The flat purchase issue continues despite our optimism. The mortgage lender - having submitted the lease to a special risk assessment group - confirmed that they'll need something doing about the dodgy clause before approving our mortgage. While they would prefer a deed of variation (something which has already been refused by the freeholder), they will settle for a 'comfort' letter from them explaining that in the applicable scenario they won't do what it says in the lease that they will (refuse to allow a sale). Last week the vendor decided enough was enough and they wanted the flat back on the market this week; an urge both Roj and I sympathised with given the delay but which the 2 solicitors and agent working on the deal encouraged them to defer until the lease issue resolves (at which point it will be hopefully unnecessary).

One of the biggest frustrations is our solicitor who is not notoriously slow so much as obtuse. She didn't come across this dodgy clause until 6 weeks into her investigations, having already told us that the lease looked fine. Every decision or investigation takes a minimum of 3 days to instigate and it's got to the point where her procrastination could seriously cost us the entire purchase. It's all very frustrating but looks like it might finally be resolved in our favour this week. I will hardly believe it if it does.

Went to a couple of good parties this weekend. The first was for 1-year-old Eddie on Friday afternoon. I've never seen so many babies in one place outside a toddler group but luckily the hosts had a landing long enough to act as crawling runway for all. They'd also admirably baby-proofed their whole flat. Unfortunately baby-proofing does not mean toddler-proofing but the thigh-high sash windows didn't stay open for long after Jody stuck her head out of one of them. Little Eddie was definitely in his element surrounded by his buddies, although closer inspection revealed a propensity to bite when snuggling up for a sloppy kiss. Parents in the know would subtly remove their youngsters when things were looking toothy.

The second party was a Gymboree joint 3rd at Whiteleys on Sunday afternoon: A whirlwhind of themed activities led by loudly enthusiastic Gymboree employees, but refreshingly low-maintenance and at last an opportunity to meet newborn twins Matthew and William.

I also had a haircut this weekend at Trevor Sorbie in Soho, as an extravagant Mother's Day gift. My guy (Gary) was very passionate about hair and certainly knew what he was doing. He was meticulous and skilled and the cut was technically the best I've ever had. However the experience ran just over 2 hours (he was running late so I had an obligatory 10 minute treatment (more like 30 minutes) to kill time), and after the pampering glow wore off (and the products), the haircut doesn't suit me all that well. Over time I'm finally getting to know exactly what I want from my style though, so at least I can go in more confidently next time (not necessarily to TS) and expect to be happier with the end result.

Today has been momentous on a couple of counts. It was the first day back at nursery for Jody and though I've thoroughly enjoyed having her at home (apart from one single day of hell last week), it's been very relaxing to be able to catch up with things this morning in her absence. It's also encouraging to find that she was enthusiastic about going back despite being thoroughly pampered over Easter. It's nice to have your chosen routine affirmed occasionally.

The best part of today though, is that I finished my first French text book only 4 days later than the schedule dictates. I feel that I've learnt absolutely masses (the coursework is excellent at teaching you a concept and then giving you a million opportunities to understand and practice it without sounding like a stuck record). It's a shame the tutorials are below par but you can't have everything and I'm certainly excited to continue the course and see where it leads me, particularly in the light of my informal lessons with Sabine which continue next week. I keep surprising myself at my dedication: My enthusiasm wanes when I first sit down with my cup of coffee and toast and eye up the TV control, but waxes when I kick myself into opening the text book. And then I get all obsessive about it and start dreaming in French. If only I was really as fluent as I sound in my head!

We returned last night from a very enjoyable long weekend at Nanna's in Shropshire. We saw my folks too, on Friday (and were very impressed by the developments on their plot of land) but opted to spend all nights in one place in the hope of minimising disruption. It didn't really work; as anticipated, Miles completely forgot he'd been sleeping through the night before we left, woke multiple times and refused to go to bed until about 9:30pm. We think it's largely down to the angry molar that's peeking through his top gum, but he's always been a bit anxious in unfamiliar environments.

It was lovely weather, and a great break for me not have to make a million meals every day. I didn't get as much chance as I'd hoped to do French but I'm about to start the last section so I'm only about a week behind now, rather than 4. Despite optimistically taking my running kit with me, I felt much too tired after waking so much at night, so had to enviously watch Roj take advantage of the sunshine and dream of a time that I might be able to do the same. Jody and Miles revelled in the extra attention; Jody got to ride one of Zoe's horses (on her own this time, and on a proper adult-size horse which was somewhat nerve-wracking); and Miles learnt how to walk around (holding onto Daddy) for the first time. He also pulled up to standing in his cot last night so is truly discovering what legs are for. Progress indeed.

It's nice to be back home. It's lovely to go away but quite stressful to be out of familiar territory. Miles was a bit better last night already and I'm hoping that once the teeth emerge, he'll go straight back to undisrupted sleep. I've got 4 days left of Easter holidays with the kids before Jody starts back at nursery. If the weather holds I'll be planning active mornings to exhaust them both in the hope that I can continue my French catchup during naptime in the afternoon. I've got Ebay sales to send off and several things to organise and, most of all, the news of progression (or not) on the house purchase to look forward to. It's weird to think that we initially thought the end of May (as a completion date) was an age away whereas now it will mean starting the boxing up process soon after we receive confirmation. We're optimistic that things are still going to happen, and even optimistic that the planners might be lenient with our intended rennovations, but time will tell on both counts.

Momentous things are occurring! On Saturday Miles slept through the night (in his cot) for the first time ever, and he did the same last night. In the nights between, he didn't wake to feed but needed to be rescued into our bed in the early hours, where he continued to sleep (albeit restlessly). This is progress indeed. I was starting to wonder whether he'd still be waking up at ages 3 and 4 and 10, but this last week of being congested has prevented him from feeding at night and he's been much less bothered than I anticipated. It's clearly broken him of any night-time feeding routine he was hanging on to and introduced him to the joys of staying asleep. Now that his cold's all but disappeared, he's sticking with it and I'm delighted. Suddenly I see a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of how I feel - I'll be refreshed and relaxed and I'll have the reserves to be more patient when the kids are testing my mettle. I'll also be able to start making use of the morning hours that I've been sleeping to go running or do French work while Roj has breakfast with the kids. All very exciting indeed (although I'm nervous about going away for Easter weekend now, in case he regresses).

We had a good weekend in all. Spent a family day at the zoo on Saturday after my (fairly pointless) French tutorial and then did a bit of shopping on Sunday (including the purchase - for me - of a nice new coat which looks like somebody's forgotten to iron it, despite the fact that it cost an arm and a leg!) We went back to the zoo with some friends on Monday, but rushed back home for 3 so that the kids could have an afternoon nap (and I could catch up on my French). Of course Miles slept in the buggy on the way back from the zoo and Jody refused to sleep once in her bed. Typical. Luckily the afternoon was redeemed by a very enjoyable impromptu visit from Charlotte who is fast turning into a property tycoon, and good luck to her.

We still haven't heard anything on the flat purchase. The solicitor keeps promising news this day and that, but it never comes through. It's quite annoying to be let down so much but it certainly teaches you not to have high expectations. The longer it takes the more convinced I am that it's not going to happen at all, but I know there's no real correlation. I just hate to think about our alternatives which at this point are restricted to going into rental; having to move house twice within 6 months and putting up with a lower standard of accommodation. That's if we can find somewhere in the first place. Eurgh.

I have the intimidating task ahead of Easter holidays with Jody and Miles. It sounds mean to say this is intimidating, but any of you with small kids will know what I mean. I might be less intimidated if I hadn't spent large parts of the last two nights sitting upstairs with Miles willing him to sleep. The reserves I need to successfully entertain 12 hours non-stop for days in a row are more than the current sleepless nights are affording me. Added to which Jody has entered a particularly stubborn and obnoxious phase where she will ignore or contravene any instruction I give her. This is less serious when it relates to putting toys away or playing with her food; more serious when she turns to attacking Miles or touching hot saucepans. The best way of keeping this under control is to make sure she isn't bored, but you have to bear in mind that this toddler has the energy of about 15 of them put together. Unfortunately the way the kids' schedules are right now, Miles needs to sleep in the morning (even more so with the current streaming cold/teething mix), when Jody is at her most energetic. Nevertheless I'm anticipating going out on excursions every morning for the next fortnight, forfeiting his needs and thus procuring the very worst kind of overtired, frustrated baby (only marginally better than a bored, frustrated toddler). We're going to Shropshire for the Easter weekend (so you only need to feel sorry for me for two 4-day weeks) but it's still an alarming prospect.

Meanwhile I'm also hoping to catch up on my French course this Easter. I'm now running about half a textbook behind, and it's important that I make up the work so that when it comes to my next assessments, I've covered the material that will be expected of me. I received results for my first two assessments this week and was pleasantly surprised by both of them (particularly the oral mark), so I now have a standard to maintain!

As a birthday present to myself this week, I also got a new lens for my camera (from B&H Photo because despite paying customs duty on it, it was 20% cheaper and actually faster to order from there than UK photo stores). It's a fixed focal length 50mm which is only about 2.5" long, rather than 5". The idea is that I'll be able to take my camera out and about much more, given that it doesn't weigh so much or take up as much room. I'm not very good with the zoom anyway (though it is my best lens), because as well as considering the million other settings required for a well-balanced picture, I find working out what focal-length to use adds too much to the mix. I love my macro, but it's heavy and restrictive and when taking photos of the kids I often find I need to be so far away (it translates to a 160mm telephoto on my camera) that I get itchy feet. I don't promise good photos over the next few weeks, but I promise photos of sorts. Which is an improvement on the last few months, for sure.

The last couple of sunny days we've finally restarted the summer routine of spending time in the locked residents' park that we hung out in most of last summer. It's further away than our local playground, but the latter gets overrun by school kids from 3:15 so the residents' park is a much safer bet. It's also somewhere that Jody can run around freely (there's a large sandpit with abandoned toys, plenty of green grass and some fascinating 'jungle' to explore as well as a couple of swings and plenty of benches and trees). Although the park is large enough to easily lose sight of a toddler, it poses little danger and is fairly clean of dog poo and the like. Miles was a little baffled at the soft green crawling surface, but he took to it very well and did much less of the pick-up-and-eat thing than in the playground where little sticks and stones sitting on the rubberised tarmac are more noticeable and tempting. We have to abandon naps in order to make a good afternoon of it, but it's worth it for the payoff, and there are plenty of local mums amenable to going up there for some company. I can see us spending an awful lot of time there this year.

The flat purchase issue continues. The freeholder of the property we want to buy has refused to change the illogical clause in the lease, so our solicitor is finding out from the mortgage provider whether it really will be the problem she suspects. And she's doing this very very very slowly, as if our whole future didn't depend on it. Roj is confident that things will be resolved in the next few days but I'm starting to think that we have to redouble our efforts to look elsewhere for alternatives. We may even have to look at the rental market, though that's far from ideal in almost every respect.

Another French tutorial (poorly prepared-for) tomorrow, but not much else planned. Possibly another trip to the swimming pool. Possibly (and this is much more appealing) a whole lot of sleep. I need to build up the supply as much as possible to prepare myself ...

A great big Happy Birthday today to my gorgeous little boy. If only he hadn't been streaming from eyes, mouth and nose all day, he might have enjoyed it a little more. Quite amazing to think that there aren't any babies in this household any more, though Miles will probably be occupying the physical no-man's land between baby and toddler for quite some time. Still ... no rush.

Hard luck Cambridge (I didn't go down to the river this time around, since I couldn't face an afternoon of toddler-accident prevention on the overcrowded riverbank while Roj caught up with his erstwhile crewmates).

A much better start to this week with a brilliant morning today spent with Sabine helping each other out with our language learning. Just one 1.5-hour session seemed to be equivalent to about 10 Open University tutorials, for the amount I managed to learn and practice. Plus she seems to know exactly what to say to boost my confidence. In fact I found the harder part of the session to be correcting her English in a way that would be useful and constructive; she has enormous vocabulary and confidence so it's difficult to pin down the way to best help her. We will be continuing the 'lessons' on a weekly basis (though not during the holidays) so I have high hopes of improving quite rapidly. It was certainly inspiring to suddenly see what progress could be made under the right circumstances.

I then got back home to delivery of my new phone and, even better, an email from a friend saying she still has the baby photo of Miles that I was so sad to see disappearing with my stolen phone. Already things are looking up! Thank you Bams!

Things are a bit less positive on the flat-buying side, since an illogical clause in the lease has become a bit of a stumbling block. We should learn quite quickly what we need to do to resolve the issue, but the worst case scenario is that we cannot be approved for a mortgage and therefore cannot purchase. As the clause would affect any prospective buyer though, I am optimistic that the necessary amends will be made.

Tomorrow my little boy will be one. I can hardly believe it; it seems like only a couple of months ago that he was just a defenceless newborn and now he's crossing that border into toddlerdom (though not physically). I'm a little nostalgic for the infant years, but more excited about what's down the road: walking, talking and interacting more every day. He's an absolutely amazing little boy for sure; content, affectionate and steadfast. I hope he will grow up with the characteristics that make him so endearing now.