I think I had the happiest moment of my whole life this evening. Elsie built a tower of three building blocks all by herself, which made me cry a little bit, then she wiped the snot away from her own nose, which made me cry a lot. Then Rob put her on my knee for a cuddle, and she used her tissue to wipe away my tears. I thought I was going to explode. Just when I think I am getting my love for my daughter under control, it overwhelms me totally once again.

I am also just getting my head round the fact that she will be one next week – it seems pretty incredible that she’s been around for a year, although really she’s been around for longer than that, especially to me.

The other funny thing that happened today was that she’s been playing with Rob’s tape measure all day (she had the day off nursery to go to the doctor, she is still really poorly with this cold, and was coughing so much this morning that we feared she might have a chest infection, but she doesn’t) – and he is very proud. It’s the equivalent of Louis Armstrong’s daughter picking up a trumpet or Charlotte Bronte’s daughter picking up a pen for the first time. Rob’s daughter has begun to measure things!