This one in particular is my favourite – it shows Wayne getting in to the car with the baby in the car seat.

It must be a familiar scene to many couples who’ve had babies – those first nerve-wracking moments when you leave the safety of the hopsital, with all its “experts” and step out into the real world for the first time with this tiny little life at your mercy. It’s an amazing experience, and something you never forget.

I also giggled at the memory of us leaving hospital with Lilly. Just as we left, the fire alarm went off in the neighbouring ward, which happened to be the pre-natal ward, and as a result the noise was deafening as heavily pregnant women – some of them in the beginnings of labour – were forced to evacuate and become a jealous audience to our exit.

Being 10 days overdue, we had had plenty of practice of the car seat - how to strap the baby in, how to attach it successfully to the car.

But when it came to the crunch, under the huge pressure we put ourselves under on this first epic journey as a mummy and daddy, we lost the plot and needed expert assistance from the midwives to do both those tasks.

So, it just made me wonder whether Wayne had the same issues once he climbed inside the car with baby Kai in his car seat. What I really wanted to see was – what came next? Were they parked up for ten minutes fumbling with the car seat and arguing over who knew how to do it right and why-didn’t-you-practice-this-before? Did they have to ask a kindly midwife to step in? Or did they just drive round the corner out of sight of the paps and do it there?

I’d love to know….

P.s on the subject of Wayne and Coleen, apparently they’ve decided against a megabucks baby photo deal, so that they can protect baby Kai’s privacy and try to protect him a little from the limelight they both court on a daily basis. Whatever you think of Wayne and Coleen, it’s good to see them making such a responsible decision – the first of many responsibilities they’ve taken on with the birth of their little boy.

Currently new dads get a piffling two weeks off, paid at £117.18 per week.

That really is totally inadequate and has got to be one of the most unequal of all the gender gaps we have in society today.

When Lilly was born, Tony had his two weeks off and by god, was he needed at home! As I think any new mum with a male partner will tell you, the day they return to work is something you really dread, wondering how on earth you’ll manage on your own with this little creature which needs 24 hour attention.

There was talk a few months ago – before this bloody credit crunch buggered everything up – that mums and dads would be given the right to share the maternity leave entitlement between them in a way which most suited them – so perhaps mum would take the first six months, dad the last six.

That is just such a brilliant idea, and surely the fairest one. Childcare isn’t just a mother’s job these days and the more involved dads are from the beginning, the better.

I am blessed with a wonderful husband who has been a fabulous daddy from the start. He couldn’t be more involved or more hands on, and looks after her on his own for a few hours every day while i’m at work.

I know when he returned to work after his two weeks paternity leave he was worried about me at home, knowing what I was having to cope with, so it wasn’t a bed of roses for him either. Luckily, his working hours meant he was home in the afternoons to rescue my sanity and spend time with his daughter. But not all dads are this lucky, especially if they’re working the normal 9-5.

Sadly, I suspect that improving things for families will be put on the back burner after the next general electon, especially if the Conservatives win. But it can only be a matter of time before this very sexist and outdated policy is scrapped, surely?

I just hope it doesn’t damage the national vaccination programme and that parents will be reassured by this news.

In the meantime i’m just really sad for her parents and family, not only that they’ve lost a beloved daughter but also that their tragedy has been played out in the full (and incorrect) glare of the media.

 I’ve found a website I really like via twitter called Digital Spy.

They generate literally thousands (or so it seems) of celebrity gossip based stories everyday, and they have a very busy twitter feed. I’ve actually subscribed to it via my Google reader so I can have little flick through the list each day for interesting ones.

 At this point I have to say that I’m not a stupid person or that proverbial “Empty Vessel” who believes everything she reads. In fact, sometimes I find the ones that are blatantly untrue the most amusing.

 Just to spread some tittle tattle into your lives, here’s my favourite stories from Digital Spy today.

 digitalspy: Showbiz – Cruise, Holmes spend £2m on Suri clothes http://tr.im/AiOP

 (Oh, thank god for that. There was me thinking my regular splurges for baby clothes in Asda were excessive…)

 digitalspy: Showbiz – Madonna: ‘I might have another child’ http://tr.im/AiLu

 (How lucky these celebrities are! They can just decide to “have” children at the drop of a hat. They don’t need to worry about their age, status of their relationship, who’ll look after them while they’re at work, whether they’ll be “approved” as an adopter or be able to get pregnant. Why not fill your mansion with them and employ a few more nannies! Won’t that be “fulfilling”!)

 digitalspy: Showbiz – May unhurt in ‘Top Gear’ airship stunt http://tr.im/Afef

 (Hillarious. Imagine seeing that thing floating towards you!! Do you think you could guess it’d be something to do with Top Gear?!)

 digitalspy: Showbiz – Price ‘has Andre love shrine at home’ http://tr.im/AdJi

 (I didn’t even need to read that one. Oh dear. Enough said.)

But seriously though, I really love the way this website is set out. Each story contains so many links to other related articles that it hooks you in and makes you stay on the site for ages. Very clever.

First off, it’s the Sun pledging its electoral allegiance to The Tories.

That’s that, then.

Secondly it’s the reporting of the 14-year-old girl who died shortly after receiving the HPV cervical cancer vaccine this week.

Before any link could possibly be proven, this scare story was splashed across all the papers and discussed on radio programmes.

Have we learnt nothing from the MMR scare story?

These journalists only had to wait two days for the post mortem results, but decided to hype up a story based on total speculation and coincidence in the meantime. Now it emerges that this poor girl had other health conditions which caused her death, and the fact she had had her vaccine hours earlier was nothing but unfortunate timing. But the damage is done.

A vaccine which prevents people from getting cancer is an amazing thing indeed. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if all types of cancers had a vaccine…. hopefully they will one day. Cervical cancer is already extremely treatable, and is one of those cancers which is well screened for. However, we only have to remember Jade Goody to know that despite this, women still die, each and every day.

When this vaccine first came out, I was stunned to hear about parents who were refusing to let their daughters have it, on “moral” grounds. I cannot imagine anything that goes against a parent’s instinct to protect their children and keep them from harm than refusing them this potentially life saving vaccine, on the basis that if they have it they might be more likely to have sex?!?!?!

Anyway, I digress.

Our local radio station has a lunchtime phone in where local people debate topical news stories. I was really dismayed yesterday to hear a caller criticising the vaccine, calling for it to be halted and warning people against having it.

I really think once the dust has settled on this somebody needs to ask questions about why this story broke before there was any evidence to support it. And will the fact that the HPV vaccine did not contribute to this girl’s death get as much media attention as the possibility that it did?

I really hope parents and young girls aren’t persuaded to go without their protection against HPV because of this irresponsible reporting. And even more I hope that if they are, they don’t live to regret it.

Wow. What a brilliantly made, powerful documentary.

Channel 4 has made some great ones about the September 11 atrocities, and you have to hand it to them.

This one was made using entirely footage filmed by people on the ground, most of them just ordinary eye witnesses. What made it so compelling was the fact that there was no narration, simply the conversations and sounds that happened at the time, interspersed with the audio of some news bulletins from the day.

No matter how many times you watch the events of that day unfold, it never fails to amaze and horrify you. You cannot help but put yourself in the shoes of those who were directly affected – either trapped in those buildings or waiting at home for news. Awful, awful, awful.

I have a daughter now and cannot imagine the day when I have to explain to her what happened, and why.

I hope for her sake she can remain blissfully unaware that human beings can be so cruel to each other for as long as possible.

This recipe makes 12-14.

Preheat oven to 375F/190C/gas 5.

Sift together 275g wholemeal self raising flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp ground cinamon.

Cut 2 ripe bananas into chunks, and puree in a blender.

Add to the blender 2 eggs, 130g cup soft brown sugar, 90g softened butter and 1 tsp vanilla extract and blend again.

Pour this mixture into the flour mix, and stir well to combine. Gently fold through about 250g blueberries.

Spoon the mixture into greased muffin tins (fill them right up to the top for best results) and bake for 25 minutes until risen and golden brown.

Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then put on a wire rack to finish cooling.

The muffins keep well for 3-4 days in an airtight container.

Well, I don’t feel sorry for her, and I bet lots of women I know don’t either.

The Smiths downloading saucy movies isn’t a feminist issue, and I think this person being interviewed on Radio 4 wanted to turn it into a debate about the rights and wrongs of pornography and the female v male perception of such films.

Instead, the whole thing makes me wonder what else Jacqui Smith and her husband might have “accidentally” claimed on expenses? Whoops! I claimed my new designer dress on expenses! Whoops! I claimed my Friday night wine on expenses! Whoops! I claimed a new necklace on expenses!!

A “normal person” just wouldn’t get away with mistakes like that.

Plus, I’m not ruling out the possibility that Jacqui Smith might not be so much “humiliated” by her husband as thankful that he obligingly sacrificed his own dignity and took sole blame to help save her career (a career on which both their incomes depend, as he works for her full time).

Under Freedom of Information, detailed information about MPs expenses from the past four years is soon to be made publicly available. So, expect more interesting expenses claims soon!

“The father of Jade Goody‘s two children, Jeff Brazier, today appealed for the media to stop taking photographs of five-year-old Bobby and four-year-old Freddy until further notice.

In a statement issued through Simon Cowell’s company, Syco Music, Brazier expressed gratitude for the media’s support but appealed for privacy to allow his sons to come to terms with the loss of their mother, who died on Sunday, aged 27, after losing her battle with cancer.

The statement asked for photographers to stop taking pictures of the children from 8pm today until further notice.”

I’m pleased to read this and I hope the media take heed. Jade’s unfortunate demise has made easy headlines for the tabloids, and it has sold them a lot of papers. But if we hadn’t already reached that point I think we can safely say now: enough is enough.

It was Jade’s choice to remain in the public eye while she lived, but sadly now she has died and her poor boys should not have to be photographed everywhere they go and have everything they say and do watched and reported on by the tabloids. They’re still very young and it must be an extremely distressing and confusing time for them.

I’m pleased that their real father, Jeff Brazier, will have custody of the boys, and I think in making this appeal he has already proven himself to be a dignified and stable figure in their lives. I sadly don’t think that any of Jade’s family, her horrendous mother or her jailbird husband, would ever be able to provide a happy or stable upbringing for the two boys. Jeff though, might have a fighting chance as he seems to have more than one braincell in his head.

I hope the media will respect this request and show a bit of respect for the grief of two little boys who’ve lost their mummy. And I hope Jeff continues to carry out his parenting duties so responsibly.

Jade made her money for those two boys by selling her private life, in technicolour detail, for the last awful months of her life. But I think even she would draw a firm line when it comes to her children making the front pages every day as they struggle to come to terms with what has happened.

Serves 2

Not suitable for freezing

Clove of garlic, chopped

Cooking oil

350g strips turkey / beef

1 onion

200g mushrooms, sliced

6 tbsps half fat crème fraiche

100ml milk (skimmed if you’re worried about low fat)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Paprika, to garnish

Rice, to serve

Method:

Firstly, get the rice cooking according to pack instructions. In the meantime,

Fry the garlic in the oil for a minute.

Add the strips of meat and onion. Continue to fry for a few minutes until the onion is softened and the turkey (if using) is cooked through.

Add the mushrooms and fry for a little longer, until they start looking cooked.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well to form a sauce. Heat through and serve with a sprinkling of paprika on the top to add some colour.