Edward is a couple of days past his first birthday, which we spent up north with his Gran. He had a marvellous time spending a week in a new place and I enjoyed being with him in the place I grew up, watching him gazing up at the rainforest trees that still feel so familiar to me, and sleeping with us in my brother’s childhood bedroom.

Things I’m enjoying at one year:
1. At 10 months he had started saying a few words – now, he says around 15 words, although admittedly some of them fit into the category of “noises that clearly refer to a particular thing”. His clearest words are “up”, “baby” and “dut!” (which is a duck). We all slept in the one room while on holidays, and could hear him muttering about “duts” in his sleep. He also understands a great deal, and I love being able to treat him as a (small, completely irrational) little person, expecting him to listen to me when I tell him for the fiftieth time to sit down in the bath.
2. Watching him click his fingers – actually making a quiet clicking noise, which I find quite astonishing.
3. Seeing his pleasure and enjoyment in books, which was one of the things I was most excited to share with him. He has favourite books (at the moment, “Where is the Green Sheep?” and “Who Sank the Boat?”) and enjoys both being read to, and paging through books himself occasionally loudly pointing out a duck. There are an awful lot of ducks in children’s books.
4. His sheer joyful pleasure in new experiences – most recently, a visit to the beach and crawling around the waves by himself, which had him at a fever pitch of excitement and bursting into occasional hysterical giggles for the whole time.

Things I’m not enjoying at one year:
1. The side effects of greater strength and coordination – biting, hair pulling, and very little responsiveness to my endless repetitions of “gentle! don’t bite/pull hair please”.
2. All the things he can reach with his newly steady standing abilities. Like the drawer with the knives in it.

Once again, the things I enjoy far outweigh those I don’t – this is a very enjoyable age, just one that requires a bit more work in toddler-proofing our house.