Well we survived our first day. I’m not going to lie, I found it tough going back. I’d forgotten what it’s like to be on your feet all day and it was strange spending that amount of time away from Polly. But, we did it. I worked a day shift while Henry entertained our little lady, then I took care of bedtime while Henry went to experience his first shift in the hospitality industry. The fact that she was covered in paint when I got home and had pulled almost all her toys out made it clear that Polly had had a typical ‘Polly day’, which is great and I am genuinely happy they had fun. It’s just strange to not be apart of that fun. This is me just being a bit stupid really as I have had nearly 16 months of this fun. Well 13 months really, the ‘newborn phase’ can’t really be described as fun for anybody.

The build up of going back to work was just a normal week really. Polly and I went to a couple of toddler groups and spent a lot of time cuddling. I didn’t really mark this time with any fancy trips or special mum/daughter moments. We just did our usual. My last actual day of mat leave had me still in my pjs at midday watching Peppa pig while Polly ran round the living room in her pjs carrying various toys to different parts of the house. And I’m not going to lie, I can’t actually remember what we did in the afternoon. That’s bad. It was only a couple of days ago. Nope I really can’t remember. All I know is Henry came home from his last shift on the farm with a happy smile and was then handed a screaming toddler who was refusing to go to bed. Typical. I went downstairs feeling sorry for myself that on my last bedtime before leaving her I had failed at getting her to sleep and Henry spent half an hour working his Daddy magic to calm her down and settle her.

On Saturday night we all got our first taste of the town carnival which was pretty fun. It goes right past our house. I really mean right past it too, like so close we sat in the porch with the front door open to watch it roll past. I was actually pretty impressed as there was a lot going on and little lady loved it. Lots of ‘wow’s’ coming from her mouth and lots of dancing and waving. I was also pretty amazed that she went straight to sleep after it was finished (lulling us into a false sense of security for the next night). Even more amazed when 20 minutes after she fell asleep a bunch of the noisiest and brightest floats when back past again and guess what…. she stayed asleep!​

​So, we are now on the third day of visible (really visible) big changes. Polly and I have just finished breakfast. Georgia and Gyan have just turned up ready for us all to head into Exeter as we all have a day off together. The cat is meowing for a second breakfast. And Henry. Well, I’m thinking this change to our lives might be hardest for him to get used to. After making our breakfast for us and sorting through the recycling he’s currently outside gardening. I think he’s just struggling with the concept of chilling out in the morning. Can’t complain too much though as I’m getting a lot out of it 🙂

So I just had a bit of a meltdown. Shit definitely just got real. We’ve got our first rota for our first week of dual work. I knew it was coming. I know I have to go back to work. But for some reason just seeing my name next to a 9-3 Monday shift just caused me to have a little cry at the dinner table while Polly ate her tea. I really am going back. I really am going to be leaving her, for a whole day. I’m not for a moment doubting Henry and I know it’s for a good reason and it will get easier. I know all that. That doesn’t mean I still can’t shed a few tears at the prospect of saying goodbye to my little pumpkin for several hours for the first time. In the words of friends- ‘It’ll be the end of an era’.

Enough about my misery (I will get over myself). I’ve been a bit quiet, truth be told we’ve not really done much. The groups are back up and running so we’ve got back into that routine quite nicely. It’s been nice catching up with everyone again and it even included meeting a new bundle of joy on Wednesday, I think my ovaries might have exploded after that cuddle. Henry’s been working away like normal and today spent a couple of hours blitzing the garden so we can see daylight again in the conservatory. We had big plans for the weekend including a trip up to Dartmoor and a visit to soft play. Of course none of that happened as we were too lazy on Saturday and only ended up food shopping. Just as stressful as a weekend trip to soft play to be honest. We then struggled to get out of the lazy mode (apart from Alan Titchmarsh morphing into my husbands body for a short while) and at 2PM on Sunday all 3 of us (4 if you include the cat) were actually asleep when we should have been heading out the door to a birthday party. Cue playing the latecomers half an hour later who try sneaking into the village hall while rubbing sleep out of all our eyes. Polly had a blast though as they had a soft play area set up, so I’m feeling slightly less guilty about our failed trip the day before. After a few slices of cake, a couple of Polly tantrums when we stopped her fleeing the building and stopped her ramming people with a toy pushchair we headed home. I just love that the ‘terrible twos’ have kicked in a year earlier then expected.

An example of said silly tantrums- ​

​Polly updates include a hilarious new quirk. She will now lift her top up and point at her belly shouting “bear bear”. She’s also waving ‘bye bye’ at the bath water when I pull the plug. She just keeps reminding me each day how quick she has and is continuing to grow up. They said it would be quick, but honestly, I didn’t think it would be this quick. Look at me pointing out the obvious!

Not much else to report really as it all really kicks off into high gear next week. I’m sure I’ll write up another entry before then, probably involving some more tears from me as well as Polly.

Well it’s been a little while as we’ve been off in the wilds of the Lake District on our first family holiday since Polly arrived. We had a great time, Polly especially, even though it rained most days and Henry was only able to be there for a couple of days due to work commitments. Still, we made the best of it. We stayed in a big cottage with creaky floorboards and the biggest garden I’ve ever seen, well didn’t see really as I didn’t get a chance to explore the whole thing- apparently there was a tennis court too, not sure which tree that was hiding behind. There were a few of us there, my parents, siblings and grandparents all arriving and leaving at different times, so it was a fairly casual holiday. The perfect sort in my book. Polly loved having a house full of people to make a fuss of her and loved exploring and finding random things out of cupboards, although her favourite thing to carry around was my poor Grandma’s walking stick. She then threw a proper fit when we took it away from her. The toddler tantrums are definitely on the horizon!​

​Unfortunately this is the week that little lady decided to try and welcome about 68 teeth into her little mouth ( I know they only get 20 at this age but after the week I’ve had, and am still having, it honestly feels like she’s getting a lifetime’s set for several people). This meant that sleeping wasn’t really on her agenda so I said hello to a few 9PM bedtimes where I just held her in the big bed while she attempted to kick me in the face. Apart from that we had a great time. She enjoyed seeing some giant Beatrix Potter characters (one of whom got a kiss), had fun on a boat ride, thought all her Christmases had come early when Auntie Georgia put her in a river with her wellies on for a splash about and just generally enjoyed chasing various members of the family about growling at them (a delightful habit given to her by my brother).

The holiday seemed to come to an end before we knew it though and it felt like no time at all before Henry arrived back up at the cottage to pick us up on the Thursday. He was basically a little hero taxi driver who drove all the way up from Devon and back again in one day, we did joke that there aren’t many people who can say they’ve done the Lake District from Devon for a day trip. He definitely earned the massive bacon roll he had when he arrived, even if it did break all his previous bacon eating records, I think he was quite proud about the fact that he managed to squeeze a 12 pack into one roll to be honest. Fat pig.

Polly and the cat also had a pretty beautiful moment the first morning home as they both woke up to realise they were genuinely reunited again. Hopefully we’ve got to the end of the ‘attack the cat’ stage, fingers crossed. Time to go now as I’ve got to get some bits ready before we go to a birthday party this afternoon. Maybe tonight Polly will go back to her own bed too- as much as I love the cuddles the 3 AM face kicks are getting a bit tiresome.