Per annum

Eve turned one on Monday this week. To think that, just one year ago, I was being taken into hospital with a bit of a headache is quite scary. I had no idea either how to care for a baby or what I was letting myself in for. One year on and I have a happy, healthy, walking and talking (sort of) little girl who I love completely and with such strength that it often surprises me.

I do my best not to gush, I always found parents gushing to people without children the height of thoughtlessness and tedium, but I feel that on Eve's first birthday I am allowed to break this rule.

Having Eve in my life is without a shadow of a doubt the best thing I have ever done. I don't feel any sense of ownership over her, she is already her own person with her own ideas and desires, which makes me feel even more lucky that I am part of her life. I keep saying, at each stage, that I don't want her to grow up because how she is and what she gives me at each point is so special. However, then she changes and I fall in love with her even more.

I am really looking forward to the next year.

Gush over