Holidays are meant to be an enjoyable and relaxing way to recharge your batteries. Why then, after a week in the Canaries, do I feel like I need another week off work? Simple: Harry.

Before I go on, I should say that our holiday wasn’t a disaster by any means. Harry certainly enjoyed himself and it was nice to get in the sun for a few days.

Going abroad with a toddler is, however, a very different, and altogether more challenging experience. The main problem is the travelling itself – and it made both Melissa and I long for the simplicity of being able to throw everything into the back of our car.

We arrived at the airport two hours before our flight, which meant plenty of hanging around, trying to keep Harry entertained. It’s not as easy as it sounds. To complicate matters, Harry had woken up with a slight stomach upset – nothing serious, but it meant a couple of dirty nappies in the airport, which wasn’t the ideal way to kick off the holiday.

To make matters worse, when we got on the plane Harry filled his nappy again. Unfortunately, we were told by the cabin crew that we wouldn’t be able to change him until we were in the air and the seatbelt sign had been turned off.

Half an hour later, we were still stationary on the tarmac, with Harry on the brink of dropping off. Our pleas to change Harry again fell on deaf ears and we ended up having to wake him when we finally did get into the air an hour or so later.

The journey home was less eventful – or at least it was until Harry decided to start hitting the lady sat in front of us on the plane over the head with one of his books.

As I say, the holiday itself was good and Harry loved splashing around in the pool and being made a fuss of by the hotel staff. Nevertheless, Melissa has vowed it will be at least 10 years before we go abroad again. She might be exaggerating slightly, but she does have a point. As for Harry, he’ll just have to get used to the unpredictable British weather.

More nappies...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I was now a dab hand at changing nappies. Clearly I tempted fate with this rather self-congratulatory statement as Harry has now decided to tear up the rule book.

Let me explain. I’m used to Harry lying on his back and co-operating while I’m changing him. In recent weeks he’s learned how to roll onto his side but while this made the process a little more tricky, it was still manageable.

Now, however, he’s learned how to roll onto his front. This makes it nigh on impossible to change him quickly. What’s more, he spends five minutes rolling onto his tummy, followed by a further five minutes trying to crawl before giving up and screaming.

At this point, I turn him back over and the whole process begins again immediately while I try and wrestle Harry into his nappy.

As you can probably imagine, it becomes particularly tricky if you’re dealing with a full nappy.

To complicate matters further, Harry has now started eating pureed vegetables – carrot, broccoli and the like. Without going in to the gory details, this makes full nappies a far more daunting prospect.

On a happier note, though, Harry seems to be enjoying all this new food. As well as baby rice and vegetables, he’s also eating porridge and yoghurts. Feeding him is relatively easy because he’s so keen.

In fact, the only problem is he sometimes gets too excited trying to grab the spoon and, if you’re not careful, you can end up covered in food; believe me, it’s not a good look when you turn up for an important meeting with baby rice down your trousers.
At least Harry’s swimming is coming on. His latest visit was a much more relaxed affair and he appeared to enjoy it – we even managed to get him dressed and out of the changing rooms without a tantrum. Believe me, it felt like a major victory.

Five months on... and I'm still enjoying it

Harry is five months old today – and the time has simply flown by. Looking back, I’m amazed how quickly you adjust to the massive changes in your life, and how much you learn in a relatively short space of time.

Take nappies. When Harry was born, I was incredibly clumsy with nappies and the result was that Harry would often wake up damp. Now I’m a dab hand at changing him, even though I say so myself.

Sleep has also changed markedly. When Harry was born, we were up once or even twice a night to feed and change him; now we’re grumpy if he wakes early and disturbs us.

As you become more familiar with the day to day demands of being a parent, you also learn to relax a bit more too. When Harry was born, I couldn’t imagine leaving him with anybody except Melissa; now I’m quite happy when he stays with his grandparents.

There’s no doubt that having children changes your perspective on life. As I’ve said before, it does make you soft; last week, Harry managed to roll onto his front and Melissa phoned me – right on the Evening Leader deadline – to tell me. I’d have done the same – the smallest development is big news when you have a baby.

As for Harry himself, he’s great. He’s getting bigger, stronger and more alert by the day. He’s also more demanding – and if you’re not paying him enough attention, he’ll happily let you know by way of a loud scream.

He’s started playing a lot more too. At the moment, Harry’s favourite game is grabbing your fingers and trying to eat them, and he’s generally much more responsive when you talk to him – smiling, giggling and laughing – which really does make you feel like the most important person on earth.

So, after five months, I’ve only good things to say about being a parent; and before you say it, I’m sure I’ll still feel the same when Harry’s a teenager.

Having a baby's good for your health

MAKE no mistake, life with a baby can be a challenge. I was reminded of this last Friday night when Harry filled his nappy while happily bouncing around in his little play-chair.

The result was, well, messy. He’d managed to get poo everywhere – from his armpits to his toes. Now I thought I was pretty good at dealing with dirty nappies but Harry succeeded in making me think again.

Anyway, a rather hurried bath later, normality was restored and I could go back to finishing my tea.

Despite these little episodes, I’d still tell anyone that Harry is the best thing to happen to me.

It’s even beneficial to your fitness. Take Melissa, for instance. Since Harry was born, she’s been walking almost every day.

According to her trusty pedometer, she clocked up more than 36 miles in one week alone. That’s got to be good for you; Melissa’s certainly no couch potato but there’s no way she’d have walked 36 miles in a week before Harry was born.

And it’s not as if having a baby means your social life has to end. Last Saturday, my brother and his wife visited from Nottingham. Usually when my brother visits, we spend all afternoon – and evening – in the pub, drinking.

Of course, having a 12-week old baby means things have to change.

So, instead of going straight to the pub, we went for a walk across Chirk aqueduct, took in some wonderful scenery and bracing fresh air, before stopping for a drink at our friendly local, The Trap (or Bridge Inn, as it’s officially called).

We didn’t stop long, just long enough for a couple of well-earned afternoon drinks – all that fresh air works up a thirst – before heading back up the hill for a takeaway.

So there you have it; don’t let anyone tell you that being a parent is all hard work, even if you do have to deal with the odd dirty nappy.