It's cold outside...

...no, I'm not just stating the obvious (although it is REALLY REALLY COLD at home. Well, we do live in the terres froides, so it's probably to be expected...)

I suspect, for most people, the musical associations attached to these words have something to do with a certain hairy Welshman (erm...Tom Jones, that is).

For me, though, the conjunction of growing up in Britain in the mid-to-late 80s with my parents' tastes in television mean that "It's cold outside..." leads to THIS:

 

(the words kick in at about 0:45).

As far as I know, this was the only song my dad ever sang to me as a child. (N.B.: Not a sob story. My dad just doesn't sing).

How on EARTH was I supposed to grow up to be anything other than a geek?

In which the penguins return

I really did think, for a minute, we'd escaped them for good.

And then, there was The Beast (see this post, he's lurking in the background of the bump picture). He arrived in the UK in August and came back to France with us in the back seat of the car. Thankfully Customs didn't stop us, because we didn't have a passport for him.

And then... they started coming for Ze Baby. First, a friend sent us some adorable penguin bootees (thanks Caroline!). Lovely, practical penguins making themselves useful.

Then there was this from my brother, and my sister gave her a penguin glove puppet for Christmas.

They also appear to be working in more subtle ways. The Original Penguin (who even had his own Facebook account at one point...) goes by the name of Carrot. Anyone who was at our wedding (or has seen pictures) will be aware that we have a certain prediliction for cuddly vegetables round here... and the carrot tally, at the last count, was up to FOUR, plus a pair of orange socks with rather suspicious green frills around the top.

You know what? I GIVE IN. Penguins, you've WON.

This time last month...

Right. Well. I think you can probably guess why I haven't been around for the last month...

Yes. The Baby-Formerly-Known-as-Squidlet was (finally) born on 28th October, and has been keeping Ze Husband and I busy ever since with the whole feeding/nappy changing/feeding/nappy changing thing. So far, we're managing... I've had to reduce my expectations in terms of sleep quite considerably, but I take comfort from the fact that this situation is temporary and I will get some sleep at some point! (Naps are clearly the way forward, in any case. Who needs to sleep for more than three hours at a time, anyway?). 


The Baby-Formerly-Known-as-Squidlet managed to acquire a couple of new names (quite apart from her real name) in the days after her birth, and will henceforth be known as Baby Mole/Bébé Taupe. She was born with quite a lot of hair, which, contrary to the expectations of everyone except her mother, is dark brown and not blonde. Add to that the fact that her eyes were practically black at birth, general newborn short-sightedness and the way she moves her hands when she's looking for milk, and she really did look a lot like a mole... The moleishness has worn off now, but the name has stuck.

We've decided not to post pictures on open-access parts of the internet (or Facebook, for that matter), but if we know you in real life, drop us a line and we'll send you a link.

Now, people of the Internets. Time for you lot to help me with this whole baby thing...

We're thinking about switching to washable nappies (or diapers, for those on the other side of the Atlantic). Thoughts? Suggestions? Recommendations? Patterns? (Yes, I'm thinking of at least attempting to make one or two to see how that works out. Trying different options here).

Oh, and I also appear to be addicted to Speculoos. Please send help (or more biscuits).