vendors of the house our vendors are buying suddenly announced on Friday that unless we all exchanged contracts on Tuesday, they would be putting their house back on the market. So I had to ring the bank and see why our mortgage offer hadn't arrived yet and it turned out they hadn't even printed it out yet, dsespite saying the previous Tuesday that it had 'gone to offer and would be in the post'. So it's looking like it could be a stressful Monday and Tuesday on the phone at this end.

Here's hoping it all goes through OK, or Sofia and I will be pounding the streets, trying to find a new place to rent before we have to move out of this one. Which should be just about doable in the three weeks available.

We're all a bit stressed - can you tell?

Growing things

Herbs in a tub, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Yesterday I planted out the first of my new herbs for the herb garden and this season's tomatoes (Italian plum tomatoes, this year).

The new tubs and herbs are a present from Sue, who went with me to Homebase on Wednesday to get all the tubs, compost etc. In the end we decided to leave Sofia watching the cricket with Harold and we just took the pushchair without the baby as we thought it would be useful for carrying everything home in.

Well, it was VERY useful but we did get some hard stares from passersby. I'm sure some of them thought we had a baby under the 60L bag of compost!

I'm also going to grow some purple basil and oregano from seed, and plant a tub of mixed salad leaves.

And the great thing is - this year noone will be speculating about whether all these tomatoes mean that my reproductive instincts are kicking in. I think we can say they have well and truly kicked now...

Out and about in southeast England

Family snapshot - Cambridge, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We had lovely weather over Easter and took the opportunity to introduce Sofia to Whitstable, Rochester, Cambridge and Colchester. Nanny and Lolo also went to Stratford on Avon while we had a day off at home.

Here is our first family portrait, taken in the gardens of Clare College, Cambridge.

Sunday morning bath

Bathtime 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sofia gets to grips with Wom

Sofia gets to grips with Wom, originally uploaded by Racmol.

To infinity and beyond!

To infinity and beyond!, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Wom - red-blooded Gooner

Wom - red-blooded Gooner, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Wom says a big thank you to his cousin Airini for the scarf and football.

He feels a lot less neglected now, although in all honesty he's had a hard three weeks of it and it's not going to get better any time soon.

It's a tough life, being a big brother...

Mothering Sunday

Pretty in pink, originally uploaded by Racmol.

To celebrate my first ever Mother's Day, Sofia took me out to brunch at Hugo's, which I thought was very generous for one so young. Yet again, she slept through the whole outing.

Jules and I seem to have survived his first week back at work, although we're both more tired than we were when we were both at home. We're going to take turns with her last feed before bed, so that at least one of us can go to bed early.

On Thursday night, Jules went to bed at 9 pm and when I took Sofia up to bed there was only a tuft of hair visible above the duvet! He must have really needed the extra sleep, poor lad. On the plus side, he did report being less tired on Friday.

Sofia is doing well - she passed her hearing test on Wednesday and weighed in at 2.6 kg on Thursday. On Friday I took her up Kilburn High Road to have her passport photos taken. You guessed it - she slept through that as well. Luckily babies don't have to have their eyes open in passport photos or it would have taken much longer...

Actively awake

Sofia, actively awake 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sofia is not a big fan of being swaddled, as there is nothing she enjoys more than waving both arms.

Highlights of day one as a true SAHM (Jules went back to work yesterday):

* Sofia regained her birth weight

* the (loud and excited) reaction of a woman from my antenatal yoga class (who we met in the O2 centre carpark) when she saw me sans bump and avec pushchair

* the weather - 18 degrees

Sofia models Grandma's cardigan

Sofia models Grandma's cardigan, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Grandma's card said 'The little cardigan I'm sending is so small - it seems a waste of time and effort...'

Hopefully this picture, with the rolled-up sleeves, will provide some reassurance that the cardigan will get plenty of wear this spring. Sofia is in no danger of growing out of any of her clothes, even the 5lb size ones.

Yesterday the midwife came and weighed her on some flash electronic scales. She still weighs 2.4 kg, the same as Monday, and 100g below her birth weight.

This is just the sort of thing that panics her worrywart parents so the main activity for the weekend will be feeding her, in the hope of a better result at the next visit on Monday. Apparently it can take 2 to 4 weeks to regain your birth weight, but we'd feel a lot better about it if her birth weight hadn't been so low in the first place.

Now we're just waiting for Dad to surface and make the promised buckwheat pancakes...

Anniversary pudding

A Jules and his pudding, originally uploaded by Racmol.

In honour of our 14th wedding anniversary, Jules made a chocolate bread and butter pudding with apricot and orange glaze - delish!

We also went to Hugo's at Queens Park for brunch. Sofia slept through it all in her pushchair and only woke up as we turned into our street on the way home.

Officially a person...

Sofia tries out the bouncy cradle, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We took Sofia out in the pushchair today, all the way to the Camden Town Hall near Kings Cross. We took the Thameslink train there, which was an interesting experience. Lucky there were two of us to carry the pushchair up and down all the stairs inside the stations at either end.

Registering Sofia's birth was a painless exercise - we got shown into the registrar's office and she filled in all the details for the birth certificate on her computer and printed us out several copies, as requested.

So now we have everything we need to apply for Sofia's flash red passport - everything except her passport photo, which I'm not sure how we're going to get. You can do it in a photo booth apparently, so long as your hands are not showing. So she may need to learn to hold her head up first!

Childbirth is not all bad

Mother and daughter 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

This was taken soon after the birth, proving that childbirth is not always as horrific as everyone says. Or perhaps it is horrific, but once you're holding your child you forget. It's hard to tell afterwards!

Meant to be a Heath...

Meant to be a Heath, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sofia Madeline Matheson Heath was born at the Heath Birth Centre, Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, London.

Panicky parents

We took Sofia out for her first outing in her huge, all-terrain New Zealand made pushchair yesterday. She was wearing her merino hat and blanket that her Grandma gave her and then another fleece blanket on top of that. It was about 12 degrees and cloudy outside.

We walked over to Finchley Road, about a twenty-minute walk. When we were almost there we had to stop to check she was still breathing under all those layers. She was lying very still but eventually she screwed up her face when we poked her gently.

Then we went to a kitchen shop to buy a big container to sterilise the breast pump in. That took about five minutes. From there I went into Boots and Jules walked her around the block.

After that, I suggested we go to Homebase and get another vase, as I knew we had some more flowers from my work arriving that day. (The card came separately and said 'flowers to be delivered on Friday'.) Jules refused, as he was starting to panic that Sofia wasn't warm enough. So I quickly bought a vase in Wilton & Noble, a very posh gift shop, and then we scurried home. Sofia started to cry about five minutes away from home, and our main reaction was of relief that she was ok.

So anyway, she doesn't have a cold and she doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from her outing but her parents were a nervous wreck by the time we all got home.

Today she has basically spent the day in bed. She's always been able to sleep anywhere and through anything so I don't think we can say that she's particularly tired after her day out.

Anyway she will have to wake up soon, as the midwife is coming to do a heel prick test. That will be the second needle she's has to deal with in her first week of life. I just hope she's tougher than she looks!

Sofia's birth - the good, the bad and the gruesome

It all started about 3 am Monday, when I went to the toilet and sprung a slight leak on the way down the stairs. It did occur to me that this might be my waters breaking but I also thought 'Hmm - clearly I haven't done enough pelvic floor exercises and now I'm losing control of my bladder - how embarassing!'

So I went back to bed and fell asleep again, not giving it another thought.

At about 7 am, Jules and I got up and I told him about this. He said 'Do you want me to stay home?' and I said 'Well, I guess you could take the morning off and we could go see the obstetrician at least.' (I had an appointment to see her at 11 am anyway.)

By the time I was having breakfast at 8 I was having slight period cramp-type feelings. So I rang the Birth Centre midwife and had a very calm conversation, in which she said 'Oh well, come in at 11 for your appointment and we'll see.'

By 9 o'clock they were definite contractions, so I called back and this time she said 'Ignore your obstetrician appointment and come up to the Day Assessment Unit.'

Jules rang a cab around 9.30 and when it arrived at 9.40 I was struggling to be able to walk down the stairs. I had several really strong contractions on the way to the hospital and was very glad the traffic was light. At 10 am we got to the hospital and I got out of the cab and leant heavily against a parked car. Then we got into the lift and I had to lean against the wall there as well. When we got to the 5th floor birth centre reception, it was closed and you couldn't get through the doors as they had a security system. I just held onto the railing around the wall and moaned.

Luckily a passing midwife spotted us and nipped through to get help. Two days later she dropped into the ward and said 'Oh, hello, so you had your baby then.' I just looked at her - I had no idea who she was. I vaguely remembered meeting someone quite helpful and female, but I had no idea of any details like what she looked like.

So we were shown straight through into a private room in the birth centre. I took off all my clothes immediately and got into a nightshirt and the midwife (Suzie, very nice) examined me and said 'You're fully dilated.' Which was an incredible surprise - basically I was going to have the baby in less than 2 hours!

Then there was some time where I just squatted beside the bed and moaned a lot, with Jules saying 'You're doing really well, Rac' and rubbing my back and Suzie checking occasionally with a mirror and saying things like 'Well, there's the baby's head.'

Then I was allowed to push, which was a huge relief - it was all I felt like doing by that point. Jules told me later that when Suzie said to stop pushing and pant, it was because the head was out and she had to hook the cord over the head but I had no idea what was happening at the time.

And I did that thing that I was sure would be humiliating and embarrassing - i.e. squeezing out a poo while you're pushing - but Suzie just folded up the padded square that it fell onto and whisked it away. (Jules says, for the record, that he also did this and some bottom-wiping. I'm sure that this is more information than anyone wants, but isn't he a trooper?)

These padded squares are great - just like a sanitary towel only about ten times the size - there was a whole trash can full of them covered in blood and gunge by the end but the room was still clean.

So Sofia came out in a rush and Suzie grabbed her and handed her to Jules. Then I was told to lean back into a bean bag and they gave her to me, all covered in vernix (white gunge) and with the cord still attached. And apparently I made funny noises and said 'Oh, there you are' and was quite emotional. I just remember someone telling me it was a little girl - and being thrilled it was over.

Except it wasn't - then they had to get the placenta out (a natural delivery, not sped up by an injection. Suzie asked me and I said that was what I wanted - apparently hospitals are often too busy and go for the injection, not because it's better but because it's faster.) That was ok, but it was absolutely massive - at least as big as Sofia.

And then my uterus wouldn't contract properly and I lost 350 mls of blood so I had to have a syntocinon drip put in and stay connected to that for four hours.

I also had a small tear so that had to be stitched. On Sunday I had read the handout from NCT class about doing perineal massage and thought to myself 'Yeah, I should start doing that really, so I don't tear'. Oops - too late! They had to insert a large tampon thing to stop the bleeding from the uterus getting in the way and that REALLY hurt. That was actually worse than the labour! Most of the stitches are internal - you can only see one at the surface.

Jules meanwhile had Sofia to hold and she was weighed (5 lbs 8 oz or 2506 grams) and had her Vitamin K injection in the thigh which she really didn't like.

Sofia was born at 11.18 am and we got to stay in the private room until 11.30pm. Then I got wheeled down to the postnatal ward, where four mothers share a big room with four curtained cubicles and Jules had to go home.

The paediatrician came to visit at 1 am, which was a bit weird. She was meant to come during the day but ran out of time. Anyway Sofia was fine - just a bit small but without any obvious problems.

All in all I have no complaints about the Heath Birth Centre or the Royal Free Hospital. The food was pretty good and there was plenty of it which was lucky because I was ravenous the whole time. It also had plenty of fibre e.g. bran flakes for breakfast and lots of fruit and vegetables so when I finally had a bowel movement it was not painful and I didn't worry about the stitches breaking, which the books say most people panic about, because they're quite constipated. Have I talked enough about bowel movements yet or do people want more?!

Several people demonstrated breastfeeding for me, but the most useful person was not the breastfeeding specialist but one of the midwives who had similar-sized breasts to me and showed me what she would do if she were me. And that worked - whereas some of the other holds and positions just didn't.

I stayed two nights in hospital because there was a mix-up with my paperwork, which only the obstetrician could sort out, and she was unavailable at the end of day two. But that worked out well, because Sofia finally got the hang of breastfeeding the second night.

Jules was delighted that the birth centre had his surname in its title, and we took a picture of Sofia in her carseat under the 'Heath Birth Centre' sign. The tag around Sofia's ankle said 'Baby Matheson' but I'm happy for her to be a Heath, when it comes down to it.

All in all it was a positive experience and one that Jules has just described as 'probably the greatest experience of my life'. We feel very lucky.

Sofia and Dad relaxing at home

Sofia and Dad relaxing, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Sofia Madeline has arrived

Born on the 26th Feb at 11:18am
Weighs just 2.5 kg

I'll leave the proper post till her Mum gets back from the hospital, which should be later on today. It happened very quickly. Rac's waters broke at 3am and she went back to bed. At 7am she complained of some period cramping, we left for the hospital at 9:30 and Sofia was with us at 11:18. It all went really well, we had the birthing room til 23:30 when Rac was transferred to the Maternity ward. She's now sharing a room with 3 other mothers.

p.s. Bump's name is subject to change - we have 6 weeks to register her.

38 weeks pregnant

38 weeks pregnant 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

With a little bit of luck...

...this could be our new garden, complete with summer house, currently used as a studio by the resident painter. There is also a patio area for barbeques at the back door, which is where the photographer must have been standing when taking this photo.

We made an offer on a lovely 2-bedroom garden flat in Queen's Park today and the vendors accepted. Of course, under the English system it can all still fall through up until the very last minute, but we're very happy - and relieved not to have to give up our dream of living in Queen's Park and be exiled to South East London. It is just what we wanted, and just where we wanted to be as well.

It also means I can keep all my healthcare arrangements the same and we stay close to all the people we met in our antenatal class, my new friend Angeline and Geoff and Heike. And it's just a ten-minute walk to Kilburn on the Jubilee Line.

Bump's room has already got a large built-in bookcase and cunning shelving over the top of the door, which is inhabited at the moment by Paddington Bear, some of his friends and a lot of books and toy vehicles.

The only thing is that the vendors still have to find a new house to buy so it won't be a quick process. However, we could probably do with some breathing space to adjust to some of the other changes in our lives in the next few weeks...

Pidgin Post - brief update due to sore hands

Carpal tunnel syndrome means typing hurts so, in brief:

• my lens sold for £44 + 9.95 postage and packaging - a good result
• we made an offer on a garden flat in Kingsgate Road, just around the corner here, and missed out by a couple of thousand pounds
• 4/5ths of the baby's head can be felt above my pelvis
• we went to see Hot Fuzz and loved it - could have been cut by about five minutes but in all other respects very funny and very English
• I went to see another more expensive garden flat in Queen's Park that I absolutely love (example of fantasticness: a summer house in the garden that the current owners use as a painting studio) and I'm taking Jules to see it on Saturday
• my blood pressure is slightly raised and there is protein in my pee (again) so I have to go back in tomorrow to have it checked out. They're muttering about beginnings of pre-eclampsia and induction again but last time this happened it turned out to be a minor blip so I'm not worried, just sick of having so many appointments
• Angeline and I went for a swim at Swiss Cottage yesterday - turns out my new friend is 6 years younger than me (as well as five weeks less pregnant) so I don't feel so bad about how many lengths she fits into a half hour swim, or the fact that she's run 'oh, a few' half-marathons...

No longer an ebay virgin...

Good things about being a SAHM:

1. local organic shopkeepers give you a complimentary pain au chocolat when you buy bulk raspberry leaf tea
2. you've got time to sell stuff you don't want on ebay

Yes, I'm now a registered ebayer with feedback as both a buyer (of Jules's Christmas Wii) and a seller (Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult - not her best work...)

I'm also in the process of selling my 70-300mm lens, because it won't work with my digital SLR, only old-fashioned SLR cameras. It has so far attracted two bids and 20 people are watching it. Quite exciting really.

And yes, maybe I DO need to get out more.

In other news, today I descaled the kettle. Oh, the glamour of my life...

Househunting blues and baby coffee dates

I had the best day today - felt like a real lady who lunches and goes shopping for fun.

I met my new baby-friend Angeline (another MW wife) at Caffe Nero on Kilburn High Road and we discussed exciting topics like pushchairs, perineal massage, nursing bras and our husbands for two hours - before going baby-shopping at Adams.

We're meeting again on Wednesday for a swim and another coffee/herbal tea at Swiss Cottage. Revelation: staying at home is actually fun if you have someone to play with!

Note to Robert: Following your advice, I bought 10 (TEN) bibs today. Will that be enough to be getting on with, or (I'm guessing) woefully inadequate?

The house-hunting continues. We decided not to offer on the granny and grandad 1930s house in Brockley because Jules didn't like it as much as I did, even though it was nice and cheap. And if we're honest, we still want to live in a garden flat in Queen's Park as we love the area.

So the search goes on - kind of frustrating, but I figure every house we see gives us a better idea of what's out there. There is a garden flat that looks lovely that is available in Queens Park - right at the top end of our budget - so I'm going to see that one day this week hopefully.

In other news, Bump's All Blacks polarfleece arrived today (size 6-9 months) so now we're all ready for the World Cup! I also got him/her an All Blacks kiwi (small) to save Wom from harrassment...

Thierry Henry, Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers

Taken by me with Jules's little IXUS. I'm quite proud that I actually got the ball in motion for once.

It was a lovely sunny day, but sadly a 0-0 draw. Better than a loss, of course, but disappointing all the same.

Scan results: smaller than average but still growing

So we went for the foetal growth scan plus doppler scan this morning. In short, the results are that the baby is still smaller than average but the abdominal circumference has picked up a bit and the bloodflow from the placenta and to the brain is all looking good.

So Bump listened to Jules's pep talks and has put a good effort into getting bigger. It's all a big relief that our baby can now come when it's ready and doesn't need to be induced.

And in other news, Matt got us tickets to Arsenal v Blackburn in the FA Cup tomorrow. Very excited - am practising all my chants.

"We love you, Fre-eddy because you've got no hair,
we love you, Fre-eddy because you're everywhere...'

Standing up to the transport police

Today after I had lunch with Jules I leapt on a bus to come home and swiped my Oyster across the pad. The bus driver called me back as I hadn't had quite enough money on it and I hadn't noticed. So I got out a £10 note to give him and he said 'NO, you can buy tickets at that machine out there.'

Me: OK - are you going to wait for me?
Him: I can't wait - look at the traffic.
Me: Well, I'm not getting off then.

I went and sat down and my heart was pounding like crazy. I thought - I've done something illegal, I'm going to be kicked off the bus, there'll be a fine - what will my parents say?

Three stops down the road I realised that you CAN still buy bus tickets with cash, but the driver was just too lazy to cash my £10 note. So now I'm feeling very proud that I stood up for myself for once and didn't let the public transport nazis intimidate me. OK, so I thought I was committing a crime, but I did it very assertively!

Bump - nothing like his/her parents

Our baby has a smaller than average abdominal circumference. It used to be average and now the rate of growth has slowed down. The obstetrician is concerned and has ordered a doppler scan for this Friday. If the rate of growth is still slow, or has decreased further, then she may decide to induce two weeks early. Which would be (gulp) 25 February or thereabouts.

Obstetrician: But there's no point eating an extra 1000 calories a day - because if the placenta isn't delivering nutrition, it won't make any difference how much you eat.

Me: That's good - I'm not sure I could fit them in.

Obstetrician: Yes you could - it's just a couple of donuts!

Just to be on the safe side, I have been eating a lot anyway and taking my fish oil and prenatal supplements religiously. So we'll see, come Friday, if Bump has gained anything from this, or whether it will all go on my hips.

Every night Jules says sternly: 'Come on, Bump, you're still not pushing your mum's belly button out.'

Poor Bump - maybe s/he is just small. It's not a crime, is it?

Strange but true: bloggers blog for comments

Recently my number one commenter (no prizes for guessing who that is) said that he felt he was monopolising the comments area and should scale back his comments. This is just plain wrong, for two reasons.

No blogger ever complained about getting too many comments. What is discouraging, however, is when you devote a Sunday morning to creating a slideshow of your husband trying valiantly to assemble a crib and then NOONE COMMENTS. Did they see it? Did they like it? Did they laugh? You'll never know if they don't comment.

Some people of course prefer to email their comments privately, which is fine, but it does mean your blog displays 'O comments' at the bottom of your post, and no blogger likes to see that.

So let's have a reader poll - after 18 months of trekking with tigers (reborn as SAHM SAHM but different), is it worth continuing? Does anybody care one way or the other?

A mouse in the house

When we got home from house-hunting on Saturday afternoon, Jules said 'Ooh!' as he came in the front door. He'd just seen a mouse run down our stairs and into the cupboard under the stairs where the vacuum cleaner lives.

So that would explain that funny smell we hadn't been able to identify, but that seems like it's coming from under the floorboards in the living room and the spare bedroom.

Later, when we went looking in that cupboard for the screwdrivers to put the crib together with, the mouse ran out and into the kitchen and disappeared through a hole in the corner of the joinery between the oven and the sink. We haven't seen it since.

On Sunday I bought two traditional mouse traps and Jules baited them with peanut butter and we tried hard to put them somewhere where we wouldn't stand on them in the night. One is in the kitchen under the vegetable basket drawer thing and the other is behind the door in the spare bedroom.

My other choice was to go for a glue trap, which traps the mouse's paws in glue and then you have to 'dispatch the mouse humanely' yourself. How mean is that - leaving the mouse stuck in glue for hours awaiting its own demise? Or I could have had straightforward poison but then what happens if the mouse dies under the floorboards? Very smelly...

Anyway our mouse is too smart for us as both traps were untouched this morning. It is obviously too well-fed (it's quite a large mouse) and the peanut butter is not tempting enough.

Maybe the problem is that there are enough biscuit crumbs etc on the floor already to keep it going for some time. Note to self: sweep kitchen floor.

Ah well, I've always wanted a pet and this one is no different to my cat Fleur - she used to run away when I tried to get to know her better too. Like I said, this mouse is one smart cookie.

Handyman Jules - kitset crib assembly 101

crib001, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Visit flickr for the brand new slideshow of Jules putting the crib together last night. Hours of entertainment...

36 weeks pregnant

36 weeks pregnant, originally uploaded by Racmol.

- tomorrow, that is. 28 days to go! (Roughly speaking).

Thursday's snowfall, Gascony Ave

Snowfall, Gascony Ave, originally uploaded by Racmol.

By popular request: Isla sings 'Hey baby'

Now you can all watch Harold's video of Isla singing 'Hey baby' in the car on youtube.com.

If you enjoy it, why not rate the video (out of 5 stars) or leave a comment on Youtube?

Start of the new regime

New regime 1, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...and the blog's reinvention as a photo blog, due to the author's carpal tunnel syndrome. Expect few words for a few weeks.

Temo and his penguin are not to be separated

Temo and his penguin are not to be separated, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I thought I had blogged this story, but it turns out I had only emailed it to some people. So here is an excerpt from an email to Annie that explains what happened just before this photo was taken.

"Ruth's visit was good - Temo knows who we are now and is a lot more talkative.

Best moment was when we went to the Natural History Museum on Sunday and Temo picked up a large stuffed penguin from a low-level display in the museum store, rested his cheek against it as if appreciating its softness then bolted, sprinting the length of the shop and out into the museum foyer with the big dinosaur skeletons, clutching the penguin to his chest.

He was very disappointed to learn he couldn't take it home - Ruth is in that vigilant lets-not-collect-possessions state that you get into before a big trip."

A girl of many puddings

Sara enjoys a 'motley' of puddings, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Heath by birth, Heath by nature - why stop at one pudding when you can have a 'motley of puddings'? We think they meant a medley, but the translator who did the menu at our local Leon in Pigalle didn't speak perfect English!

I've just inherited Jules's old phone and saved the photos from it so you can now see a selection of puddings (among other subjects) from 2006 on flickr.

The Galloping Uncle

For your viewing pleasure, here is one of Sara and Luke's videos from the day we all went to Brighton.

Watch The Galloping Uncle on Youtube

A year in books - 2006

Books I enjoyed in 2006, in no particular order:

• Gone with the Windsors by Laurie Graham
• Love Rules by Freya North
• Where or When by Anita Shreve
• A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
• The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
• The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn
• The A to Z of Us by Jim Keeble (sadly, not as good as the brilliant My Fat Brother)
• Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
• The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth by Kaz Cooke
• Your Pregnancy Bible by Anne Deans
• Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult (but now I'm done - one Jodi Picoult is quite enough for any one year)
• The Chronicles of Llyr (again) by Lloyd Alexander
• The Magician's Guild trilogy by Trudi Canavan

Best book of 2006:

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Worst book finished in 2006:

• Some dire thing that Sue left behind (in disgust, I believe - and I've now inflicted it on someone else through the CancerResearch shop on Kilburn High Rd) involving a little girl being 'kidnapped' by her father during a marriage meltdown

Books started and abandoned:

• Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (just could not go on after page 3)
• Birds without Wings by Louis de Bernieres (actually this is really interesting but too big for handbag and reading on tube - will come back to it)
• Perfume by Patrick Suskind - really oddly written and fascinating but too dark for my mood at New Year - will come back to it)

Books written to second draft: 0.4 as at end of 2005, no progress in 2006 (a secondary project for 2007!)

As if we didn't know we have too many stairs...

Yesterday I missed the last step before the roof terrace, and in an effort not to fall on Bump, I did myself an injury instead. Turns out to be just a badly sprained ankle, but I spent a fun hour and a half at A & E being prodded and x-rayed, and worrying about how I would manage to give birth with a fractured metatarsal.

The most worrying bit was when I overheard the charge nurse saying to a junior: 'Go up to the first floor and see if they've got any crutches. We haven't got any left, and if we get any broken legs tonight we'll just have to discharge them at this rate.' Very reassuring.

Still, I did eventually get a nice leaflet about what to do about a sprained ankle and I got a taxi called for me to go home in, so I can't complain too much. Admittedly I had to hop along to the lifts and go up to the ground floor where the guy who calls taxis is as the A & E reception desk staff wouldn't call one themselves but hey...

Anyway, one packet of frozen corn and a restful evening ordering Jules about from the couch later, it is much improved. Had to sleep downstairs last night but managed the stairs this morning to loll in the sun on our bed.

It's forecast to be 18 degrees this weekend and the sun is streaming in. We've cancelled our house hunting trip to south-east London and we're enjoying the novelty of a free Saturday.

Snow on the roof terrace

Snow on the roof terrace, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Out to dinner after my work leaving do

Jules and Rac at the Thai Pot, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I'm the one with the big grin...a free woman! Long may it last...

Friday Squirrel Blogging

Squirrel, Kilburn Grange, originally uploaded by Racmol.