Finally, we've put up some photos of our various visits to relatives. Enjoy.

We mentioned a while ago that, sadly, I have to go back to work soon. This means that Bridget will be spending two days a week at nursery in Okehampton from 8th September. Today I went down to 'Stepping stones' to sort out the paperwork and to give Bridget a chance to accustom herself to the nursery. Despite being on the tired side, she was happy to be held by the head of the baby unit (Lorraine, who will be Bridget's key worker) while I filled in forms. Being taken away by another member of staff for a walk around the courtyard where we were sitting was a mistake, though. Bridget knew that I was still there and made it clear that she wanted to be back with me. Once she was returned, she was fine again.

After business was over, we went inside and Bridget had tea. She amazed me by sitting competently on a little chair at a table for most of it (anxious Mummy hovering ready to catch her if she slipped), and huge quantities of toast and marmite disappeared into her mouth while she spurned most of what I'd brought with me. We then spent most of an hour sitting and playing on the floor with the other two under-twos who were in this afternoon (apparently the afternoons tend to be a lot quieter than the mornings). Bridget was quite happy to amuse herself and got adventurous enough to make long forays across the floor to play with a patch of sunlight and stare at herself in the mirror. She was also more talkative than I've known her before, constantly repeating her 'This is exciting and I can see something I like' sounds.

I think that Bridget will settle in to nursery without too many problems. She's used to having other children of about her age around after seven months at playgroups and she's generally happy with other adults once she gets to know them. I expect that the first couple of days will be hard for her, as well as for us, but hopefully she'll adjust quickly. She'll inevitably have a little less attention paid to her, since staff are responsible for up to three children at a time, but no doubt this will be good for her. The next stage of the introduction will come either tomorrow or Monday, when I'll leave her for about half an hour and see how she copes without me.

Bridget has been adapting her new-found crawling skills over the last week or so to get herself up on her knees so that she can investigate boxes (pulling everything out of her toy and book boxes most days) or kneel up next to a parent. She's been getting a bit frustrated by things just out of her reach - like things at the back of a chair, for instance. However, with a bit of encouragement today she got herself to her feet for long enough to reach the stacking cups at the back of the second stair. And, after having come back down on her bottom with a bit of a bump, immediately got up to do it again. And again. And again. She is still finding it awkward to pull up fully by a chair or a person, but it looks like the cruise ship will be setting sail soon.