A year later...

This post is going to bring me pretty much up to date. I know there has been so much more happen over this last year, but unfortunately, I was very slack at taking notes, so from now on, you'll just get random bits as I remember them! There have been many notable occasions since Will was born, but we will start with...

Worms. My 4-month-old got worms. At an age where he wasn't even crawling yet, he managed to catch worms. At that age, you can't just pick something up at the chemist to treat them, you have to go to the doctor. That resulted in an awkward conversation as to how my infant managed to pick up a parasite (to be honest, I think his love of trying to use my tires as a teething toy probably had something to do with it) and how I knew he had them (that would be the wriggling masses of them in his nappy). Interestingly enough, now that he is mobile, he hasn't actually got them again, despite me having caught him chewing on some really revolting things, including bones the dog has finished with. I just try to remind myself he is going to have a good immune system. 

Will is certainly on the move now. We are in fact on the verge of walking. He can crawl as fast as most people walk and I'm doing well to outpace him in the house if he wants to be where I am going. He is coasting around the furniture and is standing and balancing with ease. We have had the odd step here and there, so it won't be long before he is running. He also loves being outside. Over summer I could leave the door opened and he would take himself out on the back lawn and crawl around in the grass for ages exploring. I have had to go looking for him a couple of times when he has hidden in the bushes.  

I found it took me about 4 or 5 weeks after Will was born to stop bleeding. Then I got my period at 6 weeks. Whoever said breastfeeding will hold it off, was not talking about my body, clearly! I've found that my periods now are a bit irregular and very heavy. I'm not sure if that is down to any huge post-pregnancy change, or just my body sorting itself out, since I'm not taking the pill at the moment. I went on the mini-pill at about 10 weeks, but I have since gone off it. I don't know if I was imagining things, or if it actually was making me moody. I have also found my weight and body shape fluctuating a bit and I didn't know if that was affecting it too. I can't go back to the normal pill as long as I'm breastfeeding. I've managed another 9 months since we first started having issues! (I still consider quitting every day). 

Will popped his first tooth through right on 6 months, a few days after Christmas. He had made it to 8 teeth within a couple of months and is now working on getting the first of the big ones through. We have a lot more dribbling when he is teething, but he managed his first ones without too much trouble. The current ones are hurting him a bit though. 

Tim has had a few issues of his own since Will was born. We finally got his shoulder operated on in October. Fortunately, it was the quick healing problem, so he was back at work after a few weeks. With the pain from his shoulder gone though, he soon noticed he was having trouble with his hand. In April he was back to theatre to have his carpel tunnel corrected, resulting in another couple of weeks off work. His second recovery also coincided with my return to the basketball court. 

I was lucky enough this year to get a spot on my old team, the Kilsyth Cobras, in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL). So a good portion of this year has involved balancing parenting with basketball training. My first trip away was to Perth, so Tim (recovering from surgery) and Will came over with me. 

Wills first flight

It was Wills first trip on a plane, so we threw him in the deep end. We had probably the worst days travel I have ever had and he handled it really well considering. Between delayed flights, missed connections and broken equipment we eventually made it there. We spent three days with my team, then another three days catching up with Tim's family. Will got to meet his great grandparents on Tim's side, which was pretty special. 

We hired a car for the week and hired a car seat from the car company, instead of traveling with ours. We did take our pram with us, but made the rookie error of checking it in. It would have been really handy to have been able to lay Will down for a sleep in the three hour delay we had before leaving Launceston. 

Since that trip, Will and my mum has done one round in Melbourne with me, and Tim and Will did another. We found that while Will doesn't sleep as well as normal in strange places, he still sleeps really well in the car, so we used that to get his naps in. Unfortunately, my team didn't qualify for finals, so we won't be going to Brisbane this month. 

We have started Will in swimming lessons. Swimming's not my strong point, so Tim takes a morning off one day a week and that is their time. Some weeks I go along too, but most weeks it's my 'morning off' and I will have a few hours to myself.

I found a lot of girls I know had babies around the same time as me, so we have kind of made our own little mothers group. It started as a walk then lunch thing, but as our babies are getting bigger, we have gone more for lunching with playgrounds. They have been really important for me, especially since I'm out of town a bit. I am a pretty social person, so having them around has helped keep me connected (thanks girls). 

The first few months I was okay, things were constantly changing and I was kept on my toes a bit. As Will gets a bit bigger though, and I've been longer at home, I'm finding I need more stimulation. I'm doing more writing, baking, sewing and card making. (I sound like a grandma, I just need to take up knitting). I find having a creative outlet helps keep me sane. I just feel like I've become really boring. I struggle finding things to talk to Tim about when he comes home from work because I do literally the same thing, every day. So, I'm trying to be more interesting. For me and the people around me.

I'm at the stage now where I'd also like to go back to work. Just a couple of days a week, enough to get me out of the house. I know I tire easily (I still have naps during the day sometimes) and I like being around Will, but I need to wake my brain up. 

I think it's a good thing to miss your kids a bit. You can't miss them when you're always there with them. It is time for me to miss him, just a little.