I have a lot of things to get done this evening, including fixing my beloved Caboo. It won’t be a tough fix, just a stitch or two, but I need to cut fresh elastic and attempt to sew in a straight line. So this will be a short and factual post today.

With lots of photos of beauty. And I don’t just mean my face.

Our day started off with someone putting her jacket on upside down and proclaiming, “I’m a butterfly!” while spinning in circles.

It was another big walk with Auntie Numbnuts today and this time she suggested Hermitage of Braid. We have been here before when Wee Daftie was a bit younger and she did a pretty good job of keeping up with us. Today, she ran circles around us.

Literal circles and literally running.

Boof!

It is a seriously stunning part of the city. It is only a short bus from the city centre up to Morningside but it feels like another world. Especially on days like today when the weather was totally on our side.

We followed the water til Wee Daftie decided to lead us up a hill.

While following the water, we made friends with multiple doggies, listened to planes flying overhead, chased a dipper downstream and spotted some butterflies.

Such gorgeous rich colours.

We ended up rambling about for about two hours before heading for a well deserved rest and snoop through our photos.

Thanks to Auntie Numbnuts, I have a mini library of reference books in my bag on trees, Scottish birds and wild flowers. It is super nerdy but after we ordered our food, we took out our books and tried to identify what we saw. It honestly is really fun and even Wee Daftie seems to enjoy it!

A wee weir!

We parted ways after lunch and I was greeted by the most amazing surprise at our post box. Daddy Daftie is currently away and we’re not sure when he’ll be home. As Mother’s Day is at the end of the month, he wanted to make sure he could organise something. Apparently, he had asked them to delay the delivery but…well…they didn’t! Bit annoying for him, but super fun for me! He’s such a thoughtful human.

Gorgeous, eh? Even she was surprised!

So we had a super pretty walk, a super tasty and nerdy lunch and then a super duper surprise when we got home. And all for a good cause. Super.

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

So I started writing a big post about how I’ve gained a new appreciation for friends, old and new, since having Wee Daftie. It started getting really cheesy and humble-braggy so I am going to let my thoughts fester a bit before I go out on a potentially awkward limb!

Here we have the lesser spotted Daftie Bear, looking delighted in her natural habitat – dino jammies and eating breakfast.

We ended our streak of lie-ins this morning with her waking at a slightly more usual time before heading out to meet some friends for a walk.

As we were heading over to the Botanic Gardens again, I strapped her in for a walk up and then let her run riot with her pals.

Part of the reason I wanted to write a post about friends was watching my littlie making friends with the other littlies. They actually seem to like each other. This is really cool for me as I really like the Mammies connected to said littlies. I have met a lot of other parents since having Wee Daftie but I haven’t always liked them/gotten a long with them all. Just because our kids are the same age, doesn’t mean we have anything in common.

Daftie cuddling one of her other best buddies.

The girls and their littlies are so precious to me as they are my kind of people. I honestly didn’t really expect to make good friends in my mid-thirties, I kind of thought I had all the good friends I needed (who are incredible humans and friends, by the way) so I don’t take this new tribe, met through nct, baby classes, online, being neighbours, for granted.

She’s my pal. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with this fashion forward chick?

All the walking around the gardens, as well as to and from the gardens, helped us hit the target as we made it home. Which was great as it freed up the afternoon for a nap! She only has two naps a week these days and I so appreciate them when they come around!

Less than two weeks to go!

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

I think all this walking is wearing us out. Neither of us woke up at our usual time. In fact, she woke me at 8.24am. That is a legit hour and a bit later than usual. Not complaining as it’s the latest we’ve slept in oh I dunno, 2 years? So I’m taking it.

However, 8am is usually brekkie time so it does put a different spin on the day when things start a little later. Still, we had a plan and some steps to do so after a moderately speedy breakfast, we were off.

Dafties on a train. Less frightening than snakes. Kind of.

I love a train. If the option of travel is train, I will always take a train. I did even work on one for a season. So when she asked to go on a train, who was I to refuse?

As I say, all this walking is excellent, purposeful and fun but also a bit knackering so taking a day trip to North Berwick seemed like a dream. Not only is it pretty with plenty of walking opportunities, it also has a fab little cafe called Cake for lunch and only 30 minutes away by train. Fabulous.

Gorgeous.

I think my favourite thing about North Berwick is that it really feels like a mini holiday whenever we go down. Pre-Daftie Days, I used to head down on a day off with my camera to just get away for a bit and have a literal change of scenery. It’s been lovely to share this mild escapism with the Daft Family Household. But as Daddy Daftie is away working at the moment, it was just us girls today.

Taking a well earned break!

We had a big walk down the beach, avoiding the water as the waves were very rough and I didn’t fancy either of us being swept out to sea. On our way back, we took minute to just sit and chill out in the sun. Don’t get me wrong, the weather wasn’t splitting that stones but there was enough heat to make our respite super enjoyable.

I think this was my favourite part of the day. Unless we are reading stories or eating or watching a film, she never sits still. I mean, she barely sits still when “sitting still” but we never just sit and be still for no reason.

She made us “lie down togeller” for a bit. It was perfect. I choose to be in denial whether or not we may have been lying near poop.

We got the train home after lunch, played Stop and Go down Rose Street to our bus home. I will never enjoy running in wellies, but I will never not enjoy playing it with her.

Another good day, another 10,000 steps smashed, another pair of tired Dafties.

1…2…3…Go!

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

I think the only way to combat a grey day of minimal steps (though still hitting our target) is to embrace the outdoors and walk as far as we can with Auntie Cookie, another of Wee Daftie’s Official Unofficial Aunties. She has a few.

Look how happy we are with that snowy Pentlands behind us.

Auntie Cookie suggested a walk around the Pentlands so I wrestled the car seat out of the back of my Big Human’s car and into her’s.

We took a drive up to the Secret Herb Garden first for a coffee and an explore. It’s a fab little place with sooooo many herbs freely growing, as you might imagine with a name like that. It also has a lovely wee coffee shop, some goats, pigs, Shetland ponies, a couple of geese and a yurt. We weren’t sure what the yurt was for but it looked cool and it was another thing for Wee Daftie to look at. She loves looking at stuff.

A great meeting of the minds. A sassy goose and a sassy toddler.

We had a good ramble, poke and sniff. Okay so that sounds terrible but when you are surrounded by lemon verbena, rosemary, coriander and primroses, it’s hard not to stop and smell the…er…well not the roses as we didn’t see any…but the flora anyway.

Hiding in a shed, having a tea party with Auntie Cookie.

We then headed along the road for a walk along the Pentlands. We obviously didn’t go up the hills because, y’know, she’s only small but the big path around was super. She did brilliantly and walked for ages by herself. My favourite part was when she started pretending to be a “little monster” and chased after her auntie growling.

Hearing one of your longtime friends shrieking before running away from your toddler is really something to be cherished.

For those who can’t join us walking, here is what it looks like.

I ended up carrying her after a while, as y’know she’s small, but all in we walked for about five miles including our trip to the garden, which was excellent.

I love easy days like today. Perfect walking weather, fabulous company, great views and fun chatter. And, amazingly, so does my girl.

Gorgeous. And we’re okay too.

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

So on this day, 16th March, I tend to write a more “serious” post, less about walking and more about me!

16th March is what I call our Daftiversary. It was on this date in 2016 that I officially found out not only that I was pregnant but also very pregnant. Yes, I appreciate you can’t really be just a “bit” pregnant, it really is an are or are not situation. But I went from not ever having children to being 24 weeks (and 5 days) pregnant in a matter of hours. It was very surreal.

She surprised me on that day and she still surprises me today!

Now, I sometimes forget that when I meet new people, they don’t know the history of my Stealth Ninja Baby and I have a bad habit of saying things like, “Well, I was only pregnant for 16 weeks!” Or “Well, not sure if we’ll have any more kids; we barely wanted this one!” Which can sound so wrong until you know that I honestly didn’t believe my body was fit to create and carry a child. I will never deny the enormity of the shock that I was pregnant or that I cried tonnes that day but I never didn’t want her. I never considered not doing this. I just like to crack jokes. Especially inappropriate ones.

Creating again. What she lacks in hand eye coordination, she makes up for in style and flair.

The original day in 2016 was a little crazy. I had previously had an unusual discharge while on a trip to London so decided to get checked out when I got home. As I figured the problem was gynaecological, I decided to take pregnancy test at home before making the appointment as I knew the doctor would ask whether it was possible for me to be pregnant. I figured I would be prepared, take a test and confidently say, “My body is weird, not preggo, let’s check it out.” This was the second test I had taken under similar circumstances (the first time being when I was 22 and originally being tested to see why my cycle was so long)

Problem was this time, the test came back positive.

Instead of calling my doctor, I called the Sexual Health Clinic instead and basically said, “So I just took a test. It is positive. Help.” And they did. Amazingly.

As advised, I attended the drop-in clinic, very first thing on Wednesday 16th March 2016. I was given a form to fill out and a number and told to wait in a big room with lots of other folk. I was intrigued by why everyone else was here too but figured it was a bit weird and intrusive to ask so just waited quietly.

When my number was called, I was taken to a small room with a nurse. It was the nurse’s job to assess the situation and decide what to do next, who to see, where to go. I was feeling pretty calm, I generally take things in my stride. She smiled, asked me what was going on…

And I promptly burst into tears.

After composing myself, I explained all about my broken pituitary gland, my long cycles and my total lack of definitive information about my own period.

We had a great chat, she plied me with many tissues, and sent me down to be check over by the doctor. I had stopped crying by now, thanked the nurse and headed down a corridor to the next waiting room.

I noticed that there were lots of little waiting rooms here and I was in one by myself. I wasn’t really thinking about much as I didn’t have enough information about, well, anything. I am good at working through things but I need information. I figured it wasn’t worth getting worked up til I knew more.

I was met next by a doctor just finishing up her residency called Eliza. She was lovely. She had me take another pregnancy test, which was clearly still positive, and then she asked me to tell my story again.

And I promptly burst into tears.

Once I’d calmed down, again, she asked to give me an external exam. Now, I shouldn’t laugh, and I almost did at the time, but I can still picture her face as she tried to conceal her reaction to feeling my stomach. She didn’t look panicked, just incredibly surprised and a little confused. I never thought that there was a problem, per say, but I had a feeling something was unusual. She went and brought back Dr Hunter, a specialist. Or as Eliza put it, “Someone who knows a bit more about these things than I do.” Dr Hunter came in, had another feel of my stomach and said, “Yeah. So I would estimate that you are at least 20 weeks at this stage.”

And I promptly burst into expletives. (Sorry Mammy)

To their credit, both doctors laughed…when they realised I was laughing. And then crying. And then swearing again.

They organised an ultrasound for me that morning so we could see where we were at. I was escorted by another nurse who found me an empty room where I could wait. I had contacted Numbnuts to come and meet me so I asked how I could direct my friend to meet me. This nurse then took it upon herself to make sure the reception knew who was coming and where they needed to be.

And then I promptly burst into tears.

By the time Numbnuts arrived, I had been scanned, seen by another nurse and taken back to my little room where Dr Hunter would be coming back again to talk. I was also sure I had rid my body of all moisture. However, as soon as she walked in the room…

I promptly burst into tears. And disbelieving laughter.

I was overwhelmed by so many things that day but the one thing that resonates still today was just how supported, listened to, acknowledged and cared for the staff at the clinic made me feel. They must see thousands upon thousands of people every week but I never felt like I was overreacting or not being heard. I will never forget any of them and I will never have the words to say thank you.

Though I did send a card after she was born.

Back to today. The weather was horrendous all day so we just did some housework, lots of art, some dancing, plenty of books and pancakes for breakfast. I had to finish the steps off after bedtime with my pal Leslie.

The forecast looks much brighter for tomorrow so looking forward to getting out and about again!

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

My Friday blog posts tend to be the same. We get up, I walk us to Monkey Music, we have a barrel of laughs (geddit? Monkey? Barrel? No?), go home for lunch, talk to Nana and Papa(p) and that’s about it. Oh and watch Drag Race Season 11 after putting her to bed…but that’s not every Friday, just the current ones.

Rainy walking!

But that’s okay, that things are the same. In fact, that is better than okay. Before having my girl, I had an appreciation for routine being important in taking care of a Small Human but my goodness it is essential! Our days start the same, our days end the same and the important things happen in the same way.

Wee Daftie responds well to routine and structure for a couple of reasons. It helps her learn, it keeps her safe but what I’ve really found is that it helps her thrive outside her routines. Whenever we end up having an adventure or something out of the ordinary, she adapts so well because she knows we will always come back to the norm, the routine, at the end of the day.

Wee Daftie has a just set up her new art studio.

The other thing I like about having the same essential day is that I really appreciate the smaller things. Like her deciding to pull her Mac truck into our bedroom so she can do colouring while I get dressed after my shower. Or when she holds her hand out to help me out of said bath, like some lady-in-waiting. Or when she decides to play monsters and starts chasing me around the kitchen, growling. If we had crazy busy days that didn’t have some structure to them, I think I would miss out on the smaller moments as I would be wondering what to next and not enjoying knowing what was around the corner.

Probably just how my funny brain works.

Breaking routine by having some sneaky nice cream – frozen bananas, mixed berries, yoghurt and a splash of maple syrup blended and boom! Ice-cream! But not really. Super, super delicious.

After class today, we got a bus halfway home and then walked the rest ourselves. The big walk to class and our second walk home for lunch took us over our target, which was ace. She might have landed in a mucky puddle on the way home (accidentally) but that didn’t stop us running down a grassy hill at one point.

Walking and chatting in the chilly spring sunshine.

Another day done and potentially housebound day tomorrow as the weather forecast looks garbage. Like the worst it has seemed all month. The forecasts have lied to us before, though, so who knows? Whatever happens, we will be walking 10,000 steps!

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

I am aware I say this a lot but this may be a short post today! (We’ll see)

Today was our usual meet up with my Mammy Mates, whom we met through baby sensory. It’s funny to think that I have only known these girls for two years, or thereabouts, but we share so much together being first time Mammies together. There are now a few more babies in the group, Wee Daftie is still the only girl. Not that is matters but she is severely outnumbered these days!

We went off to a fab play cafe called Turtledove. It’s not that far from us just it’s not on a direct bus line so I decided to bus up and then walk us home. Google maps estimated the walk would take about an hour which seemed good to me. And I knew the walk home would also be relatively downhill so double win.

The sign of a good soft play session with your pals, filthy socks!

The kids ran about, we had some coffee, we had plenty of chat and all of a sudden it was time to be heading home! Time really does fly when your toddler is having fun!

This was taken approximately ten minutes after we got rained on. God bless you changeable March weather. How pretty though?

We reached our target before we reached the front door so we were able to have a cuddle up on the sofa with a film and a bicket after lunch.

Picasso, Pollock, Constable, Dali, Daftie.

It was really good to have a busy morning and relaxing afternoon cos this walking is hard, but super enjoyable, work. I love being busy, I love being able to raise money for a good cause but I also love the quiet cuddle up and relax moments.

Officially two full weeks done, just over two more to go! Let’s do this thing!

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

Introducing Wee Daftie to her Irishness, one pot of boiled ham at a time.

The sun was streaming through the window when I was woken by the early morning chorus: “Maaaameeeee!” To be fair, it wasn’t actually that early so it wasn’t that bad and it’s nice to know she wants to see me first thing in the morning.

That was until I went to see her and her first words this morning were asking where her Auntie Numbnuts was.

We found bluebells this morning. Gorgeous.

After brekkie, we got dressed, jumped on her trike and headed off for a walk to the park. It was definitely park weather this morning. Now. There are a few parks near us but she has recently taken a total shine to the rolly rolly slide at Victoria Park. Which was good as there is a lovely walk there a decent distance away from the house.

Rolly rolly!

The only issue was that I might have taken a wrong turn and I may have added an extra 20 minutes or so onto the walk. Great for me, my legs, for Cancer Research, not so for Wee Daftie who kept asking where the rolly rollys were. Whoops.

The other thing that cracked me up on our wandering was how she loved shouting under each bridge, to hear her wee voice echo. There is a long tunnel at one part and she kept blurting out full and hilarious sentences like, “Went to buy wellies with DINOSAURS!” And “Going to the Rolly Rollys!” And, “I singing like Mrs Botti!” The effect of the echo was lost with the sheer length of each proclamation but it was fabulous.

Mrs Botti is a character from one of her Thomas books. Alicia Botti is an Opera singer, Wee Daftie is not.

After we exhausted the slides and worked out on the little jungle gym, we headed for a coffee to warm up a bit before finishing our steps and our walk home for lunch. She loves a coffee shop, does my girl. Absolutely gets that from me.

My other favourite part to this day was as we walked from the park to the cafe, she started making up a little song which we sang together. It was really fun and a terrible song but it was worth the…admiring (?) glances from our fellow pedestrians.

Just hanging out, working out, being a monkey.

The rest of the afternoon was just reading, drawing and a nap. My girl is fast dropping her nap so she’s currently only having about two naps a week. Today was a nap day and it was well earned. It is obviously exhausting looking after a small whirling dervish 24/7 but it feels super intensified on her no nap days. Which is 5 days out of 7.

Not that I would change it for the world.

Another day happily done, here’s to another good day.

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer

I am pretty sure I said yesterday’s post was going to be short but, actually, I think today will be shorter!

With the weather being what it has been lately, I have been taking my chances to get outside for some walking whenever they come up and today was no exception!

Using the world’s smallest spoon to eat brekkie, as you do.

All this walking has been wearing has us both out, which was proven this morning when neither of us woke before 8am…which was glorious and a total surprise. So once our late breakfast was over and the sliver of non grey sky started poking through, I grabbed our wellies and we hit the road.

Check out our beautiful pier!

Just beyond the harbour, there is a small pier with some vague sand and lots of stones on either side. It’s a really lovely place to have a wander and throw some stones. Wee Daftie is an expert at the latter.

We got absolutely windswept and more than a little sandy which was fab. We would have stayed longer but lunch was calling, we had a delivery arriving and I sensed rain – which I was right about as the heavens opened on us on the walk home.

Two drowned Dafties thawed out over lunch and then had another gigantic walk with Auntie Numbnuts.

And this was the end of my day today!

We took a trip over towards Crammond, walked through Silverknowes and then back home past the Waterfront. The wind was howling and it was quite biting at points but we avoided the rain. Getting caught in one downpour was more than enough for one day!

Auntie Numbnuts stayed for dinner, bedtime and growup conversation, which was great. My Wee Daftie is a huge fan of my pal and it makes me so happy to see them together.

It’s been a long day but a mighty fine one.

Windswept and sandy Dafties taking a well deserved lift at the end of a morning of stone throwing and a bit of rain.

I am going to leave it relatively short and sweet today as we had a long, but super, day and I am very ready for an early night!

I say that but I am historically awful at going to bed. It is a miracle and a blessing that Wee Daftie didn’t inherit that from me!

She might get this from me, however.

We set off bright and early in glorious, freezing, sunshine to meet up with one of my Mammy Mates. We have been planning a walk together for over a week now but the weather has not been our friend so it was great to finally to it today. I had grand designs for walking to my friend’s house but this month has been wearing us both out (in the best way) and neither myself nor my little idiot woke up early enough!

This was the walk from my friend’s house to the bus stop home. Not bad, eh? Wee Daftie genuinely walked about half of this all by herself. Wee champ.

The weather was lovely and bright and really great for walking. We made two little stops along the way for the littlies to climb about a playground and then later on for Wee Daftie to chat to some swans and ducks. Oh and some moorhens, coots, seagulls, goosanders and pigeons. Oh AND the lovely lady in the coffee shop.

Climbing Daftie Monkey. She can be so fearless as it was pretty effing high.

Wibbly wobbly.

We smashed our steps well before we got home so whatever running about the house we did later on was just the icing on the cake.

We both absolutely enjoyed our morning with our friends but, just as importantly, she enjoyed the walking. She even asked if we could go again. This makes me so happy as I come from a family of walkers. We Murphys love a good walk. She has very little choice whether or not I make her walk but it makes it easier that she likes it! As a well done for being such a superstar, we had a hot choccy treat after lunch. (I may have needed it more than her. I was basically ice when we got home)

Another day done and it feels excellent. Super proud of my walking buddy today.

Not exactly what you want to see when you get home after walking for miles with your toddler. Blessing in disguise?

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dafties-walking-over-cancer