Fourteen months

Life seems to have taken over and run away with itself these past few months although I do wonder whether that is just me making excuses as to my lack of blogging.  Time becomes increasingly precious and it is such a fine balancing act that some things have been neglected completely.  This, I assure you, has not been for lack of subject matter that I have wanted to write about but more due to my dire time management skills it seems.

Munch is now fourteen months old and he becomes this ever more forceful presence in our lives as his personality and sense of self develops.  Yes, gone is the babe in arms, gone is the being that listened when you called his name or said no - instead we have this loving, playful little boy that tests those invisible boundaries every day in the name of learning and discovery.  I have gone from the stay at home mum to the full timer that snatches precious minutes with her son and wanting to make the most of all days off.  My reality is that every so often I am praying for the return to work for the break; at work I can operate on auto-pilot and there is a rhythm that sits well with my personality. 

Since starting nursery Munch has been subjected to the sharing that is childhood illness. It was expected but it has seemed an endless cycle of colds, coughs and then there was the vomiting bug that struck and which he kindly shared with me and Sprout.  Our first family illness - hurrah!  It was awful, truly awful; being a parent cannot stop when you yourself are ill regardless of how sorrowful you may be feeling.  I don't want to have that shared experience ever again if possible.  Munch's illness has always taken hold on my days off which has meant they have been spent with a cranky little boy.  Throw into the mix the teething that is neverending and it has taken its toll on my patience - only the other week I turned to Sprout and told him I was seriously reconsidering reducing my hours next year.  I know it's a phase that his developing body is going through but it upset me so much that he was always fine when going to nursery but not when we were off together. I remind myself it's not always going to be rosy!

I am afraid to have to admit that I often question whether I could ever be a full time stay at home mum.  Sometimes the run of three consecutive days off work makes me want to cry as I realise that I do not have the patience, energy or know how as to how the stay at home parents manage the role 24/7.  Personally, I function better as a mother and person having that break away from Munch - does that make me a bad mother?  I feel as though my mothering qualities are not all there because of this but I know I would be hanging by a thread if things were different.

We had the excitement of going to get Munch's first shoes. That first visit ended with no shoes as his feet were not big enough!  Fast forward another few weeks and we handed over our hard earned money for the tiny shoes to be advised that he would need his feet measuring in another six to eight weeks. What?  No wonder it costs however many thousands to bring up a child is all I can say!  He now toddles about in the house and at nursery without hesitating; try putting him on his feet outside and he reverts back to the trusty crawl at the hint of danger - this is a work in progress indeed.

He is attempting to copy words we say now.  His vocabulary is growing in fits and starts but we are very proud that he has mastered "Ta"; manners maketh the man and all that.  He has dad, daddy, mama, duck, fish, shoes, sock, toes, toast, hiya, tickle, who's that, what's that and yes so far.  Munch babbles away and picks up different sounds all the times but is less than impressed with our understanding so Mummy and Daddy have some catching up to do.  It has been truly amazing how he learns and we constantly wonder how on earth the children of the world do it.  If I was to learn all the things they have to as an adult you would find me hiding under the covers in bed throwing a tantrum!

He giggles at the strangest things - the words mushroom and penguins no less.  I have no explanation but maybe he'll explain it to me one day.  We went through a period of Munch hating his bath times which lasted a couple of weeks and now we are back to him having fun in it. So much fun that he scoots to the farthest side away from us when it's time to get out!  He kicks his legs, tries to drink the water and stomps on the spot with a huge grin on his face.  It is a grin that is slowly filling with those pearly whites, he has four top and bottom now and my fingers have gone nowhere in that mouth for fear of having my fingers bitten off.  It is still safe to pop a finger down the side to check for molars but not for much longer I think.

Fourteen months our precious little boy has been in our home and what a journey it has been.  As Christmas approaches it is the family time we get to spend that is appealing. Am I ready?  Shhhh, I haven't even got one present yet and am in denial right now.  What have/haven't I done?

Until next time. Thank you for reading my waffle!