10 Months, 6 Days

Well we went on our holiday. Overall, we had a lovely time.

Good points:

• Spending time as a family
• Fairly good weather
• Nice caravan
• Callum was an angel at night, sleeping in his pushchair allowing us to have the evenings, eating out and kinda to ourselves and then he transferred to his cotbed without much fuss.

Not so good points:

• Callum was grumpy most days
• Bad waves for bodyboarding
• Facilities/Food at site were awful!
• Couldn't get a babysitter for Birthday/Father's Day
• Activities (Dairyland, Aquarium, Eden Project) were overpriced. Eden was good, Aquarium was OK and Dairyland was rubbish!!

Still no crawling. Stuart was really hoping Callum would start crawling while we were away so he would get to see a 'first', among other reasons. He did start waving though - starting with waving at himself in the mirror. Regarding the crawling I'm not sure whether I'm pleased or disappointed that he isn't. There is always the concern in the back of my head that he isn't developing as quickly as he should be and is it because of something I/we have done or not done but then I also know that he will do it in his own time when he is good and ready. Also, seeing the distance he can travel and mayhem he can cause just rolling, it is quite a relief he isn't crawling yet as the speed he can travel and cause that mayhem would be increased ten-fold!

Callum didn't eat particularly well on holiday in terms of quantities. Got a bit expensive and a waste when we were buying him children's meals. Before we went away, we were giving him food from our plate as he wasn't eating too much but then he started eating more which would mean I/we would go hungry as he had eaten half of our meal. Therefore, we moved to getting him children's meals. However, he didn't eat much on holiday. As soon as we got home, he went back to eating loads. So much one day that he made himself sick!! Obviously, just missed my home cooking ;o)

We took Callum swimming one day and he loved it. Lots of splashing around. He has been a bit apprehensive when we have taken him to a pool locally to where we live so it was lovely to see him really enjoying it. We also tried him with the sea - just a little paddle as it was far too cold for a swim. Seemed kind of intrigued with it but was a bit too cold for him.

Now we are back home, I'm starting the task of trying to find Callum his next stage car seat. Following recommendations that you should keep children rear-facing for as long as possible for safety reasons, we are looking for a rear-facing seat or one that goes both ways. I think I would prefer one that went both ways - these seem to last until they are a little older than those that don't. Quite a big expense to pay out. Looks like it is going to cost between £200 and £270. They're not kidding when they say having children isn't cheap!

The other thing I've been concentrating on since coming home is finding a new job - eek! The plan is to start looking now in the hope that I find something by September. Callum will be 1 in September which I think will be a nice(ish) age to go back. However, if something comes up to start before then, I consider myself available. Knowing my luck, I'll get a job almost immediately. I've posted my CV to a couple of agencies and have looked on a few only job sites. There are a couple of things out there but not the 'perfect job' yet. Need to send my CV to a few places direct too but that takes a bit more research and a bit more time! Speaking of which, got to give Callum his bath and put him to bed so will be back later...

Oops, didn't get to come back last night so it is now the next day.

So, what else is new. I know Callum's rolling isn't new but his favourite game at the moment is rolling continuously around the room and only stopping when he finds himself by a cable or the video player!!! Talking of which, he has just found another cable!! I knew there was a reason (other than them being unsightly) why I hated all the cables being visible in the lounge!

I think someone told me that children's' imagination doesn't develop until they are a couple of years old or that the don't really know much about when it develops but I'm convinced Callum has and uses his imagination now. I obviously don't understand what he is saying as he babbles away but he sounds like he is having little conversations with himself and he plays with his food as if talking to the pieces and as if they are interacting with each other. These are just some examples. Surely, he is using his imagination at these moments.