My son has recently been diagnosed with dysgraphia. This is to writing what dyslexia is to reading. There has not been a lot of research done into it therefore it is less well-known - even by 'experts'- than other specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia.

Dysgraphia, which is sometimes called agraphia, is a specific inability to express one's thoughts via handwriting. Along with serious problems actually forming the letters when handwriting, it can cause issues with grammar, capitalisation and punctuation which often disappear when writing with a computer instead of a pen or pencil.

My son scored above average on all tests to do with reading, comprehension, spelling, reasoning, but his handwriting speed is slower than the lowest 10% of all kids his age, writing twice as slow as a 13-year-old of average writing ability. Inside him is a very clever kid who has been unable to get his thoughts down on paper.

I mentioned in my post on Montessori nurseries last week that even when my son was very small it was clear he had some kind of problem with handwriting. The fact that he's only been diagnosed at 13 – after years of problems at school and three assessments by educational psychologists – tells you that dysgraphia isn't easily recognised or understood.

My husband and I are in the process of buying a new house. Along with starting to plan where our furniture will go and what new things we may need, I've also started looking into the local nurseries and schools. Though my son is only a year old, I've decided to start stressing about it now. Yay me.

My first son went to a Montessori school until he was six. Amazingly, the Montessori nursery he went to has moved to a location close to our new house. This makes me very happy as he enjoyed that nursery very much and as long as the new place is in an equally nice setting, I think I will send my new son there when he is two and a half.

The Montessori method of educating children is named after Maria Montessori, the first female doctor in Italy. The method arose after Montessori observed children who were given freedom in a space filled with special materials aimed at "self-directed learning". As I have understood it, the Montessori method allows children to discover things on their own and are therefore imbued with a deeper understanding of the world around them. There have been several studies showing that children who attend Montessori schools perform better academically and socially than children at 'mainstream' schools up until the age of 12. In my experience, Montessori kids are happy, confident and relaxed with adults.

The first thing I noticed when I visited my first Montessori nursery was that it was very ordered and the children were peacefully doing their "work" (all learning activities the children do are called 'work' as opposed to 'play'). It wasn't like other nurseries I'd visited where my senses were overloaded immediately with bright colours everywhere, loud music playing and children shouting and running around.

On my first visit to a Montessori nursery, I watched in amazement as a three-year-old child walked to a shelf, pick up a bit of work on a tray, place it on a table, sit down and immediately concentrate deeply on what they were doing. When they were done they would put everything back on the tray, stand up, push their chair in and take the tray back to the shelf... then find another bit of work they wanted to do. All quietly, peacefully, happily.

Now that my second child has passed his first birthday, I thought it was a good time to look back and see which bits of baby gear I've bought over the years that were a colossal wastes of money. Most of these 'mistakes', admittedly were with my first son, but thinking about it there have been a few bits and bobs my second son has hardly used before they were discarded.

1. Baby bath. There is no need unless perhaps you only have a shower. It's easy to bathe them in a sink while they are still little and when they get too wriggly for that, the big bath with a baby support is perfect.

2. Changing table. I luckily never bought one of these. I have a chest of drawers which is fairly deep, but a few inches too low to be used as a comfortable changing table. I found a large underbed storage box which fitted on the dresser perfectly and raised my son up to just the right height to change him. He's so wriggly now that I change him on a changing mat on the floor of the bathroom or, more often than not, I attempt to get a clean nappy on him whilst he's running around.

3. Suction cup bowl. Stupid stupid stupid. All that seemed to happen was my son pulled and pulled at the thing which eventually came off with a pop and his food ended up in a much bigger mess than if I'd just put a bit of it on his tray for him.

4. Baby powder. I've got some Simple baby talc which I've used, maybe 3 times. I don't get it.

My son recently had his one year health check - along with me answering a lot of questions about his general development - "is he sitting/standing/walking/talking?"- his weight and length were recorded.

His length puts him at the 55th percentile and his weight is at the 25th percentile. His weight has always hovered around the 25th percentile which has been worrying me for months. Every time I'd ask the health visitors they'd say, "It's fine, he's growing." But I was still worried.

He's not the easiest of eaters, so I've tried to up the calorie count of his food recently - using a bit more butter, say, or giving him whole Greek yoghurt along with his fruit. I'm a normal animal mother, my deepest desire is to make sure my offspring is getting enough food. And at the 25th percentile, it didn't seem like he was getting enough.

My older son was a much more voracious eater. He started breastfeeding less than an hour after he was born, took to it perfectly and hasn't stopped eating for more than a few hours in the 13 years and 5 months since. He was always much higher on the weight charts, hovering just above the 50th percentile for both height and weight in his first year. At the time, mothers were advised to start giving solid foods at four months. I did. He loved it. I also introduced some formula feeds at the time as well. Though I was still breastfeeding him a couple times a day, he self-weaned at 10 months. He just wasn't interested any more.

Now though, I'm still breastfeeding my one-year-old between three and four feeds a day and it doesn't look like he's going to be ready to stop any time soon. I've been wondering, though, if maybe he's having too much breastmilk and it's preventing him from wanting more "proper" food.

The other day on Twitter a link made the rounds. It was incredibly moving and is a required read. That was a hint. You have to go read it now. I'll wait.

We wish for nothing more for our children than for them to be happy. That mother's anguish and anger at unthinking bigots who prevented that one small and very simple wish from even getting started is one I think we can all understand. I don't think there's a parent around who could read that and not be moved.

I have had friends who are gay ever since I can remember. In fact, one of my best friends when I was 10 more than likely grew up to be gay. He was very effeminate and I was a tomboy. We played with my dolls and climbed trees. He was the only boy in our gymnastics class, for which he wasn't teased at all. He was, however, teased at school. I even remember one of the teachers laughing along with some of the teasing and I still remember the look on my friend's face to this day. It was the kind of sadness that a 10 year old should never be forced to feel.

When I had my first son, the thought of "what will I do if he's gay?" most definitely popped into my head. I, of course, have absolutely no problem with anyone being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered... but I do know the rest of the world isn't so kind.

I've had some products from the Organic Babies range from Green People that I've been trying out for a couple weeks.

Green People's Organic Babies range uses only natural ingredients which are suitable for the delicate of skins including babies (or even parents) with skin irritations such as eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis. They never use Sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate, Parabens, Lanolin, Propylene glycol, Synthetic fragrances, Petrochemicals and Phthalates in any of their products.

The Lavender Baby Wash and Shampoo (£6.95 150ml) can be used either as a bubble bath by squeezing a tiny bit under the running water in the bath or as a wash by using it on a flannel or as a shampoo.

Lavender is my very favourite smell ever, so I may be biased, but this smells absolutely delicious. It has a delicate, natural smell of lavender and doesn't overpower you like lavender oil can do. Along with using this in my son's baths, I have to admit that I used some of this in my own bath, as well. It was delightful.

The only downside may be that it doesn't produce many bubbles and the ones that are produced don't last long. My son isn't old enough to understand or want bubbles, so it isn't an issue for us. If your child is older and has a "thing" about bubbles, they may not appreciate this as much as you will!

I think talking about politics with your children is one of the most important duties of parenthood. Not only does it help them learn how to think and debate, but it teaches them to be an active citizen and to know that their voice can and should be heard.

Here are a few things I've done with my son to encourage his interest in current affairs. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

1) Make a point of talking about current affairs.

When I was growing up, my parents watched the news every night and always talked politics with my sister and me. When I had my first son, I did the same with him from about the age of five. Obviously, our discussions weren't too deep, but I'd talk to him about a particular story of the day. Initially, I chose the more "human interest" stories – a funny or heartwarming story – but as he got older we started talking about more serious topics.

Now that he's 13, he pays attention to current affairs himself and brings up his own topics of conversation. He tells me about news stories I've not heard of and really seems to enjoy being the one in the know. We even have debates about certain topics and he's getting very good indeed at arguing his side.

My son turned 11-months-old yesterday. My first thought was, "Should I have a birthday party for him?" My second thought was, "No, please, please, please, I've got to go through all that 'birthday party hell' again?! Aaaaarrrrggghhh!"

My older son is now 13 and long past the kiddy birthday party stage. For his 13th birthday I sent him out for a posh dinner with a few of my male friends who welcomed him into manhood and gave him advice on everything from shaving to girls. It was, by all accounts, a good night and my son enjoyed it a lot.

When he was little, however, birthday parties - his own and his friends' - filled me with dread. I held a birthday party for him when he turned one, attended by my friends and their little ones, which was so lovely it lulled me into a false sense of security regarding parties. It was the last good experience I've had of children's birthday parties.

It was at the first birthday party my son attended, for one of his nursery school friends, when I learned that my son hated losing. His reaction to not pinning the tail on the donkey or not getting a seat during musical chairs wasn't just to utter a disappointed "awww" and sit down grumpily and watch the rest of the game... Nope. My son threw a huge, screaming, kicking, flailing tantrum, the likes of which I had never seen before. I remember the looks, the glares, the other mums gave me "Tsk, she doesn't know how to bring up her child properly." I had to take him upstairs and "talk him down" for about 20 minutes. When we finally got back downstairs and into the party room, he kicked a chair and screamed "I hate you!" at the kid who'd won.

After that, not only did I fear the games at birthday parties, but long after all the other mums were dropping their kids off and rushing to a local cafe for a 90 minute break, I was awkwardly telling the hosts that I'd "rather like to stay, if you don't mind". After their equally awkward reply of "Oh..? Well. OK!", I would help them out with the party until the inevitable loss at pass the parcel when I'd have to quickly remove my son from the room before he knocked over any chairs.

I needed a second highchair for when we stay at my husband's place (we work in different cities, so have separate homes). Ideally, I wanted something that would last a long time – a highchair that converts into a low chair would be perfect.

I always try to buy things that have more than one use so they can be used through different stages of development, so thank goodness for the Baby Aqua Highchair (only £39.99) from Little Helper. The Baby Aqua chair is an aluminium-framed highchair and low chair, which can be used with or without the tray.

The legs come in two different, easily removable sections. Remove the lower section of the legs to convert it into a low chair or remove both the upper and lower sections of the legs in order to store or transport it easily. It came disassembled in a relatively small box, but was so easy to put together (no tools needed) that I hardly needed to refer to the instructions.

It has a wipe-clean cushion in the seat with a 3-point harness belt. It's very easy to get my 11-month-old son in and out of without removing the tray at all – much easier, in fact, than in my very expensive, wooden, "grows-with-you" highchair. Half the time I put my son in his regular highchair, he cries or squirms. This hasn't happened once since I've had the Baby Aqua. I don't know if it's just because it's so easy to get him in it or if the chair itself is much more comfortable, but it's removed that one battle at mealtimes.

OK, I have to admit it. My husband, Professor Brian Cox, has become a bit well-known these past couple months. I don't remember the exact moment when I realised he was famous. It may have been the gushing article in the Daily Mail or when we were out for a walk and a paparazzi jumped out and snapped us (I'm not exactly sure where it ended up, but we were told it was Heat Magazine). I don't have a lot of experience being the wife of a famous man, but I'm a fast learner and am getting a pretty good idea of what it involves.

On the plus side - and this isn't to be sniffed at - he has earned enough money this year so I don't have to rush back to work after having a baby. For this, I am very, very thankful. We've been together 9 years and it's only this year really that Brian has earned enough to make it possible for me to take time out of work. We have always lived in separate houses (I work in London, he works in Manchester), so more than most couples we need two incomes.

That isn't to say that I don't want to go back to work. I do, very much so. I love my work and miss the intellectual stimulation, the thrill of doing something new, the satisfaction of achievement, the time to think, the coffee breaks, the lunch hours, the talking to adults, the not being covered in drool, mashed-up food or poo for a large part of the day, the unbitten nipples. But I suspect it will be a while yet before I can get back to the all-encompassing work I used to do. In the meantime, I have to make do with the thrill of occasionally writing a Tweet that gets re-Tweeted a few times.