What a day! It was chaos from the minute we got up, until the minute we all went to bed. I had been planning and organising Trent’s first birthday party for weeks and I can’t believe it all went to plan.

Trent absolutely loves ‘In the Night Garden’, so I decided that would be the theme. Dad tried to tell me that I shouldn’t make a massive fuss because he’s only one and won’t remember any of it… but I wanted to make him feel special. Especially as I feel guilty that my pregnancy has meant I haven’t been able to do as much with Trent as I’d normally like.

I ordered all the things I needed of a website called ‘Party Pieces’ – www.partypieces.co.uk. They had everything I wanted in the theme I had picked. Altogether it cost me about £50 for the plates, cups, straws, dishes, table cloths, party bags with contents and balloons. I didn’t think this was too bad as it only left me with the buffet to organise.

I was conscious of the fact that at least half of Trent’s guests were under one, and the rest were only toddling, so I thought carefully about food and I think I managed a good balance. Dad was really impressed with it all.

The table consisted of:

• a fruit platter – strawberries, melon, orange, apple and grapes – all in bite size chunks
• a salad platter – cherry tomatoes, cucumber, celery, raisins and sultanas – again all in bite size chunks
• raisins and sultanas covered in yoghurt
• rice cakes
• sausage rolls
• various things from the organix and goodies ranges such as chew bars, biscuits, crisps etc…
• sugar-free ice-creams and jellies
• strawberries with yoghurt.

We played pass the parcel, and all the prizes and paper layers were from the ‘In the Night Garden’ range. We even had an Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy cake. Dad thought it was all over the top, but after everyone had left and we both sat down he told me how proud he was of me and how well I’d done.

I’ve been getting really choked up lately when I’ve been spending time with Trent, I keep feeling guilty about the fact I’m going to have another baby and won’t be able to make as much of a fuss of him. Dad keeps telling me that it will come naturally and that I will love them both exactly the same and that neither of them will think any different. I know he is right but I think my hormones are driving me mad and that’s why I’m having all these thoughts.

Trent waking up on his first birthday

Opening cards and presents with dad

All of Trent’s friends enjoying the party

Trent saying hello to his friend Libby

Trent’s friend Sienna

Trent’s best friend Jayden

Trent and mummy exhausted after their exciting day!

Now that I have finished work for maternity leave it means I get to spend lots of time with Trent. One of our favourite activities is to meet up with his best friend Jayden. The boys are really close in age – Jayden was born just eight weeks earlier than Trent so his mum and I went through the ups and downs of pregnancy together.

Last week we visited a local café – it has a large garden with a play area and lots of animals for the children to look at, including rabbits, ducks, birds and chipmunks. Jayden can now walk so Trent gets a bit frustrated that he can’t keep up on foot… but like a dutiful friend he does follow him around on his hands and knees.

On this particular day Jayden wasn’t in the best of moods and seemed to be a bit under the weather, Trent on the other hand was ultra-excited. He ate everything in sight and managed to tip himself head first off one of the park toys. Luckily, as there were child friendly chippings on the ground, he only ended up with a face full of scratches – I dread to think what might have happened if it had been concrete!

It’s funny to think that these two have been friends for almost a year now (I can’t believe how much they’ve grown!). I love to watch them playing together because you can really see how different their personalities are. Trent is quiet, chilled out and laid back, whereas Jayden is quite loud and has a very dominant nature – he always seems to be the boss when they are together.

Trent desperately trying to keep up with a fully mobile Jayden

Trent and Jayden shortly before Trent’s accident

Haven’t they grown?

Dad and I have been looking for a bike for Trent for a while but had never found the right one. On Saturday we went double pram shopping because our new arrival in now due in about 13 weeks! I hadn’t seen any that I liked locally, so we visited Toys’r’us, which is always a bad idea as we end up going mad no matter what time of year it is! The pram hunting went out of the window as I still couldn’t find anything I liked, but when we saw the aisles of bikes we couldn’t resist…

We wanted a bike with safety rails at the sides so that Trent wouldn’t fall out – he is still not strong enough to support himself all the time. We also wanted one without pedals as we didn’t want to risk his little feet getting caught in them, and finally we wanted one with a handle on the back so Dad could push Trent along until he is strong enough to do it himself. We walked up and down the aisles and then we spotted it and knew straight away that it was the one we had been looking for! It was blue – with lots of different stickers on to make it really boyish – and had everything we wanted. We came home with nothing we had gone for but at least we had the big lad his first bike, and quite a lot of extra toys, which Dad assures me are to help Trent’s development (more like he wanted to play with them)!

By the time we got home Trent was in bed as my Mam had been looking after him, so Dad set to work on getting the bike out of the box, and I sat and watched as his face changed when he realised he had to assemble the bike which we thought would come ready-assembled. Dad got his tools out and put it together and finally added the stickers.

1^st March

For the past week I have been travelling each morning to Lancaster University where I am studying for a Masters. The course is – thankfully – part time, which means rather than being away for one day each week, or for long periods of time, I am away for three weeks out of each year. It does however mean that I have lots of work to do at home, especially at this time of year when I am preparing for my exams.

This is only the second week I have been on since having Trent, and now that he is more aware of what is going on around him it’s even more difficult. I travelled to Lancaster each morning and returned every night so I could see him, even if just for an hour or two, before he went to bed. I am lucky that Trent’s dad and my family fit around what I am doing with work and Uni so that I can see him as much as possible.

When I got home on Wednesday night I was thrilled to find a Mother’s Day card from Trent, which he had made for me at nursery. I knew he had helped to make it himself because he had paint all over his fingers and clothes. It is really satisfying knowing that Trent is being well looked after and that he enjoys nursery so much. He is learning everyday and when I drop him of I can see how excited he is to be around the other children. I am lucky to have a nursery that I feel comfortable sending Trent to, and the fact that it is not very big means that Trent and the other children get a lot of attention.

I dreaded the week but as it happened it flew by and before I knew it Friday was here and I was on my way home to stay. Needless to say Mother’s Day was a quiet one as I was so tired from travelling, instead we visited Trent’s cousin Kian as it was his third birthday. He had a very big bouncy castle in his garden to celebrate, which Trent absolutely loved.

Back to normal this week for me and my boy, and hopefully I won’t have tired eyes like these ones anymore!