Last night Conrad woke up at 3.30am and wouldn’t settle again until about two hours later. I’m not sure why this was – he was restless in his cot, turning and kicking the wooden bars on the sides and chatting, but more in playful way, and only started to complain after a while – almost like he was ready to get up and play, and got frustrated by not getting to. I went in to try to resettle him maybe 5 or 6 times – I might have left him to it more, had it not been that he’d stirred his sister too and I was anxious to calm him down before she might get upset by being kept awake.
Conrad didn’t seem to be in any pain or discomfort; when I switched the night light on, he giggled and kicked his legs and waved his arms excitedly. Jessica jumped up straight away and went “Dada” (Conrad), “vaken” (awake) and “flingor” (cereal). So I had to point out that it was still night and no one would be having any breakfast for a few hours yet. As it happened, Jessica didn’t seem particularly bothered by Conrad’s noise at any point and when he eventually went back to sleep, so did she and I. When Conrad woke up again, he kindly chose to do so just when Ian had got up and got ready, so he fished Conrad out of his cot, got him washed and dressed and fed him breakfast, without either Jessica or me stirring. When he was about to leave for work, Ian came to wake me up, and when I went downstairs I found a happy Conrad playing with a bucket-full of toys on the living room floor.
We have had a few lovely hot summer days now, and it’s been great not to have to worry about jackets, or a cosy toe for Conrad, and to be able to just leave the back door to the garden open and let the kids run in and out as they like with bare feet. Conrad loves the sand table and gets sand just about everywhere but he’s getting quite confident running up and down the garden too, holding on to just one of my hands. His favourite spots are unfortunately those where we’d like him to go the least: the solar lights, the big tub with soil and herbs by the patio, and the side by the shed where there’s stacks of old plastic bottles and pots. Today, though, he discovered how much fun it can be to play peek-a-boo between the bedlinen hanging to dry on the rotary drier, so he and his sister had a giggle doing that for a while (me trying to duck in-between sheets and duvet covers too whilst not letting his hand slip…!).
So this evening, when the four of us were playing together in the living room as usual, Conrad amazed me and Ian by very casually and calmly, with a confident smile on his face, take three steps from Ian over to reach me. There was no stumble nor any rush to grab hold of me quickly; it was like he’d been walking independently for ages already. Ian and I got so excited, grinning wildly, and I kissed Conrad again and again on his cheeks, which made him giggle. So he’s done it now, not 11 months old yet. Wow.
Gabriella