Hoorah, it's holiday time for Ed. He's done his leaving speeches, been to lots of parties and now the weeks stretch ahead full of opportunity. Of course, not all those hoped for things will fit in in the end, but we have time away in Holland and at camp to look forward to and a lot less stress for a bit. For those of you we haven't mentioned it to before, Ed starts as head of maths at a school down the road from September.

Charlie (now 1!) is enjoying investigating everything, and getting much better at pulling himself up and reaching things higher up. He can also stand on his own for a few seconds, which I found very exciting and Philip just looked at me! He's loved investigating things that roll this weekend. He's also done his first bit of scribbling. And he loves playing with the fridge magnets, holding himself up using the ridge that forms the handle for the freezer, reaching up to get the magnets and then stooping down to pick up dropped magnets. He needs an eye keeping nearly all the time.

Philip seems quite stressy at the moment. Gorgeous sometimes and completely unreasonable at others. Often throws a fit just when you arrive somewhere - nursery or a toddler group - but these places are very understanding and have seen it all before. Sometimes amazingly articulate; sometimes reverting to baby babble. It must be all very confusing being a toddler. We'll be pleased when it settles down again a bit for him.

My work has picked up a bit with the addition of a bit of work for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. Sworn to secrecy!