How doth the busy little bee

I went to the breastfeeding support group with three baby carriers. I showed two women how to use the ring-sling and feed in it; they are both determined to get one as soon as possible. I talked to another woman about babies with teeth. I returned almost all of Linnea's library books and she got three more. We came home and had lunch (samosas and breakfast cereal, don't ask) and I made a postnatal appointment for myself and Emer. It's with my very favourite doctor, but Emer will be almost 9 weeks old, which is a bit much. And I made dentist appointments for myself and Rob, to which we are supposed to bring Linnea but she's not allowed to be officially registered and they don't expect her to let them look at her teeth.

How the hell can I tell if she has a problem if they won't look at her bloomin' teeth?

Achievements this week

1. Received Kew membership and guest passes in the post - let's go!


2. Booked flights for self, Emer and Linnea to go to Ireland - LHR-DUB 08Dec, DUB-LHR 05Jan.


3. Booked dentist appointments for self and Rob, and Linnea to tag along.


4. Booked doctor's appointment for self and Emer, because I also


5. Registered Emer with the GP


6. Walked to toddler group on Wednesday (which did make the SPD ache a bit but not terribly)


7. Baked a cake with Linnea


8. Laundered two slings and took them to breastfeeding support group to demonstrate; had two women fall in love with the ring sling.


9. Bought four babygros for Emer in charity shops.


10. Bought a fleece jacket for myself in a charity shop.


11. Made a list in my filofax of all the library books Linnea and I have out, and kept it up to date through two visits to return and take out books (the trick is to ignore authors and return dates; just a list is easier to manage).


12. Sorted Rob's entire laundry bin into three loads of laundry and got a load of shirts done.

Just what I needed after three hours' sleep

This morning we all got up earlier than we wanted to. However. We had breakfast and washed and dressed and Rob went to work and Linnea and I pottered about. I packed the nappy bag and fetched all the library books to return and folded the slings and packed everything into the buggy and fed Linnea her snack and so on.

Then I dressed her in her red rainsuit and blue wellies, and put my stripy socks and red boots on, and found my coat, and put Emer in the buggy, and opened the stairgate in front of the front door, and suddenly had to change Emer's nappy.

So I went into the library to do that, and came out again, put Emer in the buggy, and called Linnea.

And I called her again.

And I called her again, louder, and walked through the ground floor to the bathroom and opened it. She wasn't there. I screamed her name and ran to the front door and looked out; I yelled for her twice. I checked that the stairgate to the actual stairs was closed - it was. I opened the back door and yelled for her. I ran through the house again and somehow this time I saw her -

She was lying under the dining table, behind a jumbo pack of toilet roll and a hanging coat, grinning.

I curled up on the floor next to her, face down, and gasped a bit, and then cheerfully said "Are you ok? Good - up you get, we're going out! There are -" and Linnea burst in with "PUDDLES!"

Then we went to the library and the breastfeeding group and the shops and so on, and after dinner, when we had all finished pancakes for dessert, I told Rob about it, and cried and cried.

Hiding is not naughty. Hiding is a game. I cannot ban hiding. But I really, really need to remember that she is supremely unlikely to run out of the house without my hearing the front door open, and also that she can and does hide.

She's just not usually that good at it.