fbpx

From baby to toddler our beautiful baby turns One!

A baby no more, our littlest Lynch turns One!

Ollie, littlest Lynch, our Jolly Ollie. Your full name is Oliver Gordon Lynch. Your middle name is after your Great Uncle Gordon, your Grandad Macleod’s little brother who was my uncle and who sadly died many years before you were born. You were born in water, in a birthing pool and the first words I said to you were “You look just like your big brother”. I was wrong. Your big brother looks very like me when I was little. You are almost all Daddy, with so many of the Lynch characteristics including the ears, the cheeky grin (you get that from your Grandad Lynch) and the naughty giggle.

Your giggle. Oh your giggle. The sound that makes my heart sing the most is when I hear you and your big brother both giggling together.  Pure joy, sheer heart aching joy. You gave us that.

You see we didn’t think we would get to have you. You should have had another big brother or sister (I always think of the baby as a girl but we were too early to know for sure) but sadly that was not to be. We had come to accept that we would be a happy little unit of three. Daddy, me and your big brother (or Bro Bro as he is currently referred to as, you call him “bo-bo” which also makes me ridiculously love drunk every time I hear it) and then you came along. A shock. A surprise. A blessing.  Finally the baby brother Lewis had asked for, and we had all longed for, for years.

Lewis was the first person to find out you were a boy. We went for a private gender scan to find out. We asked the sonographer to tell him first so he could tell us. His reaction after she whispered it in his ear was to do a fist pump and say with a huge grin on his face – “YES! I’m getting a brother!” he has loved you ever since. He makes you giggle every single day. His love for you has made me love him even more and I didn’t think that was possible. Over the last year Lewis has invented many ways to make you happy including the “belly drum”, various songs and dances, playing peek a boo with you, tickles, blowing raspberries and an entire orchestra of ridiculous noises.

We call you Jolly Ollie. But you are not always Jolly. When you were brand new and in the first few months you frowned a lot. So we nicknamed you “Sir frowns a lot” but now you rarely frown. You smile a lot and it makes all of us burst with happiness when you do. Your biggest smiles are for your big brother Lewis. He now walks home from school with his friends (he is in p5 now, very grown up!) but for the first 7 months of your life we walked to school to collect him and your face would light up when he came out and spoke to you.

The first 6 months of your life were a big adjustment for all of us. I breast fed you to start with and I was lucky to have two fabulous friends Ashley and Sarah who helped me a lot with breastfeeding. In the end I didn’t make enough milk for you and after ten weeks (which felt like MUCH longer) I stopped and you went onto formula and were almost instantly happier. I had mixed feelings, if Im honest. On the one hand I was really happy to have so much more time with you for fun stuff and our entire day no longer revolved around my boobs, hurrah! But I did miss it at times. But I knew it was for the best and you thrived so I knew it was the best decision for both of us. Its tricky being a mummy, we are judged for so many things and feeding is a REALLY hot topic so lots of mums don’t talk about it. But its hard, and nobody should feel ashamed for admitting that.

So you weren’t always Jolly Ollie, there were hard days. And on those days I was glad to have my mummy friends. When you were around 3 months old I first went to Lucy’s Cafe in Corstorphine and met a bunch of other mums all with babies around the same age. We bonded over feeding, sleeping, lack of sleep, sore nipples, a love of caffeine and bacon rolls and of course our beautiful babies. Here you met your pals Ellis, Lewis, Max, Zoe, Harry, Brodie, Preston, Hayden, Marnie and Connor. I had met some of the mums before at ante natal class so it was lovely to have a group of us going through the same things at the same time. How invaluable that would become!

You have changed already so much since then, its almost impossible to comprehend all the tiny minuscule changes. You don’t see them when they happen, but in a blink an eye you grow and change. It brings mixed feelings to us as your parents. We of course want you to grow, be healthy and strong. But sometimes I get scared of how quickly time passes and how fast you and your brother are growing up.

Over the last year you have developed your own personality, you have likes and dislikes. Here are a few of your favourite things:

  • Bro-bro aka Lewis, your favourite person
  • Daddy. On the days that Daddy works you go bananas when he comes home and immediately want his full attention, cuddles and play time. On days Daddy isn’t at work you want his full attention, cuddles and play time 😉
  • Music, you LOVE music! You especially love it when Lewis plays the drums and you are desperate to have a go, which you do sat on my knee battering on those drums and cymbals with the drumsticks like animal from the muppets! You don’t know it yet but your birthday cake is decorated with musical notes
  • Books, you love story time especially sensory books with things to touch and feel
  • Gymboree, which is where your 1st birthday party will be tomorrow. You love to explore the equipment and you REALLY love the balls which is why I bought you some for your birthday 😉 your gymbo friends are Zach, Eve, Emily, Nixon & Jake
  • Cuddles, which I hope never changes. Although a bit less snot would be nice 🙂 You try to give us kisses but so far that mostly involves opening your mouth and dribbling on us!
  • Fruit. Almost all fruit. So far you have eaten: apples, grapes, cherries, melon, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, mango, pineapple, peach, apricot, pear, banana, plum, fig and probably a tonne of others that I cant remember. I sometimes call you my little fruit bat you love fruit so much!
  • Banging things together. Job done.
  • Taking things out of baskets and putting them back in again which is your favourite game at the moment and one we play most bedtimes
  • Bath time! You love a bath which seems about right since you were born into water. You love to splash, to my delight and sometimes less so to Daddy’s! You love to grab the sponge and drink the water from it which is kind of gross but mostly funny
  • Bubbles! Especially the gymboree ones that stay on the floor for ages so you can crawl around popping them all

You’re asleep just now. Before bed I gave you a bath, you soaked my jeans by playing “water drums” which I completely encouraged and loved! You cuddled into me and I kissed you and told you I loved you. As I always will. As will Daddy and Lewis. When you wake in the morning you will no longer be a baby, you will be a One year old.

You are cruising just now but not quite walking so the next year of your life I know will be full of adventures, exploration and probably a lot of me and daddy running after you stopping you from touching things we don’t want you to touch! And I cant wait. I’m already wondering how I will feel a year from now reflecting on your 2nd year and all you learn and how many millions of tiny ways that you have changed. I know that each and every of the 365 days between now and then you will be loved by Mummy, Daddy and Bro-Bro and you will continue to make my heart sing with every giggle and cheeky grin.

You’ve been here for not quite a year, but you have been loved for some much longer xx

Want to find out more about a newborn photoshoot in Edinburgh?

I would love to discuss what you are looking for in your newborn photographer. If you would like to meet in person in advance we can arrange an in studio consultation. That way you can ask any questions you have and find out if I am the right newborn photographer to capture this special time for you.

If you are currently pregnant and would like to find out more about our newborn photoshoots please click here for full details.

You may Also Like..

Maternity photoshoot Edinburgh

Maternity photoshoot Edinburgh

What to wear to your maternity photoshootWondering what to wear for your maternity photoshoot? Look no further! Here I share the outfits we have available for your maternity photoshoot. If you are considering a maternity photoshoot you may be unsure of what to wear....

read more
What to wear to your newborn photography session

What to wear to your newborn photography session

WHAT TO WEAR TO YOUR NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION Unsure what to wear to your baby’s newborn photography session? Here are some helpful tips!  1. Don’t worry about shoes. Most family and sibling images are waist up only so your feet won't be in the photos. If you are...

read more

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *