OK, so first things first, I need to confess that I missed the last installment in this series. Ooops.

I had all the best intentions to get it done, but as so many of you will know (!), having a baby to look after can often throw all kinds of spanners into the works and so all I can say is that I just didn’t manage to get around to it. But. Here I am now! And quite unbelievably (to me at least) I’m here to update you on how Leo and I are both getting on, now that he has turned one year old.

Some say that babies become toddlers as soon as they hit 12 months? But I say, seeing as Leo is not walking, AKA toddling, as of yet, I’m well within my motherhood rights to still refer to him as a baby for a good while yet. ;-)

The past 12 months have been some of the best and happiest months of my life! I’ve said it a hundred times, how Leo has brought so much joy into our lives but it remains the truth. He’s a truly wonderful mini human being. But as we move forward into toddlerdom (god help me!) and begin to leave our baby days behind, here’s how we’re both getting on at the moment.

LITTLE LEO

Well after taking some time to learn how to figure out crawling forwards (yep, he was all about the backwards for a while!) Leo has found his standing feet easily.  He’s cruising around furniture now and constantly climbing on me (I’m just a human climbing frame at the moment) or standing up and holding on to whatever he can. So I may be wrong but I don’t think it’ll be too long until he’s walking. I certainly don’t think he’ll take as long as his sister, who only started to walk at 19 months, so my quieter mama days are numbered I think!

Food wise, he’s doing brilliantly and is such a good eater at the moment. (Although I’m well aware that this could change!) For the majority of his meals, it’s baby led weaning all the way as he merrily tucks into all kinds of foods with his fingers, his favourites being humous on toast, pasta in a pesto sauce or any type of baby ‘crisp’. He’s also rather partial to a blueberry or ten.

Now Leo is 12 months old, he’s well into play and loving exploring different sounds, textures and toys. He’s incredibly inquisitive (as I guess all babies are really) and loves getting into our drawers and cupboards or even my handbag to see what he can find. His favourite toy currently is a wooden pop up thing. He also loves making noise with a saucepan and spoon. Yep, that old classic.

Sleep wise, he’s so much better than he was! At last! He’s slept through the night a small handful of times now in recent weeks but typically now wakes only once or twice a night which is huge progress. (Apart from when he’s in agony with teething or poorly like he is today.)

And finally, it may have taken a whopping eleven months for his first tooth to come through, but finally we have teeth! His two front bottom ones are now through with his upper front ones on their way and causing lots of bother.

All in all, Leo’s coming on brilliantly and changing rapidly. Every day brings some new development or trick that’s he’s learned and eager to show off! Weeks of non stop germs aside, I’m truly loving the age that he’s at now and he remains a happy, chilled out and mischievous little boy who loves nothing more than to cuddle or explore his surroundings.

ME

As for me, well besides occasionally being more than a little frazzled trying to juggle parenting and self employment, I’m doing really well. Reaching Leo’s first birthday was a bit of a tough milestone to get my head around, but once I gave myself a stern talking to and accepted it, it became a lot easier and dare I say it, but enjoyable. I think I just found it so hard to accept that my baby boy had grown up so quickly and as Leo is probably our last baby, it was admittedly a bittersweet pill to swallow.

But such is life! I’m well aware of how fortunate I am to have him and Elsie in my life and am just so glad that I really took the time to enjoy being a mum again to a baby, because I really have cherished his first twelve months and enjoyed them so, so much.

I’m still breastfeeding and at the point now where I’m not sure how I will ever stop. I did plan to start cutting back on his feeds just after his first birthday but then Leo became poorly so the timing wasn’t right and now I’m thinking maybe, just maybe, I’ll carry on and let him self wean?! It’s such a weird position to be in because I never planned on exclusively breastfeeding for so long, so I really haven’t cut the foggiest clue on how to tackle this one. At the moment I’m just taking each day as it comes and seeing what happens. But hey, if anyone has any advice on this,  I’d bloody love to hear it!

So what else? Well I’m still failing pretty miserably at self care. I do try to look after myself, like we all do, but the days just go by so ridiculously quickly and I know it may sound bonkers to some of you who perhaps don’t have children or who have childcare options, but honestly I swear that if I get more than 30mins to myself on any day to do anything (including getting washed and dressed) it’s a rarity. So it’s a struggle at the moment. When Leo naps and Elsie is at school, that is when I work. When I sit down to blog or reply to some emails. I have to be so choosy how I spend my time and I’m forever feeling like I could do with another 24 hours in a day and I’ll be honest here, the pressure to do it all, can sometimes feel utterly overwhelming.

So yep I guess you could say I’m struggling a bit at the moment. I know it won’t always be this way (which definitely makes it a little easier to accept) but at the moment I’d almost consider selling a kidney to get some time to myself to just do anything! But there’s nothing unique about that, I know so many of us are in the same boat and that my experience is very much the norm.

Most days are a bit of a doddle. Others are a real struggle. But this one year old and his mama are doing the best they can and for the most part, having a ball.