motherhood

Little man, it was your birthday this last Friday and now you are one. One whole completed year of life.

I have spent at least the last month in some state of denial that this milestone was coming. Every time I looked at you I could only see my tiny new born baby. Yet, now you are one, I have accepted the reality and when I look at you of course I see the cheeky little toddler you are rapidly turning in to.

You have spent this first year growing at the incredible rate that most babies do, piling on that wonderful squishiness from the moment you arrived. Now you are one and that rate of growth has slowed a tad, but you have only sped up (fastest crawler in Sussex and walking is high on your agenda 😉 ) and that baby squidge is slowly starting to disappear.

You have always been a champion eater from just breastfeeding through weaning to your current full meals. I am so glad that your turning one hasn’t had any sway over this (fingers crossed!) and you still regularly eat more than your big sister does on a daily basis. Although this weeks new trick with finger foods is ‘Lets-see-how-far-I-can-throw-all-of-this-food-before-mum-really-gets-cross-despite-how-cute-I-am’.

Now you are one your communication skills are coming along nicely.
“Hello Matthew.” “Em-ma”
“What’s this?” “Em-ma”
“Can you say mamama?” “Em-ma”
“Say dadadada?” “Em-ma”
“Do you want this food?” “EM-MA!”
You get the idea. Although this week you have found a sound to accompany your little pointy fingers worthy of being said – “Ook!” (We are taking this to mean look as it mostly adds up.)
I feel I should note here that you most certainly can say mama and dada you simply choose not too and cheekily grin at us while we attempt to coax it out of you.

You are, obviously, still adorably obsessed with your sister, especially when we are all at home together. I am so glad this shows no signs of changing now you are one, and that she still loves you back just as much. You are very aware of when she is not around and call out for her when she is at nursery. I am afraid you will miss her terribly when school starts in September.

This past year has really been a year of two halves for me, little man. Our first 7 months together are a bit of a blur now. I have a few shining specific memories but otherwise it was a season of ‘getting through’. You loved to eat and did not like to sleep and this poor mummy functioned on a level of tiredness I didn’t know existed and though I don’t remember much it must have worked because with a lot of prayer and grace we did get through. Our last five months have been much more fun because, well lets be honest, you learned to sleep properly and that made more difference than you’d think possible. Real food probably helped too, because, food! (Even dairy/soya free food!)

You are an incredibly cute, cheeky, funny, happy and confident little boy. You bring so much joy into our lives and of those who get to spend time with you. I am so thankful each day that God chose us to be your parents and that we have the pleasure of raising you and watching you grow.

Now you are one and we cannot wait to see what the next year brings for you Matthew!