Six months in…

Jeeeez it has been a while since I took stock and wrote in this blog.

In that time our little human has turned six months old…. SIX MONTHS OLD!!! Where the hell did that time go?
Plenty of knowledgable parents have told us along the way “make the most of this time (any moment of parenthood) because it flies by” how true clever parents, how very true.

The mastery of evolution seems to work wonders though, every new thing is my new favourite thing. Back in the early stages highlights included the first smile, the first fart (a highlight for all parents, some just pretend to be less vulgar and don’t mention it) Then as time goes by smiles turn to giggles (BRILLIANT) baby becomes more alert and notices things more (aka toys… Giving dad an excuse to buy Star Wars toys!!!) all these moments become the best ever… You forget about the little moments from the week/month before… The new thing is the best thing! 
Except teeth, they are awful for everyone involved.

Now we have a rolling baby – she is better at rolling one way compared to the other, and gets VERY frustrated at not being able to be multi directional roller. She is sleeping pretty well, and we have the fun and games of eating solid food (albeit food that’s been through a blender). The evolution of a small person is full of highlights and each one does tend to supersede the one before. 

 

  

  

(caught red handed rolling under the table & having a chomp on a carrot stick)

But I do miss her falling asleep on my chest. Now far too alert for sleeping on her dad, he has a beard to pull on, glasses to smack off his face and “ooh what is that? Strings to a hoody! They look tasty, I’ll swallow those until I gag”. Our little ball of thigh fat and chins is also a bit too heavy to rock to sleep, so it is seldom that either of us has the strength to hold her for the time it takes to get her off to sleep. Friends have had babies since, and the smallness and feather-like weight of these tiny babies had us trying to recall what Bea was like back then… Thank god for TinyBeans (see previous blogs).

  

A couple of dads I have spoken to have said that babies are boring until they are about a year old… I hope for their sake they have been sucked in by the evolution trick and have just forgotten how good the early months are, and are loving the walking and talking stages. It would be a shame to think they had not had fun until the first year clicked over.

So six months in for us, and how does it all feel?

Well first up, simply put, I bloody love being a dad. 

During baby’s stay in ‘Hotel Mum’ for 9 months I made a few promises to myself about how I would be a good dad…

1. Don’t over do the images of bubs on Facebook.
So I think I was doing ok on this promise, until I got into Instagram. The share button has probably led to a few too many images appearing on Facebook and annoying those seeing it on their timeline… But do you know what, I see images of their pets, food, cocktails, and cars so no apologies here. 

2. Never write personally to baby on social media.
She doesn’t have any kind of account, and won’t have for years and years… So there is no need for me to ‘speak’ to her via my Facebook status’… I have kept this promise. If I have anything to say to her, I tend to do it… Face to face.

3. Don’t let having a baby change your life too much.
What a stupid promise to make!!! Along with being born yourself it is one of the biggest life changing moments to be had. Of course she was going to change things… I think I meant we would do ‘normal’ things together as a family – if a friend was having a party, we’d all go like we used to as a couple. Gigs & sporting events, let’s do it, babysitters or baby ear defenders will do the trick.

4. Don’t work too hard.
I love my job. It is the best job I have ever had. I am proud of working for a tiny little charity offering a fun part of childhood to thousands of kids (www.playgloucestershire.org.uk) but I want to be part of my child’s childhood, so the work/life ratio needs to be constantly assessed to make sure I am not an absentee father. So far so good!

5. Don’t be like my dad.
He did a runner when I was around 10… This is one promise I will certainly keep!

Some promises are easier to keep, and to be honest there has been so much trial and error in getting to the six month stage that I can’t remember if I have kept them, broken them or completely disregarded them.