What have I learnt over this last year?
Well for starters I have made another space in my heart for my third child. A space you never realise exists until you hold them, all fresh and new, smelling so sweet and perfect.
How our hearts divide up so equally for new additions I will never be able to explain, but the second I saw him I just had this surge of new love and our mummy and baby bond began.
It has been hard at times with the worry about his eyes and brain, but everyday he is learning new skills and becoming my adorable and perfect little man.
My middle son, O, has started school, learnt to write, can read basic words, and is amazing me with his knowledge. He loves his baby brother so much too. W will smile and laugh when he hears O coming into the room and they have such a brotherly bond it is beautiful.
J has grown taller - 4 inches - and is maturing into a young man, with his face shape changing and his adult teeth nearly all through at the front.
He knows all his alphabet and will say each letter pointed to. Reading even basic words is still a challenge, but he is recognising 'mum' and 'dad' more frequently.
He has become very keen on dancing and has little routines that I think come from the Teletubbies. It is a shame that his school offered dance classes after school, did'nt give him a place, and then when I enquired the following term as to allowing him one session to see his potential, I was told it has been stopped altogether. Such a shame.
Personal relationships have changed, for the better. My mum and I are now best friends and if she could come and live here I would make the space like a shot. I'd love her to have a little bungalow with a garden where we could grow herbs and vegetables (as my dogs would be digging mine up if I had them here) and the boys could treat it as a second home and spend more time with her - they all love their Nanna.
I think because I grew up living in my Grandparents home (with my mum also) I understand the bond formed and that special relationship a grandchild has with their grandparent when you see them all the time.
As for me. Well not much has changed. Apart from not having a baby bouncing around on my bladder and getting the hiccups a hundred times a day against my hip this time last year but now having him bouncing around on my lap and burping little milky burps in my face, I am not much different. Perhaps a few more wrinkles and grey strands, but they're all worth it.
