One!

Where has the time gone?

Our lovely little boy was one year old on Saturday (technically, at 8.50 that evening), and I genuinely cannot believe an entire year has passed. It seems like only a few weeks ago that I started the day working from home and generally pottering around, and finished it going to bed, exhausted, with a tiny baby sleeping next to us.

Still, it means he’s been going to a lot of parties at the moment, what with most of our local friends being other parents who had babies around the same time as us.

I’d love to know what Isaac thinks about all this. He’s probably a bit bemused at the moment, wondering why he keeps getting dressed up in his posh togs - his ‘clubbing shirt’, as I like to call it – and being dragged to all these gatherings with lots of his friends where there’s lots of food and presents. And cake. No doubt he’s also wondering why he’s suddenly got a mountain of new toys to play with. At the moment, the popular choice is anything with wheels, which basically means planes, trains and automobiles. As his nana says: he’s all boy.

Being a December baby, in little more than a fortnight he’ll be at more gatherings where there will be lots of food and presents, only with turkey rather than cake. And trees with lots of shiny hanging bits for him to pull down. (I’m really looking forward to that; it’ll be like having a cat, only you can’t put him out for the night.)

And then, just when he’s starting to get used to the party-and-presents routine, it will go quiet for the next eleven months.

Anyway, this last weekend, there was Amelia’s birthday party Sunday lunchtime. (Bad timing: it started just when he desperately needed a nap, he whinged for most of it and then only perked up towards the end.) Notable achievement: running over the birthday girl with a walker. (Note to self: get comprehensive insurance for Zac and protect his no-claims bonus.)

And before that we had his own party down in Ferndown on the Saturday, a rare chance for the grandparents (both real and adoptive) to get together and shower him with the gift of coloured plastic, which then took about ten hours to load into the car. (True to form, Zac got tired and I had to take him out for a long walk to get him to sleep. Thanks, boy.)

This coming weekend, we’re going to a joint birthday party for the NCT group, after which I’m planning to breathe a (short) sigh of relief before launching into Christmas. And beer.

Yes, it’s hectic, with all these parties. Yes, it can be a bit of a nightmare logistically (especially given last week’s unexpected hospital stay). But is it worth it? Well, to see my little boy playing happily with one of his new toys, only to look up with a beaming smile and shout “Da-ee!” as I walk into the room … as the Mastercard ads say: that’s priceless.