May 31, 2003
7am came round all too early after the previous night's blowout. I managed to distract Nova with telly for a half hour or so. With a mixture of mother's intuition and sheer persistence, I managed to locate the Tubbies on the outer reaches of the satellite TV channels, and now know that German teletubbies say "winke, winke" instead of "bye bye". We were in the breakfast room by 8:30am. Nova has embraced German cuisine in a big way -- deli meat, sausages, cheese, bread, soft pretzels, and cake are all right up her alley -- and she ate her body weight in breakfast, while her groggy parents sucked back cups of coffee, before setting off for another day of seeing the sights of Berlin.

We'd planned to visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, but what with the hordes of ecumenicals and football fans, it just wasn't feasible. We walked along Unter den Linten to the Museumsinsel instead, and checked out Berlin Cathedral, which was also full of ecumenicals playing brass instruments... Ambled along to Hackescher Markt, where we stopped for lunch in a restaurant on the square. We sat in the little beer garden at the back, and enjoyed wonderful pints of Wiehenstephan, a beer from what claims to be the world's oldest brewery. Wiehenstephan. Nova ate most of my bratwurst, leaving me with a mound of sauerkraut for lunch. She spent a contented hour climbing a flight of stairs next to our table, and paying visits to the other diners. When it was time to go, she made an exit befitting a queen, waving at each of the tables in turn, and saying things like, "Bye bye people, bye bye friends, bye bye more people."

While Nova dozed in her pushchair, we walked through Prenslauer Berg, stopping for an iced coffee. We bought fixings for Nova's dinner at a local market, and fed her back in the suite, then bathed and settled her for the night. We'd arranged a babysitter through the hotel, and when she arrived we headed off to meet Carol and Scott for dinner in a local pizza restaurant, followed by coffee in a place called Hefners. We headed back to ours at about 11:30 to relieve the sitter, and finish off the gin. By the time Carol and Scott left at 1:30am (for a techno club) I was prostrate on the couch. It's been great seeing them again -- it makes me sad to think of the family and friends on the other side of the world we seldom get to see. One thing about a good friendship though, within minutes it felt like the most natural thing in the world to be hanging out together...

May 30, 2003
The alarm went off at 5am. We rolled out of bed, put on the clothes we'd left out the night before, transferred our bags to the car, bundled a sleepy Nova into her carseat with a jam-smeared ricecake, and were on the road about 5:15. It was just as well we got away so promptly, because it wasn't one of those smooth airport experiences... The credit card we'd used to book the tickets had been unexpectedly cancelled, which caused confusion at check-in; the first cash machine I tried was out of money and the second refused rejected my request, leaving me to wonder if the bank had cancelled our debit cards as well; Nova threw a massive tantrum in the newsagents, the departure gate for our flight was so far from the terminal, I'm surprised the flight time wasn't reduced. But, as always, eventually you're on the plane, strapped into your seats, and there's nothing to be done -- or worried about -- any more.

The flight took little more than an hour, but there was a bit of delay getting through passport control, which is unusual these days on flights to EU destinations. Nova was tired and restless, and acted up in the line. To my utter disbelief and mortification, she actually reached up and grabbed the man behind us by the balls. He'd just been telling us how he had a two-and-a-half-year-old son, and he took it in his stride, but I have no idea what possessed her (possibly a demon?)... She was being so disruptive that the other passengers unanimously suggested we move to the front of the queue, an offer we accepted gratefully and slunk out of there.

We took a local bus into town. It was difficult finding accommodation, as our visit coincided with a world ecumenical convention, the German football final, and some big government event. But in the event, our hotel --the Hotel Askanischer Hof, on the Ku'damm -- was marvellous. It was a small first floor hotel, with only thirty rooms. We'd booked the suite, which turned out to be huge, with 20' ceilings, massive Prussian furniture, luxurious bathroom, and little balcony overlooking the courtyard. Nova had fallen asleep on the walk down the Ku'damm, and ended up napping in her pushchair for an hour and a half.

When Nova woke up went for lunch at a local cafe, where we shared a salad and a pizza. It was a beautiful hot sunny day, what Wade would call a "blue blazer", and we pretty much spent the afternoon walking -- up the Ku'damm to the zoo, the whole length of the Tiergarten (which is massive) to the Brandenburg Gate, around the Reichstag, then down Unter den Linden, before our legs gave out, and we caught a bus back to the Ku'damm. It was time for Nova's dinner, and we hadn't managed to buy any food for her meal. The Ku'damm isn't the kind of street to buy groceries (a Chanel suit, Hermes bag, or Cartier watch wouldn't have been a problem). Nova ended up having her first ever McDonalds meal, which she snarfed down like a pro...

We'd had no success getting in touch with our friends Carol and Scott (the main reason for this weekend break). I was starting to think it was going to go down in history of our friendship as, "Remember that time you flew to Berlin to meet us and you got the dates mixed up? (we gave you the wrong contact number/we were actually in Paris/insert reason for screw-up?) But minutes after we got back to the hotel, they called our room. They came round with bottles of gin and tonic, and we had a great evening catching up. They left about 2:30am, and we staggered off to bed. Carol and Scott have always been nightowls, and I was a confirmed early bird well before Nova came on the scene. It's a quite an achievement that we've been able to build such an enduring friendship when so few hours of our day overlap...

May 29, 2003
After breakfast Nova and I headed up to Finchley for my eye appointment. I dropped Nova off at Beulah's, and walked to the optometrist, dragging my feet the whole way. I dread going to the optometrist the way other people dread the dentist. I can still remember back to fourth grade, standing in line waiting for my turn to read the letter chart, knowing I wouldn't be able to do it. When it was my turn, Patty Carmichael, who was standing behind me tried whispering the letters to me to repeat. We couldn't have been that successful, because within days I'd visited the optometrist to be fitted for glasses, and it's been downhill progression ever since. But for the first time ever, my eyesite has actually improved. I asked my optometrist if this was because I was hitting middle age, but, gratifyingly, she thought that I was about ten years too young for that to be happening.

We're off to Berlin first thing tomorrow. For various reasons, the trip has been on, then off, then on again... It's never possible to get much done before Nova goes to bed, and for some reason, she was very difficult to settle tonight. I took three sessions of cuddling (and a hefty dose of Calpol) before I finally managed to get her down at 9pm. We both have dreadful colds, and I think those top molars are still bothering her... We managed to pack all our belongings into hand luggage, and bustled about doing all those going away things -- cancelling the milk, watering the plants, taking out the compost, etc -- until about 11pm.

May 28, 2003
Pascale is on holiday in Italy this week, so we had to rely on family for alternative childcare arrangements. Nova spent yesterday with Antonia -- Adam drove her down there after breakfast, left the car, and took the Tube to work. In the afternoon I took the tube to Tufnell Park to pick her up, then drove home. It sounds like things went pretty well. Nova was a bit clingy when Adam left her, but soon settled down. Antonia took the kids to a local playgroup for the morning, and to the park as well. She even managed to settle her for a nap. Nova was pretty happy to see me, but that's to be expected, and when we left she said, "Bye bye, 'Tonia, bye bye Ollie friend," which was very sweet.

Today it was Beulah's turn. We followed the same drill as yesterday -- Adam drove her up there, left the car and took the Tube, and I did the same in reverse in the afternoon. By all accounts, the day was a success. Beulah took her on outings to Waitrose, and the local park, and had no trouble around meals or naps. It can't have been too stressful for Beulah, as she offered to look after Nova for an hour tomorrow while I get my eyes tested, although she did find the repeat readings of "Fox in Socks" pretty wearing... (In my opinion, some of the tongue twisters in that book that are actually impossible to say: "Six sick bricks tick, six sick chicks tock", anyone?)

May 25, 2003
I'm feeling terrible today. It's not drinking related -- I got away with it last night for some reason. But Nova's nasty cough has finally caught up with me, and my sinuses are plugged as well. But the real kicker is the nine canker sores that have appeared on my tongue and the roof of my mouth. Those tiny little sores that you can barely see but hurt like crazy? Well you can see these ones -- they're all at least the size of sesame seeds, and the largest one on the tip of my tongue is as big as a lentil. They showed up yesterday afternoon, and by bedtime my tongue was throbbing in pain. (I woke up several times in the night with my eyes watering after catching my tongue on the edge of my teeth.) It's difficult to convey how incredibily painful it is without sounding like I'm going into grandiose...

We were supposed drive to Jules and Mary's today to meet baby Rollo, but I shouldn't be within a hundred feet of a newborn baby, so it'll have to be a pleasure deferred...

May 24, 2003
Nova slept in until 8am this morning, but unfortunately Oliver woke up at 6am... He was feeling a bit mimpy, and I sat and cuddled him for a half an hour or so. I was still holding him when Adam brought sleepyhead Nova upstairs. I felt guilty sitting there with another baby in my lap, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Antonia had packed Ollie's OshKosh overalls, and I dressed Nova in her pair as well -- they made a pretty cute matching set. I even managed to take a couple of photos of them sitting together, although it was a challenge to snap a shot where both were looking at the camera and one or the other didn't have a finger up their nose.

We had yet another dinner party planned for tonight. Our friend Ben is probably the best cook I know -- he's passionate about food, and endlessly inventive in the kitchen. We've had some of the most amazing meals round at his house, and we always try to make a bit of an effort when we cook for him. Usually I'd have settled on the menu a couple of days before, and possibly even started on the cooking, but it just hasn't been that kind of week. We didn't even discuss the evening's menu until after lunch, and it was 1:30pm by the time Adam and Nova went off to do the shopping. We tried to get most of the preparation out of the way in the afternoon, as Ben and Pogel were arriving in time to see Nova before she went down. The performance she staged for their benefit won't have done much to urge them down the road to parenthood. She threw an outrageous tantrum when I tried to brush her teeth, spat her cough syrup down the front of her pajamas, and flung her bedtime story across the room. Of course, once they'd retreated upstairs to settle their nerves, she was sweetness and light itself.

We started things off with a cocktail called a Tatanka -- fresh apple juice, bison grass vodka and mint. They'd bought a bottle of cava, so we drank that too... For starters, Adam and I had put in an eventful half hour assembling Vietnamese salad rolls with a hoisin based dipping sauce. They were delicious, if a little loosely rolled. The main course was steamed halibut steaks with a sweet-hot-sour sauce, Thai rice, and grilled asparagus. There were two desserts on offer: vanilla terrine with a blackberry-gin coulis, and a chocolate-fruit slice that was my back-up position if the terrine didn't set in time. All in all, it was an amazingly good meal -- one of those occasions when the kitchen gods smile on you.

May 23, 2003
Oddly enough, I'm not feeling very good this morning... I actually took a couple of paracetemol, which is something I rarely do. The weather was just awful. The sky would clear for a few minutes, and I'd start thinking about taking Nova to the playground, then the rain would start belting down again. We had an indoor day, with books and colouring and videos and games and watering the plants on the balcony (it'll be a miracle if the poor things don't drown this summer...) I was pretty keen for Nova to have her nap, but I guess she hadn't burned off enough energy, because she wouldn't settle.

It was our turn to have Oliver this evening -- Antonia brought him round after dinner. I'd mentioned it to Nova in the afternoon and she really wasn't keen. A couple of hours after our conversation, she turned to me and said, "No! No! NO!!" "What, love?" I asked. "No Ollie!" she said. She wasn't best pleased when he arrived, and was a bit difficult to put down, which almost never happens. Oh well, I'm sure she'll adapt in time...

May 22, 2003
Pasc agreed to take Nova for the morning while I went to the hospital for a blood test. Nova wasn't very happy with the plan, and my last impression was her tear-streaked, bawling face through the back window as Pasc drove off to Brent Cross with her and Fay. By all accounts she settles right down as soon as I'm out of sight, but it breaks my heart to leave her when she carries on like that.

We had Jane and Nick coming round for dinner this evening. In the usual London fashion it had been arranged weeks in advance, and although I wasn't feeling very good I didn't want to cancel. They'd offered to do the starter and dessert, so it wasn't that much work. After I finished at the hospital I drove to Muswell Hill and bought some beautiful sea bass fillets from the fishmonger,and the herbs I needed for a salsa verde. Once Nova was down for the evening, I whizzed up a salsa verde in the food processor (large bunch parsley, large bunch basil, handful of mint, 100g anchovies, 100g capers, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper), baked the fish with a little vermouth, roasted the potatoes in olive oil and salt, and threw together a cherry tomato/basil/pinenut salad. They arrived about 8:30pm, and fortified with a stiff gin and tonic got to work in the kitchen. We started with a warm vegetable salad, followed with the fish, and ended with cantaloupe, raspberry sauce and greek yogurt, and some banana bread that Nova and I had made earlier. We had a really nice evening, and it was almost 1am by the time we saw them off in a taxi, which is pretty good going for a Thursday night...

May 20, 2003
I attended a conference in Westminster on e-health today. It wasn't actually all that relevant to my job but it interesting nevertheless, and a chance to place the work our agency does in the wider context of the NHS and its goals.

Dave came round for dinner this evening. He brought Nova a terrific new Maisy book. She was thrilled with the book, but wouldn't give him the time of day, except to drag his coat over to him and pointedly say "bye bye", which was funny but a bit embarrassing as well, as she used to be very keen on him when he lived with us.

I cooked a kind of Turkish meal: grilled halloumi with chilli oil, tabbouleh salad, and lentil soup, nothing very complicated. As always, Dave brought along some new CDs. One called 'The Transfiguration of Vincent' by M. Ward was terrific, and had the most haunting version of David Bowie's "Let's Dance" on it. I've already ordered a copy from Amazon...

May 19, 2003
I found out this morning that my job in the new organisation should be secure. The official announcement isn't until Thursday, and there is a consultation period after that where things could conceivably change, but at the moment I am being slotted into the web services team as there is a job in that team that is an 80% match with my current job description, and will likely have some line management responsibility as well.

This afternoon I spoke to the nurse who ordered my blood tests -- everything they tested is completely normal, which is good news I guess, although in a way if they found something wrong perhaps it would point to a solution. Still waiting on the results of Adam's repeat sperm test...

May 18, 2003
Nova came out with her longest ever sentence this morning. It was:

"Out blanket Daddy walking 'bix", by which she meant, "Get your ass out of bed, Dad, and go upstairs and make my Wheatabix." Bless...

May 17, 2003
Today was a day for parties. Nova was invited to Fay's birthday party after all. There was a "princesses and fairies" theme so we dressed her up in her fairy dress and spotted tights before setting off. By the time the party was in full swing, there were about a dozen kids ranging in age from five to one tearing about the place. Pasc managed to herd them all together for the food, where Nova worked her way quietly through four little sandwiches, a bag of crisps, two mini sausages, a mini sausage roll, a few cherry tomatoes, olives and carrot sticks. She wasn't that keen on the chocolate cake for some reason, but mommy was happy to help her with that.

Back home in the afternoon, Adam watched the FA Cup final, which Arsenal won handily. We set off for Trevor's 30th birthday barbeque immediately after, and Adam tooted the horn the length of the Holloway Road in celebration. Nova had a great time at the barbeque, eating lots of snacks, and racing around. She was the only kid there -- that's what happens when you hang out with 30-year-olds...

We left when Nova started to flag, at about 8:45pm. They hadn't managed to barbeque anything as yet -- still waiting for the briquettes to reach optimum condition. I can't count the number of British barbeques I've been to where the food arrives hours later than scheduled. The guest are all sitting around in the evening chill, hungry and drunk, queasy from citronella fumes, and irritable from lack of food and mosquito bites. "I think these are ready!" cries the host, with forced jollity verging on hysteria, and plunks down a plate with six half charred veggie burgers in front of ten mutinous guests. It just doesn't seem to be a British strength, barbequing and the weather is almost always against you (tonight's barbeque being no exception)... Trevor and Marni, being Canadian, had the good sense to stuff their guests full of spinach dip, guacamole, smoked salmon bruschetta, tortilla chips, mango salsa and so on, so we didn't leave hungry...

We'd been invited to a party at Rob and Jemima's that evening, and had thought we might attend in shifts, but by the time we'd settled Nova, made a cup of tea and put our feet up, the thought of taking them down again just seemed too much effort. That's middle age for you, I guess... ;-)

May 16, 2003
Took Nova over to Antonia and Doron's after dinner. She wasn't that keen on the idea -- when I told her where we were going she said, "No 'Tonia, No Ollie, No Doron!" very emphatically. She was quite clingy for the first little while, but eventually she climbed off my lap and started playing with Oliver's toys. I changed her into her pajamas and settled her in the cot before leaving this time. She still wasn't thrilled with the situation, but she seemed resigned.

Drove up to Winchmore Hill to view the results of last weekend's photo session. The photographer had picked out the best shots and put together a slide show on his computer. They were all really nice, but the prices were pretty steep. We're going to have a think about it before making a decision.

After the photo viewing, Adam and I went for dinner at an Indian restaurant we'd read about in nearby Palmer's Green. The food pretty good -- in fact their breads were without a doubt the best Indian breads I've ever eaten. But Friday night in Palmer's Green is a pretty depressing scene. There were four other couples in the place, but the atmosphere was completely dead, and eight heads all swivelled to stare at us as we walked in. They were the kind of people it depresses you to realise are about your age -- they just looked so dull and middle aged (it makes you wonder, "Do we look like that?), and the snatches of whispered conversations I overheard only confirmed the impression: a disagreement over the garage door opener, a long tedious discussion about whether this prawn curry was hotter than last time, yada yada yada, and the wife wasn't going to eat any more or "she'd be up all night". Suddenly the husband was overcome with a fit of sneezing. He sneezed and sneezed and sneezed. All the heads swivelled to stare, and after a few minutes he lumbered off to the loo, where we could all hear him sneezing through the flimsy partition wall. It was a pretty dismal scene...

May 15, 2003
Nova and I did some baking today -- a recipe for something called Grasmere gingerbread, which was apparently Ruskin's favourite. It's very easy and nice:

250g flour
125g light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
150g lightly salted butter, melted

Mix the dry ingredients to a dough with the melted, tepid butter. Spread into a square pan lined with baking parchment, and press down lightly. Bake at 350F until golden brown. Cut into oblong biscuits and let cool in the pan.

Nova was a big help, in charge of pouring, stirring and quality control (ie, tasting) both before and after baking!

May 14, 2003
I've been sick for the last three days, doing my best to fight off Nova's cold. Actually today I'm starting to feel a little better. My sinuses aren't so painfully stuffed, my throat no longer hurts, my voice is returning, and it looks like I may have avoided a chest infection...

London seems to have a cold as well. It's been grey and dreary and drizzly and cold enough to turn the heat on in the evening and bring a hot water to bed at night. It's been difficult to get it right in terms of what to wear. Monday morning was bright and sunny and I set off to work in a pair of sandals. My feet were freezing by the time I got to work, and when I went out at lunch time I got caught in a torrential downpour. Tuesday I wore closed toe shoes, but gambled on a jean jacket, and again I got drenched. Today I wore closed toe shoes, a turtleneck sweater, and a trenchcoat and for once the rain held off.

May 11, 2003
Happy Mother's Day, all you Canadian moms!
Eytan, Dina and Ben came round for a pancake breakfast this morning. It's not that common a breakfast in the UK -- you'd have to search to find a greasy spoon that served pancakes, it's all eggs, beans, sausage and tomato round here. We've been getting into socialising in the morning lately -- it works well with kids, who are generally at their best in the morning.

Had a pretty relaxed afternoon after they left. I didn't have the energy for anything else -- I seem to be coming down with Nova's cold. Before she came into my life, I could go for months and months without a sniffle. I've got the constitution of an ox and am a confirmed hand washer (it's the first thing I do when I get to the office, or home from work in the evening) and that seemed to be enough to see off all must the toughest bugs. But Nova and I are in such close contact -- I wipe her nose, share my waterglass, and receive lots of lovely wet kisses -- and when she comes down with something I'm generally not far behind. By dinnertime my sinuses were stuffed, my head was pounding, and my voice was down around my ankles.

May 10, 2003
Oliver actually outslept Nova last night. Not like he slept in or anything -- he was rarin' to go at 6:45am. Unfortunately Nova seems to be coming down with a cold as well as the teething, and she just didn't have a good night. She was awake by 6:15am. I took her upstairs to avoid disturbing Oliver. After their wheatabix, they pootled around the livingroom, squabbling over toys mainly, although there were a couple of golden moments when they actually played together. They actually spent about ten minutes tossing a ball back and forth to each other, and had a great time pressing their faces up against opposite sides of the glass wall at the top of the stairs.

In the afternoon, the Garfunkel clan met in Winchmore Hill for a photo session that Beulah had arranged. We dressed Nova in her best frock (a smocked blue gingham number from Jules and Mary -- where else?), but there was no controlling the crazy, fly-away fluff that is her hair, or disguising the fact that her nose was chapped and red and streaming like a tap. The photographer was a real pro, and managed to contain the two toddlers in group poses long enough to take his shots. He met his Waterloo when he tried to take a picture of the two grandkids (although his idea of popping them both into a box was a good one) and the pose with grandparents and grandchildren was a complete non-starter. We go back next Friday to see how it all turned out...

Back for tea at Freddy and Beulah's afterwards, where Nova ate five tea sandwiches, two coffee cakes, and a quarter of a scone. Home to a quiet evening in front of the telly, and early to bed.

May 9, 2003
Got an email today with the first pictures of Jules and Mary's new baby boy. Rollo was born on May 6, at the healthy weight of 7lbs 5oz, which is great news! Mary has had such a tough time with this pregnancy...

Popped in for a cup of tea with Pascale this morning. Fay was slumped on the sofa in her pink wedding dress with her dummy in her mouth and a big scowl on her face -- it would have made a great photo -- post-birthday blues, perhaps?

We have Oliver this evening -- Doron and Antonia brought him round after supper. We tried to give the two kids a bath together, but Nova wasn't having any of it. She'd passed on her nap this afternoon, and had been getting increasingly ratty as the day went on. I got her down about 7pm, and Antonia settled Oliver about 7:30pm. We put him down in the flat this time with a monitor. After they left, he made a couple of little grumbles, after which we didn't hear a peep out of him (aside from some racking coughs).

May 7, 2003
Today is my only day in the office this week. Fortunately it's quite slow at the moment, so I don't feel hopelessly behind although I had a lot of emails to get through.

It's Fay's third birthday today, and Pascale called me at work to invite us round for a piece of cake after supper tonight. Spent my lunch break putting together a little present for her. It was pretty slim pickings around there -- it's mostly chemist shops, clothing and office supply stores and news agents, and she ended up with a Tweenies doll, a little plastic chicken that laid candy eggs, a Blues Clues magazine and bag of malteesers. Fay was giddy with the excitement and power of being the birthday girl. She tore through our gift bag in seconds. She was pretty pleased with the Tweenies doll, but her favourite present was a three year old sized, pink, frothy wedding dress with full veil, which she hadn't removed since opening it this morning. She's a very big girl for her age, and seems like she'd be a tomboy, but in fact she's a real girly girl, and loves dresses, jewellery, handbags and dolls. When Pasc painted her nails for a wedding last week, Fay said, "Mommy, your nails are pretty, beautiful and lovely!" Part of the reason Pascale invited us round this evening, was because she wasn't planning to invite Nova to the actual party next weekend with Fay's older nursery friends. She thought that Fay would probably ignore her when she had older kids around. I said I thought Nova wouldn't mind either way, and if she did come to the party she'd probably just do her own thing.

May 5, 2003
I was still feeling a bit guilty about forgetting to feed Mr Christmas, so after breakfast we went round to Pete and Pasc's, made ourselves some coffee and had a proper visit with the little guy. At least that was our intention...The poor cat stuck it out for a while, but eventually Nova's over-exuberant attempts at affection were too much for him. He scrambled out the cat flap and sat on the pavement outside, looking in at us through the glass door.

In the afternoon we went sofa shopping on Tottenham Court Road. For whatever reason, we've bought very little furniture, and what most of what we do own is IKEA flatpack. I was surprised at how different the various sofas felt. After today, I'd never buy a sofa I hadn't sat on first. After visiting about a dozen places two clear favourites emerged: this beautiful, Italian-made job and an almost-as-nice one in Habitat that cost about £1400 pounds less. We went home to ponder the purchase a little more and to measure the doors to make sure we can get them into the livingroom... Dinner was cannellini bean puree with steamed greens and the Moroccan sweet potato salad that we love.

May 4, 2003
Mr Christmas was more starved for company than cat food when I went round this morning, so I don't imagine we've done him any lasting harm. I'm glad cats can't talk though because I don't think I'll be mentioning this little slip-up to Pasc...

We were meant to have our friend Wendy round for dinner on Saturday night (her husband Adriano is down in London for an operation, and she's been staying in a B&B in Harrow with their baby) but she had to go back to Scotland a couple of days earlier than planned. We also arranged something with Pete and Liana for Sunday night, but Pete's developed an abscessed tooth and they cried off. So from having quite a busy social weekend, we were left with no social engagements, which allowed for some sponteneity. It was a beautiful day, and we decided to go to the zoo. We were practically the first people through the turnstiles, and it was blissfully quiet as we walked round the exhibits. The gorillas were on good form, enjoying their breakfast, and the monkeys were swinging about and chasing one another. Other highlights were two Bactrian camels that were half way through moulting their fur coats, a pygmy hippo, and the long-legged wolf. We went to the children's zoo, where Nova was pretty wary of the sheep, unmoved by the adorable pig and week-old piglets, but quite taken by the baby chicks. She enjoyed the penguins as well, but wanted me to get the penguin's ball for her, and got quite stroppy when I wouldn't...

There was a bouncy castle set up for £1 a turn, and Nova was keen to try it. She was the youngest one having a go, and a bit wary of the older kids, but really enjoyed it once I joined her. There is a great playground as well, and she had endless goes on various ladders and slides. We bought sandwiches for lunch, then Nova had a go on the merry-go-round and a whole Smarties ice lolly to herself before we headed for home. Did some gardening while she napped, and managed to plant the lettuces and peas. This evening, instead of a dinner party we had an ironing marathon. We took it in turns to iron 10 pieces, before swapping station. It took three and a half hours but we got through all 80 pieces of ironing...

May 3, 2003
Doron and Antonia had Nova last night, and Adam and I made the most of it with a night out at the theatre. We left Antonia to put Nova down for the night, and took the tube into the West End to see 'Through the Leaves' with Simon Callow (the guy who dies in Four Weddings and a Funeral) and Anne Mitchell (who I recognised but couldn't think from where). It was about a romance between two people in their 50s -- an independent female butcher and a layabout of a man. It wasn't the best play I've ever seen (as Adam said, there were no insights into the challenges of such a relationship, or even human nature), but it was excellently performed, and Simon Callow got his kit off and revealed a most impressive shlong, so I suppose we got our money's worth... ;-) After the show ended, we walked along to Aldwich and had dinner at Bank, which is apparently the closest London gets to approximating the great brasseries of Paris. I could see what they meant -- it is a huge, impressive space, and when full it would have a real buzz. They open at 7am for breakfast and don't stop serving until 11:30pm, and it seems like the sort of place that would do a really great steak and chips. We both ordered fish, which was excellent, a half bottle of wine, and split a cheesecake with coffee.

It's so odd to wake up without Nova in the house... it seems very empty without her bustling around in her pajamas, thrusting Dr Seuss books under you nose, with a firm "Again" or demanding her 'bix or choruses of "Row, Row" or that you play the Teletubbies theme tune on the harmonica. We went for a run together in Highgate Woods, which felt like old times.

In the afternoon we went grocery shopping en famille. I suppose it's because Monday is a holiday, but Waitrose looked like a swarm of locusts had been through, though we managed to get most of what we needed. I made rigatoni carbonara with the free range farm eggs Adam has started buying from a colleague. I've never made it before, and we had a few versions of the recipe to choose from. I picked one that seemed simple yet traditional (no creme fraiche or garlic), and that didn't use a ludicrous number of eggs. It was delicious, and Nova loved it.

This weekend, we're catsitting for Pete and Pascale. We were lounging about on the couch after dinner having a cup of tea and watching Law and Order when I suddenly realised we forgotten all about "Mr Christmas". For a horrible moment I thought they'd left on Friday morning, but luckily for him it was this morning. The poor little guy was pretty unhappy at having to wait for his dinner until 10:45pm...

• chase an ice-cream truck
• host a fun watermelon-eating contest
• challenge your friends to comb through real-estate listings and find the most decadent summer retreat -- winner gets a dollar from each participant to start her dream fund with
• make lemonade with our hubby and sell it from a stand in front of your house -- without the kids
• send a father's day card to a dad (not yours) whom you've always liked
• wear your bikini to the beach and tape a large doily to your belly to see what kind of fun tan lines you can create
• put a sleeping bag on your bed and hop into it with your husband -- pretend you're camping, but without the bugs

As far as I'm concerned, these suggestions range from the stupid to the demented. And the ones involving men are downright worrying. This was made explicit in another feature on "126 ways to say 'I love you'":

• iron a Superman decal onto his boxer shorts
• have a picture of you printed on a pair of coffee mugs
• throw out your other mugs and use only these two
• laugh at his jokes, even when they aren't funny
• shine his shoes and replace the old laces
• make up a secret hand signal to say 'I love you' in public
• put your favourite picture of yourself as a baby in his wallet
• draw smiley faces on his bandaids
• sit right next to him when you eat dinner
• arrange a night out for him and his buddys, then call ahead and pay the bar tab
• stand in line to buy his weekly travel pass so he doesn't have to
• make a photocopy of your hand and fax it to him at work: this way he can 'hold your hand' when you're apart

That last one in particular gives me the willies...