Tuesday 2 March 2010

When is a baby not a baby?

Nope I haven't given up my...ahem...'career' in teaching to become the Riddler; instead I've been pondering the issue of whether my 15month old baby #3, last baby - Archie to be precise - has, without telling me ( he has no manners that Archie!) turned into a toddler:



Here he is looking quite angelic (or maybe a bit guilty?!); "ohhhh he looks like a proper little boy now" people do exclaim. Does he? I always thought he looked quite girly! He did when he was a new born but that is probably because he was the image of my daughter and not at all like my son. He walks, he climbs, he feeds himself, he plays; all the things a toddler should be doing but, nope, he's still a baby. My friend, who has a little one 2 weeks younger than Archie,refers to her 'toddler'; mind you,she's expecting her second in a few months...that, in my experience,is when the baby #1 really does grow up!

Do last babies stay babies longer than others? I think so. Therefore, I pledge to continue to ensure Archie calls himself 'baby', I will continue to buy sleepsuits with feet in (so cute) etc, etc,etc (ha,ha...that's what the kids did in my old class when they couldn't be bothered finishing their stories eg '...and they woke up and it was all a dream etc, etc, etc). So,in a few years time, if you should happen to see an 18 year old male wandering around in a sleepsuit shouting "I'm not a 'baybee' now mother" send him on home to me.

On another note; why do kids have great hair?
Here's Lily. Lily hates hairbrushes, shuns clips, what never, ever, in a million years let me dry her hair and yet her hair is the colour of spun gold and has the bounce of ...something very bouncy. When I was a child,I remember my mum would spend ages combing and drying and putting it in rollers (remember those sponge rollers with the clip on?). I would,of course, moan about this imposition...just like Lily does if I advance with the hairbrush now. "Doesn't matter"my mum would tell me "when I was a child my mum put my hair in rags...that was far more painful" and the brushing and the rollering would continue unabated. Hmmmmmm...rags...now that would be a novel sanction: "Don't answer back...or I'll put your hair in rags" bet that's better than the naughty step of time out bucket. I'll let you know.