Our baby is about to turn One.

 What a difference a year makes.

This time, exactly one year ago, we were a family of two. Me and Mr Kitty. Oh, and the cats. But we were eagerly awaiting the birth of our little one.

I remember on the Friday before she was born going to Yoga and feeling fine. I had lunch with a few friends, and was planning a series of acupuncture appointments the following week to help with the labour. I certainly didn't feel any different to usual. Uncomfortable. Swollen. Over it. But that was completely normal. I had a feeling I would go past my due date so I never considered that in less than 18 hours I would be in Labour.

I'd like to say the Labour was a blur but I remember it quite vividly. And the memories stand the test of time. 34 hours of sporadic, non-progressive Labour tends to take it out of you. The memories stick around.

She didn't have a name until a few hours before she was born. We called her Smudge throughout the pregnancy - that's what she looked like on the ultrasound. But we haven't called her that since she was pulled from me - she has only been Georgina. It's funny how things change in a heartbeat. In a moment. We went from 2 to 3 and all the love in the world surrounded us like a warm blanket. Our little family.

I remembered thinking how it must feel to be a mother before I had her. No amount of imagining or dreaming could have prepared me for the last 12 months. Being a mum is easily the hardest job I have ever done - and the most thankless - but the rewards have been immeasurable. Worth everything.

The first few months are fuzzy. I can't remember much. The exhaustion, sleep deprivation, the heartbreaking battle with breastfeeding.... It's something almost every new mother goes through but there were times when I felt incredibly isolated and alone. I have my wonderful friends and the stalwarts of my Mother's Group to thank for keeping me sane and seeing me through the hardest parts of those early days.

Once we hit 3 months we had a bit more control. Sleeping was better, we had the feeding licked... We were even venturing out quite frequently without too many dramas. That's when the fun started and we haven't looked back.

And how the time has flown since then. Two interstate trips, two big international trips... She has visited four different countries so far - quite an accomplishment for someone so young. And she has taken to travel like a duck to water. She adapts so well to new situations and people. 

I'll celebrate her birthday with another post, telling her most recent achievements, on her actual birthday, but at the moment it feels like Christmas Eve here. Anticipation, excitement, bliss. And like Christmas, she was the best present a girl could ever ask for.

Kitty xx

London Purchases: Monica Vinader

I have wanted these earrings for so long. I first saw them on Net-a-Porter well over a year ago and although I loved them I just didn't know if I would wear them. So - as with many things - I ummed and ahhhed and then they were gone.

While I was in London I made sure I took a detour past the lovely Monica Vinader store in South Mouton Street. It's an Aladdin's Cave of jewellery - a treasure trove of modern pieces, rubbly rocks and sparkly gems. Of knobbly silver and organic gold. It's lovely - well worth a visit if you are in the area. And the staff are just wonderful. Nothing is too much trouble.

As soon as I saw these earrings I knew I had to have them. So pretty - very modern but still classic. The size is not overwhelming - they are large but manageable. The pop of purple is a lovely accessory for both summer and winter.

I've got a funny feeling that this won't be my last Monica Vinader purchase! In fact, I wouldn't mind some stacking rings... To be honest I left wanting almost everything in the store...

Kitty

London Purchases: Mary Portas

I bought quite a few items while overseas. Shocking, I know. But what's probably more shocking is the fact I bought about half as much as I normally would. One of the disadvantages (or benefits Mr K might say) of travelling with Le Bebe. Not only do you have less luggage space but also less time for shopping.

I did, however, take full advantage of the fact we had a nanny for a few days while in London. She was such a godsend - we could actually get out and do things - and it also allowed us to start to get Baby G used to new people in her life, other than family. She coped remarkably well (as she did the entire trip).

But I digress.

One of the things I was looking forward to most of all on our London trip was visiting House of Fraser. I have been ogling the Mary Portas collection for a good 12 months now but haven't worked up the courage to buy anything. Sizing, quality etc. Not sure, blah blah...

But on this trip I had the opportunity to check out the range for myself and I have to say I was really impressed. The quality is, I think, quite good for the price, and although many of the clothes don't suit my current predicament (I mean, lifestyle), I could see myself wearing a lot of the pieces in another life. The look well made, the fabrics are lovely and the style in many cases is edgy while still retaining somewhat of a classic flavour.

I know it's not going to surprise anyone here that I bought a black dress. It's a gorgeous jersey number with an interesting neck detail (which you can probably see better on the second picture). It's stylish but comfortable - I could see myself wearing it with ankle boots or heels, dressing it down with a cardi and up with a sparkly necklace. It's warm too - even though it's supposed to be Spring here, the weather speaks differently so I might just get some wear out of it sooner than anticipated. I am so looking forward to wearing it!


And the best thing? Even though it was new season, I still got 30% off. Love a good discount.

Kitty

Pont Neuf: a love story

A long time ago (in what feels like a Galaxy far far away, certainly pre Baby G), Mr and Mrs Kitty travelled to Paris. We did all the usual things: The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Saint Germain... They also did all the usual stores: Christian Louboutin, Hermes, Galleries Lafayette, Printemps, Le Bon Marche...

And Louis Vuitton.

In this time, a long time ago, Mrs Kitty fell in love with a handbag. A particularly Parisian handbag, named for the oldest bridge in the city. The Pont Neuf.

She ummed and ahhed over it but regretfully did not leave Paris with it.

This trip, she wasn't going to make the same mistake.

Mr Kitty had promised her a handbag on the trip and whilst she toyed briefly with the concept of buying a Chloe Marcie bag, and then a Miu Miu Mattelasse, she kept coming back to Louis.

So in Paris, on that most Parisian of shopping streets, she ventured into the store to see if the old flame was still there. It was. Although she flirted with the Alma and the Mirabeau, she kept coming back to the Pont Neuf.

Not at all practical with a baby (shoulder bags tend to leave your hands free), but oh so beautiful. She had wanted it for so long and time had not dulled her desire.

So she left the store with the bag, and many many thanks to Mr Kitty.

She hopes they will both be very happy together. For a very long time.

Kitty xx

The trouble with travel...

Is that there is almost no time for blogging.

I attempted to get organised and have some posts lined up before I went but that clearly didn't work. And being on the move with a rowdy baby (although she's not really a  baby anymore, but not yet a toddler - what do you call that??) wasn't conducive to lengthy posts...

We are back - in one piece - with all our luggage. Exhausted. In two minds about whether the effort was worth the trouble but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Seriously large amount of "key learnings" were gathered - will update later, but the most important one was that it was not much of a holiday. There were days off but we moved too much and had too much stuff for it to be really relaxing. It was a wonderful, amazing trip but I didn't relaaaax much at all. Next year we'll have to do that part better!

Kitty x

Things I have learned: Flying with babies

Okay - I am no expert, but after four international flights in the first 10 months of Georgie's life, I am finally willing to doll out some advice about international travel with babes. Not the Cindy Crawford/Kate Moss type - more the type that will decide to fill their nappies just as you hit turbulence and can't shuffle to the toilet for a quick change...

There is no denying it - flying long haul with a baby is a hideous experience. The best piece of advice I can give is repeating the mantra: "this too shall pass..." over and over again. If you are unwilling to give up exotic holidays (and at this point, it seems that we are) then you'll have to just get over the flying part. However there are things you can do to try and make the time more bearable.

New Toys: most kids think a new toy or two is pretty amazing. Hand them out regularly during flights and make sure they have just one at a time. Substitute a new toy when they get sick of the one they have. Simple. Older kids love crayons and pencils and stickers - Georgie just loves eating them so at her age, it's better to stick to other things. Her favourite new "toy" on the last flight was a plastic spoon with a really long handle (thanks, Air France). Hours (okay, maybe 30 minutes) of entertainment. It all adds up.

Eating: Georgie thinks feeding herself is the business. We made sure she had plenty of her favourite foods with us on the plane for her: frittata, cream cheese sandwiches, butter cookies (as a special treat), yoghurt, pureed fruit... Basically, anything she likes to eat. It will get messy, but in the end it is easier to let her do what she wants to do. Eating takes up a good hour on an international flight, sometimes longer. Pack a change of clothes for everybody. Maybe two. And if you can stick to non messy foods, all the better.

Fly at night: About half of our international flights with Georgie have been at night and they have by far been the most successful. On the flight between Singapore and Paris, she slept for almost 9 hours in two blocks. It meant that when we arrived she was almost in the right time zone. The daytime flights were hellish in comparison. All she wanted to do was crawl around and play and planes aren't really appropriate for that.  She's too young to understand the safety aspects of flying which means that it becomes incredibly difficult to keep her still during the day and you are exhausted by the end of the flight. And getting her to sleep for a nap in a fully lit cabin was a nightmare (i.e. didn't happen).

Entertainment: Georgie is that rare breed of child who doesn't really like much TV yet, so movies and back to back episodes of Peppa and Play School don't really cut it for her. Not on the TV, not on the iPad. Unfortunately that means Mummy has to be a little more creative with her entertainment: reading, singing, clapping, endless rounds of peekaboo... In desperation I gave her a packet of tic tacs on our descent into Singapore and she loved it - she shook the pack like maracas and it entertained her for ages. Who would have thought? We've since replaced the tic tacs for lentils and superglued the lid shut and she still adores it.

Seating: this is where Miss Kitty gets controversial. My advice is stump up for the best seats you can possibly afford. The extra leg room, lounge access and baggage allowance will more than make up for the occasional disapproving stare. And if you have a baby like mine who prefers to sleep on you (or you don't have access to a bassinet or have a baby who is too big for the bassinet) the wider, more supportive seat will make a world of difference for everyone. Regarding the naysayers and babies in premium classes, my thoughts are thus: planes are public places. Noises will be made, either by kids or babies or other unruly passengers. If you want silence then you'd better stump up for your own lear jet or work out how to use those noise cancelling headphones. They do work, you know.

Also, try and get the front row if possible - most airlines block out the bulkhead for those travelling with small children (so long as it's not an emergency exit) so make sure you request a seat with more room when you book. Call the airline to confirm. More than once. It's been suggested to me that you might want to have parents sit separately (a few rows apart) to make sure one gets a break during the trip and alternate the child between them - that's a reasonable suggestion, however it really doesn't work for feeding the baby, especially more liquidy foods like fruit and yoghurt. It's frankly a recipe for disaster and just means you go through more food and clothes than necessary. Fine for a flight that doesn't require feeding (maybe under 3-4 hours if you feed before you get on the plane) but not for long haul.

Stop overs: I was unwilling to try the full 20 odd hours to Europe in one fell swoop so we broke our journey in Singapore. It was one of the best decisions we could have made. Yes, it meant our journey was longer but it also meant we weren't on a plane for too long at any one time. Giving Georgie a break was important and a few days of tropical warmth meant everyone was in better spirits. I'd definitely recommend trying to factor in a stopover if your flight is going to be a long one, or if your plane needs to stop anyway.

Clothing: I have posted in the past about clothes to wear on planes for adults and here's my advice about what to wear for babies: LOTS. You will likely go through a number of changes of clothes so always over estimate. Pack twice as many changes as you think you might need on your carry on. A nappy will always leak at the most inopportune moment and food will fly everywhere. Drinks will be spilled and babies will vomit during turbulence. Onesies keep babies warm in over-cooled cabins and are easy to work with. Airplane toilets are squishy at the best of times, let alone when you are trying to change a baby doing their very best impression of an octopus. Carry a pack of antibacterial sanitising wipes and thoroughly wipe down the change table and walls of the toilet every time before you take the baby in, or better yet, if you think it's only a wee change, do it on your seat with a change mat. Far more sanitary than taking little ones into the toilet if you can possibly avoid it.

Hopefully these tips and hints can provide you with some practical advice about flying long haul with a little one. The jury is still out about whether or not spending 6 weeks in Europe in non baby proofed apartments and houses is a good idea, but I think we at least have the travelling to and from part nailed.

Have you got any tips and hints for flying long haul with babies?

Kitty xx

Happy Fathers Day

So the first week or so of our holiday seems to have been go go go... And no time for blogging. I will update at a later date but suffice to say we all arrived safe and sound with our luggage, and G - superstar international traveller that she is - has slotted into a European time zone quite well. Our first night in Singapore was dreadful (no-one got any sleep) but sitting here in our gorgeous Dijon flat, listening to the church bells ringing in the distance, stuffed full of baguette and croissant... All of that seems like decades ago...

But for the moment I just wanted to wish all the Daddies out there a happy fathers day. The above image is of Georgie's card for her Dada. I'll admit, she had a bit of help choosing it. I'm going to have to get it home so I can frame it for Mr K. I think it's a nice memento of his first Fathers Day as a Daddy.

Mr K - we love you so much. Thank you for being the best Daddy out there.

Kitty x