One day, you’ll be having a perfectly mediocre Monday night - and then your baby will crawl for the first time.

He’s nine months old now, and has been rocking back and forth on all fours for the last few weeks. When he first started, we were right down there with him, phones in hand, ready to capture his first little attempts at putting one hand in front of the other. Of course, he sensed whenever our camera apps opened, and would decide in that moment to plonk himself backwards and refuse to move another step. Perhaps he was telling us to live in the moment. And so when he did actually make those first movements forwards, it was done so casually we weren’t even sure what we were looking at.

We were two hours after usual bedtime - his body clock has been a little all over the place while his brain works out this new skill - and we were having a cup of tea on the couch, debating whether to attempt another book or song. And suddenly, he was a foot further across the hardwood than he had been a moment ago. I won’t lie, I cried. Hard. There was something about seeing this tiny person, who only nine months ago had been entirely dependent on us for absolutely everything, suddenly figuring out how to get himself from one side of the room........

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