No driving around in the early hours for me today, but Heidi does not settle well after 0100h and cries intermittently even after a big feed. She appears hungry but then fidgets around before not wanting anything and then grumbling for a few hours.

Bleary-eyed Rachel, Heidi and I head off to the Registrar’s Office to make her all official-like and I have to park some distance away whilst they go ahead. Sweating profusely once I get in to the office, I am a minute late, but proceedings have already commenced. After being relieved of £3.50 for the Certificate we have a quick wander around the building. This is where Rachel and I got married and it is a lovely building, presumably not the norm for Council offices, but a good venue all the same.

We head over to Torquay to where my office is, where I first meet up with Bev the Road Safety Officer. I needed her to check over the fitting of our car seat, as I had some doubts over Mothercare’s ability to give good advice when we bought it for Fred. Something did not seem right and so Bev sorted us out. The majority of car seats are incorrectly fitted and in the event of an accident you do not really want to find out what exactly was fitted wrongly.

Into the office we were immediately surrounded by a swarm of cooing females, whilst I check the angry letters on my desk and carefully put them down again. Oh well.

From Development Control we swept into Building Control for a few minutes and then out to the lift. I could not fit in the lift with Rachel, Heidi and her pram (plus an unknown person) so I wandered down the stairs to meet them on the ground floor.

I had not bargained on the lift going up though, and I could hear Heidi’s hungry calls getting quieter as she and her mum were elevated further up into the corridors of power. I could not remember whether I told Rachel what floor to get off at, as this is a strange building to her. At the basement I decided the ground floor was actually where I had said I’d be, so went back up, watching the counter above the lift doors. I could hear a faint crying getting louder as the car descended, reaching maximum volume the other side of where I stood. The doors lazily slid open and Rachel blinked at me, and came out on to the landing with Heidi in full cry.

We went for some lunch and checked out a few shops before heading over to my mum and dads. I went for a quick walk with dad to the off license to get some wine, with dad operating the pram quite proficiently. He did grumble at me for walking in the road on the way back, but the pavements are very narrow and the road is a quiet cul-de-sac. It was nice and sunny and a few holidaymakers were about eating chips and generally looking cheerful so we sat and looked across the Bay, with Heidi being cooled by the sea breeze..

Lots of walking today mean that my Crocs and bare feet are in a bad state, with a black sludge coating both. I have bought some more Dettol today so I dunk my feet in the bath to freshen them up on my return. Rachel and I have both walked the same distance, but her feet and Crocs appear immaculate, though I do not know why.

Heidi returns home, in her spotty dress, quite exhausted, like us, and lies in her Moses basket, looking at the blue sky through the patio doors, hopefully thinking back on a nice day. Perhaps she will be realising that staying awake during the day is good for the brain - as is sleeping soundly at night……