"There is an innocence in admiration; it is found in those to whom it has never yet occurred that they, too, might be admired some day."

When your a grown up it can be easy to forget just how fun life can be, how once upon a time just running about on a large piece of open land could be the most fun you've ever have. One of the things I love about being with Opeie all the time is that I'm reminded of this everyday and it will never get old. He is such a happy child, pretty much always smiling, always excited about every little thing and is one of the most loving and caring children I've ever seen. I really couldn't ask for a greater little boy and I'm so proud of the way he's turning out.

Being a father has given be such a better outlook on life and I will be forever grateful for what that little boy of ours has done for me.

"The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten."

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Great film and Wise words! Although I've always known this, the past three years have been a shock to the system at just how true the words are. When you have children everything seems to go in to hyper speed so as a doting parent you need to be taking in every moment and grasping them with both hands. Earlier today Mrs M was looking through some old pictures and inevitably Opeie's baby photos cropped up. It had been a while since we had looked through them and I sat down next to Mrs M and was hooked.

It probably sounds bad and it may be just me but its easy to forget exactly what your children were like in the first weeks, of course I've got an image in my head (how I remember him), for me it was one of the first days I held him on my chest and I couldn't take my eyes off him, I was completely in awe of the little person we had created, but when I looked back on the old pictures and videos I realised just how much I had forgotten. He was beautiful, that has never changed but seeing him so vulnerable and new, made me instantly well up.

Looking through the old photos and videos is always amazing but it isn't great for Mrs M's broodiness which over the last few weeks has been getting considerably worse. Mine thankfully had gone into hibernation, that was of course until we clicked on that folder to be greeted by these baby pictures. I would love another child, maybe a little girl and I know Mrs M feels the same. It's such a shame though that we have such complicated pregnancies. That's probably a blessing though as I could see us with 7 or 8 if situations had been different. Mrs M's ultimate argument being 'what if things were different if it was a girl?" What if? When it comes to the 'wanting more babies saga' there's lots of what if's. sorry, as always I've gone off on a tangent a little.

Seeing the photos made me realise just how independent Opeie is these days, he just used to lay there care free kicking his legs and making funny noises. Everything was a lot more delicate, I was petrified I was going to break him some how so was wary of every little thing I did, a big change from the picking him up and throwing him about play fighting that we do these days. I had no idea what I was doing so in some ways would be looking over to Mrs M for some sort of approval that I wasn't making a huge mess of simple tasks, it soon didn't take long though for it all to come naturally.

Mrs M has been saying for well over a year "i wish I could have him as a baby again just for one day", she says exactly the same about Seth. I thought she was a bit crazy but I'm now starting to understand why. As they get older children need you less and less. Although its amazing Opeie having this new 'i can do it' way about him I do miss helping him doing the little things. He is becoming a great little man though, happy, curious, always asking questions and most importantly beautiful inside and out, when he wakes up in the morning the smile on my face is uncontrollable. I realise every day that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be, and I'm happy.

"Caught by the fuzz"

Yesterday on The way to school Seth came out with one of his corkers, 

Seth: whenever i put my hand up at school, briar (Seth's carpet partner) always says 'are you putting your hand up to tell on me' and I don't know what to say to him?

Me: we'll are you putting your hand up to tell him?

Seth: YES!!!

Seth is such a grass, I've never known anything like it. He's like a one man police force around school and is always running to tell the teachers when something's not right and then we get the low down when he comes out of school. One day Seth came out of school with a disgusted look on his face and proceeded to tell me how he had to go and tell on a girl because she did a cartwheel and flashed her knickers off. Things have obviously changed since i was at school as that was the sort of thing us boys would laugh about, but not our little head of school security. Seth's has also opted to be on the school council (no surprise there), I'd love to see what he's like in the meetings.

A few weeks back Seth told us that he told someone off for having chocolate in their lunch box (because the school doesn't allow it ), Seth said that the child told him to mind his own business. I laughed and said good on him. I told him I'd have said exactly the same to him when i was at school. Seth looked a little disappointed by my comment but I explained that nobody likes a tell tale, it's not a nice quality to have.

Seth is such a good, well mannered and loving child but he is so highly strung and takes the Weight of the world on his shoulders. He's so concerned about what everyone else is doing that a lot of the time I don't think he enjoys himself as much as he should for a child his age. I've always thought it but it wasn't until a few weeks ago when someone else brought it up and also pointed out that Seth unlike most children Never uncontrollably laughs (unless he's being tickled), he nearly always has a serious look on his face. 

Ill always treat Seth like he's my boy, he's my best friend but I can tell more and more each day where he gets his genes from. Opeie is definitely  more fun loving and as much as I think Mrs M will hate it he's going to be a lot like me with a laid back but rebellious nature. I really don't want Opeie highly strung too I need someone in the house on my side.

Although Seth's grassing at times can be quite entertaining I am a little concerned that if he doesn't get it out of system he's going to alienate himself and make secondary school even more difficult than it can already be. I know he is 6 and he will probably grow out of it but I see it getting worse as the weeks go by. He has a 'Seth knows best' attitude and its difficult to tell him different. I hate to say it but its exactly how i Imagine Mrs M to have been at school. (Sorry sweetie)

Last night I told Mrs M about his telling the teacher comment and for fun every time Seth did something wrong no matter how trivial or insignificant we raised our hands and grassed on him to each other. He didn't like that one bit but I'm quite sure no lesson was learned and he's probably got his arm up now telling someone off for something.