Children

"There is no experience like having children. That's all. There is no substitute for it. You cannot do it with a friend. You cannot do it with a lover. If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children." Excerpt from Tuesdays With Morrie, a book I highly recommend.

This was a message sent to my dear friend who is patiently waiting for her baby to be born, she is now 7 days overdue and it was her 31st birthday yesterday. Come on Baby C, eviction notice will be sent soon.

Just a quick update on Cyril because I can't resist. 

He now says car, with a British accent and nana for banana also with a surprising British accent. It's only surprising because I haven't lost my American accent and the only time he's not by my side is when he's sleeping. Josh said he must be picking it up from his friends, I'm pretty sure he was joking because they all just babble at one another. Either way he's got it from somewhere and therefore my first goal of wanting a child with a British accent has been met ;)

He's very attached to his mama at the moment, I cannot leave the room without him crying. If I manage to get away he runs towards me and clings to my legs. He also says cuddle, but in a really cute way that only a 14 month old learning to talk can say, and then he rests his head on my shoulder and I swear the world stops, it's my favourite moment. I think it's more cherished because he's usually so active that stopping to cuddle isn't usually something he has the time for.  My good friend Genevieve used to tell me "if you want a cuddly cat you must train them to cuddle." This led to a lifetime of me slowly moulding into the cartoon character Elmira. I swear this conditioning over decades has led to Cyril becoming a super sweet and cuddly baby. Just tonight I told him to give Gan Gan (granny bron) a love and he ran over and hugged her not once but 4 times before we left. He also kisses and hugs all soft toys, the doll at gymnastics, every animal he's ever met and sometimes he gives a love to the furniture. I hope he never stops this feeling of love because I think love is the most important thing in the world and it makes life very happy indeed.

He had his first fever yesterday and I was up until 1am cuddling my wee tot. It finally dropped a little to 99.5 tonight and I'm praying for a better day tomorrow. I never understood when I was ill as a child, and my pop would stand in the doorway and tell me if he could trade places with me he would in a heartbeat, I always thought it was crazy talk because I felt so awful and how could anyone want that for themselves. But now I'm a mother and last night I found myself whispering the same thing to Cyril.

It's funny how parenting transforms you as a person. I've never felt as close to my parents as I do now and I feel so grateful for everything I know they did. You don't realise all the little things when your growing up but now that I'm grown up and doing all of those things I can truly appreciate and feel gratitude for the life they've provided me with.

And on that note happy Tuesday and here's to hoping Cyril is better and we're not up until 1am. Also, baby Cinquemani if you could just give your mama a break and come tonight I'm sure it would be much appreciated :)