Landmarks

It's been a busy time recently. Kids' illnesses and plenty of visitors are guaranteed to throw any routine out of line.

But it's settled down a bit now and given me a chance to reflect on a couple of important milestones.

On 22 August it was Ben's first birthday. His grandparents were up for the occasion. Ben himself was a little overwhelmed by all the attention and the new toys. Like most one year olds he was more interested in exploring the wrapping paper and boxes that things came in.

But that's him firmly set on the path from babyhood to toddlerhood. It can't be long now until he starts walking.

The other recent milestone was that Ellie has started at nursery. She attends the nursery attached to the local primary school and goes every afternoon. She loves it. I was quite prepared for tantrums and/or clinginess when we first took her there but quite the opposite - she didn't want to leave! It did feel a little odd leaving her in the care of other adults but we're getting used to it now too.

A New Year

Today was my second day back at work since the New Year. What an odd, odd time of the year this is. A whole mix of emotions caused by the end of the bubble that is Christmas-time and the shock of being back into the daily slog with nothing immediate to look forward to. A real uncertainty about whether the year ahead is going to hard, fulfilling, memorable, forgettable, or ... who knows what?

Yet it's also a time of year where renewal and opportunity are undeniably in the air.

By a quirk of the Christian calendar, Christmas and New Year come in quick succession meaning a prolonged period of festivities and indulgence come to an abrupt end once January arrives. The mere fact of seeing a new year documented on the calendar, "2013," feels strange and new. Midwinter has just passed and it won't be long before the first signs of new life start to emerge from the winter.

For me, 2013 is going to be the first full year of having a family of four. I'll watch Ben going through the same stages I watched Ellie go through two and half years before. Just today I saw him reach out and grab one of his feet for the first time, something I still clearly remember Ellie doing.

Ellie Grabbing Her Foot
(June 2010)

Ellie herself will be growing up too. My Dad said that one of his friends told him that 3 years old was the age that children really started interacting with you and while I'm not sure I agree with this I can certainly see that Ellie's general awareness and also speech have come on leaps and bounds very recently.  In August, Ellie will start nursery.

For myself, I'm hoping to keep up my new found love for blogging and I've also made a commitment (oh, alright then, a New Year's Resolution) to learn at last one new Czech word every day.