18/08/16
It’s been a while since my last post and I don’t know where the time has gone. I have no idea how I posted every week until recently. Now I am back at work and my boy is growing up so fast, I feel like I am constantly caught up in a big wave of being mum and having Pads time, working, getting my weekends back with the hubby in our new home, trying to keep on top of life laundry and actual laundry, and then repeat. Being back at work is going ok but how the heck do you do all the other stuff around it when you have a toddler?!!
Prepping for work is enough of a mission without the small matter of keeping our home clean and tidy and keeping on top of 3 people’s washing/eating and other needs. My prepare for work list goes something like this: sterilising bottles for my pumped goods, packing the pump, making sure the pumping bra is washed and in the work bag, packing lunches, getting my work clothes organised and in some sort of presentable state (I hate ironing with a passion, so unless an item of clothing is completely pleated with creases, I will avoid ironing at all costs), washing my hair (we still don’t have a shower so this isn’t as easy as it sounds…), making sure Paddington’s nursery and grandparents bags are fully stocked with nappies/clothing changes/sun cream/ hats etc.., and the task that I am really struggling to keep on top of but is pretty vital for the smooth running of actually getting to work and getting Pads to nursery – making sure there is enough petrol in the car.
I have always found getting petrol and having Pads with me a bit of a stressful thing to be honest, not sure why as it is all so simple on paper, but it’s the fumes, the inevitable bit of diesel on the hands and then having to take him out of his seat and into the pay area with me when he has usually just fallen asleep in the car – it’s just not a very baby friendly environment, a petrol station, is it? And for this reason, I often sail close to the wind shall we say, or in other words, sometimes get to the petrol station with just 5 miles worth of petrol left in the tank…need to stop pushing my luck on that one I think as I reckon what would be worse than getting petrol with a Paddington is breaking down because of lack of fuel with him…
And that’s just the work related stuff. The other things I am struggling with are the basics: keeping the house clean, keeping on top of laundry (this has really been slipping so thanks to the hub for picking up the slack on this). Then there’s the menu planning, cooking, shopping for food, keeping in touch with friends, finding time to do other projects, and…breathe. I used to do all these things and lots more but it’s all so much more complicated with a little one, especially because I also want to factor in Pads and mummy time everyday so just because it’s a busy work day doesn’t mean that he misses out on our quality time and connection.
Also, as he is getting older, he is demanding more attention so it’s not as easy to just pop him in his high chair (more on why this is further down!) or on the floor in the lounge to play while I get on with a simple task anymore. He wants my attention at all times at the moment and he is not happy to be locked behind a safety gate while I try and do something and will scream the place down to make sure I know that!
I am a couple of months into juggling work with Paddington, and I am also studying in the evenings and weekends, and am part of a hugely exciting and creative side project so it’s a classic case of me taking on too much here as well I think! I like to be busy but this is super busy. I have to say, I am missing maternity leave a lot. It gets easier right?!
Here’s what the last couple of weeks looked like amidst the chaos of piles of laundry and piles of to do lists:
1.Head case
My friend Carys mentioned that her son Jude started doing this a few weeks after he turned one, and Pads has just started doing the same thing – perhaps it’s a just an over one year old phase?! Pads has taken to putting random things on his head and finding it really amusing to do so!
He started with my cardigan, which he found on the sofa and immediately draped over his head and face and started laughing. I removed it as I wasn’t sure what he was doing and he just put it back on his head with a big grin on his face and thought it was the best game ever! Ah, the simple things in life!
Since then he has put towels, muslins, his own clothes, toys and a massive cushion on his head. He loves it and do you know what, there is something very pleasing and amusing about putting something on your head that you wouldn’t normally. I tried it and it made me smile so give it a go! Pads may well be on to something here!
2.Screech
Something else Pads has just started doing is not so much fun. My boy is a bit of a screecher now if he doesn’t get his own way. Oh dear.
He really dislikes the word no and has taken to crying now whenever we tell him he can’t do something. Now, we only say no when it’s something that is unsafe, as we aren’t the fun police, but he just ignores us which isn’t so cool (and he used to be so good at understanding and respecting the word no! Well, he definitely still understands it, he just doesn’t like it!).
He cries real tears too and then usually reaches out for me and a big old cuddle which always gets me and makes me apologise for having to say no and explain softly to him that it’s only for his own good and because I love him so much,and I wonder if he knows this is the way to get to me? Is this the start of him realising that he can win me over with cuteness, cries and cwtches?!! I think so. Well done Pads, you are growing up and learning how to brilliantly execute the art of manipulation. You will go far.
3.Never cutting his hair!
Pads has a bit of a mullet. He is working it and it looks fab but it is definitely a little Red Neck at the back and getting a bit long in the fringe (party at the back, business at the front?!!) but I am refusing to cut it yet. I love his hair so much and it is so soft and baby fresh and I don’t want that to change just yet. My pal Laura told me that once you cut it, it just grows back differently and I am not ready for that.
As long as he can see and it’s not turning into baby dreadlocks then I am leaving it be. Pads has that baby surfy skater look going on and I am all for it!
4.Pads and Siri – best buds.
An unlikely friendship/fascination has blossomed between Paddington and my phone, and more specifically, the phone’s talking assistant, Siri. Pads seems to have mastered getting Siri to talk every time he takes my phone off me. He can use it better than I can!
And he is absolutely enthralled by it. He has managed to get Siri to say the following by babbling at it when holding down the home button: ‘I am not programmed to lie’ (my favourite), ‘would you like me to search for amaya maya maya?’ (Just golden!), and the constant ‘I am not sure I understand Ceri’. Pads and Siri, a fledgling friendship.
5.The climb
All of a sudden Pads is wanting to climb anything and everything and he is daring. My boy has no fear, probably because, touch wood, so far he hasn’t really hurt himself as I am always near by and on watch. But he is getting trickier to keep up with and really sneaky.
His new favourite pastime is climbing up onto the fender surrounding the fire place and then trying to scale the fire guard. This is quite scary as that is not a safe game, and when I tell him no and take him down, he screams, boy does he scream!
He has also taken to waking up in our bed early in the morning (he sleeps much better these days, in his own cot for most of the night, but by 4am he is usually back in our bed as that way we all get another hour or so of sleep and that is so important, so it’s working for us and we are happy with that set up -for now.), and standing up by the wall behind the top of the end and trying to climb the wall. Literally, he is climbing the wall. He doesn’t get far obviously, but bless him for trying (Jon reckons he will be an intrepid free climber and base jumper when he grows up!)
We also discovered that his high chair is no longer containing his wanderlust either, as the other day I finished feeding him lunch and turned around to start washing up as I have always done, and in the time it took to wash up one small bowl, he had managed to climb out of his high chair seat and onto the tray and was peering over the ledge as if weighing up whether to try and drop off it or not…terrifying!
This is the beginning of years of climbing things he shouldn’t and giving me the heebie jeebies each time isn’t it? Streuth. That’s the life of a mother of a spirited boy I guess, and actually, I love it!
6. The baby drum circle
We went to Brecon Jazz weekend with our pals Carys and Steve and their gorgeous little boy Jude, as mentioned earlier, for a family day out with a difference. We had booked onto a percussion and wellbeing session not really knowing what to expect but thinking that our boys would love it as they love to hit things and make noise. And we weren’t wrong.
The session was a little odd overall, but there were lots of fun instruments for us and our sons to play, and they were in their element. Pads was rather taken by a large drum, and a shaker and whatever instruments anyone else had! And the boy has got rhythm. He actually has! Let’s foster this skill I think!
We then spent a gorgeous sunny afternoon listening to live music in an increasingly busy pub garden, which we had to bail out on when it got too rammed and there wasn’t any space for our boys to wander about in safely anymore. It was great fun to have a day out listening to music and in such fine company though. And Pads was in his element in drum class!
Pads is such a character at the moment. He always has been but it seems that over the past few weeks he has just started learning really fast and displaying lots of new skills really confidently and is becoming a real little boy. He is babbling more coherently and really forming his own little words, he is definitely now saying ‘hiya’ properly and waving his arm – he does this for hello and goodbye, but that’s ok! – and he loves to do it to passers by when we are out on walks. They usually do it back to him too which always makes him grin.
His walking (whilst holding on still)is becoming really strong and competent and he can stand up from sitting on the floor really fast now. He still isn’t showing signs of wanting to walk without pushing something or holding onto something but he is building his confidence and his leg strength. He was walking in the garden whilst holding onto a broom handle the other day and really taking some big and brilliant strides so perhaps he is gearing up to the big moment soon. Who knows? There’s no rush, in your own time Pads. In your own time.
parentingpaddington 