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My little boy turns eighteen months old next week.
He’s no longer a baby, he’s a toddler, a little boy, a kid. He has an independent streak a mile long. He’s big enough to choose his own clothes: he utterly refuses to entertain the concept of trousers. He barrels around everywhere at ninety miles an hour, stopping occasionally for a second or two to pick a daisy, examine the pattern on the bricks, pick up gravel from the drive. He talks in sentences. ”Mummy, go car now? Go car? VROOOM!”. He’s obsessed with cars, like his dad: he can name most of the marques we see when we’re out in the car. He loves to read.
I adore watching him run off to discover new things. I also love that he comes running back for a cuddle, or to take my hand and show me what he’s discovered. I love the closeness we have when I feed him, or when he’s snuggled next to my chest in the sling. I can’t bear to hear him cry: when he cries for me I run to him.
He knows that he’s secure, that he’s loved, and with that he can find his feet at his own pace and know that he can come running back to me.
The quote that sums it up for me, I think, is ”It is the nature of the child to be dependent, and it is the nature of dependence to be outgrown. Begrudging dependency because it is not independence is like begrudging winter because it is not yet spring. Dependency blossoms into independence in its own time.”
So, fifteen months, eh? A year and a quarter. I didn’t think we’d get this far with my sanity still intact, and after this last month I’m still not sure how we managed it.
Your behaviour has become somewhat challenging this month: part and parcel, I assume, of toddlerhood. When I say “somewhat challenging”, I mean absolutely horrendous. You’ve bitten and kicked and hit and scratched this month, and I have no idea where it comes from. My only consolation, I suppose, is that it mostly seems to be when I’m making you do something you don’t want to do, like getting dressed or having your nappy changed or not touching the washing machine. You’re also very good at flopping and being dramatic, and making sure that everyone is looking at you when you’re unhappy. You’re wonderful when you’re in a good mood, and that’s most of the time, but please stop with the grumps. I know your teeth hurt, but the grumpiness is not cute any more.
Anyway, here you are when fish fingers for lunch was the worst thing that could happen in the world, EVER. (Warning: watch without sound unless you’re feeling brave!)
We’ve managed, after months of not breastfeeding, to work together and crack it. It’s amazing. You’re a little less fussed than you were, and for some reason you still won’t feed if Daddy’s around, but it’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Yes, I’m still struggling with expressing, fenugreek tastes revolting, and I’m incredibly sore, but it’s worth it. You’re becoming a strong, handsome, independant little boy, but to have this extra comfort for a little longer than I expected is so precious.
You now eat a decent variety of food, INCLUDING VEGETABLES. At one point, I didn’t think I’d ever write this. You like peas and olives and sweetcorn and tomatoes and baked beans and carrot and sweet potato. You also like strawberries and grapes and melon and pear. You’ll eat fish fingers and quorn goujons and sausages and meatballs and a variety of different protein-y things, as long as they’re covered in barbeque sauce. (This also applies to potato faces and chips.). Raisins are now on a par with chocolate buttons as a reward, but your current favourite thing is dried, sweetened cranberries, you weird child. You’re also using a spoon and a fork mostly by yourself, although the spoon generally makes a massive mess.
You’re still running everywhere. You’re also climbing onto everything, crouching down to pick things up, going down slides by yourself, and stepping up steps rather than crawling. You love the big kids’ bit at the soft play centre, and you especially love the swings.
We’ve rediscovered babywearing this month, because of those blinking teeth. You had a few days when you really didn’t know if you wanted to be picked up or put down, so I strapped you to me and got on with work. It worked surprisingly well, so I treated us to a new carrier, and you haven’t been back in the buggy again since. You have no idea how happy I am to be able to strap you to me and go, rather than battle to get you into the buggy and strap you down while you scream and scream and SCREAM. I think I have every idea how much happier you are.
Talking has come on, again. You’re adding new words almost every day, and the ones you use regularly are getting much clearer. However, you’re a lazy little boy at times, and you know that if you point and say “dat!” then Daddy will probably get whatever you want for you, without making you say the word. You get really frustrated when we don’t get it right the first time, too. Your favourite book is The Tiger Who Came To Tea, and we sit together and read it to Tiger. You also like My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes, and Tiger. (Are we noticing a theme here?)
You play like a toddler now. You never stop moving when you’re awake, which is why you sleep so well. You’ve always got something to put somewhere or give to somebody. You’re very organised and arrange things to be the way you want them, and you get cross if we dare to change them. You can stack the stacking rings in the right order, and you can sort shapes in your shape sorter. It’s awesome. However, when you’re tired, you want nothing more than to sit down with a quiet toy or a book and just relax.
At the end of the day, when you’ve had enough of playing and eating and talking and running, you climb the stairs, go into the bathroom and demand a “BAF!”. You climb into the bath and play with your ducks, then you point and ask Daddy to lean over into the bath, and then you splash him in the face. When you’re out of the bath, you run around without a nappy until we catch you and make you wear a nappy: the process of putting the nappy and your pyjamas on makes you make a noise as though we’re killing you. We zip you into your sleeping bag, you snuggle Tiger, and you ask for “Bed?”. We tuck you into your cot, kiss you goodnight, and that’s it: no crying, just twelve hours of glorious sleep.
…and then we start all over again. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I love you, son.
Mummy and Daddy (who read this and sniffled a bit, but there’s no way he’ll admit that to anyone else.)
For months we’ve tried and failed to find an overnight nappy that doesn’t leak. Over the last few weeks, David has been soaking through his Bumgenius and itti bitti nappies during his morning nap, too. We tried terries: ha! Terry nappies and wriggly toddlers don’t work well AT ALL. The only time that one stayed on for more than five minutes was the time that Grandma fitted it.
…and then I found this.
It’s FUZZY!
It’s spotty!
And best of all? It’s the reason we don’t need overnight disposables any more.
It’s a two-part nappy made from an inner, absorbent bamboo bit and a wrap around the outside. For naptime and night use, you can add extra boosters. We use two- one attaches to the nappy and is folded into three for extra front absorbency, and a second booster goes on top. I haven’t tried as we haven’t needed to, but I reckon we could add another booster on top of that and still not bulk it out too much.
Bamboo fibre is wonderfully absorbent. So absorbent, in fact, that it lasted three and a half hours (two of which were a nap) without leaking, and without pre-washing. Now that they’ve been washed, they happily last twelve or thirteen hours overnight, and I have a feeling they’d last longer if David slept for longer.
After four washes, they’re still beautifully soft. I wash them on a normal wash cycle at 60 degrees, followed by an extra rinse. Because we’ve only got two and both need to be washed and dried in the space of about four hours, I’ve been really bad and tumble-dried them on low: this takes about an hour and a half to get them completely dry. When a couple more arrive in the post tomorrow and I’m not quite so pressed for time, they’ll dry overnight on the Aga.
Although you can use any wrap with the nappy, the Tots Bots wraps are particularly good. They’re soft and breathable, and they come in lots of pretty colours. The elastic around the leg-holes is soft and doesn’t dig in at all. You can use one wrap over and over again, or if you’re a little paranoid about germs (like me) you can change it every time.
This is honestly the best overnight nappy we’ve ever tried. David is comfortable in them, they don’t leak, and they’re pretty. I’m not sure I’d use them as an everyday nappy: it’s hard enough to find nice clothes that fit over slimmer cloth ones. However, they’re brilliant at what we use them for, and I can’t recommend them highly enough!
