Letter to Ethan - hello little man

Hello Ethan, it's your mummy here!

Inspired by other mummy bloggers, I've always wanted to write a regular letter to you to preserve all the little memories and milestones as you grow up. I'd like to do this at least once a month but let's see how we get on!

I have been doing well keeping track of your life so far, with a scrapbook of cards as bits as pieces I've collected since I was pregnant with you and a baby journal to log our journey together so far. I've also been good and printed lots of lovely photos of you every few weeks and daddy and I must have at least 4,000 snaps of you now, you're just so damn cute!

I feel like now is a great time to start writing these letters to you because we know each other so much better now. Every day your developing more and your little personality is just shining through.

The first couple of weeks were tough, I'm not going to lie to you little fella. We needed a helping hand bringing you into the world and mummy was feeling pretty uncomfortable and needed some medication. It was overwhelming at first to have you here all of a sudden and getting used to feeds every two hours whilst not feeling very good at all. But this passed as we knew it would and we all got nice and settled into life as a threesome (actually, we're a family of six now as there's our dog Watson and our cats Sherlock and Arty).

Every one tells us how gorgeous you are and of course we agree. But Ethan, you really are beautiful. You have the most amazing blue eyes. Your skin is so soft. There's a cute little hole shaped dent in the centre of the bridge of your nose. Your hands and feet are so munchable. You have really long hair at the back, sandy brown in colour with blonde tips. And you have always been a smiley baby and every time you smile, your whole face lights up.

In your first 11 weeks in the world, you've been to a family party, a zoo, a Sealife Centre, a shopping centre and a few restaurants too. You've been to my hometown, Fleet, a couple of times to visit Nanna and Gramps and you've had one night away from us when Nanny and Grandad looked after you.

Daddy is working in Leeds at the moment, leaving early in the morning and coming back in the evening each day so he can see us both, rather than staying away. He has had two days a week working from home but this has just changed to one day a week but it's better than nothing - it's so nice for him to be able to see you whenever he wants when he is working here. It's tough for daddy to leave us and the travel is a lot to cope with but we're getting on ok and enjoy our evenings together, cuddled on the sofa, watching Modern Family or Big Bang Theory. 

At weekends, we try to get out and about and you've been to Sutton Park quite a lot and even had your first picnic there (mummy has put a pressed leaf from the tree we sat und---er in your elephant scrapbook). On Sundays, we like to go to Frankie and Benny's for breakfast and daddy and I use this time to talk about how you're getting on and all the things we are looking forward to as you grow up. There's so much we want to do with you and show you but at the same time, we don't want you to grow too fast. Mummy loves you so small and cuddly!

You have hundreds of nicknames already. Little man, monkey man, monkey bum, little chimp, my little meatball, my little dumpling, ET... We come up with new ones all the time!

I must give you at least a thousand kisses every day. You're smile makes my heart melt and the expressions you pull are so entertaining. You really are a handsome little boy and at night, when you're sleeping in my arms after a feed, I whisper to you and ask you to promise you'll never leave me. You're my boy and I don't want you to grow up and no longer need me. So you'll live with us forever, ok?!

You're a strong little boy and you've always started to do things early, like trying to lift your head or pushing yourself with your legs. You can hold your neck well now for quite a long time and sometimes you'll get yourself frustrated when you can't do more, like when we give you tummy time. 

You love sitting in your bouncer chair and  you're fascinated with the owl that dangles in front of you. You also like looking in the mirror and every day, you go 'agoo' and 'ger' more and more. We're having some proper chats now! You love the sound of our voices but sometimes daddy makes you jump when he says 'HI!' loudly.

When your upset, you can be calmed quite quickly by lying on our chests. You like it when we sing to you and classics include You Are My Sunshine, You'll Be In My Heart, various Five songs (yep, that's right!), some Disney classics, Rainbow Connection by The Muppets and Gentleman by Psy, which you and I love to dance to.

It's been 11 weeks since you came into our lives as Ethan (for almost 10 months you were Little Bean in my belly) and you're growing so fast, yet it feels like you've been here for much longer. Mummy loves her days with you and as you're sleeping better, everything is getting a little easier and there's so much fun to be had.

You're asleep in your chair now, peaceful and hugging your binky bear. I best go clean your bottles, put some laundry on and make a cup of tea while I have the chance but at the same time, I miss you when you're asleep.

Ethan, we love you very much. Completely and forever.

Mummy xxx