By now we were feeling more confident about taking Keira out, and as the weather improved, trying to take her outside, for her to get what passes as fresh air in Shanghai. Another culture shock that I was learning in dad life was how much of a military-level exercise leaving the flat would be. Firstly, we have to pack all the different stuff we would need – to do this we have a regular ‘Mummy Bag’, which is a large, comfortable bag with plenty of pockets, and automatic resistance to vomit, ice cream, water, or anything else that might be spilt on it. Our basic strategy in the early days was that if something might be needed, there would be a place for it in the bag, meaning it was stuffed full of spare nappies, tissues, wet wipes, anti-nappy rash cream, change of clothes, mini-blanket, hat, sunglasses, mosquito repellent, suntan lotion, spare spare nappy (once we were  caught out without one and I had to walk for 20 minutes to find a chemist to sell me some more) and various small toys to amuse Keira with, particularly if we were travelling far in the car.