Monday 26 July 2010

Dance the night away

Harry was 18 months old on Monday – and I’ve no idea where the time has gone.

He is growing up so fast, it’s hard to keep up with his development. I’ve got pictures of Harry taken just before Christmas on my office wall and he looks so young and small, nothing like the stocky bundle of energy that greets me every evening when I arrive home from work.

He’s also a real little character, playing up to any attention and, frankly, showing off. It was certainly the case last Saturday when Melissa’s nan had a party to celebrate her birthday at Stansty House in Wrexham.

The country music duo Jeff Cliffson Duo performed for the occasion and Harry loved it, spending most of the performance bobbing up and down right in front of Jeff and John, much to the amusement of the residents.

Occasionally, Harry would take a break from the dancing to drag one or two of us up to bob up and down with him, including Melissa’s nan of course. It was all good fun and Jeff and John were on fine form – even I got out of my seat a couple of times.

Anyway, I’m sure Harry will appreciate me reminding him of this when he’s, oh I don’t know, about 15 years old.

He was also fascinated by John and Jeff’s guitars, and you could tell he was desperate to have a go. I just hope he takes after his mum when it comes to musical talent; heaven help him if he takes after me.

Swimming is definitely more my scene and now Harry’s a bit older, I’ve got a good excuse to act like a big kid again. We went to Waterworld in Wrexham on Sunday and I spent most of the time going down the slide with Harry on my lap.

The slide seemed very fast – certainly faster than when I was little. Harry screamed – I think it was with delight, but I can’t be sure. The worst part, though, was trying to stand up when we reached the bottom of the slide; balancing Harry while pushing myself upright and hanging on to a rubber ring was not easy. But as I’m quickly finding out, it’s hard to look dignified when you’ve got a little one in tow.

Friday 16 July 2010

Shopping trial

Harry can turn the simplest of tasks into a real trial. This was illustrated very clearly last Friday when I arrived home from work and had to pop to the shops to buy a few bits and pieces for tea. I decided to take Harry with me in his push-along trike.

The shop is only a few hundred yards from our front door, so this shouldn’t have presented any problems. My only slight worry was that Harry insisted on taking his bubble gun with him. Still, I thought, what damage can a few bubbles do?

Ten minutes later, I was stood in the middle of the shop with Harry shouting at the top of his voice in between dousing unsuspecting shoppers with bubbles. I was trying to steer Harry’s trike with one hand while carrying an overflowing shopping basket in the other and, presumably, looking increasingly fraught.

To be fair, I did get one or two sympathetic looks from shoppers; others were slightly less gracious in their attitude.

Anyway, I eventually managed to get to the counter and pay, much to the amusement of the checkout staff.

My relief was shortlived, though; two minutes later, I was heading back to the shop having realised I’d forgotten the most important items – Melissa’s chocolate and magazine.

In an effort to keep things under control second time around, I resorted to good old-fashioned bribery with Harry; he got a pack of chocolate buttons to keep him quiet – a very effective method of noise control, I’ve discovered.

Melissa, of course, also found the whole episode hilarious. In fact, she only stopped laughing long enough to tell me she has to manage this type of expedition every day. It makes going to work sound like the easy option.

He's a little charmer

I’m constantly surprised by how clever babies are – and Harry is no exception. He is a right little charmer and, even if he’s been making mischief for hours on end, when he’s introduced to strangers he invariably starts behaving like a little angel.

When we were on holiday a couple of weeks ago, Harry had people cooing over him everywhere we went. In cafes, he would smile at people before pretending to be shy and burying his head in mine or Melissa’s shoulder. Of course, this would attract plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and Harry would soon be waving, shouting and generally entertaining everybody around us.

On the surface, this might seem perfectly innocent behaviour from a 17-month-old but there’s more to it than you think. On one occasion, a friendly lady sitting next to us in a cafĂ© gave Harry her biscuit, which pleased him no end.

And when we visited Melissa’s nan at Stansty House care home in Wrexham last week he soon had both staff and residents smiling at his antics. His reward was sandwiches and a dessert courtesy of the very friendly staff. Harry, of course, was over the moon.

Whatever his motivation, though, I certainly prefer it when he behaves himself, particularly if we’re eating out. There was an uncomfortable moment in a restaurant we visited recently when Harry decided to start throwing his food around.

At home, this is a common occurrence at the moment as Harry is learning how to feed himself using a spoon and food sometimes goes in astray in the journey from plate to mouth. In the restaurant, however, an elderly couple found themselves in the firing line and they weren’t particularly impressed.

Thankfully, though, such incidents are pretty rare. It certainly makes you think twice about eating out though.

Monday 5 July 2010

Two weeks with Harry...

I’ve just spent two full weeks with Harry – my longest uninterrupted period with him since he arrived home from hospital more than 17 months ago.

Spending time with Harry is always special, but having 14 days with him was a particular treat.

We spent the first week by the sea in Whitby, Yorkshire. Fortunately, the weather was fine and we were able to get the beach twice a day, every day, which delighted Harry.

He thoroughly enjoyed playing with his bucket and spade on the beach – so much so that I found myself having to pretend to play in the sand on our apartment floor shortly after six every morning.

Goodness knows what our unfortunate neighbours made of it all, but it kept Harry entertained and that’s all that matters.

Mind you, I think I enjoyed the beach just as much as Harry – and I’ve now got the perfect excuse to behave like a big kid, so I had great fun competing with Melissa to build the biggest and best sandcastle.

One thing that did shock me, though, was the sand. It gets everywhere and, thanks to Harry, our apartment was covered in it. By the end of the week, I’d swear there was more sand in our bed than on the beach.

Sand aside, it was a fantastic break. My favourite moment came when we were playing on the beach one day and Harry grabbed my hand before taking me paddling. Watching a very well-behaved Harry eating fish and chips in a busy restaurant on our last day also made me realise just how quickly he’s growing up. I’m determined to enjoy every minute of it.

Summer's here

NOW that summer is here, we've been getting out and about as much as possible with Harry. Unlike this time last year, when Harry was too little to take a great deal of notice of the world around him, he's now desperate to touch everything.It's great - often hilarious - watching him discover the world outside.

He's fascinated by soil, plants, chippings, grass – just about everything in fact. You can be walking around the garden with him when he'll suddenly stop bend over and pick up something that has caught his eye, and this is when you have to be on your toes as it can very quickly end up in his mouth as I found out at the weekend.We've got a few outdoor toys for Harry, including a sand table that is proving very popular. Melissa and I make sandcastles while Harry takes great pleasure in smashing them up.

The other day, Harry and I were outside playing in the sand when Harry decided to find out what it tasted like. Before I could stop him, he'd grabbed a handful of wet sand and was shoving it in his mouth - judging by his reaction, it wasn't a very pleasant experience.

One of the downsides of being outdoors is trying to protect Harry from the sun. Melissa is, quite rightly, very cautious about it, so he can't leave the house without being plastered with sun cream.

Unfortunately for Harry, he takes after me and isn't blessed with a thick head of hair. This means that his scalp is exposed and, even with cream, he still needs a hat. Now Harry doesn't like hats at all so when we started insisting he wear a hat, we had plenty of tears and tantrums.

However, we stood firm on the issue and every time he Harry took his hat off, we immediately took him inside. Now he got used to the idea and will keep the hat on for long periods - he'll even try and put it back on himself if it falls off, with varying degrees of success.Still, it's great to be out and about with him. I just hope we have a decent summer this year so we can make the most of it.

The early morning wake up call

IT'S FAIR to say that I'm still adjusting to life as a parent. It was a real shock to the system when Harry first arrived on the scene in January last year and, even with all the advice from friends and the various textbooks, I simply wasn't prepared for the massive changes that happen when you become a parent.

Nearly seventeen months on, I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm now a dad with all the responsibility that brings with it.

It’s true that you do have to make massive changes to your lifestyle when you become a parent and your priorities are turned completely on their head. Even simple things like popping out for a pint, meeting up with friends, or going to watch the football require planning with military precision.

But I think we've coped pretty well with that side of life. What has been tougher, for me at least, is dealing with sleep - or, more precisely, a lack of it.

Looking back to the first few weeks after Harry was born, I don't know how we managed having to get up two or three times a night to feed and change him. Of course, you muddle through and things do get better.

The problem is, you forget how hard you had it then and begin to get used to sleeping through the night again. Unfortunately for us, Harry has now decided that he likes waking up early - usually between half five and half six - which means we have to get up early too.

What amazes me is how much energy he has at that time of day. There's no easing into the day gently with Harry, and I'm often woken by the shout of 'Da da' which, roughly translated, means he’s ready for breakfast.

A few months ago, the solution was simple - we brought him into our bed and he would drop off for another hour or so. Unfortunately, he's no longer interested in going back to sleep and he will happily slap, pull, poke and prod me until I get up and take him downstairs.

To be honest, this isn't so bad during the week when I've got to get up to go to work anyway, but it's tough at the weekends when you need to catch up on your sleep.

It’s also a bit disconcerting having to watch Thomas the Tank Engine at six o’clock in the morning. Still, a couple of friends with chidren have assured me it's just a phase and that Harry will soon be sleeping until eight or half past. At the moment, I’d happily settle for seven.