My first day of parental leave started on an ominous note – Owen refused to eat his breakfast, preferring to blow raspberries at me. Normally we could just wait for him to be hungry, but we had an appointment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, to look at the hemangiomas on his eyelid, so had to get a move on!

Jen joined us for the trip in to Birmingham; we had hoped to take Owen on his first train journey, but couldn’t get parked at the station, so drove into central Birmingham, which worked out to be quicker anyway. He will get to go on a steam train with his granddad soon enough and that will be more special as a first train journey than the London Midland train to Birmingham!

We had a bit of a wait at the hospital, but came away with some Timolol gel (usually used to treat glaucoma) to rub on Owen’s eyelid, which should speed up the healing process for the hemangiomas. We made it into the city centre in time to meet my friend Partho for a burrito – Owen seemed happy to see him, but not as pleased as he was to see a big bowl of guacamole!

As Jen was off work, I took advantage of having someone to look after Owen and took the MR2 for an MOT, which it passed!

Tuesday was our first day flying solo! We just had a quiet morning at home, Owen had a bath, then a nap, which left me time to get on with some jobs. In the afternoon we went to buy Owen a bike helmet, then watched Top Gear, whilst Owen practiced his new skill – going from lying on his belly to sitting up. I could get used to this!

Wednesday started with some complicated logistics to drop my BMW off at a garage in Warwick. This wasn’t helped by Owen doing everything possible to delay us getting out of the house, deploying both hunger strikes & dirty protests! He was fine once my Dad picked us up in Warwick, and on his best behaviour as soon as we got to Chipping Norton and he saw his grandma!

My Dad and I spend the afternoon sorting out the lawns at their house, which Owen played inside with his grandma. Then we all met Jen for dinner at the Hatton Arms. After an afternoon raking lawns I felt like I’d earned my steak pie!

Thursday is swimming day! Swimming is probably Owen’s favourite half hour of the week, he splashes, smiles and squeals with joy when he is in the pool! It also really tires him out, so I can get a lot done during his post swim nap. After the exciting morning we just hung out at home and in the garden, followed by a trip to the supermarket, where Owen seemed to be a hit with all the female staff! In the evening we strapped Owen on to the back of my bike and rode around the block a few times. I don’t think Owen was as excited by this as I was, but I’m sure he’ll get used to it.

Friday was another day where Owen didn’t want to eat breakfast, I think he’s gone off Weetabix. A similar performance followed at lunchtime, leaving me deciding between giving in (and Owen realising that he can cause trouble and get what he wants) or let him be difficult and go hungry. This hassle meant that the day went slowly, and mid afternoon – when I’d normally be finishing work and going on a bike ride, I began to question my decision to take parental leave. Fortunately Owen cheered up, which meant I cheered up!

Saturday started off well – after Owen’s breakfast we went to a small car show at Fargo Village, Coventry’s trendy market area. It was great to walk around looking at the various cars and small shops/studios. We bumped into my friend Dan with his bright green bike engined kit car, which looked awesome. Before we left we had some cake and a milkshake from Spangles American Diner, although after seeing what the next table ordered I should have gone for one of their freakshakes – a milkshake topped with a piece of cake!

In the afternoon we set up Owen’s beach tent on the lawn so that Jen and I could crack on with some gardening, we managed to get most of our jobs done, but it was hot work and I was really suffering with hayfever. Jen went out for the evening, leaving me to wrangle Owen. I think he may also have been suffering with hayfever, as he had a really rough night, alternating between crying and coughing for a few hours, only stopping about five minutes before Jen got home, then sleeping soundly until the next morning – I’m beginning to thing he is just doing it to annoy me!

Sunday started well – I had a bit of a lie in, whilst Jen sorted Owen out. Then, when she brought him through in to our room and put him on the bed next to me he said “Daddy”! We thought he may have said it before, but weren’t sure, but this time there was no mistaking it, so I’m calling that his first word – a proud Dad moment! He did follow that up by eating all of his Weetabix without any fuss for Jen, something he’d refused to do for me all week. We spent the rest of the day at my parents’ house, with my brother and his wife – Owen was once again the star of the show. We had a lovely lunch, sat outside in the sunshine.

My first week of parental leave has absolutely whizzed by, I’ll admit it is harder work than I was expecting, but I’m sure both Owen and I will get into more of a routine over the coming weeks and things will get easier. Hopefully leaving more time for bike rides and drives out in the MR2!