Yesterday as I was eating my breakfast, the tastes and smells of my simple bowl of Weetabix transported me back exactly three years ago today to when Spud was first born. Yep, he is three today and this is the first birthday where I have mixed feelings.
My baby is no longer a baby.
He is no longer a toddler.
He is a pre-schooler!
He still loves a cuddle but is getting more and more independent each day. Fellow parents will understand that the birthdays of your little ones are times for celebration but at the same time as enjoying watching them grow part of you also wants to keep the little babies and toddlers for as long as you can.
Life in the early years is hard work but so much fun.
Spud came in to our bed yesterday morning and curled up on the bottom of the bed under the pretence of going back to sleep. He did however just wriggle and kick us for the next half hour or so and when I said it was time to get up he sat right up like a meercat on sentry duty and had the cheek to say…
“Mummy! Why you waking me up?”
Cheeky little bugger! (I’m not allowed to say ‘bugger’ in real life as# I get frowns from Granny ;) ) As the days go by, Spud is asking more ‘difficult’ questions. He is so inquisitive and he knows that boys are different to girls in the underwear department and so asks the questions which in the comfort of your own home are fine but I’m waiting for the day they crop up on a busy bus. Yesterday he was pondering how I managed to wee since I don’t have a willy! :D
These awkward questions remind me just how little time we have before they turn in to moody teenagers, then hairy, grumpy men! I really can’t imagine that happening and the thought of me as an old lady is slightly unnerving but intriguing. That’s what parenting is all about though isn’t it? To ultimately raise and guide these little people through life but blink and you’ll miss it…
Anyway, enough of the melancholy – they’re still only three and almost 18 months and this post was actually supposed to be kind of about food!
As I was munching on my standard three Weetabix with sugar and minimal milk splash – just enough to soak through but not drown said weetabix and I often eat them on a plate so as to ensure an even distribution of the milk – I was taken back, to that day three years ago when I gave birth to Spud.
Having had a few problems which I have touched on previously, I was already in hospital for a few days before Spud put in an appearance but went in to labour naturally a week before my due date. Seven or eight hours later, and Spud had arrived and shortly after we were back up on the ward. The maternity ward has a kitchen which Mums can help themselves to cereal, toast and drinks 24/7 so off popped Scatty Dad and came back with a bowl containing FIVE Weetabix. He loves a lot of milk on his cereal so you could barely see the Weetabix under all the milk he had poured on but that didn’t matter a jot. I had just given birth and not eaten since the day before and it was quite possibly the nicest meal I have ever had.
I smile each time I have the same cereal now as I am transported back to that hospital bed, nursing my newborn son whilst eating the biggest bowl of soggy but delicious mush!
As I tweeted about this yesterday, ChelseaMamma also remembered that magical first meal so I’d love to find out what other Mums had to eat after a gruelling labour in the comments below :)
I have also linked up this post with FLASHBACK FRIDAY which has had an interesting history as a linky but is basically sharing a photo or memory and what better time to link up than on Spud’s third brithday :) Please click on the badges below to hop over to Mummy Mishaps and Real Housewife of Suffolk and see who else is linking up…
I wish I had weetabix…. my first meal after having Lincs was some toast which didn’t stay down very long! haha
Although, thinking about it… the thought of regurgitated weetabix is making me feel ill.
I would love to link up for the flashback friday next week btw… this would be my first one though and I’m not sure what I need to be doing? x
Oh no! That would be gross :D
All you need to do to link up is write your post, mention and link to the hosts – Mummy Mishaps & The Real Housewife of Suffolk in the form of the badges or just a link and visit their posts and add your post to the linky.
Click on the badges at the bottom of my post and it will take you to their posts from this week xxx
Awwwww this is such a lovely post. I really fancy some Weetabix now.
My first meal after having Charles was hardly-toasted toast, my husband stole the jelly they had treated me to. I remember having a huge jug of lemon squash which was soooo nice. Whenever I drink that it reminds me of the day I gave birth to Charles.
With Harry, I wasn’t offered any food at all! I think my first meal was KFC at lunch time, he was born at 1:43am! The hospital were really slack that day.
Happy 3rd Birthday to Spud xx
Thanks for linking up to Flashback Friday x
What a meanie stealing your jelly! I had to wait ages to eat after Pooh Bear since it was about 10pm when I got on the ward and OH wasn’t allowed to come with me and of course, Pooh Bear wanted feeding first :D KFC would have been lovely but you must have been starving by the time you got yours! :(
I have another post in the pipeline I just might have to link up again xxx
What a beautifully written post and I couldn’t have put it better your description about how they are no longer a baby, a toddler but pre schooler and how you want to hang onto them being our baby for as long as possible
My first meal after birth with both boys was toast and jam and cups of tea! Best tea and toast ever! It was all that was offered but it was fine xx
Thanks for linking up Spud sounds like a very funny and inquisitive boy xx
Thank you and yes, Spud is VERY inquisitive and funny. I think breakfast foods seem to be the norm in UK hospitals but not sure it matters as I, like you, thought it was delicious but don’t think I could eat Weetabix a la Scatty Dad now though :D
What a fab post, I have No.2 on the way and im having a really hard time excepting my wee man will be a big brother, he’s going into a toddler bed soon, I think I may have a nervous breakdown.xx
Birthdays are so bittersweet when they’re small. When I came home from having Pooh Bear, Spud seemed absolutely huge and he had grown up overnight, he was only 20 months! Took a while to get my head round it and felt a bit weird since so much had seemed to change overnight. You will get used to it and enjoy the fun their growing up provides but the fact that it goes so so quickly is hard at times xxx
A great post, I remember being given toast after Leo was born 3 years ago, and on Saturday when our newest addition was born I had a lovely dinner in the hospital, typically cypriot – lamb with rice, veg, Greek yoghurt, bread, lemon wedge and followed by jelly!
Oh my goodness! What a lovely meal you had this time round. My tummy is rumbling at the thought. Congratulations on your new addition :)
Gosh do you know I really can’t remember but as I was in hospital it was no doubt some kind of hospital mush – I’m pretty sure that I ordered the ice-cream as that’s always edible and probably as much else as I could get away with! I think I was too sleep deprived to care!
I loved the ice cream on our ward but as it was so blooming hot there, it was usually luke warm by the time I ate it :/
I had some dried up sandwiches which had been left out for hours. My husband went home and stopped off at KFC on the way just for him. I’ve still not forgiven him.
Oh no! What a git. Definitely not deserving of forgiveness, this millennium at least!!!
Fantastic blog, lovely read. I had toast a few hours after I had h but what I remember the most is the midwives catching me having a mini wash with a baby wipe in the delivery suite to freshen up because I’d not had a wash for over 24hours and was still nimb from the emergencey section so couldnt have a shower. The midwives was superstar and brought me a bowl of soapy water and a towel. I felt a lot better it woke me up a bit more and the few hours I got with h before he went to scbu I felt a lot nicer….. Well as nice as you can feel after just having a baby. It’s amazing all the details you remember the day you have your baby because straight after you don’t remember much about anything else lol. Xxx
Aaww, that was really lovely of her and so much better than a wet wipe bath although, I do on occasion still only have time for one nowadays ;) I remember having those post birth showers and being a little wobbly on account of a human being just having come out of you :D
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