One hundred

According to my blogger dashboard, I have written 99 posts so far - which makes this number 100. I should probably think of something momentous to mention here, but there isn't really anything. I would really like this to be a more regular record of Things Theo Does and some of the emotional ups and downs of the experience. But I am really a bit of a rubbish blogger - not regular enough and not very articulate. Which is a shame, but I need to realise that's not just going to magically change.

In four days Theo will be 18 months old - and we will have had him for 3 months.
I was looking at a video clip that I had made during our 'introductory' week at the end of April, and he looked so much younger than now - more like a baby. He is becoming so fabulously expressive. He will make animal noises and responds SO enthusiastically to the question 'what does a cow say?' with a big smile and a loud MOOO!

Also he understands so much - I can ask him to put something back, or fetch me a nappy, pass me the shampoo, or sit down on a cushion, or a whole host of other things. I think with the change from the foster family to us there was a 'transition' period while he got used to the way we talk and what we call things (it's amazing how differently people can express exactly the same thing - 'Shall mummy get you a nice drink?' or 'Would you like some juice darling' - both mean essentially the same thing, but just shows how much they have to learn!) I am sure there are LOADS of simple phrases he was used to that he will have had to relearn. He has suddenly just leapt forward in terms of confidence and comprehension - and will soon be talking a lot. At the moment he has:

• Bye bye
• Boo
• mooo / baaa / neigh / quack quack / miaow
• Mummy (REALLY clear - he says this the moment he wakes up in the morning, and then about 50 times a day!)
• Daddy (Also really clear, and mixed liberally throughout, but he definitely knows who daddy is!)
• book
• OK
• Two (oddly - if I am counting he joins in for 'two' but none of the other numbers)
• Gen! (for again / more)

Plus there is loads of other stuff which he repeats ('goway!' for example, but not in a context where it could mean 'go away') which clearly mean something to him, but Mummy has yet to decipher!

There is also, unfortunately, a few things he absolutely does NOT understand, which can cause some grief - 'Be gentle with the kitten' , 'Don't throw that book/toy/cup'.

Tomorrow I have visits from Theo's SW and from my own, KT. KT is lovely, and the other one is fine too, so it won't be bad. Everyone is always so positive about this placement. I am even looking forward to them seeing Theo again, and seeing how happy and confident he is.
Proud Mummy.

In the meantime we have applied for the court forms to finalise the legal process. The court is being PAINFULLY inefficient, which is awful, because it means I will have to call them for a fourth time to try and persuade them to put some forms in an envelope and send them to me. How hard can it be?

Six / Seven / Eight

The date of my first birthday as a mother. Wow.

I had a lovely, lovely day. Theo is best in familiar surroundings with people he knows well, so DH and I simply took him in his pushchair a mile down the lane to a country pub where we could eat after playing with Theo in the puddles (oh - he got VERY wet!) and on the lawn with his ball.

Theo was sweetness and light, he sat happily strapped into a booster seat eating marmite sandwiches and various other favourites while we ate Sunday roasts. We took about an hour to walk the mile back, stopping for puddles and totally "going with the (Theo) flow". He had a lovely time - ergo, so did we.

In the evening instead of the posh meal that DH had planned to cook for me we found we were not so very hungry and ate leftover reheated veggie lasagne in front of the Wimbledon men's final on TV. The result was what I'd hoped for, though I could barely watch after the fourth set went to Federer!

All my birthday wishes have come true.