Happy Birthday!
Imogen is one! It feels like such a milestone and I can’t believe how ridiculously excited I have been about it! Needless to say, much more so than her as she pretty much has no idea anything is going on!
We had a small party with Leigh’s family yesterday before which was lovely as she has two cousins who are 4 and 2 and it was nice to see them starting to play with each other more. Granny had made a cake and although Imogen was very bemused as to why the lights were turned off and a cake on fire was put in front of her with the adults singing (badly!), we all enjoyed it!
Then today, her birthday, we both took the day off and just had a lovely day with her. We went out for lunch and she ate a whole child’s portion of pasta and most of the ice cream too! We gave her the rocking horse we bought months ago and she was scared of him, hopefully she’ll get over that, it took us ages to choose it!
We’ve another party on Saturday with my family – I have ambitiously invited everyone for lunch, but am now thinking that a proper hot lunch for 18+ adults and 6 children is a bit much! I need to remember it’s not that easy to manage mass catering now I have Imogen to also distract me!
Having Imogen’s birthday has made me reflect lots over the past year and I am very glad I have this blog to remind me of some of the highlights (and scares!) In some ways the time has flown by, but then when we try to remember how she was just a few months ago when she didn’t sit up or move and it’s impossible! What I can say though is that this has been the most amazing year of my life and we are both so thrilled that Imogen has joined our family. Yes, it is tiring, stressful and hard work at times, but it’s also very rewarding and I can’t believe how intense my love for her is – I just hope I can still say that in a few years when she can answer back!
I think now Imogen is 1 it is time to let another new mum have the chance to share their journey and look forward to reading their experiences. I have enjoyed being able to capture my fantastic year with Imogen and hope someone has enjoyed reading it!
Mover & Shaker!
She is getting very fast now on her walker and can negotiate bends with ease! Today we also had her first solo steps, walking a tiny distance between us, but walking none the less! I’m not sure if our praise & clapping has helped encourage her or scared her off though!
Friend to stay
We looked after one of our friends little girls today and she is two weeks younger than Imogen. We met them after swimming so took her home in our car and it was very weird to see two babies in the back of the car! Thankfully Leigh was around too, so it wasn’t too bad!
They had lunch, again, weird to see two babies at the table, and then we took them to the park in their buggies. After a long walk they both went to sleep and we left them in the buggies whilst we pottered around. So all in all they were both awake for probably less than two hours, which covered two meal times, a go in the swings and some play time which went OK! So haven’t been totally put off having others round – as long as Leigh is there too!
Pearshaped!
Imogen has been at the new nursery for a while now and seems to love it. But I’m now finding the adjustment hard! It’s closer to home, which is great, but that means it’s further from work and it is a good hour between the two in rush hour, which means I’m always late & stressed! I constantly feel like I’m disappointing someone, whether it’s Imogen or work. Last night I was the last parent there, it was very dark and she was sitting very quietly on a chair ‘reading’ a book and I felt incredibly guilty!
Added to that she has started a very, very clingy phase and has now cried heavily every morning for five days, meaning so have I! I know she stops as soon as I leave (probably way before I do!) and she is always very happy when we actually get there, so it’s not the nursery – and for all the reasons I’ve said before I know it’s the right thing for us both, but it doesn’t stop me feeling bad about it & constantly questioning my values. Hopefully the phase will pass, but in the meantime I have started leaving work earlier so we get home at a decent time and that has lifted the pressure. I thought I was having a breakdown the other day and was also upset that I was finding it hard to cope when so many other women seem to have no issues at all.
Once we’re both settled into the new routine again though I know it will be easier, just need to work on getting the work/life balance right! I’m sure that will be a theme until she leaves home now though, guess that’s part of being a parent!
Book Party
We had a baby book party today and had ten other mum’s with babies all around Imogen’s age at the house and it was really good fun! We have a largish lounge & diner, but it’s amazing how small any room is with that number of babies! Especially now they’re all mobile in one form or another!
Imogen loved it though and was the hostess with the mostess! She crawled up to every mum at some stage to give them a cuddle and spent the whole afternoon smiling and laughing – even when she had her nappy changed which is rare in itself these days!
As soon as they all left though she completely faded as the tiredness caught up with her, it was like she had managed to keep herself going for her guests!
