A Year and a Half Of Motherhood

It’s been a while since I last shared an update about George, I didn’t even write a post when he turned one but this post will shed some light on what George is like now, an insight in how we as a family are doing.

Everyone said the first 3 months were the hardest, I tweeted about how I’d have a 4 month old when Game of Thrones came back and someone said “You won’t be watching that then!” And I thought why not? Newborns do actually sleep at some point, some even sleep 20 hours a day! Turned out that not only did we watch it every week without fail, we watched the entire first five seasons in the lead up to the new series because for us the first four months were actually the easiest. George was indeed a baby that slept 20 hours a day.

PIN IT!Obviously if you have read my labour story you will know what happened directly afterwards but once my reaction calmed down and my insides stopped feeling like they were going to fall out (something they never tell you) the fun really began. I spent most of my time watching TV because George slept all day and all night. He would wake up at about 3am for a feed and that was it, sleep in until 9 and Brent and I took it in turns. He was an eat, sleep, nappy change kinda baby and it was a breeze. The ‘worst’ part for us was probably being stopped in the high street every two minutes for people to coo over him or call him a girl.

PIN IT!PIN IT!After the first 3 months or so that’s when the milestones began, these are always fun. First time he starts to make noise, sitting up unaided (6 months) first tooth, (6 months) first time he crawled (9 months which we missed as we were both out) first time he walked, a couple of days passed his birthday but Brent was at work and I was ill on the sofa so I don’t really remember. Although we did miss a couple of milestones just seeing him grow up and progress so much in a year is incredible. He’s nearly 18 months old now and he knows exactly what he wants already.

From the age of about 6 months until now though George has gone backwards. He’s no longer the easy baby that sleeps all the time, he’s now in a “Let’s wrestle with mum and dad every night” phase. And it’s been a long phase. He has a bedtime routine and putting him down is easy, it’s keeping him down that’s the hard part as he usually wakes around midnight.

PIN IT!George is now a rambunctious one and a half year old that has a tantrum at the slightest thing if he can’t get his own way, but constantly wants hugs and kisses and hearing his belly laugh is my favourite sound ever. Making him laugh like that is such a goal, if you achieve it, you’re the baby laughing master!

I will admit that I do struggle a lot with him. Thankfully in the daytime he naps without any trouble, usually between 1.5 – 3 hours a day which gives me plenty of time to do some of my work. Night-time though is a different story, he goes down really easily but is restless all night, he sleeps in our bed from midnight onwards which neither of us mind, but sometimes he doesn’t want to sleep, he wants to play.

In the day time he can be really rough and really needy which does get tough, trying to wee when your one year old is trying to play with you belly piercing or trying to throw his dummy down the toilet does get tricky, but watching him bumble around the landing when he’s run off naked after a bath always makes us laugh, legs moving as fast as he can, squealing and giggling. It’s the little things like that that make all the tough days worth it.

Some days I’ve had such a nightmare time with him that I text Brent with every swear word ever invented and some days I wait at the door with George and when Brent steps through I pass him straight off and say “Do not come upstairs!!” sounds mean but after the tough days, even 15 minutes of just lying on the bed staring at the ceiling or watching a YouTube video can calm you down. You need to take time out for yourself and that’s ok. Sometimes I ask my Grandpa to watch him for an hour or he offers to, just so I can get more stuff done, there’s no shame in asking for help. (Literally as I write this George has untied the string on a cabinet and is pulling all the DVDs out)

In the recent weeks he does listen most of the time when you tell him no, he’s started to amuse himself and play on his own and loves watching Tangled or Zootropolis which calms him down if he’s having a paddy. He dances to nearly every music that plays, in the car he will bop along in the back and it’s so cute to watch.

PIN IT!PIN IT!Although the last couple of months, well the last year has been really hard, the days that aren’t so bad are great. Sometimes I do miss my old life but it takes a while to find the right balance of baby and life, it’s such a huge adjustment. Missing your own space, life or anything else doesn’t make anyone a bad parent, it just shows how tough things can be, and that’s totally fine.

I can report that the irritating comments that you receive whilst pregnant don’t disappear once the baby is here, I hear a lot of “You wait until he’s 2, then they’re a real handful” people always make out that they have it harder than you but everyone deals with things in their own way and everyone’s situation is completely different. People also love to compare their baby to yours, “Well my boy started walking at 9 months” SO? Every child is different and every child is special and unique in their own way. They all progress at different times so don’t worry or get upset if your child is different. I know we sometimes questioned whether what George was doing was right but we soon learnt to not care.

I can’t wait to see what he’s going to be into and which activities he’s going to enjoy. And no I’m not wishing his life away (another annoying comment) I’m merely saying I’m excited to see what he’s going to be like.

Everyone knows kids are hard work, it’s not always going to be sunshine and roses. I’ve never showed him having a tantrum or crying so you only see a happy chap but sometimes it’s a completely different story. Sometimes I want to tare my hair out and scream, other days we are cuddling on the sofa and chilling. It’s been a whirlwind, I can’t believe how quickly the last 18 months has gone. Last night we booked our firt family holiday to Centre Parcs in June and we can’t wait, it’s going to be so fun. Every day is different and every day has it’s tough moments but I can’t imagine my life without this little dude that has the best laugh in the world.

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