Mama's little baby loves shortnin', shortnin'...

Ella was six months old last week. How did she get here so quickly?! With Logan the early days really seemed to drag but this time round I can't believe she's so grown up already. She's already starting to lose her baby ways, sitting up, desperate to crawl.

And we've started weaning, which is such a milestone. So far so good! Ella has inherited the Stoddard appetite and hasn't turned her nose up at anything so far (although it's spinach tomorrow so we'll see!).

There's so much conflicting information out there about weaning. As with so much else around baby-rearing, numerous experts feel the need to weigh in with advice on how our children should be raised, creating yet another stick with which to beat new mothers (and fathers) over the head.

If you wean too early (before the magical six-month mark) or too late (after the magical six-month mark) you're risking dangerous food allergies or depriving your little one of essential nutrients which, if you believe some commentators, is tantamount to child abuse.

The thing is, every baby is different. They develop at different speeds, and what is right for one won't be right for another. The six-month marker is just a guideline; what's more important is knowing your child and recognising the cues she gives you that she is ready for food. Trust in your instincts and in yourself, because only you really know what your baby needs, and when.

Year of pleasures #10: Hanging out the washing

Photo by Logan (better than my effort!)

The sun shone long enough at the weekend to put some washing on the line instead of on the clothes horse in the hall.

It was a lovely five minutes of quiet pondering, basking in the warm sun, admiring my tulips which have burst into life in the past few weeks and just enjoying the spring.

Year of pleasures #9: trips home

I had a bad blog week last week and skipped one, I promise I'll be good from now on!

I live quite a way from my folks, not in American terms I guess but it's a good five-hour drive from our home in London to theirs in Durham, south east to north east - definitely too far to pop round the corner for a cuppa! So I don't get to visit very often, especially with the price of train tickets and two kids in tow.

It means that when I do go home I try to squeeze in as many people as possible. We were up for less than 48 hours last weekend but we still managed to see my parents, my brother, my gran and uncle, two of my close friends and our closest family friends too! It might have been a fleeting visit but it was full of laughter, slightly chaotic but lots of fun.

I've lived in London for ten and a half years, and before that I was at uni for four; Hull and Arizona will always feel like home to me too. But Durham, where I grew up, where my family comes from, holds a special place for me. I love going home, back to my mum and dad, to the house I grew up in, the places I grew up in. And it's more than that: the north east is part of my identity, central to me. I've always thought that home is the place I feel loved, that it could be anywhere on earth as long as I'm with people I love. But I never feel more at home than when I'm there.

Lent: A progress report

Sorry sorry sorry, I've been poor at blogging this past few weeks. Avoiding cake clearly gives me nothing to write about! Thought I'd give you a status report to get me going again.

I've actually surprised myself by sticking to Lent so far. Not that it's been too hard! It's not like I'm actually addicted to cake so I'm not having cravings the way I would if I'd given up, say, cigarettes. And I'm not having to avoid cake-based social situations the way I would if I gave up alcohol - I even managed lunch at a cake shop yesterday without having any! Yay me. And a weekend at home for family birthdays without eating cake, if only because there wasn't one (highly unusual in the Heslop household).

There are two reasons I've managed to avoid cake so far though.

1) There are myriad alternatives to cake that still fill the cake-shaped hole in my belly - so far I've had chocolate bars, caramel shortbread (biscuit), scone (savoury), rice crispie cake (not baked) and baklava (may be called a cake in Greek but as far as I'm concerned it's a pastry). I've not even had to resort to the emergency brownie option (borderline cake).

2) You don't have to observe Lent on Sundays. This amazing nugget of information came from my brother, who heard it on Songs of Praise (clearly an authorative source), and has been verified by at least one independent source since, so it must be true. From now until Easter, Sunday will officially be known as Cakeday in this house.

Let them eat cake (but not me)

Lent. Ah, Lent. I've written before about my strange attachment to giving something up each year. Maybe it's like setting a personal challenge, seeing how long I can abstain. Or maybe my willpower is so weak I need an added pressure to force myself to be sensible!

I thought about giving up alcohol again - I think it's the only time I've actually succeeded at Lent, if you discount the first half pint a couple of days in when I forgot I wasn't meant to be drinking - but I only have a couple of glasses a week, so it wouldn't be much of a challenge.

A few years ago I gave up sweet things, but the category was a bit broad and there were far too many caveats for my liking. So this year I've narrowed the field and I will be giving up cake. Yes, cake.

I know, I know, I eat so much and blog about it so often that surely there is no hope of success! But have faith, dear reader, Lent is after all only 40 days. I'll just have to avoid birthday parties and wear dark glasses when I take Ella to cafes. Easy...

Year of pleasures #8: Pancakes!

An easy one this week - savoury (butternut squash with courgette and Chinese leaf) or sweet (lime and sugar, sharper than lemon) I love pancakes.

I love the ritual, the simplicity - weighing and measuring, mixing, pouring, spin the pan, toss, done. Simple to make but change the filling and the possibilities are endless.

And I love the greater significance, the tradition, Shrove Tuesday, emptying the pantry before Lent. More ritual.

Happy pancake day!

The Haberdashery

I found another lovely teashop last week while I was out with Ella, this time in Crouch End (branching out!). The Haberdashery, on Middle Lane, has a really retro feel, a great selection of drinks (dandelion and burdock and beers as well as tea and coffee), delicious muffins (baked in little flowerpots) and a nice selection of handmade goods and art for sale, too. They even sell Ella's Organics baby food so definitely wee one friendly!

It was a bit of a random visit - James McAvoy was in there with his little boy and the owner was being interviewed by a reviewer, so I did a good bit of eavesdropping! - but even on a normal day I'm sure it still has the same relaxed, welcoming vibe. We'll definitely be popping in again next time we go for a wander.

Year of pleasures #7: Snowdrops

Flash of green and white
Tiny harbingers of Spring
Heralding the sun

The Oscars

I've been catching up with the Oscars on the official site (I love you Michelle Williams but really, could you be any more bored during your red carpet interview?). It seems like it was a decent show, I loved the intro (a bit cheesy but you have to cut them some slack, it's the Oscars!). There were some loverly frocks too, more of which later.

So I didn't do too badly with my predictions - I should have had more faith in The King's Speech to fly the British flag though! By my reckoning I got 15 right. Not too shabby.

Oscar predictions

The Academy Awards are finally here! I'll probably spend the next 48 hours alternating between frustration at not being able to watch it (curse you Murdoch, curse you!) and desperate scrabbling on the web and TV for info on the winners and losers (of the awards and in the dress stakes).

This year there should be few surprises for the major awards, so I'm not going out on a limb here, but for form's sake these are my predictions (use the Datablog's handy guide to make yours).

Best actor: Colin Firth (but I'd rather James Franco)
Best actress: Natalie Portman (not seen it but surely deserves it for what she put herself through)

Supporting actor: Christian Bale (can he share it with John Hawkes please?)
Supporting actress: Melissa Leo (brilliant)

Best director: The Social Network (why oh why wasn't 127 Hours nominated?)
Best picture: The Social Network
Animated film: Toy Story 3
Foreign Film: In a Better World

Adapted screenplay: The Social Network
Original screenplay: The King's Speech

Original score: The Social Network (go Trent Reznor!)
Original Song: If I Rise (Randy Newman has too many Oscars already)

Documentary: Inside Job (but I think Banksy would make for better TV)
Documentary short: Strangers No More

Short animation: The Gruffalo
Short live action: God of Love

Art direction: Inception
Cinematography: Inception
Editing: The King's Speech

Costume: The King's Speech
Makeup: The Wolfman (because B-movies deserve credit too)

Sound editing: True Grit
Sound mixing: True Grit
Visual effects: Inception

Year of pleasures #6: The kindness of strangers

I had a run-in with a bus driver a few days ago. I won't go into the gory details but suffice to say he must have been off the day they had their customer service training!

With hindsight, I'm a little bit mortified that I argued back at him, and let him upset me (crying in public, the horror!). I might have started to doubt myself, think I was making a fuss over nothing (which was clearly his opinion), if it hadn't been for the other passengers on the bus.

When he refused to give me his driver number, two elderly ladies pointed out the bus registration number and joked that they'd be in trouble next. When he yelled at me to sit down or get off the bus, a woman seated just behind him called TfL to report him. Another passenger gave me her number in case I needed a witness.

I don't want to get all over-emotional, but they turned a shitty experience into less of one, and gave me the confidence to report him, so this week I salute small acts of kindness.

Pretty little teasets

I popped into Drink Shop & Do yesterday after lunch with Helen and Barry at Camino (great tapas btw). I managed to avoid the cakes for once and followed the 'shop' rule instead.

They have a lovely collection of tea towels, and some quirky little brooches made from retro crockery. But what really caught my eye was a range of cups, saucers and teapots by Ali Miller. Miller takes vintage ceramics and 'upcycles' them, incorporating her own designs to breathe new life into neglected objects.

I like the bug-painted butter dish but my favourite is the butterfly teapot. Beautiful, I wish I'd seen it last month so I could have added it to my birthday wishlist!

Year of pleasures #5: A night out down the pub with your mates

I've been out quite a bit recently, at least more than the previous four or five months! This week it was my wonderous no-longer-colleague Holly's leaving do, at the Queen's Head near Kings Cross.

The beer was good (Redemption Hopspur) and served in a proper pint pot, the pub was impressive (there's a real ale festival there next weekend, lots of whiskies if that's how you roll) and there were loads of friends there, some who I see often and some I hadn't seen for years. There was even a swing/jazz pianist.

If it hadn't been that Holly is abandoning me it would have been the perfect sort of pub night out! A random coming-together of people, ideas and slightly drunken rambling. Lovely.

Fried egg cake anyone?

My lovely bro made me a birthday cake but because it had to travel he didn't decorate it. I think his plan was to sprinkle it with icing sugar but i couldn't resist decorating it with Logan! We were aiming for spots, but I inadvertently discovered how to create icing fried eggs. Oops...

Year of pleasures #4: Birthday treats

I turned 33 this week, a bit of a non-birthday numbers wise but it has a nice ring to it so I'm excited to see what the year of 33 brings. The last four or five years have been pretty significant, what with babies and weddings and the like, so maybe this will be a bit calmer and more settled!

I've had lots of treats this week. We had a Sunday pub lunch at the Maid of Muswell with some good friends (delicious, and the veggie option still includes gravy and Yorkshire pud, result).

Mark took my birthday off and we had a fun morning at home with Logan then dropped him off at nursery and watched The Fighter at the baby club at Screen on the Green (more boxing than I expected, which sounds daft I know, but some brilliant performances and the whole cast were marvellous), followed by a yummy burger at Byron and Ottolenghi cupcakes with Anna and Lucy.

Then I hotfooted it to the SLA Winter Warmers pub quiz with Team Gav. Lots of fun, it's so long since I had a proper night down the pub! The last few rounds were tense but we triumphed in the end, hurrah! I managed to carry the bottle of cava (and the library textbook!) home on the tube without dropping it, too.

Mum and Dad are staying with us so Mark and I had a rare night out last night. We pushed the boat out and had a proper posh dinner at Oxo Tower on the South Bank. What an experience! I think I managed to hide my excitement quite well, but I'm not sure I was quite nonchalant enough to look like I was a regular! I love the atmosphere there, the service and the view of St Paul's. The food was delicious - pumpkin gnocchi with goats cheese, truffle potato blinis with wild mushrooms and watercress and orange salad, and the chocolate plate (four different desserts, all yummy but not sure about the odd caviar-like balls).

Of course we had to have cocktails to start (dark and stormys), a bottle of wine with dinner (Dog Point sauvignon blanc from New Zealand) and port to finish... It would be fair to say I felt a little rough in the taxi on the way home but luckily Ella didn't wake up until 6.30am so I had a chance to recover. It was a really special night and it's a good job because for that price we won't be going out again this year!

We did go for lunch with mum and dad, Aunty Celia and Uncle Nick today though. We don't see Ciss and Nick nearly enough, so it was lovely to catch up with all the family gossip over a long lunch at Souk, in Seven Dials. It's one of my favourite restaurants - the food is really good (couscous, tagines, baklava and sweet mint tea), but it's the atmosphere that I really love, it's so theatrical, just like being in a Moroccan souk (I'd imagine!). And it doesn't cost half a month's salary either (I hate being on maternity pay).

Year of pleasures #3: Family

I've been thinking a lot about family recently. My Grandpa wrote a kind of memoir about his ancestors and his life many years ago, and I'm in the process of typing it up digitally (it was written in the days before PCs, before word processors too, so he wrote the entire thing using a good old-fashioned typewriter). It's absolutely fascinating - I knew certain anecdotes about my dad's family, knew where people fitted into my family tree, the bare bones of the story, but now it's all coming to life. I feel closer to my ancestors, part of an ongoing narrative.

It's been a sad few weeks as well - Mark's Nanna passed away after months of ill-health, and it's the funeral tomorrow. Everyone grieves in their own way, but for me, as well as sadness, I feel the need to celebrate life too. It's made me think about the nature of family, and want to be close to mine so I can appreciate what they give me.

So this week's pleasure is my family; the family I was born into, the one I married and the one we've made for ourselves.

Year of pleasures #2: Oscars season

I love the Oscars. I used to stay up all night to watch, when it was on the BBC, with a big bowl of popcorn and a few drinks to get me through until 6am. Now it's on Sky (grr) I have to rely on the web, 24 hour news channels and BBC Breakfast the morning after. I get a lot more sleep but it's nowhere near as exciting as watching it live, unedited and unpolished. Even though the Baftas has ramped up the glamour in recent years, no other award ceremony can quite hold a candle to the Oscars.

Nominations were released today, and while there's always a chance that the Academy could vote against the grain, so far Colin Firth (The King's Speech - the Academy likes an impediment) and Natalie Portman (Black Swan - physically demanding role) look like shoo-ins for the best acting prizes.

I may be on maternity leave but in my absence one of my colleagues is keeping an eye on the nominees and winners of all the major trophies this awards season. Before you make your Oscars predictions check out the form of all the nominees on the Datablog.

I want Karl Lagerfeld's library

I wonder if he needs a librarian?

http://thehairpin.com/2011/01/karl-lagerfelds-library/

Year of pleasures #1

My old college friend (and now baby and blog friend) Aimee pinched this idea from her friend, who pinched it from Elizabeth Berg, and now I'm pinching it from her. The idea is to blog once a week or so on something that makes you happy, or that you're grateful for, as a way of looking on the bright side. It may be a little bit 'self-help book' for your tastes but I like the idea so tough cookies.

So I'll start with an obvious one - my two babies - who are happy (most of the time) and healthy (if a little snotty at the moment) and generally adorable (puke, right?). Logan told me last week, "I love Ella so much, I want to cuddle her all day and kiss her all day." I melt.

Pretty as a picture

I had lunch in a new vegan cafe in Kings Cross today, really a lounge downstairs in the Secret Society of Vegans shop. I had a very tasty vegan Cornish pasty, and they have an impressive flavoured coffee menu (my marshmallow soya decaf latte didn't taste much of marchmallow or of coffee, but I've got a cold so maybe I'm being harsh). The staff are lovely, and even managed to manhandle Ella's buggy down the stairs. Bought a box of delicious cookies for Logan while I was there (vegan food being handily egg-free).

The space is also used for exhibitions, and the one today - Stitches, by Raquel J Alves - was excellent. I had one of those crafty, handmade "Why can't I do that?" moments. Alves creates 'needle paintings' on canvas, creating images with stitching, painting and collage that are really quite lovely to look at. Want one (or three).