13 thoughts from my 13th month as a parent

April 28, 2014

Books, bubbles and babysitting are among the topics that I mention in this post about what I’ve learned about parenting this month…

1. I was feeling shattered one Friday night recently at the same time as our baby son was full of energy. I was tempted to send him into the kitchen to do the dishes to see if it would tire him out.

2. Our son has started to show an interest in books. He recently crawled into the spare room and started pulling loads of them off the bookcase.

3. Our son’s newly discovered love of pulling books of bookshelves made me a bit nervous about taking him to a story and craft event for kids at our local library. Thankfully I managed to put back all the books that he threw on the floor and managed to stop him eating any crayons.

4. Our local Indian takeaway is called The Sitar. They’re going to open a new smaller branch that provides childcare as well as curries. It’s going to be called The Baby Sitar.

5. Our son seems to be developing a love of bubbles (see picture below).

6. Yesterday I sang our son a song about a tortilla. Well, I call it a song but it was really a rap.

7. Our son has definitely got a bit wiser since celebrating his first birthday recently. Unfortunately this means that he no longer thinks that the television remote control has vanished when we hide it under a cushion.

8. Kids’ toothbrushes with suction pads at the end are great fun. Parents can play a game where one person sticks the toothbrush somewhere in the bathroom and the other one has to find it.

9. One of our son’s favourite games at the moment is ‘grab daddy’s nose’. I have a visible scratch mark as a result of this and he’s even managed to draw blood by scratching me in the same place twice in three days. He really needs to take better care of those rough finger nails.

10. After our first trip to a soft play centre recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re better for tiring out parents than small children.

11. Trying to bite people’s knees isn’t one of the symptoms of teething that books about parenting normally seem to mention, but it’s one that our son is currently displaying!

12. My wife recently thought she heard our son wake up but it turned out to be a noise being made by a monkey on a wildlife programme that we were watching on television. I’m glad that it’s not just me that this sort of thing happens to.

13. Dear department stores, having a hand wipe dispenser so close to a nappy changing mat is not a good idea. I think I’d have needed to be an octopus to have both changed our son’s nappy and stopped him from pulling wipes out of the dispenser at the same time.

What do you think of this post and what do you remember from your first year and a bit as a parent? Please feel free to share your views in the comments section below or on the ‘Dad’s The Way I Like It’ pages on Facebook or Google+.

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7 thoughts from my 7^th month as a parent

8 thoughts from my 8^th month as a parent

9 thoughts from my 9th month as a parent

10 thoughts from my 10th month as a parent

11 thoughts from my 11th month as a parent

12 thoughts from my 12th month as a parent

Baby’s first year in 12 photos

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I’ve linked this post up with the following blog-hops which feature lots of posts by fellow parent bloggers:

jharbottle7
Apr 28, 2014 @ 19:39:59

My son is almost 11 months so I feel you when it comes to trying to change a diaper with things nearby for the child to grab. My son is getting really good at making it hard to change him. He’s also found it fun to grab our noses or my glasses whenever we hold him close. I feel this is only the beginning of trying to wrestle him whenever trying to do anything.

John Adams
Apr 28, 2014 @ 22:11:44

The comment about the finger nails certainly rang true with me. Our youngest is older than yours at 18 months, but she shows affection by swiping for your face. This may have influenced my decision to keep some stubble on my face as protection.

Jonathan
Apr 29, 2014 @ 21:59:42

Stubble sounds like a good idea, I might have to try that myself!

rcrown2
Apr 29, 2014 @ 02:12:08

Ha ha ha, The Baby Sitar is great! Is that seriously starting up or is it just a joke? I love it either way. It looks like your son is acting quite like a normal, mischievous boy! Have a fun and take care of that nose!

Jonathan
Apr 29, 2014 @ 13:47:36

Glad you liked the reference to the ‘Baby Sitar’. There is an Indian takeaway near where I live called The Sitar, but the ‘Baby Sitar’ plans can at best be described as ‘unconfirmed reports’ whose basis in fact is yet to be determined. You’re certainly right about our son starting to get a little bit mischievous!

Big Cheese Dad
Apr 30, 2014 @ 20:51:51

Nice list. #9 is likely universally true for all parents. My kids all gave me scrapes with their tiny little daggers on the ends of their fingers. And their fingers slip so easily and painfully into my nostrils or mouth/gums.

Jonathan
May 04, 2014 @ 20:43:45

Thanks. As well as grabbing people’s noses, our son’s getting a bit over enthusiastic about high fiving and often ends up smacking people in the face. Thankfully it’s only been adults so far!

Let kids be kids
May 01, 2014 @ 18:50:06

Now that is definitely a silly place to put a dispenser! I totally agree with soft play places tiring the parents out more than the children.
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids

Jonathan
May 04, 2014 @ 20:39:32

I couldn’t believe it when I saw that the paper towel dispenser was within easy reach of the changing mat.

Merlinda Little (@pixiedusk)
May 02, 2014 @ 12:44:40

SO many things is going on with him and I remember my sonbeing this age too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts =)

Jonathan
May 04, 2014 @ 20:38:42

It’s such an exciting age!

Jaime Oliver
May 03, 2014 @ 22:08:31

lol this so made me smile, those crayons can be little buggers 😉

thanks for linking up with #PoCoLo

Tom Briggs
May 05, 2014 @ 08:43:24

Yes, how do their finger nails get so evil? I’ve had two corneal abrasions thanks to my kids – one from each of them. Aren’t they consistent? By the way, don’t go thinking you’ve got away with sneaking one of your dad jokes into the list – I saw you! 😉

Jonathan
May 07, 2014 @ 22:12:31

Wow, think I’ve got off lightly so far with just a few scratches on my nose.

Dad joke? Where? No-one else noticed 🙂