I am finally making progress on Christmas shopping after a busy week last week. Just a couple of easy items to get now before we leave for Shropshire on Wednesday evening. Seems weird that it's Christmas already ... it still feels like mid-November in many ways, but I guess when I get up to Shropshire and see the family and the festivities begin, that's when it'll sink in.

Thursday was supposed to be my Christmas shopping day, but I had a couple of small jobs to do first, and I managed to finish them at about 4pm, would you believe. Felt very guilty that Jody had an inside-day when she should have been out in the buggy with me, but I'm hoping that the extra stimulation last weekend and next week will more than make up for it.

Had a nice social day on Friday despite torrential rain (and annoyingly leaky boots) for most of the morning. Went over to the jungle gym with Sonia, Caitlin and Olivia to let Jody have a play. I've never seen Caitlin so adventurous but then she's been quite ill for the last 8 weeks at least, so she's back to her little lively self. We're almost at the point of being able to let the kids have the run of the place, if Jody wouldn't insist on trying to come down the stairs head first on her tummy (obviously thinking it's a slide).

Friday afternoon went for a walk with Rachel and Amy - our last of the year - followed by the compulsory Starbucks (I swear I'm getting to eat less than half of my lemon muffin nowadays, with Jody avidly proclaiming 'more' every 5 seconds). Their plans are still to leave for New York in the new year although an illness in her family might throw spanners in the works somewhat.

The weekend was good. I basically did a big Christmas card drive. Foreign ones on Friday night (several weeks after they should already have been sent) and the UK ones the rest of the weekend. I'm a bit of a firm believer in doing more than just signing names in a card (what's the point?) so I make plenty of work for myself, but at least it's satisfying to know that it's all done. Whether people actually receive the things before the new year is of course another matter. Also did a bit of the aforementioned Christmas shopping, which has put me in a good position for these next few days.

Off to the gym this morning for a swim, followed by a trip to Islington for a little Christmas brunch with Kate and Jack and Sophie and Florence. Tomorrow am taking Jody for her 18-month appointment at the walk-in clinic for Marylebone to get official weight and height measurements - since she hasn't had those done since 12 months. Obviously I know she's about 3 feet taller than her peers already, but it'd be good to have exact figures to plot on her chart.

So I suppose the last of the Christmas shopping will be done alongside packing on Wednesday - in classic last-minute style. Then off to Shropshire for anything from 5 days to 2 weeks depending on how our plans pan out.

I've had a lovely weekend. The driving around wasn't even as taxing as I thought it might be. The only issue was that Jody took exception to the travel cot so when I got to my parents' on Thursday night she refused to go in it. As it was already past 11pm by that time, I solved the issue by letting her sleep with me, which meant one of us slept fine! Fortunately she chilled out a little over the 5 nights I was away and didn't even murmur the last two. Just hoping she remembers so that by next week so we don't repeat the screaming fits.

Good to see my parents on Friday - we went for a walk with Jody up the Long Mynd (freezing cold but very beautiful) and I took advantage of Jody's long afternoon nap for a bit of catch-up myself.

Had to leave early on Saturday to get to the mother-in-law's via errands in town. Spent the day mostly relaxing there while Maggie took charge, although should probably have capitalised on Jody's sleep again (very difficult when the creaky stairs and door handle are bound to wake her up). In the evening Roj came back briefly before we set off for the shoot dinner at a nearby restaurant. Nice to meet some new people and not so nice to meet one or two people I knew from years ago. Not worth explaining (and - after my temper died down 24 hours later - not worth upsetting myself about).

We went over to Mike and Jill's quite early on Sunday for early Christmas with them. Sadly Zoe and Olly had both decided not to bother, so it wasn't the big family meal we expected, but the 5 of us had a lovely day including a fabulous roast chicken meal and some characteristically impressive pressies - not least a great t-shirt with question mark over my bump and a digital radio - cool!

I even slept well on Sunday night which was unprecedented but enabled me to get back to Shrewsbury with impatient tot without my stress levels increasing too much on Monday morning. Had a quick coffee and chat with Oldemor then braved the hygenist (who wasn't too angry with me after I confessed to having being a floss-o-phobe the last 4 months) then returned to my parents' for a relaxing afternoon, yummy roast lamb dinner (clearly a weekend of tummy-expansion in time for next week) and heated discussion about the possibility of getting an effective internet connection for free. Ahem.

Took Jody for a walk yesterday morning in the hope she'd wear herself out for the journey home, but she still woke 45 minutes into it and stayed awake - alternately grizzling and chirping - for the remaining 3 hours. Sigh. Got back and rushed around to get her ready for bed and myself ready to leave soon after 7 for the annual EY corporate finance Christmas dinner. The meal was nice, and we left quite soon after it finished (Roj will see everyone at work today and I hardly knew anyone so it really wasn't worth hanging around that long) so it was quite an easy and enjoyable evening. Roj's group has its party today so I don't expect to see much of him. They certainly lay it on thick at EY.

We're trying to work out what to do at Christmas/New Year this time round. We're doing a couple of days at my folks' and a couple at Maggie's but it's when we'd normally go to Mike's that we're a little stuck. It's not worth Roj going back to work between Christmas and New Year so we've got over a week of time to fill and no plans. Sad really innit!? Right now the preferred plan is for Roj to return to London for a few days to finish up painting while I relax at my parents' (who are busy so I'm not sure about that one). The alternative is to make use of Mike's empty house over the period to get some country air and make use of the space. Somehow I feel like we should be doing something constructive instead of lounging around but I just can't work out the best plan ...

Back to this week though. Plenty to fit in before we go back up to Shropshire next Wednesday. Last swimming lesson this morning (although I've already signed us up for next term) and plenty of last-minute-rush Christmas preparations to organise. Christmas cards? What Christmas cards?

Off to Shropshire tonight for a busy long weekend of visiting and partying (the latter limited for me, of course). Jody decided to do a wake-up call at 5:30 this morning so on top of my run I'm feeling fresh as a daisy with several hours of packing, preparation and driving ahead of me. A massively strong cappucino (my one weekly caffienated) at the toddler group Christmas party this morning may make the difference between life and zombishness.

Toddler group was fab as usual. A bit busier than usual given that two groups had combined, but lovely to see all our friends, and Jody was brilliantly behaved and enjoyed all the nosh I gave her (she's the proverbial hoover). Very sad to see Amelia and Magnus move back to the States this week (last-minute thing) and Sylvia and Maimee move out to Oxfordshire. Will miss them all.

Managed to hem my trousers last night (which is a weight off, as I'll be getting ready for the dinner as soon as I get back on Tuesday). Thought for a minute I'd messed it up by using shortcut sticky tape instead of sewing down the seams, but actually they look quite professional and crisp. I'm not going to look amazing by anyone's standards but for a pregnant bird I hope to get away with it!

Even the Christmas shopping is falling into place after some efforts made in the latter half of the week. I'm nearly halfway there now - but with a couple of major items to organise that I'm cutting fine. For some reason I feel totally relaxed about Christmas this year though, in terms of present-getting. Last year was such a hassle - what with moving country with a 6-month-old in late December - that any other year pales by comparison. In a good way.

I can't believe I've been back nearly a year. I still miss NY on a nearly daily basis. Admittedly I am enjoying London more than I thought I would - partly because of the little network of mums & toddler friends we've made and partly because I just enjoy doing what I do - but sometimes I still think that moving back was a mistake. Yi Shun tells me I should treasure that feeling - that it's good to leave a place when you still love it because it remains a positive influence rather than seeming a mistake - but leaving a place that you love is a hard thing to do. Our neigbours Rachel, George and Amy are going out there in January for three years and I'm painfully jealous of what they'll be experiencing for the first time ... wishing I was there to go through it all again ...

It's easy to cave to nostalgia but there's an obvious other side to this coin. Getting back in touch with old UK mates (and making new ones), and being close enough to family that they actually see Jody growing up has been a fabulous thing. I know that our families have been delighted that we're back here - my parents have seen Jody at least every other month - and I can't say we haven't benefitted from their relative proximity. Life has been - on the whole - easier, and I'm aware that if we'd stayed on with Jody the whole shape of NY life would have changed for us. Many of the things that made NY NY for us would have taken a backseat - the adventure racing, the snowboarding, mountainbiking, windsurfing and general indulgent holidaying, even just the weekly training schedule. The climate would have been harder to deal with - we loved it when we were there but wrapping a baby up for extreme sub-zeros in winter, and keeping her suntan-creamed in baking summers would have taken the edge off. Never mind the issues of space and quiet - not just in our apartment but on the streets and in the supermarkets. There's no doubt about it that we left at the perfect time. I'll always pine for the place, but I suppose I have to remember that I connect it with the life we had then - as a young couple with few responsibilities perfectly placed to take advantage of a city which offered everything we wanted. And if you look at it like that, there's no going back because although I loved all those things we had, I love having Jody more. Life has improved exponentially since she came into it, and I would never want to change that. It really comes down to a straightforward choice of NY without Jody or London with. Put like that, I'm more than happy not to be in NY any more because the big picture of what I have here is so much better.

Anyway ... after that little trip into nostalgia ... I really need to go and get packed and sorted for the weekend. Masses to do, and an already-waking babe to throw spanners in the works. Eek.

OK I admit it. My attempts to Christmas shop early this year have failed. It's already mid-December and I've bought one present. One. How crap! Moreover I will be in Shropshire/Cheshire from this Thursday evening til next Tuesday so I'm heading straight for the usual last-minute rush. Not that I do everything at the last minute or anything.

We did manage some shopping on Saturday but it was mostly for stuff this weekend - Roj's dad will be in South Africa for Christmas this year so we're having a makeshift Christmas lunch with them this Sunday.

We met Olly's girlfriend for the first time too, and she's fab. Roj went out to the shooting school for a lesson on Saturday in preparation for two days of shooting next weekend, and brought them back for coffee at ours. She's totally down to earth and is a great match for him. We all approve!

Jody hardly ate anything on Saturday - even her normal appetite at breakfast and lunch was diminished. So on Sunday morning she was uncharacteristically lethargic. So much so that when Roj went running she just crawled into bed with me and snoozed. This is unheard of - usually she's too busy racing around the house destroying things to stop and snooze! Luckily her appetite returned on Sunday, so she had a big breakfast and plenty to eat in the day. My parents were here from about 10:45 (fitting a new sofa cover mainly) so we took them for a walk along the lakeside in Regent's Park and then ate sandwiches at home and watched as my dad destroyed and then rebuilt the sofa in a brick red chenille. Not sure I like it yet - in some lights it's lovely but other times I think it's all a bit much. Hopefully it will look better when the wooden floors are in because our current carpet is a little too insipid.

Went to the gym to do weights and cardio for the first time in what seems like forever on Monday morning. The traffic was apalling though, so I was already 10 minutes late starting. But I fit in a 70 minute session and then took Jody swimming. I can't believe how cold Holmes Place keep their changing room. It's all very well for people who come sweating off the cardio machines but for little naked bairns it's like Siberia. It's unusual to see Jody shiver but she certainly does so in there.

I had good intentions of getting a nap and sorting a couple of things out in the afternoon, but I was very tired and Jody didn't end up sleeping for long so we made it to John Lewis for some tape to hem my trousers with, and that was it. Roj was out in the evening too - at some annual black tie dinner thing so once Jody was in bed I made dinner and sat unmoving in front of Little Angels and Spooks. Entertaining but hardly efficient.

I'm suffering from horrendous heartburn these days. Heartburn didn't set in until well into the third trimester when I was pregnant with Jody and I hated it then. I've already had it for a few weeks and this time it's even worse - it feels like my whole aesophagus is going up in flames after I eat even the smallest meal and I often wake up at night with it. Advice varies from Gaviscon to drinks of milk but last night I tried the unlikely remedy of eating an apple after dinner and it was the first time I got a good night's sleep in ages. It didn't resolve the issue completely but hugely improved it (helped, I expect, by a small bland meal and a cup of mint tea). I've bought a ton of apples today.

I'm supposed to be off to Jungle Gym this afternoon with Sonia and Caitlin but quite frankly I'm far too knackered to contemplate it. If I manage to nap for 45 minutes it's a possibility but a gym session yesterday, a run this morning and no napping inbetween has just about flattened me. Jody could do with the exercise though (having been subjected to shopping this morning) so I may have no choice. We'll just have to see what time she wakes up (it's not worth going after 4:15 cos it gets inundated with school kids).

Still no Christmas cards! (Apart from one Jody made at toddler group this morning). At this rate we'll have them ready for Christmas 2005! Lets hope Jody isn't learning a valuable lesson in procrastination!

Swimming on Wednesday was great. Jody was totally hyper and excited the whole way through - not only performing to instruction but also splashing and squealing and generally having a fab time. I think she's finally seen that she's supposed to be enjoying herself and is complying!

Wednesday afternoon Jody woke early so we went maternity clothes shopping, having a severe lack of early-bump clothes. H&M have a good range of cheap and servicable stuff and even their trousers are long enough if I take down the hem. Very impressed. Most other maternity clothes (particularly tops) are like tents which makes me feel enormous. Why would you want to change your style just because you're pregnant? Anyway ... a couple of nice items have perked up my wardrobe so that I have a couple of things to wear in the next month or so. Hooray. (I've just got Jody's blood on the stone-coloured jumper I bought though! - she knocked her lip on the table and smeared it all over my front. Gah!)

I've also spent some time recently looking at maternity clothes on Ebay (mostly during a spell of insomnia in the early hours of Thursday morning). I would never normally consider it, but maternity clothes are used for such a small amount of time that they're generally in good condition. Will certainly consider it as a place to flog mine when I'm done.

We went to check out the Venture photos on Thursday morning and I was pleasantly surprised by how many were very good. We could easily have walked away with a handful (if we were willing to part with a small fortune) but settled on one family shot and one of Jody on her bike. Later in the evening I also decided to supplement that with a lovely shot of Jody and I together - you can't see my face but it shows quite a rare intimate moment and I couldn't face letting it go. We'll definitely plan to revisit Venture when baby number 2 is old enough to be expressive so that we can have a full family shot done. It's very expensive but as a modern portrait studio (no posed misty-lens shots against mottled pink backgrounds thankyou) I would highly recommend it.

Today was the last Friday toddler group of the term, which is quite disappointing considering it's only 3rd December. Next Thursday the Thursday and Friday groups are getting together for a big Christmas party which sounds like carnage but we wouldn't miss it for the world. It also enables Jody and I to go up to Shropshire on Thursday night instead of Friday night for our long weekend, which is a bonus.

Went shopping again this afternoon (only for an hour) to find a top for Roj's work do on the 14th which is a black tie thing. Luckily after trying on about 15 (one size up from normal) I found something suitable and can now relax. I will try and wear it a couple of times over Christmas so it's not so uneconomical!

Next time I go shopping will definitely be for other people! I always feel a little embarassed walking into shops and browsing for stuff for me, but it's very easy to get carried away. I'm actually feeling fine about Christmas shopping in general, having worked out what to get for 90% of people. Being so close to the shops takes the pressure off a little, and being available in the daytime helps too. I used to hate my usual last-minute Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon sessions where you spend half your time fighting the flow. Mind you ... pushing a buggy around tends to compensate for those pros.

We seem to have a thief in the house. Yesterday Rowan and I left to go out for a walk at about 11am. In our post box downstairs was a small package of uninteresting stationery that I ordered online a couple of days ago. I opened it to check it was all there, then put it back in our post box. We got back again at 1 with our lunch and the package had vanished without trace. I really don't think it was a mistake as the post boxes on either side were full of mail and the package hasn't reappeared in the last 18 hours. I left a note downstairs to ask for its return - more to let the perpetrator know (if there is one) that I know it's missing than in the hope of its return. The thing is I've been suspicious of our post for a while now. It's very erratic (to the point where it sometimes miraculously appears very late in the day - occasionally in dribs and drabs) and various bits of mail have gone missing since we've been back. I've been blaming it on the apalling post service in this area but honestly I'm left thinking whether it's someone in our building who's picking out innocuous-looking mail to pilfer. It makes me crazy that we're possibly sharing a house with untrustworthy people. You'd have thought that in this area and with rent/purchase prices as high as they are, tenants and homeowners have better things to do than nick £20 worth of pointless stationery (not to mention my cafetiere that should have showed up in the last month). Makes me MAD!

Had a nice day with Rowan otherwise. She seems on good form and definitely happy to be settling on the East Coast. Man trouble of course, but Rowan wouldn't be Rowan without that! I'll probably see her in early January when she's back in the UK again - we're planning on arranging a lunch with Miranda (her sister-in-law) and Ellie (2.5yrs).

Jody has stopped eating her evening meals. Up until now - if she hasn't been ill - she's been a voracious eater and will try almost anything. Now even the first forkfull of solid favourites like peas, fishcakes and pasta won't pass her lips. I wonder if she's getting ill again. I almost hope she is, because the thought that she's just going off her food is quite worrying. She can definitely survive on much less than she's generally inclined to eat but such a massive change in habit is an unexpected cause for concern.

Went running again today. Have managed to go every other day for the last couple of weeks even though sometimes I hardly know why I bother. It's the hardest thing ever - I go unbelievably slowly and each step is a huge effort. I can certainly feel the extra weight I'm carrying - in fact it feels like I've got the world's heaviest quadruplets in here - but I am assured by my NY running guru Jennifer that things will improve into the third trimester. And I'm determined to find out.

Off to swimming again today - where I hope they've sorted the heating out! Will take Jody to the park first in an attempt to truly wear her out for this afternoon. Have high hopes of sorting out the Christmas card creative session that we missed out on last weekend, but there is also work that needs doing. Not to mention my perpetual need for sleep ...