Big news...

HARRY is coming to terms with some big news: he will soon have to share his home with a baby brother or sister.

I'm not sure he quite understands what a big change this is going to be (let's face it, I'm not sure I understand it fully) but his reaction so far has been thoroughly entertaining.

For a start, he tells everybody he's having a baby sister. The truth is we don't know what we're having and we don't want to. Harry, however, is so confident when he says he's having a little sister that people think we're hiding something. Even my mum suspects that we've found out, told Harry, and then decided not to tell anyone else.

He's also taken to telling people that he's got Peppa Pig and Barney (his cuddly little dinosaur) in his tummy. “They'll be out soon, like the baby in mummy's tummy,” he tells people earnestly. Occasionally he will study Melissa's bump for a few minutes before asking: “Can we get that baby out yet?”

In preparation for the new arrival, Harry decided that he would get out his old travel cot. After helping him to set it up I popped out of the room. When I returned a minute or so later, Harry was lying down in to the cot. When I asked him what he was doing, he replied: “I'm waiting here until that baby comes.”

As I say, I suspect that Harry might find things a little bit more challenging when the baby does arrive – it's due in March – particularly when he realises he's got competition for his mum's attention.

Nevertheless, when I got home from work the other night, Harry gave me a demonstration on how to hold a baby properly using one of his cuddly toys (Melissa had been giving him lessons). He was very gentle, which was something of a surprise as Harry can be a little heavy handed. Perhaps there's nothing to worry about after all.

Peppa Pig at 2am

Sickness, Peppa Pig, Calpol and a screaming toddler. That was the story of our Sunday night this week.

Melissa had put Harry to bed as I’d been at work so when I arrived home, I was expecting a relaxing evening. Melissa had even opened a bottle of wine but, alas, it wasn’t to be.

Harry was unusually restless and woke up several times crying. He was so upset in the end, that I went to his room and picked him up to comfort him. Ten seconds later, Harry had been sick all over my dressing gown.

I shouted Melissa who rushed upstairs to help. And Harry was immediately sick all over her too.

Thankfully, that was the end of the throwing up, but Harry didn’t drop off again until half eleven.

Unfortunately, he only slept for an hour before waking up crying. This time, there was no way he was going back to sleep. We soon discovered that the only way to stop him crying was to let him watch Peppa Pig.

There is something a bit bizarre about watching children’s television programmes at half past one in the morning, but we were so grateful that he’d calmed down we didn’t mind.

While he was calm, we took the opportunity to get some Calpol down him. Of course, Harry didn’t want to swallow any but, with Melissa holding him down, I managed to get some in his mouth.

The effect was dramatic – I swear that stuff is magic. Within half an hour, Harry was sleepy enough to get him back into bed – our bed this time. A few minutes later, both he and Melissa were flat out, leaving me wide awake unable to shake the Peppa Pig theme tune.

Being a parent is, as I’ve said time and time again, a wonderful experience; but it definitely has its challenging moments.