One year on… by guest blogger Beth
“At every stage of parenting, the worries of the previous stage feel madly exaggerated.” Alain de Botton
At the beginning of February my baby turns 1 years old! Wow. We made it this far! I can’t believe what a jam packed experience its been. As Alain de Botton suggests each stage has been a revelation to a new mum like me, and I’ve been playing constant catch up!
By now I’ve gone back to work and Tegan has started nursery a couple of days a week. Today she came back with a butterfly cup cake that they decorated – Indeed! Nursery and work/life balance are the latest things to challenge our little world, and once again we both learn to adjust. Seeing her change so suddenly from a babe in arms to a waddling tot has been wonderful too. It really seems like she gets a joke these days, with a favourite funny game of pop up from behind the sofa she likes playing with her Dad. (Rules; Dad pretends to sleep with loud snoring noise, Tegan creeps around the edge of the sofa, and taps him on the arm or face, he fakes surprise, and she laughs her head off – repeat many times!)
The ‘first steps’ were the most heart-warming, life-affirming thing I’ve ever experienced in life – I cried warm tears of joy! She’s still landing on her bum with a thump most of the time, but getting stronger every day and the waddle will soon be a little run. At the moment, she and I squeal with glee every time she makes a lunge from one end of the room to the other.
I’ve loved the developmental stages of the last few months, the increased interaction with books, blocs, musical instruments and toys, the awareness of her surroundings in the car, her warmth with other members of family, and her smiles and chuckles are the best – our time together has just zoomed by.
A long Christmas break with lots of extended family interaction was magical. Around this time we suddenly had a breakthrough in the sleeping, which was a massive relief for me (and got me a little of my baby brain back).
We’ve had plenty of ups and downs with feeding but at the moment she’s enjoying her finger food, even if it gets absolutely everywhere (rice and peas are particularly fun to scatter about). I’ve never been a domestic goddess but even I’ve enjoyed making fish pies and pancakes and trying to keep her and our diet as varied as possible. Any suggestions welcome! What do your one year olds love?
This last weekend in the snow we went to the wonderful Cosmeston lakes on the outskirts of Cardiff to crunch through the snow, and Tegan loved seeing the ducks and swans. We’re off to the farm for her birthday in a few weeks, and I look forward to seeing her with the animals now she’s a bit older. So, its one year on, and its been the biggest, funnest, crazyiest learning curve known to man. Roll on the terrible twos!
