Thanks Deidre! It was pretty hectic to get it all together, but I love the way it's turned out. The song was stuck in my head for the entire production...

Hey! I said "I'm thinking about buying one", not "I look so amazing in one I'm wearing it right now - whilst it snows!" Besides look at the bottoms on that thing, they practically cover her tummy button. They are the biggest bikini pants I've ever seen!

Good thought Miss Joules, maybe we should look into an electric heating pad too. Of course then the cats would just claim the crib as their own, although to be honest I'm astonished they haven't already done that.

Thanks Miss Joules! I am really enjoying all of this so much more than I had expected or hoped to - I've never really been a "baby person", you know? Also, I think Eva's been remarkably patient with me whilst I try to work all this stuff out on the hoof. She's such a good girl!

Oh, that has just floored me! Wow! Amazing!! WOW!!!

I feel exactly the same way, and, to pour salt on the wound, the apartment we're in now is in a house that was built in 1927 - I am fairly sure that the floor is an original feature, possibly also the sink and bath. They have 85 years worth of wear-and-tear and I will NEVER get them to look clean. I just have to do a thorough job, know that it is clean and accept it will always look a bit dingy in there. ugh.

Your Robin is obviously a young man of taste and discernment!

Laura you NEED a pair of these - they are the love-child of comfort and support. Lovely.

I was just talking to another new mum about the very vexed question of Father Christmas, but we didn't really reach a conclusion; instead it ended up being a discussion of how we had found out the dreadful truth. I distinctly remember trying very hard not to believe it, but knowing it was true.

It's just SO annoying and my face is aching from simultaneously biting my tongue and smiling sweetly. Still, Eva enjoyed her first Christmas and that's all I'm bothered about really! Did Robin get a visit from Father Christmas or Santa?

Thank you! It's nice to hear that two ladies with such great taste themselves approve of the seasonal sparkles!

It was weird being in your house without you, but I was just so worried that she would freak out all night and that would have been so bad for a house guest's first visit - Now I know she can handle it, and I am really looking forward to bringing her back to actually visit YOU! Woot!

Of course! Your admiration of the swirl will be our secret!

mmmmm... French toast...

Funnily enough I was just looking at Bamboobies on Amazon, and I was quite take with the kitschness myself, but they are $30 for 4 pairs, and I had just paid $6 for 3 pairs of the really unflattering ones. Isn't that a ridiculous price jump? I like funky and flattering clothes and accessories as much as the next woman, but I'm not sure I can justify $30 for something I stuff down my bra to stop leaks! Of course we are in frugal mode right now anyway, so my instinct is to go for the cheapest and/or simplest option I can find on anything baby related, just so I've got something ready to go when Madam gets here. We'll replace things as we learn more about what works for us, but that way we won't have spent too much money on the initial clueless purchase. Oh! Speaking of which, one of Doc's sisters is sending us her baby carriage (she has two young kids and runs a day care, so she's babied out now), and when we discovered that this particular model is RIDICULOUSLY expensive new. We hadn't even looked at this type because it was so out of our price range, but she'd bought it because that's the one Gwyneth Paltrow has! I'm sort of thrilled and horrified at the same time, you know?

It was really only a few drops, but it was sort of an pale amber colour I suppose. Weird. Really weird. Oh, and I bought nursing bras today (which are, you know, utilitarian-ly fine) and some nursing pads which are the least flattering thing EVER. Would some shaping kill them on these things? The ones I got are washable, so I may tailor them slightly.

The thing about the smell of breast fed baby's poo being less offensive is just fascinating to me! And somewhat of a comforting thought, because obviously dirty nappies are the thing that most people go on about when telling you baby horror stories. We were looking at changing pads the other day, and couldn't figure out why some of them had straps - Clearly they are for babies like Robin who have more important places to be.

Thanks Jo! And don't worry Doc C won't let me pick up anything, so I'm mostly using my feet to scoot things around on the floor when I want to move them! The moving date doesn't really bother me too much, but isn't it funny how our brains still register it as being not a good idea? We also have an all atheist moving crew, because Doc posted a request for help on Facebook and all of the volunteers were students in the university's Atheist group. I quite like that!

It really was horrifying and, you know, educational. Note to self: Acid is not suitable for all household cleaning tasks, stick to white vinegar and baking soda! I am so impressed with Bryan Cranston in this, I mean I know everyone else has been saying this for years but, good grief, that man can act the hell out of anything you throw at him.

Thanks Miss Joules! That is precisely what I needed to hear! I think I've started adding stuff to the list, not because we NEED it but because I want to make sure there are things at a range of price points. I'd hate anyone to get snookered into buying something expensive for us if they weren't planing to! Donna - I've always been keen on the idea of one of those bouncing seats that hangs from the door-frame, and Doc's Ma told him this weekend that he had one of those and loved it. In fact he would start bouncing so enthuesiastically that it would bounce him into the door frame quite hard, so they had to rig it up from a hook in the middle of the room instead. Doc's Ma thinks that this made Doc's legs very strong and was a contributing factor in his walking early; I suspect he's been in training for bike riding since birth.

Doc C is still going to be teaching here, so he will have to commute - which I was concerned about, but it is something that we've talked about and he's happy to do it. We both feel like we are going to be gaining a lot from the move, so it's worth some imperfections. Depending on his schedule he'll probably only need to be on campus two or three days a week, so it's not as bad as it sounds; when I was living in Brighton and working in London my commute was two hours door-to-desk, and I did that twice a day, five days a week!

I've been ignoring the recommended links box, but have you noticed that you can't post from an iPad to Typepad without using a third party app now? I sent in a help ticket and they offered to refund me the price of the app, which isn't really what I wanted - I just want my blog platform to work like it did three weeks ago, damn it!

First of all - Two hundred pounds?!?!?! Good grief! Don't you just hate how with babies (and, I'm given to understand, weddings) people feel perfectly free to gouge every penny out of your pocket at exactly the time you are trying to be careful with your cash? Secondly - Thanks Miss Joules, you have confirmed exactly what I suspected! There are a couple of reasons why I'm not so bothered by having missed the last set of classes, and it's nice to hear that my instinct was right. By the way, I've been avoiding the American parenting classic "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" because "What to Expect Before You Are Expecting" seemed a little hysterical and panic-inducing to me, but that means I'm not sure what I should read. What are your suggestions for a sensible book on the subject?

It's like they KNOW isn't it? And the patterns and colours are so nice, which one did you go with?

Thanks Jenny! My initial thought was to use two hummingbirds, but the wingspan meant they would like like they were fighting - which is totally true to nature, but still not quite the pleasant summery image I was hoping for... and actually even more Hunger Games like! I totally forgot to add the links, so I'll go back and do that - But here's the cherry blossom folding worksheet I found on-line. http://www.alienspouse.com/.a/6a00d8345216fc69e20168e578bce0970c-popup It is super easy origami, but cutting out loads of squares of paper gets old fast, I recommend sitting down to a marathon of Sherlock Holmes movies (your choice of Holmes - Personally I went Cumberbatch, but I can see Downey Jnr or Rathbone working here too).