milestones

Recently, some friends who live here on campus had a new baby girl. While they were still expecting we asked them if they would like to have our cot as the birth of their baby coincided pretty much with Teddy turning 2, and they said they would. Our cot was built by our brother-in-law and has been used for all three of our boys plus another friend's baby in between. It's beautiful quality and still looks as good as they day we got it. The friends with the new baby didn't need the cot straight away as they were using a bassinet. Then on Sunday they said how about we move the cot today before school goes back and while we have time. So that afternoon Teddy had his last sleep in his cot...

I was suddenly faced with saying goodbye to the cot and moving Teddy into his little toddler bed from Ikea, which had also been used by our other two boys, that night.  It was actually a great way to do it - not giving me too much time to think about it.

I was, of course, a little worried that once Teddy could get out of his bed, he wouldn't stay in it and go to sleep happily, as he had been in the cot. But even more so, I felt rather nostalgic about the fact that my last baby was moving from a cot into a bed, which was probably almost the only thing that still made him seem like a baby rather than a little boy. We made a big fuss of the fact that Teddy had a new bed and the two big boys were very excited about it. All this rubbed off on Teddy and he loved it. I had to sit with him for about 15 minutes until he felt comfortable and started to drop off to sleep and he has been fine ever since, even for daytime sleeps. So, even though it feels like the end of an era for me, I do feel excited that we are entering a new stage - where we have three little boys rather than two boys and a baby - and am trying to embrace the change, taking my lead from little Teddy! Being a person who just loves babies, my excitement at reaching a new milestone is always mixed with a little tinge of sadness. I remember feeling this way on Teddy's first birthday ...Do you feel this way too?

Teddy's 1st Birthday party at the Mansfield playground

Speaking of milestones, I felt like I had become a proper grown-up mummy when I did my first canteen duty at Sam's school the other day! It was a lot of fun actually, chatting with my friend Cassie while we chopped fruit and handing out food to cute kids.

I wanted to take a photo of the kids too but once the rush was on there was no stopping for that...

It's great to reflect on these little milestones often and remember to appreciate the significance of the simple 'stuff' that makes up our everyday lives.