I can hardly believe I’m writing this but I am: our lockdown baby is one!

What a bittersweet year it’s been what with giving birth in the middle of a global pandemic, maternity leave hijacked by lockdown and homeschooling to name just a few of the horrors.

lockdown baby

If you’d told me a year ago what Violet’s first year would have in store for all of us I simply wouldn’t have believed it – back then the concept of lockdown alone sounded like a plot for a film!

Yet here we are 12 months later still living under the shadow of Covid, and as lockdown restrictions start to ease and Violet turns one at last it feels like there’s light at the end of the tunnel. So, to mark her first birthday this week I thought it would be fun to share 10 wishes for my lockdown baby on her first birthday.

10 wishes for my lockdown baby on her first birthday

1. Family

I hope you can finally meet all the members of our family before the year is out. When you were born we joked you’d be walking before you could, but the joke is well and truly on us because at this rate you probably will be!

2. Mummy & baby groups

I hope we can go to a mummy and baby group before your second birthday. One without masks and social distancing where you can play and climb all over babies of your own age.

3. Face masks

I hope you continue to laugh and giggle every time I put a mask on. Masks are all you’ve ever known and I’m so happy you see them as a playful joke instead of something to be scared of.

4. Homeschooling

I hope I never ever ever have to homeschool you in the way I had to homeschool your brother and sister. It nearly broke us and I’m so glad you were too little to remember!

5. Being normal

I hope we can do normal things like go swimming soon. Both as a family with your brother and sisters and just us at a baby swimming class.

6. Rainbows

I hope you don’t come to hate rainbows. They’ve been a symbol of hope during the pandemic and have been everywhere you look since you were born – whether you like it or not!

lockdown baby

7. Your name

I hope you don’t mind that we decided to call you Violet Hope in a nod to the unprecedented time at which you entered the world. Although it technically is a corona related name, I hope you’ll agree it’s a positive one.

8. Born in lockdown

I hope being born in lockdown doesn’t affect your social development in the way some of the headlines suggest it will. With a bit of luck having three older siblings will make up for missing out on meeting other babies your own age.

lockdown baby

9. Coffee shops

I hope we can meet other mums and babies in coffee shops soon. We’ve got a years’ worth of tea and cakes to catch up on (although I’ll give banana bread a miss – we’ve had quite enough of that!)

10. The future

I hope you never know what it’s like to live with a global pandemic. With a bit of luck all this will be over soon and you won’t remember a thing!

lockdown baby

Did you welcome a new baby during lockdown or know someone who has? I’d love to hear about your experience!

If you liked this you may also enjoy reading:

7 things NOT to say to a pregnant woman in a pandemic!

10 things they don’t tell you about giving birth in a pandemic

6 wishes for my lockdown baby at six months old