your fifty-second week

We just couldn't believe where a whole year had gone.

And now you were about to be one.

And as if to prove to us how grown up you were

you decided to cram a lot of growing up

into the very last week of your first year.

You had a nasty bug at the beginning of the week

which meant you were all cuddly and baby like again

until one morning you woke up

days before your birthday

and seemed to have forgotten how to breastfeed.

A few more days of failed feeds later

and you had completely lost interest.

So after a year of successfully breastfeeding

you decided that it was time to stop.

All by yourself.

Luckily you seemed to love the cows milk

that we were giving you in a cup instead.

And you were still happy and going to sleep at night like a good boy,

so it all seemed like perfect timing really.

You were also suddenly really interested in using a spoon

to feed yourself your dinner.

You were still pretty messy with it

and half went down your front,

but it was great to see you so keen to try.

You were, however,

being a bit of a fussy pants with food all of a sudden.

And you preferred to throw food on the floor than eat it,

even things which had been your favourites,

like banana or raisins or jam sandwiches.

We knew you were just pushing the boundaries a bit

to see what you could get away with

and it gave us a little insight into what you might be like as you grew older and more strong-willed.

You had your first experience of snow.

We were so excited to show it to you

but you weren't too sure.

You liked riding in the sledge with Mummy and Daddy

but you weren't too sure about being sat in it.

And you really didn't want to touch it.

But probably the biggest highlight of your fifty-second week

was just for Mummy

at bath time the night for your birthday.

Nearly every night since you were born

she has sung Twinkle Twinkle Little star to you

as part of your bath and bed time routine.

As you grew bigger she added actions

and you would smile as she twinkled her fingers at you.

Then the night before your birthday

as Mummy sang and did the actions

you smiled and did the twinkly fingers right back at her.

It felt like a present to her,

like you were saying thank-you for the year you had had.

You looked so proud of yourself.

And as tears streamed down Mummy's cheeks

she scooped you out of the bath for a very wet cuddle.

What an incredible year it had been.

We couldn't believe how lucky we had been

to have been given you

and all the awesome things that came with you.

We love you beautiful boy,

now and always.