I was in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago and I was spent. The night before was probably one of those teething nights. I can’t remember the specifics. I do remember that by the time we got to the shop, I was utterly exhausted. Now, my grocery store has an amazing promotion. If you have a loyalty card, they give you a free cup of coffee when you shop. Every time. No matter how much your kids are squabbly or you have to retrace your steps and so walk the wrong way through the produce section again (and again), there’s a free cup of coffee waiting for you at the end. Magic.
So, I was standing in line, waiting for that coffee, happy that my Plum had drifted off to sleep and for the moment, couldn’t grab anything else off the shelves. Then the lady behind me struck up a conversation. First, it was all admiration of baby beauty and ooh, is he your first? No. This one is #3. After a quick run down of ages, genders and schools, she gave me the constant advice: enjoy him while he’s like this. It won’t last long. How does that not sound like a curse? Or blatant misanthropic pessimism. Especially when all you really want is to sit down with that free cup of coffee. To that lady, I’d like to issue an apology. I worry that I sounded snarky. I should have laughed knowingly and enquired about her own kids. Instead, I told her I knew. It was all a blur. But I was taking photos. Which was honest in the moment and even true.
And that brings us to now. We celebrated Plum’s first birthday on Saturday.
Already.
At one, he is a delight. His nose crinkles with a perfect triangle of creases when he laughs. He loves to eat tomatoes but has opinions about potatoes. He is speedy with a walker and splashy in the bath, preferring plastic ducks to plastic cups. He gives good hugs. When he tries to make an L sound, he sticks his tongue out the side of his mouth. And if you give him a chocolate banana birthday cake with Nutella icing, he starts with the icing and then is very clear about his intention to eat all the banana slices on the cake. All of them. Thank you.
And here are the photos. Saturday was a misty day around here and the kids and I went to the soft play room at the museum in the morning. At lunch, we met up with the Spouse who was polishing his PhD (submission date: Wednesday) and walked home together through the mist.
It’s all a blur.
But I’m taking photos.
