Bayer Chic Baby Dolls Pram and Sleeping Bag Review

I've been having a bit of a clearout of my own baby products recently - making space as we redecorate parts of the house.  I'm currently trying to find new homes for a pushchair, a cot and a safety gate now that Holly no longer needs them.  Interestingly enough, as I wind down my baby products, Holly is building up a collection of her own!  Holly and her friends at nursery are very much into role play at present and Holly loves to play Mummies and Daddies (and sisters) with her baby dolls.  Prams.net sent Holly one of their baby dolls pushchairs to encourage her imaginative play, along with a baby doll's sleeping bag.

It feels like just yesterday that Holly herself was snuggled in a baby sleeping bag.  This Bayer Chic 2000 sleeping bag is designed for dollies and Holly loves zipping her different dolls up in their sleeping bags as it feels so real - somehow, a little bit more real than tucking them in under a blanket. Prams.net mainly focus on baby products for human babies but I LOVE the fact that you can buy a matching sleeping bag for your doll too and Holly thinks it is wonderful.  The zip is easy for her to do up with her small hands and the bag is slightly elasticated so that it is easy to take on and off a doll with very rigid arms.

Of course, no game of Mummies and Daddies would be complete without a doll's pram, pushchair or buggy; would it?  Prams.net sent Holly a Bayer Chic 2000 dolls buggy which has the same fabric as the sleeping bag (they also sell a changing bag and mat set too to make the full role play experience!).

At a little under £26, this toy pushchair is quite a lot more expensive that the previous equivalent that we used to own but then it is a very different quality of toy - this Vita dolls buggy feels and looks as real as any of the full-sized pushchairs on the Prams.net site.  It looks like a real pushchair and it folds and operates like a real pushchair; it also has the sturdiness and quality I'd expect of a genuine pushchair, not a toy!  The only problem with this is that both Lara and Holly expect it to be just like a grown-up's pushchair and have both been seen attempting to get into it - at 6 years old, Lara is faaaarrrrrr to big for a baby doll's pushchair but it seems to have survived so that baby John (aka Tiny Tears) can still make the most of it.

One of the biggest hits on this toy pushchair has been the detachable carry net at the base of the buggy for putting your shopping in.  Holly and Lara think this is fabulous and love finding more and more things to carry in there - one such thing is the sleeping bag which gets taken off when baby John gets too hot!

There are lots of different designs of dolls pushchairs and prams to choose from, and loads of different fabric options too.  I knew Holly would love this hot pink design with concentric circles.  I love seeing Holly play imagination games like this - it is something Lara didn't really do much of.  I can see a very gentle, caring side of Holly comes out when she is looking after baby John; this makes me realise that Holly isn't just about chaos, noise and rushing around... there really does exist a softer and less chaotic Holly.

Sending a Pushchair to France

This week I am singing the praises of Parcel2Go who helped me send a little (OK, quite big) present to my little sister in France.  I only discovered Parcel2Go shortly before Christmas when I needed to post a prize for a Mellow Mummy winner - a laminator.  The parcel was large and heavy and my budget would never have stretched to a visit to the post office so I decided to look online instead and found the Parcel2Go door to door service.

More recently, I really wanted to send my little sister a present.  My sister became a Mummy 5 weeks ago and is really looking forward to being able to take up running again next week after her 6 week check.  As a buggy-guru, she turned to me for my advice on pushchairs designed specifically for running.  They're not normally my forte; however, I did a bit of digging and found a few recommendations which were all out of her price range.  Prices for anything baby-related are sky high in the area around Geneva, even second hand.  I did a little more digging and determined that it would be cheaper to buy a second hand pushchair from the UK and post it over to France.  Bonkers, but true.

Parcel2Go was the first place I thought of, and they just happened to get in contact with me that week to ask me to spread the news and offered to fund the postage to France.  Parcel2Go have been in the news (such as this London Business article) because they offer a FAR cheaper alternative to the post office for sending large parcels... and it is more convenient.  I quickly snapped up a bargain second hand Red Castle Shop and Jogg pushchair and started investigating prices on Parcel2Go.

I didn't even stop to find out how much it would cost me to post a 15kg parcel this big from my local post office - it just didn't even seem worth it!  Once I had worked out how to fit the pushchair into my one and only free cardboard box I measured it and weighed it and entered the dimensions into the Parcel2Go website along with the destination country (France is just one of a very long list of destinations you can ship to).

I'm going to need a bigger box

I was totally blown away by the prices on offer.  This parcel cost me just £22 to post to France. My head still hasn't quite got to grips with this.  Last Christmas when I posted a parcel a tenth of the size and weight to my sister from the post office it cost nearly that.  Sigh.

£22 wasn't the cheapest option that Parcel2Go offered me, in fact there were several quotes from brands such as UPS, TNT and Parcel2Go's own courier service.  There were even quotes for next day delivery but these were just out of my postage budget.  In the end, I plumped for ParcelForce Worldwide who seemed to have a high success rate at meeting their 3-5 day estimate for delivery to France.

I arranged for my parcel to be collected from my work address on Wednesday.  Printed out the label I needed and waited.  My parcel was collected about 10 minutes into the estimated pickup time of 9-5.30 and was whizzing off on its way to France before I knew it.

yay... it has arrived in France!

I was REALLY surprised to find out that the buggy had arrived at my sister's place on Friday.  That's quicker than if I had posted a local letter first class within the UK!

My sister seems really happy with her new jogging pushchair... I hope that she and my teeny tiny niece enjoy many miles jogging in it.  Thank you Parcel2Go.

You can find ParcelToGo on twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Tips for new parents (like my little sister!) from Mellow Mummy and Britax for how to choose a pushchair

Today I'd like to introduce you to my brand new niece, baby Luna who made a slightly early arrival into the world yesterday.  She simply couldn't wait for Christmas.  I'm so proud of my little sister for having entered into the exciting realms of motherhood and I'm sure I will have lots of words of wisdom to offer her in the coming days, weeks and months.

As a Britax Ambassador, I thought hard about what tips I would offer my own sister for choosing their first pushchair.  In fact, earlier this year she and her husband specifically asked for my advice on how on earth to negotiate the enormous level of choice when it comes to pushchairs.  So what did I recommend?

Well...choosing a pushchair is a tricky business. Britax have a list of ideas to help you go through the thought process:

Think comfort. If you have a newborn baby, your pushchair should have a full lie-back seat unit. Not only is this the most comfortable position for your new arrival, it is also much safer and will help protect the soft bones in their neck whilst you’re on the move.

Think practically. Don’t forget, the needs of a baby and toddler are very different and they soon grow so think hard about whether you need or want to invest in a model that specifically caters for a younger baby.

Think quality. A boisterous toddler (and tired mum) can be heavy handed and you need to look for a pushchair that has good quality features that can stand a good deal of wear and tear.  Will the pushchair be handed down to a new sibling in a couple of year’s time? If so, you should look for a hardwearing fabric that will work for both boys and girls.

Think about your lifestyle. Do you need something lightweight that you can easily get on and off buses? fold up quickly to put in the boot of your car? Carry up a flight of stairs? Do you need a heavy weight pram that you can pound the pavements with? with a large shopping basket for all your food shopping? Everyone's exact combinations of parenting needs different.

Think budget. Can you afford to buy a new buggy as your baby gets older?  Or do you need to make sure you buy a good all-rounder?  If you are planning on passing it down to siblings then you may want to spend a little more the first time to make sure it lasts.

Think storage.  My NUMBER one tip for new parents is to make sure before you buy that the pushchair you choose with fit through your front door (if you want it to!) and fit into the boot of your car with ease.

Earlier this autumn my sister came over from France for a visit and I gave her a whirlwind tour of the main features of a pushchair.  I showed her the Britax B-Motion 4.and told her all the reasons why it suits my lifestyle.  More recently we've had a chance to try the Britax B-Motion 3 which will be going to live with her and lovely Luna when I go to visit them.  I just KNOW the B-Motion 3 is going to be perfect for her too as it is suitable from birth, practical, hard-wearing and compact.

BabyZen Yoyo Review - The Ultimate Lightweight Buggy

As you probably know, this June we took another epic family road trip down to the sunny south of France and back again.  A 12 day, 2000 mile round trip.  Car boot space was at a premium, and since my old lightweight umbrella pushchair had gone to buggy heaven, I was panicking about what to do... there was simply no way I could fit our travel system into the boot as well as the luggage for a family of 4.  And then I discovered the Yoyo by Babyzen...

... We borrowed the Yoyo for the duration of our trip to really put it through its paces.  Could a lightweight, one-handed fold buggy this compact actually meet the day to day demands of a toddler on our travels?

This little sister looks proud of the Yoyo!

Babyzen is a French brand so we really looked the part on our holiday.  The Yoyo is a VERY smart pushchair that I felt proud to be pushing among the classy locals on the Cote d'Azur (in fact I did see another one pushed by a local!)

If you've watched the short video above then you will know how mind-blowingly easy the Yoyo is to put up and to fold away; it is designed to be able to use it with one hand while you hold your child in the other.  I'd say that I struggle to do it one handed but Mr. B. seems to have the knack.  Nevertheless, it is astonishingly quick and easy and I can't recommend it enough.  I LOVE it.

Chilling with the Yoyo in Port Grimaud

For a buggy so clearly designed with travel in mind, I was surprised at the other features it had to offer - no corners seem to have been cut in order to achieve this level of convenience.  It is extremely steerable, easy to recline when Holly fancies a nap, has a nice big sun shade (in a choice of colours) and a reasonably sized carry area underneath the seat.  The seat cover and sun shade come as a separate colour pack - I found them easy to fit and the seat pad seemed very thick and comfy.

Spot the Yoyo

I still can't get over how compact the Yoyo buggy is when folded - it was small enough to fit in our car footwell in front of Holly and it is small enough to be taken as hand-baggage on a plane!  The Babyzen Yoyo comes with a shoulder strap and a carry bag for when you are in transit.  I can picture a trip into central London being a lot less hassle with this buggy than normal as you could fold it up when on the train or tube or bus and sling it over your shoulder if you need to quickly carry it (and baby) up a flight of stairs.

The BabyZen Yoyo is not cheap (at a RRP of £309 - find stockists at Babyzen.com) but I still genuinely believe that it is great value for this price.  The buggy is suitable from 6 months upto 15kg.

Kiddy Click'n Move 3 Buggy and Travel System Review

I'm really enjoying seeing how Kiddy's products evolve over time.  The Kiddy Click'n Move 3 is the latest incarnation of their successful buggy and travel system.  You can use the Click'n Move chassis with a buggy seat like we do, with any of the Kiddy infant carrier car seats or with a Kiddy carrycot.

Holly is at an age now where she enjoys looking out at the world from her buggy but, depending on how clingy she is feeling that day, it is nice that she can also face towards me in the Click'n Move 3.  The seat unit is incredibly easy to take on and off or to recline (my old travel system used to always bring me to tears every time I had to adjust it).

When the Click'n Move 3 first arrived, three things immediately struck me:-

1. It is phenomenally light. The aluminium chassis means it is so light compared to any other travel system I've touched.  This means it is easy to manouvre and also means it is easy to get in and out of the car.
2. It is very narrow.  This is the first buggy I've owned which fits through both my internal and external doors with ease.
3. The handlebars have a massive range of heights.  This is brilliant for me because I always always suffer with the height of handlebars.  As a tall woman there aren't many buggies whose handlebars go high enough for me but I think the Click'n Move would be just as good for the more petite parents out there.

Holly seems really comfortable sitting upright in the Click'n Move although there is a good level of recline.  I found the 5-point harness easy to fit and adjust and the straps seem both sturdy and comfy.

My favourite feature of the Click'n Move 3 is the large sun canopy which stretches a long way down over the buggy to provide plenty of protection.  I'm also really impressed with the removable bumper bar.  Not only is it easy to take on and off but it also unzips to reveal a light weight raincover for the lower body; the Click'n Move does come with a raincover but this little extra in the bumper bar is great for unexpected showers or just to provide a little protection for the legs.

Little gripes about the Click'n Move include the fact that it doesn't collapse to a very compact shape.  It is an improvement over my old travel system but I would say that there isn't much room for shopping in my boot once the buggy is in there.  I also found the storage basket underneath the buggy to be hard to reach.  Although it is a good sized space that it zips closed (and is even lockable with a small padlock through the zip) I found that for such a spacious buggy, the storage area seems small and a very long way from the handlebars which aren't ideal for hanging a changing bag from.  I quite often end up pretty much sitting on the floor when I want to put something in or out of the storage area!

The suspension on the Click'n Move is also really impressive, there is a lot of bounce in the buggy as you push it over the pavement or 'off-road' and you know what... it feels good!  All in all, I'm really happy with the Click'n Move 3 pushchair and I think that if you are planning a Kiddy car seat then it would be a perfect travel system solution from birth for use as a pram as well.

You can buy a Kiddy carrycot to fit on the Click'n Move 3 wheels and the Kiddy Evolution Pro infant carrier car seat is specifically designed to integrate with it.  The Click'n Move 3 is available in 4 colours - ours is Stone.

You can follow Kiddy UK on facebook and twitter.

Kiddy City N Move Stroller Review

As a Kiddy ambassador, when I visited Kiddy HQ in the summer as part of my epic family road trip, I was really excited to be shown the Kiddy City N Move Stroller and couldn't wait to get my hands on it.  The City N Move has now been available in the UK for a few months and here is how Holly and I have got on with it.

I shall be very honest straight away and say that I haven't enjoyed using the City N Move anywhere near as much as I enjoy using each of the different Kiddy car seats I've tried.  Saying that, there is absolutely no denying that it is by far and away the highest quality stroller that I have ever had the privilege to push - the fabric, the chassis, the handles and hood are all thick yet stylish and feel great in your hands.

Assembling the City N Move was quite easy - the wheels just clipped into place as did the bumper bar but the hood I found more tricky.  there seemed to be a lot of places that it needed fastening to the chassis or to other bits of fabric and I still don't think I've entirely got it right.

Kiddy City N Move Stroller in Hawaii Blue

I really like the bumper bar as you can just flip it up to get your child out of the seat - no need to remove it.  I'm also extremely impressed by the recline on the seat - it is suitable for use from 6 months; the recline is a single clip at the back of the seat which is outstandingly easy to use, pretty much one-handed. I find that I can quickly move it back to sitting mode when Holly isn't in a sleepy mood.  The lower part of the seat also quickly flips out to provide a comfy leg rest to allow your baby's legs to lie straight rather than dangle down.

The City N Move is described as 'sporty' and 'lightweight' due to its aluminium chassis, but I don't think I agree.  Yes, I find it quite easy to manouvre and yes, it is admittedly lighter than my existing pram travel system but it isn't what I would describe as lightweight.  I actually find it very difficult to get into my car boot because it is surprisingly heavy (8.5kg compared to my old umbrella stroller's 5kg) and despite the small handle on the side, I struggle to find anywhere suitable to grip it when I am lifting.

I also don't like the folded shape when I am carrying it in the car - it is almost triangular when folded and takes up over 50% of my car boot (I have a big estate car).  My double buggy took up less space than this!  I have tried every angle and just can't find a way to get it into the car and still leave plenty of space for shopping.  This is a shame because I do actually like the way that the City N Move folds when I am storing the buggy indoors.  The City N move stands alone on its handles which is a lifesaver as I used to get so fed up of having to store my old stroller on the floor in the hall - this takes up less space indoors!  It is pretty easy to fold and unfold so no worries there.

Kiddy City N Move Stroller Folded

The Kiddy City N Move comes with several pieces of kit that you would normally expect to have to pay extra for - a cup holder, travel system adapters (for Kiddy infant carriers but you CAN buy adapters for Britax and Maxi Cosi too), a rain cover and a thick sun hood that comes all the way down over your baby to provide protection from the sun - there is a little viewing window that you can look down on them through!

The Kiddy City N Move really is a mixed bag for me. For every feature I don't get on with (such as the under-seat storage space which I find infuriatingly difficult to store anything in), there is a different feature that I love (such as the nice high -fixed height- handlebars with bouncy soft-grip handlebars).  The Kiddy City N Move costs around £170 and is available in a good range of bright colours.

You can follow Kiddy on Facebook and Twitter for more news and competitions.

Buggy Wars - Travel System vs Umbrella Pushchair

I'm beginning to think that there are few UK parents who get through life with a single pushchair. Is there really such a thing these days as a pushchair that will last from birth all the way through childhood? Of my friends and colleagues, I can't think of one person who owns less than two pushchairs, in fact, I know of some who have four or five different brands and types for different occasions.

As one of the most expensive items of baby kit that you have to invest in, most parents spend a lot of time evaluating which brand or model of buggy to buy.; the intention being to only ever buy one. I know we spent hours pouring over catalogues and trying out buggies on the high street before opting for a four-wheel travel system with big chunky wheels. Our decision was partly driven by the convenience of being able to attach the car seat and bassinet to it, partly due to the percieved sturdiness and partly to do with style. We noticed that there are few umbrella pushchairs on the market that are suitable from birth upwards (especially for mums as tall as me).

I loved the travel system to start with but as Lara grew out of the car seat, and out of the pram and we needed to use the main pushchair seat more often, I began to resent it. It was heavy to get in and out of the car and the house and trying to remove the seat from the wheels would often reduce me to tears. When Lara was three months old, we went abroad and couldn't face taking the bulky travel system with us so we bought a second buggy – a lightweight, foldable, umbrella pushchair. Originally it was intended for the odd occasion where we needed more space in our boot, or had to reduce our luggage. Over the months, it has slowly become our primary pushchair (because it just seems easier) until this weekend when we noticed our poor folorn-looking travel system in the garage and decided to give it another shot.

Is it a luxury to be able to have one pushchair for some scenarios, and a different pushchair for other scenarios? Do you wish you had made a different decision when choosing your buggy? What tips would you offer to parents-to-be to help them decide whether they should buy a travel system or a lightweight buggy?

Who Steals A Buggy?

Bugg theft is a real issue for many UK parents. According to recent research from Halifax Home Insurance, there has been a worrying increase in the number of reported buggy thefts as buggies and pushchairs become increasingly expensive and more desirable.

We had to get my parents to help us out with the purchase of a travel system for Lara – it is a big expense. A buggy or travel system can often be the single most expensive item of baby equipment that you buy and with the price of travel systems often pushing through the £500 barrier, it is no surprise that there is a growing black market for second-hand buggies.

I do understand that financial pressures may drive people to buy second-hand buggies from unknown, or disreputable sources but I just can't get into the mind of anyone who would steal a pushchair from a mum or dad. Given the estimated 315,000 buggy thefts per year, people obviously do.



When I am at a park or playground where I have to leave my buggy outside, I often worry about abandoning it because it is tricky to keep an eye on a pushchair and a toddler at the same time. Occasionally, when I visit places such as Legoland where I have no choice but to leave my buggy unattended, I deliberately take my less pricey umbrella pushchair because I am uncomfortable leaving my buggy free for anyone to nab. The Halifax research revealed that at home, or just outside your home was the most common place for your buggy to be nicked, but cafes, shopping centres and car parks also featured highly.

I have been trialling the My Buggy Buddy Lock which is designed to make it harder for thieves to take your buggy. It is a dead simple combination lock that is very fast to apply. I slip it over the main handle bar of my Mothercare Mychoice (it matches the handle wonderfully) or around the frame of my Maclaren. When I have to leave my buggy for even a few moments, I can find somewhere to hook the clip onto, snap it shut and turn the combination. Easy. I've used it on park railings and outside supermarkets but I recently saw someone in a cafe attach their My Buggy Buddy lock to a spare chair while they popped to the baby change – if someone really wanted to steal their Buggaboo then they would have had to take the chair with them!



We also have a My Buggy Buddy Clip which is a similar shape. It is designed as a more sturdy, secure way of attaching bags to your buggy. It won't solve your weight distribution problems but it is certainly a more effective way of clipping shopping to your buggy handles than the little plastic clips you can buy. I didn't find the My Buggy Buddy Clip so much of a lifesaver on my Maclaren because it is actually quite easy to hang bags from the individual handles on this, but with my Mothercare MyChoice which has a single bar across the top, it is a lifesaver. I have always struggled with bags on the handle bar and have tried several brands of plastic clip which all pop off or fall off with the weight of the bag. This buggy clip can't fall off or pop off and I can put it anywhere across the width of the handle bar.



The My Buggy Buggy Lock is available for £8.49 and the My Buggy Buddy Clip for £5.99 from hippychick.com.


Images courtesy of threepipe

The Sunday Review – Mummy Mitts

Over the last few days, I've had plenty of use for my new Mummy Mitts and they've done their job well. Mummy Mitts (as featured on Dragons Den!) are mittens which attach to the handle bars of your pushchair or pram.

As Mr. B. pointed out to me, motorcyclists have had something similar for years. A pair of mittens which you simply slip your hands into and which, being attached to the handle-bars, you know won't fall out of a pocket, or off the roof of the buggy. I found the Mummy Mitts most useful when shopping... it drives me mad that I NEED a pair of gloves on when pushing the pushchair as otherwise my fingers turn blue and drop off (ok, nearly drop off), but that when I go into a shop, I need to faff about taking the gloves off to open my purse or look at things on the shelf. With the Mummy Mitts I simply slip my hands out, do my thing, then slip them back in again, exactly where I left off.

I found the Mummy Mitts a little less useful at the park where I wanted to keep them on all the time and had to take one hand out in order to undo the velcro around the buggy handle-bars. I think I'd revert to normal gloves in this scenario. I also found that the mittens didn't work so well on the Maclaren compared to the Mothercare Mychoice because of the location of the handles. When the handle-bar is directly in front of you then it is dead easy to slip your hands in and out but on the Maclaren, the handles are actually at an angle and it doesn't feel instinctive to slip your hands into the Mummy Mitts at this angle.

I like the Mitts themselves. They look smart and not too girly. They are made from a wind-proof fabric that keeps my hands really toasty warm and I am pleasantly surprised (as a lady with very long fingers) at how spacious the mittens are. I would say they could do with being a tad tighter around the wrist to help prevent nasty draughts, but that may just be BECAUSE my hands are longer than most.

At £17.99 from www.mummymitts.com they would make a great Christmas gift for a chilly mummy (and there is free P&P until December 10th)! You can also buy matching Bubby Mitts so your little one can look just like you!

Images courtesy of Mummy Mitts

Pushchair + Public Transport = Agony

I ache. My arms feel like I did a mammoth session at the gym. My lungs feel (in my sister's words) as if they have been cleaned out by a Brillo pad. I have bruises all over my legs and a particularly impressive shiner on my left knee. My injuries were sustained yesterday when I decided to be brave and take Lara into central London.

Lara and I joined a group of mummies and daddies for a picnic, smack in the middle of the city. Having been a commuter for two stints during my career so far, I can ordinarily 'do' central London with my eyes closed but this was the first time that I had been into the city with a baby in tow. I was nervous (and even considered not going) but I bit the bullet.

My troubles started before we had even started our journey. We had a swimming lesson first thing in the morning so with a bit of fore-thought, I had already bought my train ticket and car park pass to save time. The changing room at the swimming pool is tiny, wet and stressful on a normal day, not to mention when you're in a rush. We changed in record time (partly due to the fact I left barefoot and with my hair all over the shop) and left the pool with 13 minutes to catch a train from a station 2 minutes drive away. Plenty of time.

I got to the car only to discover I had lost my keys. I plonked Lara on the ground and ran back to rummage around on the floor of the wet changing room. Then, after about a 2-million-point manoeuvre to get out of the tiny driveway where I was parked-in by a herd of 4x4s, I drove at break-neck speed to the station. Arrrgh, the car park is on the other side of the level crossing and, naturally, I got caught at the crossing and had to wait for a train going the other direction. After the barriers lifted, I had 4 minutes before the train was due. I found a space in the car park about half a mile away from the station, strapped Lara into the buggy, put a bag over each shoulder and sprinted for the station – I could hear the train approaching.

I reached the station as the train pulled in. I grabbed the buggy in both hands and then hauled it up the stairs and over the bridge to the other side. A very lovely man ran up to help me but as we descended the bridge on the other side, the doors to the train closed. In a frenzy, I ran down the platform towards the guard, screaming at him to open the doors. He did! Phew, we had made it!

The journey was fine. Lara loved it but it took most of the journey for my heart rate to recover... Just in time for the arrival at Waterloo. We left the station via a little-used exit which involves an escalator and a small number of stairs.

Next, Lara got to experience her first bus. Buses in London are pretty easy with a buggy as most of them have lowered doors and a space to park the pushchair. Our bus was packed. We ended up standing in the corridor with grumpy people pushing past every few seconds. The buggy was all over the shop and kept bashing into my knees (hence the bruise). When we got to our destination it was a relief to get out and walk.

I shall skip over the next few hours. They were mellow, sunny, fun and relaxing. Good Stuff.

When Lara and I left, she hadn't had a real nap so I decided to walk back to Waterloo. The half-hour stroll in the beating sunshine through the back streets of London was wonderful. It brought back lots of memories of my working days and achieved the goal of getting Lara off to sleep.

As I strolled back over Waterloo bridge I started thinking about how to get back into the station. I know a million different ways into the station and could only think of ONE entrance to the station from the bridge that didn't involve stairs, escalators or both... and that one entrance would have involved walking three sides of a square along the taxi route. I'm pretty sure there must be a wheel-chair friendly or buggy-friendly way in but I couldn't think of it so I decided to use the same, little-used route that I had come out of seeing as it just involved a small number of stairs and an escalator. I carried the buggy down the stairs without waking Lara. We walked under the subway and then I swore, very loudly. The fricking 'up' escalator was out of order! By this point I was so close, I was sweating like a... who knows what... and I just wanted the journey to be over. I grabbed the buggy and took on the escalator by foot. It felt like the longest escalator ever known to man. About 1/3 of the way up, the lactic acid in my arms and legs started to kick in – I looked up and saw there was a long way to go. I had to push myself to get up those stairs. I was driven only by the fact that with each step, the light got brighter and I knew I was closer to the concourse. I almost collapsed when we reached the top.

The adrenaline pushed me to the train, I flolloped (yes, this is the exact word for what I did!) into a seat and Lara looked up at me and gave me a sleepy grin! It was all worth it.

I am entering this blog post into the Tots100 Blog Hop - Baby's First Day Out.