The one thing I forgot about summer in Germany is Pflaumenkuchen. Plum cake. The only garden left over from the bit of town that used to be all garden when I was small still has plum trees, and they are ripe. My favourite colour, dark purple. Not my favourite fruit though. I remember a plum tree in our garden, lots of maggots in them, and I simply didn't like the taste of plums. Old ladies would make or buy plum cake for their high tea. At the baker's, plum cake was generally full of wasps, and I was sure one day it would sting me. I hated plum cake.

I was offered it today and politely ate it. It's not too bad actually. Especially with lots of cream on top, that really adds to it. If presented with a choice of cake, I still wouldn't pick plum cake. But if presented with the choice of plum cake or no cake, well, alright then.

And plum trees with ripe plums, boy they are beautiful!

Cubling rolled over for the first time a week before our big trip on an aeroplane. It was accidental but she was dead pleased anyway. As soon as we arrived in Germany, she decided she's now an expert roller and rolls from back to front all the time. She hardly stays on her back at all now. The thing is though, she doesn't know how to roll back yet. Well, she does sometimes roll from back from front to back, but she can't do it when she's sick of tummy time. This is usually a minute after having rolled over to her front. Sometimes I stare in amazement at the incredible change in position: not just a roll, she'll have moved about half a meter as well.   more »

So here we are, having managed the first flight with baby, in my nether Rhine hometown, visiting Opa (that's German for granddad). I'm absolutely exhausted because Cubling has decided not to sleep if there's no swing and no moses basket. So she takes longer than ever to fall asleep, less time than ever staying asleep at night time, and daytime naps? What on earth are they any good for???   more »

While I sit here watching my latest ebay bid and feeling sorry for myself because of a stinking head cold, I pondered that most of my parenting posts have been about problems and the not so joyful aspects of becoming a mum. I seem to find it easier to write about the negatives, when in fact there are so many positives. It's just not so easy to put into words the intensity of love, joy and pride I feel when I look at Cubling. When she was just born, I was utterly unprepared for the immensity of love that I would feel for her instantaneously. All that talk of bonding, when in fact the feeling was overwhelming and inescapable, for better or worse. I had frequent bouts of bursting into tears for joy, mixed with fear because I felt acutely responsible for the wellbeing of this utterly helpless little thing with the cutest eyes ever. I secretly looked at the other babies on the ward thinking how Cubling was so much sweeter and more beautiful than all the other babies, the cutest baby ever. The first time I confessed this to a friend, she assured me everyone does this. It made me felt less awful.   more »

I've been so overwhelmed with my new life as a mum, trying out all the amusements that can be had with a baby, that there's been little time for my usual interests. A post at A Midwife Muse reminded me that I still need to blog an update on a letter I wrote to my MP about what to me appears to be indirect discrimination in the application of statutory maternity pay entitlements. In fact, this whole issue is very much connected to my frantic participation in all things baby, because frankly, I have little time left.    more »

There was I thinking that we had a routine, when cubling decided that was not so. I'm increasingly suspicious of all those mums out there whose little ones go to bed at 7.30pm and sleep for 12 hours. I just don't believe it. I almost smacked a mum's face for jealousy when she said something of having her evenings back - her baby is 4 weeks younger than cubling. And there was I proud of a bedtime of 10pm rather than midnight to 1am which was what we were dealing with since birth, until even that bit of pride flew out of the window. But tonight, lo and behold, the magic time is 10pm again. There's hope, and I'm back blogging.   more »

Cubling has found her thumb. Or thumbs rather, there's more dual than single action which is the cutest sight ever. There's also endless cooing, preferably in response to mummy or daddy. She's a big baby now and the pram has been converted into an outfacing buggy - and she loves it. I feel a bit rejected about that, but will get over it in time. Especially because she seems to have replaced crying with sleeping when out for a walk. That's quite convenient, partly because I no longer feel like an incompetent mother, dreading the looks of oncoming park goers sympathising with a crying baby and wondering why her mummy doesn't make her stop crying, partly because I can now take books with me, find a bench to sit on and can enjoy a read in the park. That's the life.   more »

Bounce and Rhyme is another great baby thingy. In fact, it's the one with the least novelty value for me now because I've been going religiously once a week or so, at least on average. It's just perfect - it takes place at three public libraries which are all in walking distance, cubling likes it and mummy learns English nursery rhymes and songs. The idea is quite simple, mummies (and occasionally also daddies, grannies and other carers) and babies come along to sing favourite songs and recite nursery rhymes led by either Bookstart people or language therapists.   more »

Second in this series of what to do with baby or the Glasgow guide to the secret lifes of prams, mummies (not the Egyptian ones) and screaming short ones is baby yoga. "Baby" is a magic word really, you can put it in front of lots of things which also exist without baby. Theoretically, "baby" is a noun, but here it becomes a qualifying adjectives says the linguist in me. So there's "baby screening" which I've already posted about, there's "baby massage" (watch this space), "baby yoga", "baby swimming", "baby signing", baby this baby that. It's only really baby if it says so on the tin. And of course, nobody puts baby in the corner.   more »

Earlier this year, services available to asylum seeking children who live in Glasgow were inspected by HMIe. The inspection report was published on 26th June and while it generally praises the support provided by statutory and voluntary sector agencies, there are also two areas where improvement is possible and very much desirable. The two areas are those outwith the schooling system, namely access to pre school provision and university education.   more »