What happens in the bedroom....

I'm kind of wondering how many people, having read the title of this post, will think I'm about to blog about something really not blog appropriate, ha ha! Get your minds out of the gutter, people, this isn't that type of blog!

My morning routine goes something like this - I get up, Caleb and I exercise (yep, he joins in, it's the cutest thing ever! He uses his little xylophone beaters as his weights and uses a tea towel as his exercise mat!), we have breakfast, I get Levi up and feed him, we shower / bath and then Levi sleeps and Caleb plays while I get ready. Somewhere within that process, I will have made the bed and yet, by the time I have finished getting ready, the bed will be a complete mess again with the pillows all over the floor and the duvet piled in a heap in the middle of the bed. Many a time if you were in my home you would hear me utter, "Caleb! I have JUST made the bed!". The other day I was putting on my make up and he unmade the bed. Then he went into his room, got his cuddly toys and came back with them. He tucked them into the bed, said prayers with them and said goodnight to them, he made them climb over the duvet like it's a mountain, he hid under the duvet and we played, "where's Caleb gone?" and then he would laugh hysterically whenever I would jump at him jumping out from underneath.

One of his favourite uses for my bed is as a trampoline. He will show me his star jumps and his seat drops, all the while telling me what he is doing. Sometimes he will just lay down in my bed and play CBeebies games on the tablet. If Levi is restless, he will come in to join the party and Caleb will talk to him or make sure he is comfortable. It's at times like these when I realise that - although it can be a little annoying to make the bed multiple times a day - Caleb wants to be with me. I may be doing my hair or my make up which is of no interest to him so he plays around in the room while I do it but all the time, he's with me. And to him, the bed is so much more than just a bed, it's like his own little playground and he is having so much fun with it, he has such a great imagination ans I love hearing some of the things he comes out with. In September, he will be starting pre-school and we won't have time in the morning to play around in our room like that so I just need to treasure these moments and enjoy them while they last!

So even though I always said I wouldn't.......

...we did find out the sex of the baby this time around when I was pregnant with Levi.

I was always adamant that I wouldn't find out and that I would always want the surprise. I even did a blog post about why I wouldn't want to find out and the fear that they might get it wrong.

When I was around 14 weeks pregnant with Levi, I started to think that maybe I was wrong (shock, horror!) and that perhaps we should find out what we were having after all! I always like to think these things through thoroughly, because I don't always trust my own judgement and also, I am the most indecisive person in the world!(or am I? That's such a bad joke. I hang my head in shame.) I looked on the babycentre website (what pregnant woman doesn't just use that as her go to source for EVERYTHING??!) to see people's for and against opinions on finding out. I found the following:

REASONS TO FIND OUT:

• You can plan ahead with clothing, nursery decorations, and names.
• If you already have a child, discovering the gender of your baby can help decide whether or not you need to buy a new set of clothes or just use hand-me-downs.
• Friends and family have more direction when deciding on a gift.
• Helps to increase the bond between parent and unborn baby.
• Avoids any element of disappointment if you had your heart set on a boy or a girl.
• Explaining a brother or sister to an older child might be easier.

REASONS TO NOT FIND OUT:

• Why spoil one of life's greatest surprises?
• It will not make you love your child any more.
• Does it really matter? As long as it's healthy, I'm happy...
• Finding out the gender is not 100% accurate.
• Buying neutral-coloured clothes means you can use them on future sons or daughters, thus saving money.

I very much always fell in the "reasons not to find out" camp, mainly for the first four reasons (not too bothered about the last one!). But the more I thought about it, the more I felt that finding out would be a better option for us. Out of all of the reasons given above, two of them applied to me - the increasing the bond one and avoids any element of disappointment. When I was pregnant with Caleb I did feel a bond there while I was pregnant but I think that deep down I really wanted a girl. Everyone thought that I was having a boy but I wasn't really sure either way. I was so excited when I went into labour to find out whether it would be a boy or a girl and when he came out, for a split second I was a tiny bit disappointed that he wasn't a girl. In the coming weeks, I suffered from postnatal depression and even though I did kind of love my baby, I didn't really feel like we had much of a bond - I thought he was lovely, he just didn't really feel like mine. I really don't think it had anything to do with the fact that he was a boy, I just think it was one of those things. (Can I just say, that only lasted for the first 8 weeks. Which is also how long I was breastfeeding for. But that's another story and if you want to, you can read all about that one here).

I know that there is no guarantee that you will or won't get postnatal depression with subsequent children but I thought that perhaps if we found out the sex this time around, I might bond a bit more with the baby. Again, I think I kind of wanted a girl. When the sonographer said at the 20 week scan that we were having a boy, I kind of had mixed feelings. I was thrilled and yet I still kind of wanted a girl. That lasted for about a week and then after that I was completely happy that we were having a boy. 

With regards to baby names, it didn't really help us in not having to choose for both boys and girls because we already knew what it would be called had it been a girl. We had about 5 boys names in mind and about 3 weeks before my due date we narrowed it down to two - Levi and Luke. So he ended up with both of them!

Did I mention that Seth and I were the only ones who knew what we were having?! I still wanted to keep it a secret from everyone else. Looking back, I wouldn't have done it any other way, I really liked just us knowing and also, having some news to share once the baby was born. It was pretty difficult not to let slip what we were having and I know I did slip up a couple of times (I called my Mum after the scan to let her know how it went and when she said, "how is the baby?" I said "he's fine". Nice one. Luckily she didn't pick up on it!). We didn't even tell Caleb. Of course, he's only 2 and a half so no doubt he would have let it slip but I just didn't really feel like he needed to know either way. It was fun trying to throw people off the scent as well. At Christmas when all of the family were together, Seth called the baby "she". I glared at him, as if to silence him and I saw my sister pick up on it even though she didn't say anything :). 

Do I regret not having the surprise? No. I always wondered if knowing what I was having would make it any less exciting when I went into labour but I was every bit as excited as I was when I was pregnant with Caleb. Because I knew we were having a boy, I also thought that he would pretty much be a carbon copy of Caleb. It was a massive surprise to me when this little olive skinned baby emerged with loads of black hair! Caleb only had a little bit of brown hair and even though they look alike in the face, I can also see a lot of differences. Caleb had blue eyes for the first six months or so of his life, whereas Levi's eyes have been almost black from the moment he opened them!

I felt an instant bond with Levi from the moment I held him, it was such a lovely feeling. Luckily for me, this time around I haven't developed postnatal depression. I don't know if it would have made a difference if we hadn't found out the sex of the baby but I am really glad that we did find out. If and when we have more children, I would definitely find out again, but I would still keep it just between me and Seth. Or I might change my mind. I'm indecisive like that. 

The first month

Our lovely little Levi (I hope anyone reading this - assuming anyone other than Mum reads this - appreciates my use of alliteration!) is a month old today. I guess that means that he's not a newborn anymore, doesn't it? I don't like that, I am completely in denial about it. Seriously, how has a month gone by already?! In some ways, it feels like Levi has been a part of our family forever, he just fits right in but in other ways, it feels like he was just born yesterday. I am trying to soak up every moment and enjoy him being a tiny baby while it lasts, I just want to keep him as a little baby forever!

As some people may know, Caleb (bless his heart!) wasn't the easiest baby! It wasn't his fault at all, he suffered a lot from colic and reflux and was on all sorts of medication pretty much from when he was a week old. Plus, he just didn't gain weight so there was quite a lot of stress and worry, not to mention the fact that he was my first baby and I had no idea what I was doing with him. From about two months onwards, he started to gain weight and was just the happiest, most lovely little one. Because of his rough start,  was slightly apprehensive as to how everything with Levi would be. I really had no need to worry at all, he is the most chilled out baby! He spends a lot of time sleeping and when he's awake, he's just happy! He doesn't cry much at all and when he does, he just wants to be fed or cuddled. It also helps a lot that he's my second baby so I think I feel so much more confident in my ability as a mum and in knowing what I am doing so I'm able to be a lot more relaxed about everything.

When I had Caleb, I didn't have the best experience with health visitors or midwives. In hindsight, I don't know how much of it was bad experience and how much of it was just me being tired and suffering after having had a bad labour and delivery and no energy whatsoever due to really low iron levels. This time around, the midwives and health visitors have been amazing, they have been so supportive and my experience couldn't have been better, I feel so blessed that everything has gone so smoothly.

When I was pregnant with Levi, we told Caleb that Mummy had a baby in her tummy and then from about 8 months pregnant onwards, we told him that the baby would be coming to live at our house with us and he and Caleb would be really good friends. We just wanted to try and prepare him for it as best as we could. From the moment Levi got home from hospital, Caleb has been just amazing with him. Every morning when I get Caleb from his room, he asks where Levi is. He gives him lots of hugs and kisses but he doesn't smother him, he is still more than happy to do his own thing, he'll just come over every now and then to ask if he can hold Levi, or he will just randomly walk over, kiss his head and say, "I love you, Levi". He makes funny noises to try and make Levi laugh and he will tickle his feet when he's falling asleep feeding to wake him up. It melts my heart to see them together, I am so proud of Caleb and how well he is handling it all, I hope that he continues to adore Levi as much as he seems to now!

Seth was off on paternity leave for two weeks and he took a week off as holiday as well, so we had a lovely time, all being together as a family of 4! I pretty much thought the world would end once he went back to work but it turns out that I can actually handle two children. Not that brilliantly, admittedly (ha! And by that I mean that I struggle to get us all ready for the day before midday and it now takes me about 20 minutes to get ready to leave the house. Gone are the days of just grabbing my purse and leaving!), but in all fairness to me, it's only been a month, it may take me a little while to find my feet! I think I've learnt from the first time around not to expect too much of myself and to just try and go with it and so far it seems to be working. I love being a Mum of two boys, I think they're pretty amazing.

Introducing....

.....Levi Luke Manning, born on Tuesday 13th January at 9.50pm, weighing 7lb 2oz.

My due date was on the 17th January and I was really eager for Levi to come early. I was kind of hoping that he would come over Christmas while we were up in Norwich at my Mum's and I somehow managed to convince myself that it would actually happen. I was a little disappointed when we came home after Christmas and Levi still hadn't arrived!

In the couple of weeks leading up to him being born, I had loads of contractions. On a couple of occasions I phoned Seth to tell him that I was having them and told him that he might need to come home from work. He came each time, only to get home and discover that my contractions had stopped completely! I wouldn't have minded if Levi didn't actually come until his due date, but with all of the false alarms, I kept getting my hopes up and then was disappointed when nothing more came of it. Of course, I knew that at some point he would actually come, he could only spend so long inside me but I was just eager! It was quite a strange mix of emotions that I can't really describe, I really didn't want to wish the time away of it just being me, Seth and Caleb as I wanted to soak up as much time with just Caleb as I could but at the same time, I really wanted the baby to make an appearance!

On Tuesday, Caleb and I decided to go into town to do some shopping. I had a bit of a dull ache in my lower back but I just didn't want to sit around at home in the hopes that it would materialise into something, so we went out. As we were walking around the shops, I felt some mild contractions start up. I tried to put to the back of my mind the thought that this might actually be it as I had already done that a few times and nothing happened, so I thought that I would just take it as it comes this time. When it got to the point that I had to lean on Caleb's pram for some support whenever I had a contraction, I thought that it might be an idea to head home while I could still drive, you know, just in case!

We got home at around 3, which is when I started to time my contractions. I put on some washing and stuff as I timed the contractions (obviously not crazily strong at this point or I really would not have been doing the washing!) and at around 3.30pm I called Seth to say that I thought I was actually having contractions. He told me to sit down for a while and he would call me again in half an hour to see if I was still having them and if I was, that he would come home from work (bear in mind that he works in central London and it takes him around an hour for him to get home from work. One of my biggest fears was that I would have a really quick labour and that the baby would come before Seth could even make it home!). Every time I thought I was having contractions before, whenever I sat down they would stop, which I think is why Seth told me to sit down. But this time I actually had some contractions whilst sitting down so when he called at 4pm, I told him that it might be a false alarm again, but maybe he should come home just in case. I was really beginning to hope that this time wasn't a false alarm and to be honest, I didn't really think it was. The other times, I didn't feel the crampy feeling in my lower back like I did this time. Suffice it to say, my hopes were definitely up at this point :).

So, as I waited for Seth to get home, I made dinner - yes, I actually made dinner! When I started, the contractions weren't too bad but by the time I had finished, I needed to start breathing through them. Seth arrived home just as dinner was ready and I was just getting Caleb into his highchair when my waters broke. I didn't call the hospital straight away, we had dinner first (I was hungry and I had made it, after all, ha ha!) and after that I called the hospital. They said that if I was still feeling okay, to stay home and to call back again in an hour but if during that time I decided that I wanted to come in, then give them a call. I wasn't feeling too bad so I just contacted my family to let them know what was happening and called Mum to tell her to get the train down to us that evening, as we had planned. Around 20 minutes later, the contractions were getting pretty painful so I called the hospital and told them that I would be coming in. Our good friend Liz came over to watch Caleb until my Mum arrived (he was in bed by this point - we had put him to bed and said prayers with him. Afterwards, he asked me for a cuddle so I obliged, hugging him for longer and tighter than usual - little did he know that the reason for that was that I was having a contraction at the time and couldn't actually move, ha ha! Still, I enjoyed the cuddles as always!).

We got to the hospital at around 8pm and we left the bags in the car as we figured that Seth could just go out and get them later, and we headed up to the labour ward. We were waiting around in the labour ward reception for around 15 minutes as they had someone else in triage being assessed at that time. A midwife saw me and said that it looked like it was a delivery room that I needed, not triage! A few minutes later, I was in a delivery room! The midwife strapped me up to a monitor which meant that I had to lay down in bed for a while. The contractions slowed right down when I was laying down but when they came, they were so much more intense so I was breathing on the gas and air like a mad thing! I had planned on trying to be as mobile as possible to move things along but once I had started on the gas and air, there was no taking that away from me and I was too woozy to get out of the bed anyway! The midwife held off on examining me for a while as my waters had broken and apparently they don't like to examine you too much because of risk of infection. I kept telling Seth that I wanted an epidural and to make sure that I got one. He mentioned it to the midwife when she came back into the room, at which point, she said that maybe she would examine me. It turns out I was 8cm dilated! I was pretty happy when I realised as I was worried that I would only be 3cm (it took me a while to realise - I had to ask Seth 3 times how far dilated I was because it was just going in one ear and out of the other - the joys of gas and air!). Seth asked if he could go out to the car to get my hospital bag as my nightie was in there but the midwife said that if he went, I may have had the baby by the time he got back so he stayed with me instead! (yep, I gave birth wearing the same clothes that I had arrived in!).

When it came to pushing, they took the gas and air away from me which I was a bit gutted about, I was loving that stuff! The midwife said that she needed me to push and so I couldn't have the gas and air. I told her that I could still push if I had it but apparently she had been telling me to push for a little while and I just wasn't doing it so I had to surrender my beloved gas and air!

At 9.50, our beloved little Levi Luke arrived. I was a little bit out of if still and it took me a few minutes to realise that I was actually holding my newborn baby in my arms! Seth and I were both shocked to see loads of jet black hair, which I really wasn't expecting. I got to cuddle him for a nice long time which was just lovely. He is just the most perfect little boy and we love him so much already.

Levi has been with us for two weeks now and I will do another post on what those last two weeks have been like as this one is long enough! Also, for those of you who don't know, despite this post where I said that I would never find out the sex of the baby, we did this time around although we didn't tell anyone what we were having. I'll do a post on my views about finding out as well :). I can't say when though, this new little one of mine likes to cuddle a lot in the evenings and while he is enjoying the snuggles, I am making the most of it!

Pregnancy update

I realised that I haven't really mentioned that much about being pregnant this time around here on the blog so I thought that I would do it now!

As of today, I am 35 weeks and 5 days pregnant, which should mean that I have around 5 weeks left but who knows? My due date is the 17th January, so less than a month now. I think I was around 6 days overdue with Caleb. I kind of think that I might be early this time around, not really based on anything other than the fact that my bump is so low it feels like it's down at my knees right now! I have been keeping fairly well, other than the usual pregnancy tiredness and general aches and pains. I don't think that my SPD has been as bad this time as it was with Caleb although there have been some days when I have practically fallen out of bed in the mornings because of the pain in my pelvis, fun and games! The skin on my stomach is really sensitive and it hurts to even touch it which isn't the most fun in the world but in the grand scheme of things, it could be much worse! I think the most annoying thing for me has been the fact that I have had a cold since the beginning of October and it is still hanging around. It's frustrating that I can't really take anything to get rid of it. Every time I think it's starting to go away it comes back with a vengeance. I'm now fairly certain that I will just have this cold until the baby is born.

I can't remember if I have mentioned it before or not, but we did find out what we are having at the 20 week scan. (Does anyone remember when I blogged about how I would never find out what we are having? Yeah, I went back on that but I had my reasons and I am glad that we found out). We (I) didn't want anyone else to know and I think I have done pretty well in keeping it a secret, I have grown so used to calling the baby "it". People have tried to get me to spill the beans by asking if Caleb is excited to have a brother / sister. The other day at church, someone said to Caleb, "are you going to have a little brother or a sister?" to which he responded, "sister!". I then asked him, "are you going to have a little sister or a brother?" to which he responded, "brother!". He pretty much just says whichever one he hears the last, ha ha! Maybe it would help to prepare him more if we told him what we are having but I don't really feel like it will make that much difference either way for him, plus, I still don't 100% trust scans and so I don't want to tell him one thing only for it to then end up being the other, if that were to happen!

Caleb has been very sweet with regards to the whole pregnancy thing. He knows that Mummy has a baby in her tummy, although I'm not sure if he really grasps what that means. He will come up to me, rub my tummy and then hold his hands up and say, "finished!" (he has helped me moisturise the bump a few times and I think he picked it up from that, ha!). He will also ask to kiss the baby and kiss my bump or just lay his head on it. The other day, I was putting him into his highchair so his head was level with the bump when he sat down. He spoke to my tummy and said, "would you like a kiss? One kiss...two...three....four" and kissed my bump four times, which was so cute. He's going to get the shock of his life when there is an actual baby living in the house! I have tried to get him used to babies as much as possible by always pointing them out to him. He is always very gentle with them and always wants to touch their hands / stroke their hair. My nephew and his wife have recently had a baby boy and it was so lovely to see Caleb with him. Sometimes he would just go up and kneel down next to him. I really hope that Caleb adjusts well to having a baby here full time!

As for any pregnancy concerns that I may have, my main one is just how Caleb will adjust, and also how I will adjust to having two children! I have been so spoilt with Caleb in that he has always been a good sleeper so it will be interesting to see how well this baby sleeps. I am not too worried about the labour because I know I don't really have much control over what happens and I am happy to just go with it and take everything as it comes. Caleb was a back to back baby with a dipping heartrate which required him to be delivered by forceps so I am hoping that doesn't happen again, but if it does, it does, I just want the baby to be safe and well.

As for baby names, we have a couple in the running - I want one and Seth wants another so we will see who wins on that one! While I am really excited for the baby to be here, I'm not wishing the time away. I love our little family of three and I am just enjoying the time I have with Caleb before we become a family of 4.

Here's a little timeline of some of my bump photos - I like to keep track of how I am growing :)

                         19 weeks                             21 weeks                                       24 weeks

                  26 weeks                                          30 weeks                                      31 weeks

                                                32 weeks                                    35 weeks

My favourite bump picture of all has to be the one where Seth decorated it. When I was pregnant with Caleb he decided that it would be a great idea to facepaint my bump and being as though the olympics were coming up, Team GB's logo was the chosen design for the bump:

This time around, being as though it is Christmas time, Seth decided to be all festive and the result it here for you to behold in all its glory!

Yep, my husband has skills!

I get by with a little help from... ahem... Pinterest

For ages, I have wanted to make Caleb's room more HIS room. For quite some time it had seemed almost like a spare room that he just slept in as there was so much other stuff in there. When we got his bed, we relocated a lot of the other stuff so it began to look more like a bedroom (the cot is still in there too, no sense in taking that down when we will be needing it again in a few months!). I wanted to get some sort of a canvas or picture for his room that would make it look nice but I didn't overly want to go with any particular theme. And of course, all of the pictures and canvases out there have some kind of a boyish theme to it. So, I actually decided to make my own! Check me out, ha ha! I don't think I've really tried to do anything creative for years so I really had no idea where to start.

Pinterest is a wonderful thing. I had never really used it before but it gave me a lot of ideas. I had already decided that I wanted the canvas to be bright with Caleb's name on it in wooden letters but I couldn't decide on the background for the canvas. I was originally going to paint it in plain yellow and stick the painted letters on it but I thought I would try something different and do multi-directional stripes for the background (yep, a pinterest idea that I saw and loved!) So there was still no theme but made it look a bit more interesting than just a plain background. I used frog tape for the stripes and then just painted the gaps with yellow paint.

I quite liked the look of it with just the frog tape on! I used frog tape instead of masking tape as there is supposed to be less chance of the paint bleeding. That's how it's meant to work for decorating anyway so I thought I would give it a shot anyway!

The paint did bleed a little bit in a couple of places but I don't think it is too noticeable. If I did it again I would try to make sure that I didn't paint too thickly too close to the tape as there are also some slightly chunky edges.

I should have probably primed the letters first.... you live, you learn! This was taken after one coat of paint, I ended up doing three coats to get a decent coverage.

The canvas in place on Caleb's bedroom wall. I put it up in the afternoon without him knowing, then I went into the lounge to get him and told him I had something to show him in his bedroom. He followed me in there and noticed it straight away. He gasped, smiled and said, "beautiful new picture for Caleb! Thank you Mummy!", then proceeded to read out the letters. For any artsy people out there, you may think that my attempt is pretty lame but Caleb's opinion was the one that mattered most to me and so I was thrilled with the fact that he loved it.

And the next morning, he was still loving it! I must say, I am actually quite pleased with my efforts. Thanks, Pinterest!

Recent moments

It's no secret that I think that Caleb is pretty amazing. Yes, he can drive me mad sometimes but I adore him and I love being able to spend my days with him. There have been so many cute things that he has said and done recently that I just have to document them! I do write a journal as well, so this post is mainly for my family who like to be kept up to date with the little things!

Caleb's language has just exploded recently. I can pretty much have a proper conversation with him and he will speak in full sentences. He absolutely loves helping out with any jobs around the house and when I am dusting, I need to give him a duster too so that he can help. One task that I absolutely can't do on my own is put the washing into the washing machine. Caleb will help me sort the lights and darks then helps me carry the basket to the kitchen. He then grabs armfuls or washing and puts it into the machine. And....get this.... he even knows which buttons to press to make it work and to put it on the right setting. I just supervise now just in case he presses the wrong buttons. The other day when we were doing the washing, I gave him his coat to put into the washing machine. He held it in is hands and looked at it, confused, then looked up at me and said, "but I need my coat, Mummy". He just sounded so cute! I explained to him he could just wear another jacket that day and he was satisfied with that answer. Once the washing machine had actually started, he knelt down on the floor, kissed the washing machine door and said, "good boy, washing machine, I'm so proud of you!". He makes me laugh so much, I love the things that come out of his mouth.

Recently, I have been trying to teach Caleb about Remembrance Day. I know he's only two and a lot of people might say that it's too young to teach him about things like that but you never know what sinks in so I try anyway! He was playing with my poppy the other day and I asked him why we wear poppies. He responded, "to remember people who died for our freedom". It's what I had told him before but it was so cute that he could remember it, even if it doesn't really mean much to him at the moment. Something must have gone in though because we had our own little two minute silence at home on 11th November at 11am and he was silent for the whole thing. For anyone who knows Caleb, they will know what a big deal that is for a little boy who talks non-stop!

Caleb is obsessed with photos and especially selfies. He knows how to work the camera on my phone and he uses it a lot. I often find these random photos of him on there that he has taken. Whenever he does something that he knows is cute or funny, he tells me to "take a smile". I always oblige because usually he is right, it is pretty cute or funny and such moments definitely need to be documented!

Caleb is incredible with letters and numbers. People who have heard him count to 20 are always really impressed and comment on how well I have taught him. As much as I would like to take the credit, I haven't actually done anything, he just seems to have an amazing memory and he remembers these things! His love of letters is more recent. For his Birthday in July, my Mum bought him a little leap pad laptop which says the names of the letters, pronounces them phonetically and then says a word to go along with it. Caleb loves playing with it (he especially loves the V for vulture for some reason!) and now he points out letters everywhere we go! There's a game he plays on my phone where there is a picture of something, a choice of letters and he has to drag the right letter to the right word. Caleb used to get so frustrated playing that game but now that he is better with letters, he will say to me, "Mummy help you" and show me the picture. I will tell him what the word is and sound it out and then he will spell it with the letters in the right order. He will sometimes do it wrong on purpose and laugh like it's the funniest thing in the world.

Caleb loves babies! Which is just as well as he's getting one in a couple of months! My friend Emma has recently had a baby and whenever I hold her, Caleb makes a beeline for her. He loves stroking her hair and fingers and he is so gentle. He looks at her in awe, like she is the most amazing thing he has ever seen. I'm hoping that it bodes well for when his little sibling comes along although I'm not sure how he will take to its constant presence in our home!

One of the things he has started to do recently is so adorable and I love it when he does it. When he is walking along beside me, if my hand is on his shoulder, he will put his arm around my leg and walk like that. It makes my heart melt every time.

This is a ridiculously long post on Caleb but be grateful, it could have been longer! He does so many new things each day that I am starting to struggle to remember them all and I have to write them down somewhere straight away so that I don't forget about them. I am so grateful that he is ours.

(Gushing Mum post over)