He's been showing us all week to be fair, but tonight was a clear line drawn in the sand.

It's been sat waiting for its first use, which it will get in anger at Holestone Moor in a few weeks time. He's been pulling the bag off the shelf of late, and we had the idea of a trial run this weekend just to see if he was ready.

And that's not quite where the fun started, the was a prelude to all this.

His favourite game at the moment is hide and seek. Under-quilty hide and seek. We used to play under-quilty with the cats, having them chase our hands and feet, but under-quilty with the wee fella is much more entertaining. It's a joy when we come home from work, he runs upstairs ahead of us, grabs "the twins" (Puppy and Bear), runs to our room and climbs into our bed, hiding under the quilt whispering "ssshhhhhh" to himself. Even more so when I "find" him, get under the quilt too, and await MOTS - I get told to "sssshhhhhh" too.

So when we inflated his ReadyBed earlier this week just so it was out for familiarisation, he took to it like the preverbial duck to hoi sin sauce. True boy, head-dived over the headboard straight onto the main bed, under the built-in quilt, "ssshhhhhhh". Oh well, that's a hit then. At every opportunity he's diving in, lying down and pulling the quilt up.

Tonight, after a long day of activities with his Mum, and a visit from Grandma & Granda[d], he was absolutey shattered. So after his supper when he climbed into his ReadyBed rather than asking for his cot, it was clear this was going to be a winner.

Trial run? Nah, no need. He's spoken to us tonight, we get the message. Bed? Ready[Bed].

Oh, and did I mention he can climb out of the cot? He would have been out by now had it not been for us using Grobags - he has started to sling his foot over the side while holding on to the bottom, with high levels of success. So much for me teaching him to climb into the bath on his own, he's using those skills elsewhere! Too clever for his Dad's sanity, that boy!

Unless you buy a 57' narrowboat like I have my eye on - unfortunately that's all that's on one, my wallet is a little light in that respect.

So is the travel system the second most important purchase you'll make for the little one? Or the single most important thing?

From the "must-be-seen-to-be-splashing-cash" brigade, forking out a King's ransom on a pram or buggy, through the "last-year's-colours-so-what" type and on to the re-use and second hand markets, one thing is for sure. Your choice directly impacts on the environment.

How?

And this is where it starts getting a little grey.

Lothian operate an old fleet, and an increasingly new fleet. There's not much middle ground, buses are either relatively old or fairly new. The older buses don't have the capability to comply with current legislation, but thankfully this is covered by "buses manufactured since 1999" clause so they can still operate them.

The newer buses have space for a wheelchair, with seats that fold down so able bodied passengers can use them when there is no chair in situ. This space is a requirement under the DDA. Lothian's policy is for this space to be used by whoever wants to use it for whatever purpose (passengers or luggage) on the proviso that this space is a priority for wheelchair users and must be given up should one require it.

Fair enough.

This differs from Virgin Trains, who categorically state on each journey that this space must not be occupied at all during the journey.

So why are we being eco-unfriendly by using the bus? Because they have banned the use of certain type of pram or buggy. Even if you are the only passenger, they will refuse to carry certain types of baby transport. Some will always be accepted, and the grey area is at driver's discretion. So what if you need to get around town? The Council got no support for congestion charging, so need to encourage the use of the bus rather than the car, right? Wrong. If you are a parent there is confusion over whether you can actually use a bus, especially if you're in that "grey area". What are you expected to do? Let the first bus go because the driver said no, wait in the hope the next driver says yes? Or just use the car and be done with it?

That's right, jump in your Land Cruiser and screw the environment. And Edinburgh Council wonders why their citizens use the car. Because their bus service is mince, that's why. HM Government are trying to get us to decide on what car to buy based on their interpretation of the impact to the environment, I never thought we'd be told the same about prams and buggies too!

Here's Lothian's policy, lifted from their website today, along with a link to the graphic issued to drivers.

There are specific legal requirements placed on bus operators regarding the carriage of wheelchairs. The law requires all new buses (since 1999) to be wheelchair accessible, and lays down precise details of the dimensions and features of bus construction to allow wheelchairs, up to a certain size to be carried on buses.

There is no legal requirement regarding buses providing for the carriage of prams, buggies, or any "baby or toddler transport device". The primary reason for there being a wheelchair space on buses is to allow wheelchair users to travel on the bus.

Our policy can be summarised as -

• wheelchairs have priority;
• if the wheelchair space is not required for a wheelchair, anything/one else can occupy the space;
• but only on the understanding that they vacate the space if it is subsequently required for a wheelchair.

This means that whatever is occupying the wheelchair space, be it standing passengers, passengers sitting on the "tip-up" seats located in the wheelchair space, suitcases, bulky luggage or any baby or toddler transport device (buggy/pushchair) etc, has to be moved out of the wheelchair space to make way for a wheelchair if a wheelchair user subsequently wishes to board. Thus whatever is in the wheelchair space has to be capable of being moved (and safely stored in the luggage rack or elsewhere) when required.

This policy has been in place unchanged since the advent of wheelchair accessible buses some 9 years ago and all wheelchair accessible buses display 3 signs shown below which clearly state the requirements.

Also shown below is a copy of the illustrated guidance given to our drivers to assist them in applying the policy. This differentiates between different
types of buggy/pushchair/pram etc to show what is welcome, what is prohibited, and what falls into the sphere of "driver's discretion". In addition to the examples shown, there are a multitude of different variants of buggy/pushchair etc and, whilst both extremities of the spectrum are clear, there is inevitably a grey area in the middle, therefore a driver may well have to ask a potential passenger whether the "device" is collapsible/foldable.

The law requires Lothian Buses to have on our buses a space for the carriage of a wheelchair, and requires our staff to request non-wheelchair occupants in that space to vacate the space in the event of a wheelchair wishing to use the space.

Click here for drivers
guide to buggiesSo there we have it, Lothian's response to the back-lash that has been public concern over their policy on carrying, as they put it, "baby or toddler transport devices".

I can see a fair point on both sides, but I can also see this will just play into the hands of the yummy mummy who won't want to stand at a bus stop and watch her Bugaboo get drenched while dripping onto her Ugg boots, wondering if the next bus has room. And why should she when the X5 is on the drive? Yes, that's the sort of person that needs to encouraged to use public transport, not effectively told to buggy off. But when there's a legal requirement in place for that space to have priority (not exclusivity, priority) it should be made clear, which is what Lothian has done.

Hmm, rock, hard place.

So we see no point in the hypocrisy in having the wee guy christened. If he finds religion later on, then it'll be of his own mind, not that of ours. I hate to see media reports including lines like "muslim children were hurt" - why are they muslim? Because their parents are? Exactly, before they can speak children are given such tags because of their parents. Let them make their own mind up. Ours will.

What the day did bring was a sense of mortality and sadness to me. The wee guy was due his nap, and got really tired, so I nipped out mid-service and grabbed his puschair. We had a walk around the graveyard for the remainder of the service, reading a few of the gravestones. There were so many stories in there. One man was buried with both his wives, a quantity of people there buried their children first, with themselves following sometimes very close behind. Wives departing shortly after husbands, clearly unable to live without them - nobody left to nag, perhaps? There was money too, the big family plots in prominent spaces, edged with carved stones, huge marble stones, occupying multple adjacent plots. The private area walled off at one side, now overgrown as there is nobody left to tend to it.

It becomes very evident reading the memorials that there is no such thing as a "standard life", the only standard life there is in existence is the big financial company based in Edinburgh.

Wonder what will be on their epitaph?

De Vere Heron's ReachThere's a family oriented hotel right next to the Pleasure Beach, looks superb. But at £170/night it was way over budget. Are we staying in a Premier Inn at £65 by the time we've added Breakfast? So I set off in search and found most hoteals at £100+ a night. Until I checked the hotel booking service offered by my packaged bank account, finding the De Vere Heron's Reach at £66.50. Hang on, £1.50 a night more than the budget Premier Inn for a 4* De Vere? OK, let's get the bags packed and don't forget the swimming gear!

The hotel was superb, after an initial panic over whether we'd get a cot or not (no guarantee, allocated at check-in) - sorted out by asking the travel agent to release the booking details to the hotel before their normal 72 hour approach. The rooms were a little dated in terms of furniture, and a modern hotel should really have in-room safes, but the investment in the public areas was second to none. So we made full use of the health suite, over the two night stay we had 3 swims, the boy's introduction to the bubbles (jacuzzi set in one side of the pool), and Daddy managing to squeeze in a couple of saunas. Not bad for an extra £3. Not to mention the walk around the golf course perimeter, the full-on breakfast with every possible combination (except champagne, that's been limited to the Pheonecian in Valetta). My eyes have been opened to private health facilities, it's just not going to be the same going back to our council pool and having the lad looking in vain for his bubbles.

Outside the hotel was slightly different. Blackpool is a sad old girl, there's investment in the promenade with new sea defences going up and new public areas being built into them making the whole front a building site, but the investment seems to be stopping there. A walk along the prom and it was clear that anything not in direct sight of the sea wasn't really attractive. There's a clear lack of love for what was once a premier resort, and the stag & hen destination it's become doesn't help.

But, with plenty to do in close vicintiy, she could be great again, as long as the council invest in attracting more than weekend binge drinkers.

We'd go back just for the hotel. And a tram ride. And the Pleasure Beach. And fish & chips (as we didn't have any this time).