Nine month baby update

Daphne turned nine months old this week - I've officially had her now for longer than I was pregnant (actually, the maths of pregnancy always confused me so... hmmm, that could be complete bollocks). In some ways it's like she's always been here, in other ways it only feels like a few weeks ago that we were bringing her home from the hospital. Gah, how cliched. How true.

But yes. She's nine months old and the last few weeks have been pretty challenging as she's dropped her third nap. So her schedule, which was beautifully reliable before and actually bloody great as she slept through every night, has gone a bit haywire. For the last week or so she's been persistently waking at 5am (oh so fun!) and refusing to a) go back to sleep and b) shut up. She doesn't cry, bless her, she just kind of shouts and squeals and makes general noise which means there's absolutely no way we can sleep through it. She has double double blackout blinds in her room (blackout fabric suction-cupped to the window, a blackout roller blind on top and then blackout-lined curtains) yet still a tiny chink of light seems to find its way out (mostly at the top and bottom) and hence she decides that when the sun gets up, so does she. It's exhausting! HOW we managed for months of her not sleeping through the night I have no idea because my tiredness levels have been reaching epic proportions thanks to this early morning start.

To counteract the lack of third nap, she's now going to bed at 5.30-6pm - which I know sounds ridiculously early, but she can't stay awake any longer - if she does then we get into that godawful screaming-like-she's-being-murdered overtiredness thing, where literally the only way to settle her is to put a muslin over her face so she can't see anything (sounds horrible and it is), hold her little arms down to stop them thrashing, and shush and shush and shush until she falls asleep. Ugh. It's like I'm torturing her and I HATE it, but for some reason she just cannot settle herself if she gets overtired. Does anyone else's baby get like this? My mum seems to think it's a new phenomenon as apparently I never did it, but a few of my RL friends have had similar experiences with over-stimulated and over-tired babies.

She now naps from 9-10.30am and then again from 1.30pm to (ideally) 3pm. She often wakes up from her second nap a bit early though, but I can't push her to go down later than 1.30pm as by then she's red-eyed and whiny. I swear you could study baby schedules at degree level and still not get to grips with the ridiculous algorithms they seem to work to.

In other news, we had her developmental check up today. I will be honest here, I requested it a bit early (I think it's supposed to be between 9-12 months and most people have it at around a year) as I've been really worried about the fact that she has never, ever babbled. She can make plenty of other noises (screeching and growling are her specialities) but she has never made any 'babababa' or 'mamamama' noises. Of course, I asked Dr Google what this meant and the number one cause of lack of babbling seems to be autism. So that broke my heart, and sent me into a week-long spiral of obsessive googling, sleeplessness and Youtube-watching of autistic kids trying to see if Daph had any of their characteristics. I took her to the GP who suggested it might be a hearing issue and has referred her for tests but I am pretty sure she can hear really well as she responds to whispers and even someone creeping in the room behind her.

Anyway, she's also behind on her gross motor skills - most specifically sitting. She can sit alone perfectly and reach for stuff etc, but if she starts to lean back while seated she will always fall onto her back. I can't leave her alone sitting, when really at this age I should be able to. She sometimes falls sideways too. Of course, she can't crawl or pull up to stand or anything even vaguely advanced, but I am more worried that she can't sit alone - although I am noticing she's getting better at this day by day. Whereas the babbling is not improving (or starting!) at all.

My mum's friend, who's a speech therapist, suggested she may be dyspraxic, and the symptoms do sound really like her, but again, it's really too early to tell.

I asked for a check just to see if there was anything I could be doing to try to help her progress a bit. Anything other than tummy time that is - which all health professionals seem to think is the answer to every problem. However, it doesn't work so well if your baby rolls straight back onto her back every time, yes, I'm looking at YOU Miss Daphne Darley. Of course, the health visitor (bless her - lovely lady but as Oli said, it was just like getting advice from a maiden aunt, rather than an expert) was not really any help at all. She said she'd never heard of any baby not babbling by Daph's age, and just said wait and see how the hearing test turns out, and bring her back in three months for another review.

We had to do this massive questionnaire thing (Ages & Stages) which was quite interesting - she scored really highly in most sections - she's ace at the fine motor skills (picking stuff up, feeding herself etc) and good at problem solving (finding hidden toys) and also her personal and social skills were excellent (understanding 'no' etc), but she fell off the chart for communication (which is all about babbling) and was just below par for the gross motor stuff.

I'm relieved that (although of course it's far too early really) she doesn't seem to be showing any other early signs for autism as she's great at the joint attention things - she follows your finger if you point at something, has amazing eye contact and looks at you when playing with toys trying to get you to join in. She's also started trying to clap and wave. I realise now I sound totally neurotic, and I have in fact been told off by several family members and other mothers for googling too much. But it's just my nature to investigate things - I'm a journalist, I can't help but try to find out as much as I can about a subject. Even if it does just mean I'm worrying myself stupid for no reason.

But despite all this, and despite the Wonder Week Leap 6 being THE WORST SO FAR (for those who don't know about the Wonder Weeks, then check 'em out - only if you're a parent though, they're very boring otherwise), Daph is just so wonderful at the moment. She's super smiley, loves interacting and playing and has suddenly got a lot more sociable in the past few weeks. She's also started to get separation anxiety when I leave the room which is annoying but awfully cute and makes you feel very loved back.

And, truly, corny though it sounds, her little quirks and crazy attempts at growling 'vocalisations' (we're trying to resist the urge to nickname her the Exorcist baby) kind of make her a bit special, and make me love her even more...

In response to my post on sharenting, you'll notice I've just put up one pic of Daph this time... I realise this means you're faced with a wall of text to wade through though. Sorry and thanks for making the effort - have a gold star from me! 

Sarah Hamilton's Just a Card campaign

I've known artist and designer Sarah Hamilton for a few years now - and in fact I interviewed her about her work on this very blog. She's a wonderfully talented, vivacious and passionate person and when she told me about her latest endeavour - the fabulous Just a Card campaign, I was so impressed.

If you've not heard about it, the campaign aims to encourage people to buy 'just a card' if they go into an independent shop or gallery. So many galleries are closing down because people pop in, have a look around, see the prices of the artwork and feel that to buy something significant would be out of their reach financially. Even if they love the designs on offer, they often feel too embarrassed to make a small purchase - such as a card or some wrapping paper. However, it's these small purchases, when repeated by many customers, that can make all the difference to a struggling gallery owner's finances.

Sarah was inspired to start the campaign when she saw the quote "If everyone who'd complimented our beautiful gallery had bought 'just a card' we'd still be open". The message was simple and clear - if you go into an independent store, don't be embarrassed if you can only afford to spend a few pounds! As Sarah pointed out when we talked about it over dinner lately, you wouldn't be embarrassed to go to Tesco and only buy a mass-produced card, but we know who'd appreciate the purchase more.

I'm passionate about passionate people who turn their passions into their livelihood - it really takes guts and balls, and in our age of huge faceless corporations I truly love to support independent people wherever possible. I've mentioned before my love of Dartmouth (and we're off there on holiday again later this month) - it's my happy place and one of the main reasons is the plethora of quirky independent shops - many of which are art galleries - and all of which I can easily spend hours in browsing. The shopkeepers are always friendly and love to chat and tell you about all the things they're selling - it's so wonderful to know that the things you are buying were made with love and care. I'm not particularly hippy in general but I do think surrounding yourself with things that have a real story behind them lifts your spirits.

I'm so happy to see that Sarah's campaign is really gaining momentum, but if you haven't supported it yet, please do! You can check out the website, follow them on Twitter and keep up to date with their progress on their blog. But most important of all, please do buy 'just a card' if you go into an independent shop or gallery - you really will be making all the difference!

Midweek Musings: Sharenting

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Before I had a baby, I used to roll my eyes a bit (OK, quite a lot) at people who endlessly shared pics of their children on social media. I mean, everyone loves to see pictures of newborns and there's nothing nicer than congratulating someone who's just pushed a small person out of their bits. But the endless pictures clogging up my FB feed of kids in fancy dress, on their first day at school, eating a piece of toast etc etc did get a bit tiresome. For the uninitiated, the media calls this 'sharenting' - smug journos do love a portmanteau.

I always swore I'd never be like that if I had a baby.

HA HA HA.

When Daph was first born, Oli and I had a Very Serious Discussion about whether or not we would upload pictures of her to Facebook etc. We both agreed that we'd rather not (Oli is ridiculously private about everything which is quite tricky when you're a singer with fans - he gets some lovely emails from folk who always want to know more about him). But then when she was first born, obviously I blogged about it (given that I blogged throughout pregnancy it would have been a bit weird not to), and then put up an album on FB because - genuinely! - people asked to see pics (it's only for friends and family right, so allowed?) and then before I knew it I was non-stop Instagramming her.

Because to me, of course, she's the most beautiful baby that ever lived and I find so much pleasure in taking and looking at pics of her that I just want to share this pleasure with the world. The fact that the world does not feel the same way about her as I do does not really compute. It's like a weird compulsion. And Oli, private though he is, is also her adoring parent and so when I put up pics of her on Instagram and show him, he smiles his mushy smile and we both bask in a wave of oxytocin, our first conversation long forgotten.

But I do realise now that I've started to sharent. My god, I even blog about her. Although I really hope blogging is slightly different as I hope that my posts about baby-related things actually help mothers in similar situations. They're less about showing off and more about solidarity. And also, a way for me to look back on this time and remember stuff that I will inevitably have forgotten. At least, that's my intention.

I read an article this weekend about how kids these days have a digital footprint before the age of one, and it really got me thinking. Am I invading Daph's privacy by plastering her all over the internet before she's old enough to consent? Am I behaving as though I 'own' her? Is it actually really selfish? But then again, seeing as most people do it is it actually no big deal? Considering some parents make a living vlogging about their babies is what I'm doing relatively insignificant? Will babies whose parents didn't put up images of them online grow up feeling insecure and unloved? I am so in two minds. I have never pinned pics of her because the idea of someone repinning pictures of my baby creeps me out, but then again anyone can pin them from this blog should they wish (please don't!). I started watermarking some images of her before uploading them but then got lazy. I thought about doing that thing of only shooting her from behind or out of focus but... but... but... that means you don't get to see HER BEAUTIFUL FACE! I also thought maybe I'd just stick to only putting photos of her on FB and not on Instagram but then I might as well delete my Insta account because let's be honest, I have a baby under one, my whole life at the moment revolves around her.

It's a conundrum. I wish I could ask Daph want she thinks and it's frustrating that the generation of babies whose parents have been oversharing them since they were just an ultrasound picture aren't quite old enough yet to let us know how they feel about it. I take some solace in the fact that I can delete the pics I have put up of her at any time - I've never used images of her in a professional capacity.

I would LOVE to know your thoughts on this topic - please leave me a comment if you're a parent and let me know what you've decided to do and why. For now, Oli and I have tentatively agreed to stop posting images of her (at least on public sites such as my blog and Instagram) once she turns one. I'm not sure why but it feels like a good cut off - after this point she's no longer a baby (sniff) and more her own person. I just hope I have the willpower...

Midweek Musings: Learning to walk properly

Hello there. I had the loveliest week last week, including a fab night at the Rooftop Book Club, with beautiful views across London, a trip to see Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close (which was absolutely awesome, go go go!) and then a morning spent at Syon Park, learning how to walk.

Yep, you heard that right. My mum very kindly bought me a ticket to Joanna Hall's Walkactive Workshop as a kind of motivational post-baby kick up the bottom. When she told me about it I was a bit sceptical - I mean, a walking workshop? I'm not elderly or infirm just yet... I also worried I'd be the youngest person there by a mile but then that's because I forget that I'm 35, and that isn't actually that young anymore... Ahem. Also, I do walk a lot - all the time and everywhere, so I did wonder if there was actually anything I could learn. However, I was willing to concede that my posture is terrible. And I was pleasantly (is that the right way of putting it?!) surprised during the workshop to learn that basically I was doing it all wrong.

I won't go into the whole process here, because there was loads to take in (it's scientifically proven and everything!) but it's really worth looking into if you're at all worried about your posture (as I was, and have been for ages). During the workshop we were taught how to push off from our feet correctly, meaning that we used the muscles in our legs in the right way, and how this followed up through the way you hold every part of your body to the very top of your head.

The best bit of the morning was at the end when we split into two groups and did a kind of catwalk together - the first time walking our 'old way', the second time walking in the way we'd just been taught. The difference watching people was quite staggering actually - everyone looked so much more purposeful and cheerful walking the 'Walkactive' way, and downtrodden and depressed walking as they used to. I could also really feel different muscles in my legs being used as I walked correctly, and I found my pace picked up so much that I almost felt as though I was doing a brisk trot, but without looking stupid. If that makes any sense at all. It was a very satisfying feeling.

So, definitely worth looking into if you think it might be of interest - I love walking and one of the best things about being a mum is having an excuse to get out and push her in the buggy every day - the days I don't walk I find myself very frustrated and miserable. And now I know how to use my legs and feet properly, I can already feel my thighs toning up - and that is only ever going to be a good thing! There are workshops and residential camps on offer to learn the Walkactive technique, but if that seems too much of a commitment, there's also a book and DVD. Find out more on the Walkactive website >

Review: Jemima changing bag from Jem + Bea

If you've read my blog for a while (or know me in real life), you'll know that I am rather obsessed with handbags. Handbags are my thing - the thing that I waste the most money on, and the things that I most love buying. I justify this by saying they last so long (if you buy good quality), you use them every day and they always 'fit'. Anyway, I have a lot of handbags, most of which cost too much money.

When I got pregnant, one of the first things I bought was a Pac a Pod nappy bag. I did tons of research before buying (I am very very fussy when it comes to bags) and was really disappointed in the choice available. The Pac a Pod was the best of a bad lot, in my opinion - it seemed pleasingly unisex, with lots of handy compartments. I didn't love it, but it was the nicest one I saw.

Once Daph was born however, it started to REALLY annoy me - the design I bought meant that it was constantly bulging at the seams and wouldn't do up - once the pods were placed in the bag, with a few other things added, the side flap just wouldn't zip together. The 'grown up section' was just a bottomless pit and I could never find what I needed without rummaging for ages. It was really irritating and after a few months I replaced it with an impulse-purchase Skip Hop (this one). It's pretty ugly (a kind of garish geometric pattern) but I thought the shape would be better as it was more like a record bag, and had a flap instead of a zip. But then Daphne decided to push it off a chair in a busy restaurant, the flap, er, flapped open, my entire world skittered out across the floor and I found myself scrabbling around to pick everything up, with my bum hanging out of the back of my jeans and Daph screaming in my ear. That was the end of the Skip Hop's lifespan.

Bear with me, I know. Three nappy bags for a baby that's not even nine months old yet - some may say I have issues. But I decided it was time to invest some serious money and - most importantly - buy a bag that was bloody big enough for ALL MY SHIT. Clearly, I cannot go out with the baby without taking most of the contents of my home with me. Over-anxious first-time mother syndrome. Ahem.

I did some googling and came across Jem + Bea. I instantly liked their bags because a) they look like handbags but at the same time I don't think Oli would mind carrying them and b) they looked BIG. With lots of pockets. And sturdy zips. I promise I wasn't influenced (much) by the fact that one of their designers used to work for Mulberry.

I spent a few days trying to decide which of their designs to go for, and in the end chose their Jemima bag. It's won awards, seemed to be the biggest of the bunch with the most compartments, and most importantly had a great big solid-looking zip running down the middle.

It arrived last week and I LOVE it. It is huge. Like, almost an overnight bag. It's made of leather and is properly heavy. But I don't care because I don't have to carry the thing - it hangs quite happily off the buggy. It kind of looks a bit briefcasey or even doctor's casey but I like that. It has a zillion different pockets, all of which are roomy and useful and when it arrived I spent a gleeful twenty minutes arranging all Daph's and my bits and pieces into the various different sections. I keep walking past it in the hall and smiling.

It even comes with a cute little mini pouch for you to stash things like lip balm, chewing gum, hairbands and all the stuff that always ends up falling to the bottom of your bag never to be seen again.

Oh and on a practical note, it has all the usual touches, like a loop for your keys, a nice big soft changing mat and even an insulated bottle sleeve.

My only quibble? The colour. It comes in Tan or Black. I hate black handbags - just a daft little quirk of mine, but I refuse to buy black handbags. Too depressing, too sombre, too dull. So I went for the Tan. But I'm not really a Tan kind of girl - I tend to wear grey more than brown. And it is quite 'tan' - a bit orangey in the flesh. I know it will age nicely and the leather will develop its own patina, but I do wish they did a grey version. If they had, I would be in heaven.

I'm not going to lie - it's not a cheap buy. I did think long and hard about splashing the cash before going for it, but now I'm really glad I did. It's SO much more practical than my other two disaster changing bags, and it also looks bloody lovely.

It's so lovely, that now, of course, I want to buy their uber cool Marlow Camo bag. How nice would THAT be for summer picnics in the park?! But I think if I do, Oli will never speak to me again (there's no space in our wardrobe for his clothes because it's full of handbags...).

The truth about estate agent euphemisms

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In need of modernisation - falling down

Cosy - none of your furniture will fit

Spacious accommodation - one of the rooms downstairs is open-plan

Flexible accommodation - the layout makes no sense

Viewing advised - unless you're the kind of person who likes to buy houses they haven't seen before

Secluded location - no one will hear you scream as you're murdered in your bed

Off-street parking (in London) - enjoy the view of your car parked in front of your living room window

Low-maintenance garden - a yard

West-facing garden - still not south facing though you suckers

Blank canvas - a building site

Architect designed - weird looking

Charming - see 'cosy'

Rarely available - impossible to value

Popular location - good luck finding a parking space on the street

Within catchment area of Very Good School - £21,000 more expensive than houses round the corner

Well located - wave at the people on the bus as they go past your bedroom window

Potential to extend - we refuse to be held liable if you can't get the planning

Tremendous scope for improvement - knackered

Much-loved family home - knackered

No onward chain - gold dust

Ideal investment opportunity - short lease

Well presented - a magnolia nightmare

Light and airy  - all the walls are white

Within metres of the station - insomniacs best not apply

Tree-lined road - beware the dog poo

Call to avoid disappointment - if we big it up maybe someone might book a viewing

Beautifully presented - done up to the nines by someone who watched too much Changing Rooms

Within easy reach of the station - too far to walk, not far enough to drive. Ergo, a frustrating distance

Fabulously honest in presentation - a shithole and we can't even be bothered to lie about it

Any obvious ones I've missed?! Do share in the comments below!

Read the truth about life with a newborn >

Read the truth about health visitors >

Read the truth about parenting sleep deprivation >

Eight month baby update

Where to start with Daph's eight month update? First of all, she is HUGE. I can't wait for our next trip to the health visitor to find out exactly how much she weighs now and how long she is - I swear she must be off the charts now especially with her height. She seems so long and, well, big. Not so chubby any more (although she does have a rather cute pot belly) but just big in every way - her head, her feet, her hands - all of it! I think she's going to be a giant. I know there's no way of telling how a person will end up from what they were like as a baby but I just can't see her being a delicate little petite child somehow!

She's such a little character now - and a really tough crowd. She'll have the odd day of finding everything funny, and then won't laugh for a week. Making faces at her that she hasn't seen before may get you a little chuckle but you can almost tell she's fighting it, as if she's really NOT that impressed you know, and once she's seen something once then it's no longer funny, mum, so stop doing it over and over again. She's very particular about who she'll smile at - she liked some of the female estate agents we've seen lately but the male ones were mostly met with looks of distrust. Wise beyond her years! And she'll have days where Daddy is her favourite and gets all the smiles, and days when I'm deemed the best.

Milestone-wise, I reckon she's a little behind average. She can sit now, pretty well, but often launches herself backwards in the middle of sitting and ends up falling on her back. I noticed just yesterday she was doing a bit of rocking on her bum, and reaching forward with her hands, which I think means she's about to crawl?! But knowing Daph she won't bother until she's about 1. If we put her on her tummy she screams and wriggles (often moving backwards inadvertently) and generally looks pissed off with us. Or rolls straight back onto her back. She's got the rolling down, finally, but still doesn't do it unless she ABSOLUTELY HAS TO. She can support her own weight really well though, and will stand easily if you hold her hands.

She isn't babbling yet - but she does do a good line in screaming. And blowing raspberries - her new favourite thing. She'll also make sort of sing-song noises when you're feeding her, which are quite interesting. But otherwise, to get your attention she'll whine (gah I hate whining!) or bang things like her hands on the table or her feet against her chair.

Food is still a hit, thankfully, and she's tried pretty much everything she's allowed now, all to great success. Apart from avocado. She really doesn't get that one. I love watching her eat - she's a total piglet and will always finish her meal and open her mouth for more. I've been quite lazy at letting her feed herself (mostly just to save time), and must make a conscious effort going forward to give her more opportunity to do so. She can easily hold a rice cracker and feed herself with it, it just takes FOREVER and lots of it ends up on the floor... luckily she's quite a neat eater, but I suspect this is because we haven't done baby-led weaning so I get to spoon everything into her mouth quite tidily!

I've been trying to cut down her milk as I noticed with alarm she's only meant to have three 7oz bottles at her age. Currently she still has five bottles per day (!) which vary between 5-7oz. I try not to let her finish them if she doesn't seem that bothered, and I'm desperate to drop the dream feed at 11pm (not least because it interrupts my only bit of me-time all day). But we tried it one night and she woke up at 1am starving hungry so I think I'll have to try to phase it out gradually. I'm confused about the milk versus food thing and exactly how much she should be having of each - I know there's that expression 'food before one is just for fun' but I'm SURE she doesn't need all this milk as well as her three proper meals.

She's sleeping pretty well these days and has settled into quite a nice nap routine of 9am-10.30am, then 12.30-1.30/2pm and then another little power nap at 4pm for about half an hour. Bedtime at 7pm, dreamfeed between 10-11pm and then up for the day usually at 6.30am. I'd love her to sleep longer at night but she absolutely can't do without her three naps - she goes ballistic at bedtime if she hasn't slept enough during the day.

I feel I must also mention her hair, which is growing thick and fast. It can't seem to decide what colour it is - the back of her head looks a lovely golden blonde, but the front (where she's sporting a rather fetching toupee style) is much darker and almost a light brown. Her eyes are definitely blue though, and a lovely dark grey-blue too.

Last but not least for this month, she has her top two front teeth now! They are SO CUTE. They came through last week and we had three nights of crying and generally being miserable, but now they're through she's back to her normal self. It's amazing seeing her with four little teeth and I can't wait to get a proper photo of her smiling with them all showing!

Midweek Musings: Househunting hell

Hello hello. I didn't blog last week because I was in the midst of the most painful househunting search of all time. In fact, I'm still in the midst of it, but thought I ought to write something down on here so that hopefully one day I can look back and laugh at what we went through. Hmm. Since we lost the dream house, we have put offers in on two other houses (bear in mind that this is a time period of just a week and a half) of which one was accepted for AN HOUR before being 'unaccepted' when someone put in a higher bid (we were told we weren't able to increase our offer either, which smacks of developers giving the agents backhanders if you ask me); and the other which was tentatively accepted but with the caveat 'were we aware that the house had been underpinned?' The guarantee for the underpinning had now expired and it was impossible to get insurance. Sigh. We pulled out.

Every waking hour at the moment is spent on Rightmove and On the Market, just trying to find something - anything - that would 'do'. We've long since given up on finding another dream house and it's actually crazy that considering what a huge decision this is, we're now prepared to just settle for any old house that roughly meets our criteria. Unfortunately one of the main issues (self-created admittedly) is our criteria does change a lot - sometimes we think sod it, let's stick two fingers up at London, its pollution and its ridiculous house prices and escape to the country, other times we think there's no way we could cope with not being within spitting distance of a tube.

This time of year is supposed to be the busiest for the housing market but I can honestly say that there's hardly anything coming onto the market - we check every morning what's come on in the last 24 hours in our 400 search areas and there's usually only one or two new properties at the most. And they all go under offer so quickly! It's crazy - you even have to fight to get a viewing (with estate agents laughing at you when you request to see 'extremely popular' properties and then telling you they're far too busy to fit you in).

So yes. It's crap. In order to wrestle back some feeling of control however, this week we did manage to buy a new car. Saturday was a fun day - ordering a new car + rushing to get to viewings of two houses - as the estate agent pointed out 'you don't do things by halves do you?'. Anyway we're picking up the car on Friday, and I'm both excited and terrified about this. It's a super practical, super boring Volkswagen Tiguan and we've got it on some ridiculous finance deal which took eighteen hours to organise and means we don't actually own it but is bizarrely the cheapest way for us to be able to drive something that won't fall apart on the A3.

On top of all this madness, I have client work coming out of my eyeballs (not really) and Oli is trying to organise everything for his show at the Edinburgh Festival in August. We are communicating in grunts of 'Have you seen this house?' and 'What time do you want to eat dinner?' and the rest of our time is spent either entertaining Daphne, driving to see houses or with our heads in front of a screen. Oh what fun it is in our house at the moment!

On the upside, Daphne is a TOTAL JOY and has started blowing raspberries at us whenever we look at her. Which just about puts everything into perspective really.

Mini Review: Hotel du Vin Bristol

I'll be honest - my life at the moment is just househunting, househunting, househunting, and there's really not much to blog about. So I thought I'd write a little review of the hotel we stayed at during Easter in Bristol, when visiting my oldest uni friend. Soph has just had her first baby and I was desperate to meet him, but obviously Bristol is a bit of trek from London. I had contemplated driving there and back on my own for the day, but really wanted to take Daphne as another uni friend of ours, Rachel, was also going to be there. She lives in Oz and had yet to meet Daph. But it seemed mean to make Daphne spend five hours in the car in one day, hence my plan for an overnight stay...

I also decided to drag Oli along too to make it into a bit of a mini break (ha!). I started off looking at hotels in Bath, thinking there wouldn't be anything that special in Bristol itself (I'm a bit of a hotel snob), and did indeed find somewhere lovely but it was seriously pricey. I'm not sure once you have a baby (or ever?!) you can really justify spending more than £250 for ONE night in a hotel room... And then, quite by chance, I stumbled across the Hotel du Vin - I didn't even know there was one in Bristol! And it was really good value by comparison - just £140.

So I booked it and both wrote in my special requirements on the booking form and phoned to ask them to put a cot in the room. The woman on the phone was like 'yeah, you already asked for a cot in your room when you booked. Chill out you over-anxious first time mother*'. But I just had this dread of turning up and there being nowhere for Daph to sleep... We've obviously been away with her before when we went to Devon for my birthday, but that was self catering and much more baby friendly (plus we took her cot with us!).

Right, waffle waffle waffle. This was meant to be a mini review! Let's just say I was nervous when we turned up. And I couldn't have been more impressed. The lady on reception immediately told us we'd been upgraded to a studio suite. I suspect this may have been to keep the baby away from the other guests, but perhaps I'm being too cynical. Either way, I've never been upgraded before so was childishly excited about this. Then the receptionist made a massive fuss of Daphne - she even called over a colleague to coo over her too. I was so worried we'd be shunned, as Hotel du Vin isn't really a child-focused chain, but I'm happy to say they couldn't have been more welcoming.

We went up to our room (the Dom Perignon suite no less) and it was absolutely huge - with a lovely sofa area and a perfect little corner for Daph's cot (which was all set up, with blankets and towels too). The bathroom was ridiculous - a gigantic walk-in shower, plus separate claw-footed bath. There was a Nespresso machine (ye Gods hurrah!) with a choice of capsules, swanky toileteries as you'd expect, and everything was clean and lovely.

There was also an absolutely enormous television, which alas, we never got to watch for fear of waking Daph. So instead, at 7pm we put her to bed in her little darkened corner while we watched the iPad on the enormous bed and tucked into room service (which was delicious).

The hotel is based in an old sugar factory, and has a fantastic industrial vibe - the rooms and decor are all very masculine and moody but I think when you're staying in a city it's kind of nice to have a dark room to retreat to. One thing I have to mention though, is the noise outside. The hotel is on a main road and unfortunately the traffic was insanely loud, all through the night. I don't know if it would be better if you had a room at the back of the building - I'm assuming so, but our room was very noisy indeed and if you're a light sleeper I imagine you'd have problems.

Unfortunately we didn't sleep particularly well thanks to Daph waking up at 1am, realising she wasn't at home and getting all excited and refusing to go back to sleep. She ended up in our bed - sigh. In the morning, we trundled downstairs for breakfast in the very French-themed restaurant area. We were one of the first people down for breakfast, which made an interesting change from the old days of me rushing to grab stale croissants at 10.30 as the waiters start clearing them away. The breakfast (I had a full English!) was fab, with a load of pastries and cereals on offer in the buffet section, plus fresh juice and fruit - precisely what you'd expect from a nice hotel. We sat Daph in a high chair, and she happily ate her porridge while staring around at everyone and farting impressively loudly from time to time, just to humiliate us. The high chair was clean but a bit smelly, which was rather gross - I guess those things take some abuse. I'm a bit OCD so as soon as she'd finished eating I put her back on my lap, as she'd decided to start munching on the straps.... ewww.

We didn't actually go into Bristol's centre, but I'm told that the hotel is really well located for all the shopping and the cultural stuff. All in all, I was really impressed and really enjoyed our little night away from home. It's got me thinking again about sorting out a proper summer holiday for us all - perhaps not abroad as for one thing I really can't be faffed with getting Daphne a passport, but somewhere in the west country might be just the ticket...

*not her exact words

Midweek Musings: We lost the house

So it turns out I must be cursed. Surely it can't be normal to have the vendor of a house you're buying pull out of the sale TWO DAYS before you're meant to exchange, TWICE? But alas, that's what's happened to us. We found out yesterday that, after months of messing us about, the elderly lady we'd been buying our little midcentury house in Wimbledon from had decided once and for all that she didn't want to move after all, and pulled out. She'd already had a little 'wobble' as she'd called it, a few weeks ago, but we'd been to view it again and she'd reassured us that she did indeed want to move and that she was happy to sell it to us, with exchange set for this Thursday (I think she liked the idea that it was going to a young family).

She was supposed to be buying a brand new retirement home just around the corner, but the developers had been very very pushy with her, trying to get her to move sooner than she wanted to, and I think in the end the whole thing became far too stressful for her. We also found out yesterday that she's 93! (she lives alone) so it is an incredible amount of upheaval to deal with at her age. I can't be cross with her.

But my, are we disappointed. What a waste of time, and stress, and money. And like I said, this isn't the first time this has happened to me - it happened about five years ago when I was trying to buy a house in Tooting Bec - my house was under offer at the time when the woman I was buying from pulled out, and in the end I had no choice but to go into rented accommodation to make sure the sale didn't collapse. It worked out OK in the end (and is how I came to live in my current flat), but it was literally a year and a half of hassle and aggro, and I remember that trying to find somewhere to rent with a week's notice was one of the most stressful things I'd ever had to deal with. I suppose I should be grateful that this time we're not homeless at least.

Anyway, you'll forgive me for this slightly sombre post. I am so so sick of house hunting now, it feels as though we've been doing it forever, and it's constantly two steps forward, eight steps back. I just want a home, godammit, and somewhere for Daphne to sit outside in the summer! I know in comparisons to millions of others we're lucky to have my flat but we're just so on top of each other all the time, especially as we both work from home, and there's just simply not enough space.

So yes. Boo. Sigh. Sob. Onwards. Etc.