This blog is special to me, as this marks my 100th since I started it way back in 2016.
Back then it was Ellis in Wonderland and I was writing about everything from mental health to rubbish drivers. Then in May 2018 everything changed. We found out we were having Rupert and J suggested I turn it into a Daddy blog – Dad’s the Word was born and we were soon documenting our journey into becoming parents.
In November of that year our Ru was born and since then it’s been a yearlong roller-coaster of emotions – mainly amazing.
In that time he’s transformed from our tiny little ball of wonder, to an amazing little boy, with a cheeky, funny personality.
For starters, he walks everywhere by default now. He can stand up from the floor without holding on to anything and he walks – usually while laughing and holding a spoon or some kind of toy. He’s got to that stage at the moment though where his brain thinks faster than his body, so his head says ‘Oh my god, we need to run.’ Body says, ‘Woah, slow down.’ And then he falls over. But then he’s quickly back up and off on the move again – gone are the days we can put him under the jungle gym and expect him to be happily batting the hanging toys when we come back.
Secondly, he’s started nursery now – and he loves it. We always knew that it would be difficult to send him anywhere because the ‘settling in’ sessions went horrendously, as he cried the whole time. It was only when he started Nursery for ‘real’ and was there all day that he actually enjoyed it, settling in very quickly. It doesn’t mean Daddy likes leaving him any more though.
He’s got little teeth now too, two half ones on the top in the middle and a tiny one at the bottom. It won’t be long before he’s got a mouth full of them, and then a mouth full of gaps as well.
Recently he had his first birthday and I we made sure we celebrated in style with a party. Nothing elaborate or flash, just friends and family marking the end of what was one of the fastest years of my entire life. (A huge thank you to everyone who not only attended, but helped out too. I could literally write a whole blog on how amazing our family and friends were in helping us organise different things for it.)
I could literally go on forever, detailing how much he’s learned, how much he’s changed and how much I love him but I would be here all day. All I can do is thank him for being who he is and hope that I can inspire him to be the best version of himself, someone he is proud to be.
So thank you Rupert, because not only are you (and Mummy) my inspiration on paper, you’re also my inspiration in life. It feels like you’ve been here forever, and whereas I may remember a time without you I don’t remember feeling quite so complete – until your brother or sister get here that is.
