your thirty-first week

You went to the beach for the very first time.

You weren't quite sure what to make of it at first.

You definitely weren't that keen on the sensation 

of sand between your toes to begin with.

But you found all the pebbles really fascinating.

You would really concentrate on them 

and then single out one 

that you wanted to pick up and taste.

Not that Mummy let you do any tasting.

She was such a kill-joy!

But you got used to the sand in the end

and decided that you actually quite liked it.

You were covered in it by the time you got home.

And your clothes had never been so grubby.

You had your first paddle in the sea.

And it should come as no surprise

that, with you being such a water baby,

you loved it.

In fact you kept trying to sit down 

while Mummy held you above the water.

You wanted to have a proper swim 

like you did in the bath or the swimming pool.

It seemed like you were getting well on the way to becoming a crawler.

You could already crawl backwards and turn yourself around to change direction.

And now you could confidently get up on all fours.

You would spend every spare moment practising

by balancing on your hands and knees and pushing off with your legs.

You were still pushing off with both legs at the same time, 

but once you realised how to alternate, 

we just knew you would be off.

We were already getting a taste for what having a crawling baby would be like.

Because you could already get around the lounge quite well.

And loved playing with things that you shouldn't,

Like pulling the sheepskin rug down off the wicker seat.

Or putting your fingers through the storage baskets.

Or chewing the remote controls for the television.

Or watching the flashing lights on the internet router.

And once you were crawling properly

we just knew you would be doing all this

and more

only quicker.

Uh-oh!

You liked to practise your crawling in your cot at night.

And one night Mummy came to check on you at 11o'clock

to find you on all fours, 

wide awake,

just swaying backwards and forwards.

Every time we got you up from a sleep 

you would have moved all your stuffed toys around your cot.

One time, 

you had even lined them all up 

with you in the middle.

Such a clever boy, or maybe just a coincidence?

Now that your new teeth were really coming through

we were having to get used to your changing smile.

And we have to admit it was quite hard at first,

because we had been so in love with your gummy little grin.

Now you had little white invaders in your smile.

And they looked so huge.

Those teeth made you look like a little boy instead of a baby.

But it seemed like the nature of being your parents 

meant that we were constantly falling in love 

with a new version of you. 

Because you already seemed so different 

from the tiny little newborn that we had brought home from the hospital.

We just couldn't believe how quickly you were changing and growing.

But all the feelings of love 

and of  pride 

and of general adoration for you 

were still the same as that very first day.