An important part of any trip “back home” (wherever that is) is the food. I’ve got my must-eat-when-in-Estonia foods, and my must-eat-when-in-Sweden foods. I imagine that every expat will have similar longings – foods that you wouldn’t love so much if you could eat them at any time, but when they’re miles away and you only get them a few times a year (at best) they become very important.

Estonia has kohupiim and various things made of kohupiim (such as kohupiimakorbid and kohupiimavorm) and Estonian bread.

Sweden has filmjölk (to be eaten with cereal) and Kalle’s kaviar.

Plus of course both of them have a whole lot of good but less important things, such as desserts, and candies I remember from my childhood, and special brands of bread, and potatoes and apples that taste just so…

Met more friends and relatives. Found out that CE is going to be spending 3 years in Shanghai!

Visited Eric’s brother in the morning (in his new flat) and his father and stepmother in the afternoon (in their new flat).

Today was also Waffle Day in Sweden so for dinner I had waffles fresh off the griddle, with strawberry jam.

Birthday party for my sister-in-law’s daughter (niece-in-law?) who is now 7. Lots of princess cake and lots of people.

Flight to Stockholm; staying with Eric’s sister and her family. First time I flied from London City Airport – very pleasant and convenient compared to the alternatives.

I’ve never been particularly fond of shopping. I dislike the time it takes, having to go from shop to shop to find the right thing. I dislike crowds. I dislike the way department stores fill the ground floor with perfume disks and the whole place stinks until I can barely breathe. I dislike queues.

When I was looking for maternity clothes and was shocked by the lack of choice and the exorbitant prices, I “found” eBay. I’d bought the odd item there before, but now I finally realised how great it was. Not only was the range of clothes much more varied – everything was really cheap too. So cheap that I could buy them unseen and untried: even if one out of five had turned out to be not as expected, it would have been a great deal. In the end, only one top was not as good as it had seemed on the screen.

Then I had the same epiphany about web shops in general – the range of things I can find is far far wider than anything the shops can offer, especially when it comes to less common things. Everyone buys jeans and socks and plates and pots, so there is reasonable choice in most shops. But maternity bras? Baby carriers? Digital camera accessories? If you’re lucky you’ll find one or two kinds in a shop, while the internet has dozens or hundreds, new as well as used.

On the Internet there are no queues and no crowds. There is also no need to make an instant decision (or waste hours going home and coming back later). If it’s a piece of clothing I am buying, I can try it on in the peace and quiet of my home, and send back the ones that don’t fit.

I’ve done more web shopping in the last 10 months than during the entire rest of my life. I am totally in love with the concept – it’s saved me hours and hours of frustration. Yay for the Internet!

Flight back home, proudly holding a new passport. Ingrid was happy throughout the trip.

The flight out to Tallinn with Ingrid yesterday was a disaster. Minutes after we got on the plane, she decided she didn’t like that place at all and burst into tears. The requirement to sit strapped in and facing forwards didn’t help her mood either. She was so upset she couldn’t even breastfeed without choking (try drinking while you’re crying!). After an hour she fell asleep. When it was time to strap in for landing I had to wake her again and of course she then cried again.

I was prepared for a rerun of the same performance on the flight back, but I got the exact opposite. She set off to charm everyone around her. There were a few whimpers as I woke her for takeoff. But after that she ate happily, played quietly, smiled at people around her, and didn’t even fuss when a stewardess wanted to squeeze her irresistibly chubby legs.

Who knows – maybe the first flight went wrong because she had to get up at 4 that morning, or because it was the first one. I fervently hope that future flights will be more like the second one!

Things learned:

• You can never have too many muslins.
• A sling is great for getting around, but not great for taxi rides.
• You will neither need nor have time for any entertainment (like books or magazines) when flying alone with a baby.
• Nappies take up lots of space. For any trip longer than a day, take enough nappies for the flights and buy more when you arrive.

I spend such a large part of my day looking at Ingrid’s little face that I am now unused to adult faces. The other day I was holding her and looking at the two of us in the mirror, and I found myself thinking that my own face was big, coarse and bony, Her small, round, soft face has become the standard.

Speaking of faces, it looks like she has inherited my eyes – blue and somewhat deep-set – and possibly my hair as well. Her hair is downy-fine, wispy and very fair. I think I had the same kind of hair when I was small.

Got up at 4 for a quick trip to Estonia to get that darn passport. Ingrid did NOT like the flight and cried herself exhausted. Visited an old friend who kindly offered dinner even though I gave her no more half an hour’s warning.