My baby turns two in a matter of weeks. Actually who am I trying to kid? He’s no longer a baby, he’s a fully fledged little boy. In fact some days I look at him and I can already picture him at eight years old. Sob!

Last year I wrote a post over on our sister blog Rock My Style about the inspiration for Hector’s first birthday party (which you can read here) and whilst I was emotional about Hector turning one, the overwhelming feeling was one of…thank god I survived. More than anything I was excited about him getting older which was in direct contrast to other mums I knew with babies the same age.

This year it’s different. Why? I’m not so sure.

Perhaps it’s because this last year has been so much fun…particularly the last six months. I particularly love the toddler years (despite the tantrums!) because they’re so much more mobile, more interested in the world and they’re starting to develop their own personalities.

I like the fact he has favourite toys (a much loved Jellycat puppy and all his various cars) and that he comes and takes hold of our hands when he wants to show us something. Despite the fact he is Birmingham born and bred we have a very Northern ‘Oh noooooo’ (inspired by Postman Pat I think) when something goes wrong and a very Cockney ‘nahhhhhhhh’ when something isn’t to his liking. He’s got bags of personality and whilst he can be initially shy in social situations he is fearless in the face of any physical pursuits which gives me heart palpitations on a daily basis.

Already I can see he is particular. He likes the good stuff (manchego cheese and smoked salmon and fast (model) cars anyone?!), he adores reading (or rather being read to) and he’s content with his own company although he won’t say no to showing off to a crowd either 😉

I could pick out his dirty laugh in a crowd of a million and his cheeky smile makes even my ‘telling off face’ crumble. I’ve never had to hide my smirking face so much from anyone before and whilst it’s frustrating at times he’s definitely made me more tolerant as a person.

Most of all I love how gentle and kind he is with everyone. He melted hearts when he bear-hugged one of his friends at a BBQ recently and is always the first to kiss a new baby on their heads or hand them back their dropped dummy. He blows kisses like the best of them and regularly gives both Ste and I cuddles throughout the day; honestly there’s nothing better than a tighter than tight snuggle with your baby. And this softness extends to animals too; he can sniff out a dog or cat at hundred paces and be best friends with them within five minutes. In short Hector is a gentle soul.

This post is in no way an ode to my boy, at least it didn’t start off that way. Instead it’s more about wondering how those of you with slightly older children felt when your babies turned two, or even three/four/five/six etc? Did you embrace the increasing years or did it feel bittersweet as they blew out the birthday candles?

From a personal perspective I’m feeling so incredibly emotional about the big two point zero. It’s silly I know but I’ll probably cry on the day itself mostly from feeling so proud but partly because he seems so big now. I’ve definitely been guilty in the early days of wishing the days away when the piles of washing and the bottle sterilising and the broken nights seemed too much to handle. And now it’s two years on and suddenly it feels that time is passing much too quickly.

Something my mum said in Hector’s first few months resonates strongly now, perhaps more so than ever before, now that I’m in a position to really hear her.’ They aren’t little for very long, so make the most of it when you can‘.

And do you know what? She’s completely right… such is the beauty of hindsight. Whilst I felt like bopping every single person who said this to me on the nose in my first few weeks of motherhood, it’s one of those cliches that ends up ringing true. So for those of you who feel like you’re struggling, that you’re never going to get through this particular phase, trust me everything is going to be alright. And if it’s at all possible, try to make the very most of every single day as much as you can otherwise you’ll end up like me…weeping into birthday cake.