Driven away, bacon sandwich and company.

1. The way the morning light chases away the night's outlandish fancies.

2. To sneak downstairs with Bettany and fuel up with a bacon sandwich for breakfast.

3. To have Nick's company for the last feed.

Greenland, paracetamol and priorities.

1. We have a table cloth with a map design on it. Alec jabbed at a landmass with his spoon, 'What dat?'
'It's Greenland.'
'Where there's ice and snow and the whale fishes blow?' He's quoting one of his favourite songs, Greenland Whale Fisheries.* He continues in the same breath, 'The harpoon struck and the line paid out with a single plourish of his tail...'

2. Paracetamol -- the fact that we always have some in the house.

3. Dropping everything except feeding and cuddling Bettany.

* He refused to get out of the bath the other night until I told him I had harpooned him in the bottom. Then he came along very nicely.

Hallo Alec, games master and space for me.

1. When I drop Alec off at nursery the carer who meets us at the door goes down on one knee and greets him (rather than me). He gives her a big hug as if he's missed her all week.

2. Meredith comes bringing cupcakes... bringing her dice and a map of Darnassus. She had put together a special adventure just for me so that I could keep up my experience levels for our Tuesday Knights campaign.* My nightelf finds herself framed for murder and must do some sleuthing to clear her name.

3. The cosy space left for me between the mass of pillows I need for nursing, the gently snoring Alec and Bettany's cot.

Tim's account and Meredith's account of our adventures.

Just us, out the other side and fairytale.

1. Bettany conveniently falls asleep during breakfast. Alec and I use the time well by cuddling on the sofa - it's a relief not to be reminding him to be gentle and kind.

2. Katie talks about some of her pregnancy woes, and I am so glad to be out the other side.

3. Alec tries to persuade us that he is a sleeping prince who must be woken with a kiss. Baby Loey is not convinced, but is prepared to indulge him by blowing a kiss down from the sofa.

Extra hands, paper and to bed.

1. An aunt arriving with a bag of groceries (and an extra pair of hands and some good advice).

2. To listen vaguely to Alec and Janey playing with paper and pens.

3. I am so tired I can't think straight. I hand Bettany over to Nick and go to bed early.

Not snow, other hands and early sleep.

1. 'Look, it snowing!' I run to the window to see such a marvel as snow in August. It's a cabbage white butterfly battling against a gust of wind.

2. The sound of other people (my aunt and cousin) quickly tidying up downstairs while I help Alec off to sleep.

3. Bettany falls into her deep milky sleep quite early so I bundle her into the cot, pause to admire my lanky sleeping toddler and creep upstairs to chat with Nick before we go to sleep.

Two children, is this thing on and packing away.

1. Brave Nick marches out to the park with two children. 'Look,' I tell him, 'the worst that could happen is that Bettany starts crying. And does a huge poo that goes everywhere. Just come home in that case.' It occurs to me that I'm not selling it very well.

2. Alec has been talking about wanting a microphone and I've been studiously ignoring him -- noisy electronic toys drive me to spiteful acts so I try to keep them out of the house. By chance he and Nick find (they weren't even in a toy shop) a wonderful cheap plastic thing -- a microphone with a sort of sound reflector connected to a spring to distort your voice a little, not too loudly, though, and it doesn't have any extra sounds.

3. To pack away Alec's day nappies because he no longer needs them. It's funny to think that a week and a half ago we were still changing him every few hours and doing this huge load of washing every couple of days (actually, Bettany's nappies make quite a large wash by themselves).