Proudest
Well this has to be the easiest to answer, all of them. The day she picked up her rattle & managed to shake it herself (without trying to knock herself out!!). Sitting unaided, eating herself, walking (like bambi) down the hall to the most recent, going to anti preschool & completing her first 24 piece jigsaw all by herself. I honestly don't think there isn't a day goes by that I don't look at "little miss" & beam with pride.
All parents are fiercely proud of their children & I am no exception however I am not a parent who cannot see her child's flaws. She isn't always perfect & some things she finds harder to do than her peers.
Easiest
Sleeping through the night. Thankfully "little miss" mastered this at the tender age of 6wks ( but this depends on what you class as sleeping through), completing a solid 8hrs & by 8wks she was managing 10hrs. She has always been a great sleeper & could easily do 12hrs at night & 4 hrs during the day.
We were routine parents & knowing we had certain things to do at certain times helped me. I don't think there was something me or "mr" did that was overly special to get this result so early. I honestly believe that we had a great relaxing bedtime routine, "little miss" & I went out walking everyday, gave an extra ounce of milk at bedtime (however reflux would result in most of this ending up on the mass amount of towels surrounding us) but to us this was natural.
3 years later & she still sleeps 12hrs, the only thing that has changed is the timing of things. The routine is the same, bath, milk, story, bed. I was always told she would eventually drop her naps, at 18mths she dropped the morning 2hrs but changed the afternoon from 2hrs to a possible 3hrs. When she started anti preschool (afternoon placement) I was slightly concerned how she would do, but like everything else, she took it in her stride & will sometimes sleep before dinner or sometimes just needs her bed slightly earlier.
Working in childcare & with children & families has allowed me to really appreciate how easy "little miss" made this for us as a family. I will never take for granted the sleep she has allowed me &"mr" to have over the years, very grateful parents.
Hardest
Oh my, this one was my fault!! Toilet training, I am not going to blame this on "little miss" she was 18mths old & I wanted her toilet trained before I started work. I started on a Monday, it went well, did a couple of pee pee's in the potty & a couple of accidents but that was fine.
Tuesday, my breaking point!! By lunchtime I was phoning my mum in tears, close to throwing in the towel. Not one pee pee was successfully done on the potty & I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. What a drama queen!! We never gave up though & whilst "little miss" napped with a pull up on, I researched hints & tips on potty/toilet training. Most I had already tried but one stood out & eventually became my saving grace. Tuesday night I rushed to Tesco, bought a pack of stickers & made a "little miss" pee pee chart.
Wednesday we started & "little miss" loved placing the stickers on each time she went to the potty successfully. I wrote down the time she went & what she did & added a star if she had asked all by herself without adult prompting!! No accidents all day, relaxed mummy & happy baby.
Thursday, we ventured out the house to the local park. Yes , we took the potty with us. Didn't feel awkward about this at all. "Little miss" still napped & slept at night with a pull up on but during the day she was dry & asking to go to the toilet or potty, generally by saying "I need a pee pee"!!
It took a further 4 wks for naps to be dry & we waited till she was in her big girls bed to do night time. It was hard doing it as young as we did & I did question if she was ready or not, but looking back it was only 1 terrible day.
Scariest
This has taken a lot of thought, not sure if one individual milestone has been scary but add them altogether & it's scary how quickly they grow up!! Everyone uses the phrase "blink & you'll miss it", it's so true, I find myself looking at "little miss" & wondering where all the time has gone. The endless photos & videos help to remind me of everything we have been through. Every now & then I remind myself to stop & just enjoy the moment.
& that is exactly what I am going to do now.......
30plusmummy x
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