Treasure every moment

I’m slightly melancholy at the moment. Anna and I are preparing to go abroad for a couple of days. Little Helen, meanwhile, will stay at home in the care of her grandmothers (Anna’s mum will have her for a day and my mother will have her for a day also. It’s not ideal but that’s the way it’s worked out).

Why the melancholy? Well, this will be the longest we’ve ever been away from Helen and I know I’m going to miss her massively. I’m also going to worry about her; will the grannies remember to apply Helen’s eczema cream? Will they at least feed her a little fruit? Will they remember to keep the stair gates closed?

Looking at it from another perspective, we’re actually very lucky. Helen’s got to an age where we have gained a little independence and can consider going away for a couple of days. It’s also something that isn’t going to happen often so we should make the most of it.

We actually went away to the same place exactly a year ago and on that occasion took Helen with us. She’s grown up so much in that short space of time.

When I think back a year, Helen could not speak or crawl and had only been eating solids for a couple of months. A year later she has a vocabulary of about 100 words, can run as well as walk, eats like a horse and can partially dress herself without assistance.

We’ve also been introducing Helen to the potty. Anna feels a little sad about this. She says nappies are the only remnants of Helen’s days as a baby and she’s sorry those days are all but passed.

The day Helen was born I cracked a very bad joke that she’ll soon be taking her driving test. It was a bad joke, but it was also accurate!

I clearly remember the day my younger (half) brother passed his driving test. He came home and took me and our other brother out for a spin in the Volkswagen Golf that was his first car.

I remember the occasion so vividly because of the look on my stepdad’s face when he saw his eldest son drive off for the first time. It was a very poignant moment; “Where did all those years go?” said his expression.

It’s a cliché, but Helen really is growing up so quickly. Anna and I must treasure every moment.