by Rachel Holden

Created on: August 12, 2008

On being a new and young parent. I was 20 when I fell pregnant with my daughter who is now 10 months old. She is the most bubbly, light hearted and caring child I have ever known, of course I am biased, but she really is a little gem. She has been a text book baby from day one. Reaching all of her milestones at the right times and sometimes a little earlier. She went from milk to solid's in the blink of an eye with no problems, and is now just starting to navigate her way around the furniture on her Bambi like legs.

I think as a parent your heart must stop, skip a beat, or nearly jump out of your chest a good few times a day. I have been told that this does not get any better as time goes on and they get older either. That first day you bring your new baby home is absolutely petrifying. This is life's biggest task you will ever undertake, and there's not even so much as a leaflet or manual to guide you on your way. No, this is all trial and error. I think I spent the first month in a complete daze, mixed with tears and upset, tiredness and I speak of the most fatiguing type of tiredness there is, irritability and a extremely harsh reality check!

So once I had mastered the bottle making, the sterilising, the bathing, feeding and burping and the list goes on. I began to feel more relaxed and within me a new found confidence arose. I felt now that I could do anything. Of course there were still sleepless nights, but thankfully only up until she was 8 weeks old, I know I was lucky. Of course the constant worrying about her, is she eating enough of the right things? Is she putting on enough weight? Can she eat this and can she eat that? Still continue and will do so until the day I am no longer here. After all that is what us parents are meant to do, we simply would not be human if we did not worry about and want the best for our children.

As time goes on and I watch my beautiful little girl grow, I realise how precious time is and how vitally important all of those little things that we take for granted really are. She has obtained her own little personality and ways of doing things. Indeed she has also realised just how loudly she can scream and shout if something is not going her way. It is that stunning smile that I love waking up to, one of those Cheshire cat grins beaming at me from over the top of her cot calling out Mum, even if it is six in the morning. It's the way she gives me kisses and cuddles the way she pulls those funny faces and crawls about exploring. Just the way she does her own thing makes me realise not only how much I love her but also how I can not really remember life without her. It's not just watching her achieve her big milestones, as I will continue to do, but it's the little things too, that we always seem to take for granted and sometimes not even notice at all.

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