Dear Lucy

Dear Lucy,

In three days time you will be a year old. I can hardly believe it.

I find myself wanting to apologise for not writing enough about you. If you were ever to go in for a quantitative analysis of how many blog posts I have written this year and compare it to the first year of your brother's life, what might you find? Well, I suspect that it might be less, but let me assure you, that doesn't mean you are in any way less loved or less in my thoughts.

I remember a colleague at work telling me that 2 children is 4 times the work of one child. I think he may have under-estimated! Although it is well-documented that you have been a very contented, smiley and easy-going baby, it is still true that having a toddler and a baby to deal with is far more work than just a baby or just a toddler. And your Mummy and I are pretty much on our own here. We haven't had a night away together since before you were born. In fact we only had one in the two years between Oliver's birth and your arrival.

Not that we mind much, but it does mean that life gets draining at times. You and your brother have apparently unending reserves of energy. You both start indicating that you want to get up before 7am most mornings and some evenings Oliver is still chatting away to his toys after 8.30pm. You go to bed about half an hour earlier than your brother at around 7.00-7.30pm. Most evenings you hit the sack happily, but sometimes have a good shout at some point in the night until we come and turn you over or move you down the bed. So unbroken sleep remains the perpetual wish in your parents lives!

Right now Lucy you are a real character. You are crawling around at about a hundred miles an hour and "walking" around the furniture. A couple of weekends ago when we were in the Lake District having a picnic next to Lake Windermere, you stood without holding on to anything for the first time. You've repeated this feat a few times but each time you seem to realise what you've done after a few seconds and quickly sit down. However, I predict you'll be walking in the next 6 weeks.

But what amazes me about you at the moment is your communication. You often mimic our words. And the first word you seem to be saying apart form "mama" and "dada" (which are sounds babies make anyway, so it's hard to say whether they really are words) is "Oliver". You clearly make a sound that seems to be Oliver and do so at times when you might want to see him.

I have to say that you adore your big brother and he loves you too. I fully expect that one day you will fight like cat and dog, though hopefully not too often. But today you are never happier than when he is around.

So my dear Lucy, please know that I love you more than you can know. And instead of looking at blog posts as a measure of my devotion, perhaps I refer you to my bad back on the right hand side for which I am currently undergoing treatment and which seems to tie in with the fact that I carry you round on my right arm for long periods of time. My "little bird" I call you, because you sit there so happily, perched on my arm watching whatever I am doing. Sometimes you are so quiet and content on your perch that I could forget you are there.

So carry on being you Lucy because we all love you and can't wait to celebrate this first birthday with you and many, many happy returns of the day.

Lots and lots of love

Daddy xxxx