The difference between Momma and Mummy

I can’t believe how quickly Harry is growing up. I know I’ve said this before but lately the pace of change seems to be increasing all the time. Of course the fact that he’s talking makes a big difference. Hearing him ask for ‘mummy’ rather than ‘momma’ may not sound much but to Melissa and I, it’s worlds apart.

In other ways he’s becoming more and more of a little boy, rather than a toddler. He is, for instance, quite happy to sit or lie on the floor playing with his train set quite happily for half an hour or more on his own. The only sound he makes is the choo-chooing of the trains.

Boxing Day was a bit of a watershed moment for me though. I took Harry downstairs after his bath to get him tea. We walked into the kitchen and Harry asked to sit on a seat at the table, rather than eat in his high chair.

Normally I would have insisted on the high chair but Harry had been full of cold and hadn’t been eating very well for a couple of days, so I relented. He sat at the table, spoon in hand, waiting for his tea and when I put it on the table, he told me to go away. Again, I would normally be reluctant to do so (if only for the sake of minimising the mess!) but I made another exception.So while I did the washing up, Harry sat with his back to me and cleared his plate. There was very little spillage and Harry was quiet as a mouse the whole time. I kept taking sneaky glances to make sure he was alright but I needn’t have worried.

As you might expect, Harry remembered this the next day and he duly ate his breakfast sat at the table. Since then, he’s not been in his high chair and, barring one or two slightly messy moments, it’s going remarkably smoothly.

Of course there’s plenty of time for that to change but, whatever happens, I can’t see Harry getting into his high chair ever again.