Chickens in a box

It's clash of the titans at our house as Will begins to assert his authority (or at least tries to). Funny to think a couple of weeks ago he couldn't even walk, and now won't hold my hand at all and insists on walking absolutely everywhere. It feel strange to me, because he's walked so late that I'm not used to having a child who's physically independent. The trade off now is that we're into the realms of tantrums when he doesn't get his own way, or is asked to do something he doesn't want to do. I've been pretty relaxed up til now, but I think it's time I asserted my authority a little more firmly - Mummy rules! As for Baby Number 2 - all is fine as far as I can tell, but trying to get a midwife's appointment is like squeezing blood from a stone. I've finally managed to get an appointment for week 31 (I'm now at 26) and have worked out I'll have seen the woman twice by the time I reach 40 weeks. I know this isn't my first...

Beginning to feel nervous about the arrival of Baby Number 2. In a way it's better the first time because you don't know what to expect. Second time round and I do - especially after having such a nightare having Willliam. There's also the issue of intense pain...I have also learned the hard way that I have the lowest pain threshold known to womankind and the prospect of attempting to give birth naturally - even with drugs - really frightens me. Am also worrying about how I'll cope with two babies. Will is such an angel, but he has no idea what sharing's all about or how life would be without 100% of my attention. Oh God. What have we let ourselves in for?

Will witters incessantly (can't think where he gets it from), but is gradually building up his vocabulary and trying out new words every day. This is what we've got so far: Flower - very big in our house. Every plant is now a flower and a few other objects besides Bubwa - bubbles Ca - cat (poor tormented Molly, also referred to by Will as 'meow') Du - duck Tshis - shoes and/or socks Daddy - His hero. Working on Mummy but so far nothing doing O - Hot Old - Cold Car - a new one from last night Must watch the expletives in our house now or we're going to get a nasty surprise one of these days...

Awwww, aren't they fweet?! Will and Eliza spent a glorious afternoon in the sun the other weekend, playing in the Meacher's 5 Star whale-shaped paddling pool. A great time had by all, particularly Cordelia and I who got to chill out over a fabulous lunch. Will surpassed himself by being the first to poo on the lawn. That's my boy.

Knackered after a late night with the NCT girls last night - I didn't get to bed until 11.30. Blimey. Burning the candle at both ends eh. It was a lovely evening, great to see them all and find out now that 6 out of 8 of us are expecting second babies! Feeling very, very tired this morning though, let's hope work goes quickly. Will's been quite hard work the last few mornings, very grumpy and a bit hot. Gave him Calpol for the first time in months last night and was just about to put him to bed only to get a call from Eddie to say his car had broken down and could I go and pick him up. So Will and I upped sticks and headed off up the M4 in the storm to rescue him. Another early start this morning to drop Eddie at the station so now I'm sinking a latte and wishing I could go back to bed.

At last! He's been teasing us for weeks doing a few steps and then dropping down onto his knees again, but something clicked yesterday evening and he took off. He now refuses to crawl anywhere and looks like something out of Night of the Living Dead with arms outstretched and knees locked, lurching up and down the hall with a huge grin on his face.

Emails, expenses, projects politics....Never mind, at least I've come back to The Coalface refreshed and relaxed so am ploughing through everything serenely (well, for now). Back in the old maternity black uniform, I bought lots of floaty Summer stuff this time round but it's been raining on and off for the past few weeks so I seem to live in my stretchy black gear day in and day out. The baby seems to be growing well, but I can't get a midwife appointment for another 5 weeks as she's too busy - G.R.E.A.T. Going to see the Dr next week instead (assuming he's back from sabbatical) to get my blood forms signed and the usual tests done. Don't you just love the NHS?

Back home from our trip to Salcombe. We ended up staying in an EXTREMELY trucker hotel, but tootled around and had a wonderful day on the beach yesterday until Will lost his footing and disappeared in the shallows. It was only for split second, but Eddie and I were panic-stricken. Terrifying. Fortunately no harm done, Will resurfaced spluttering but none the worse for wear. Hopefully didn't scare too many innocent sunbathers with my utterly hideous maternity swimmers. I now resemble a small hippo. We were supposed to come home tomorrow, but with the forecast for rain and facing the prospect of trying to keep William entertained indoors for the day, we decided to cut our losses and hit the road. Feeling very relaxed, tanned and looking forward to another 4 days at home before returning to The Coalface.

Back from a wonderful 3 days camping in Wales and visiting Sarah, Mark and the girls and I feel 100% fresher and revitalised. All the stresses of the past few weeks have evaporated and we're even getting close to completing on the house/probate which will be another huge weight of my mind. Will absolutely loved camping, but the beach was Shangri La. We'd get there, offload him and he'd immediately make a beeline for the sea. I don't think he'd have stopped at all, just kept going until he disappeared under the waves unless Eddie and I hadn't rushed over each time to scoop him up. He hardly slept at all in the day - far too much going on. Eddie did a top job of being chef and Pathfinder General - breakfasts were a definite highlight (Stagg Chilli a low). You can't beat a fry up outside your tent of an early, sunny morning. Bliss. Yesterday poor Will came back down to Earth with a bump and headed off to Little Sods, while Eddie and I celebrated our 4th weddi...