Life with Alex:

The return of the bump

Alex at 9 months

• Another one on the way
• Double trouble
• Progress problems?
• All grown up

Four pregnancy tests later, and Nicholas and I have stopped living in denial and have finally accepted that Tabbitt Junior no2 will be joining us just before Christmas!

There must be something in the French water. I must add a word of caution at this point, though, to other new Mums who are relying on the mini pill as their form of contraception while breastfeeding - the doctors are not joking when they say this must be taken at EXACTLY the same time every day to be reliable. I took mine before bed every night, and was slightly more complacent towards the end, knowing that I had a new packet of regular pills to start taking just as soon as my next cycle kicked in. Except that it never did. Baby number two had already been conceived - oops! Ironically, when I checked back through my diary to work out my dates, this appears to have happened the same day that I went for my post breastfeeding check-up with my gynaecologist.

Despite my giving this date (March 14th) to my GP, she wants to wait until I've had a dating scan before we start predicting when the new baby might arrive. In my mind I'd come up with January (well, pregnancies are really 10 months aren't they?). But no. My aunt who's a midwife quickly announced that, unless I am in fact an elephant, this baby will be with us by mid December. Nicholas and I both broke out in a cold sweat on learning this. Him, because of the need for a new nursery (!), and me because I had so wanted one normal year before we did anything else life-changing. But what can you do?

We are pleased though! We both wanted two children, and in some ways I'm sure it will only be a good thing that they are going to be so close in age. This way, we get the nappies, sterilising and sleepless nights (and stretch marks and general figure damage for me) out of the way in one go, and in a little over three years' time they could both be at school, giving us some of our independence back.

I never wanted to be an older mum anyway, so am glad I'll have had both my children just as I cross the line into 35!

As for little Alex, well she is ceasing to be a baby in front of my very eyes. She's so tall now! We'll find out exactly how much she's grown at her next doctor's appointment, due next month. This is another obligatory appointment, and is designed to coincide with her next round of jabs. She had one the other day, actually - we got a letter through the post saying they were doing free inoculations at the mairie in the next village, so Nicholas took her along. We've no idea what the injection was for, but it's all been written in her 'carnet de sante' - a marvellous innovation they have here. It's a lifetime's record of all your medical details - every French national has one, from the moment they are born. Every detail of her birth and her weight gain and growth as a baby are in there, along with all the injections she is having. Such a good idea.

Developmentally, we fear Alex has plateau-ed a bit for the time being, and I'm wondering if we're to blame. For example, she's been standing for a couple of weeks now, holding on to the back of the sofa, our bedstead, or the railings of her playpen, and yet she isn't crawling. I think this is because we don't give her the opportunity. Because we have cold tiled floors, which are invariably smattered with dog prints and other country grime, we don't tend to put Alex down on the floor. She spends most of her waking time in a playpen, her walker or a pushchair, or occasionally on our bed or the couch. I suspect this may have hindered her progress at crawling. She can get into a crawling position, but gets easily frustrated because she doesn't know how to go forwards.

Walking is another matter. If the walker hadn't spoilt her for taking over the issue of balance, I'm sure Alex would be walking soon. She loves to stand, and makes her legs rigid whenever she's picked up in the hope that we'll put her on her feet, and if encouraged with support she knows to put one foot in front of the other. The only thing she hasn't mastered yet is weight distribution. But she seems to like practising.

The other thing I feel guilty about is her diet. Alex has been enjoying jars of supermarket pureed food since about 4.5 months, and wolves down a large jar of meat and veg, followed by fruit or yoghurt for both lunch and dinner. But, after a minor choking incident, which scared both of us, I haven't managed to get Alex onto jars beyond 'six months'. If the consistency is anything other than pureed, Alex starts choking and crying, so I give up immediately. When I read the books, it seems she should be on fingers food, eggs and all sorts by now, but Alex has turned her nose up at mashed banana, mashed boiled egg, and all she did with her piece of melon the other day was clean the walls with it. At this rate she's going to be eating bland mush when she's in her teens.

It's very sweet to see her bonding with her toys now. She has a soft green cat called Patou which she cuddles when she sleeps. Fortunately, he's very machine washable, which is just as well given the state she gets him in. She's not at the stage yet where I can't prise him away for a quick wash cycle, so I can get away with keeping him clean. The type of toy is one most French babies have - they call them 'doudous' (pronounced doo-doos). She also has a comfort blanket now, though she doesn't seem to know quite what to make of it. She likes it when I put it on her head though!

Best of all she likes being in her new grown-up buggy! Unlike her pushchair, this faces forwards, and she can see all around her, with no hood to obscure her view of the cows on our walks. I'm glad she's strapped in though, as I'm sure she'd be off like a shot if she could step down from it. She loves her independence. When she's outside in her walker, she runs round like a demon. Watching a recent home video of her hurtling down the slope of the main courtyard, my Dad suggested with the urgency of any worried granddad that perhaps we should think about getting her a crash helmet. He might be right!

Sue Tabbitt, 33, is a freelance IT journalist, who moved to the outskirts of Normandy more than 12 months ago to start a new chapter in her life with her Canadian husband, Nicholas, a ballroom dancing teacher.

Tune in next month to find out how Sue, Nicholas and baby Alex are getting on in Normandy ...

Thanks to Kodak for the digital camera lent to Sue and Nicholas for the duration of this diary column.

Where to next?

• More from Sue's Life with Alex diary
• Read Sue's pregnancy diary
• Create your own pregnancy diary
• Pregnant? Talk with other mums-to-be on our discussion forum
• Find out more about your pregnancy, use your personalised planner on babyworld
• If you're working in pregnancy, read about your maternity rights

Shop@babyworld