Fire in your belly

Round 26: Autumn 2024

last update/next update

Eliot Lane is 38, Cordy is 31 and Timothy is 4.
(Luc is 31, Debbie and Linnea are both 64 and Augustin and Hanna are both 69)

Narrated by Cordy Lane

Timothy is turning out so much like Eliot. It's amazing that you can see it at four years old but you really can.

For the sake of the house, it's probably a good thing. I hardly have to clean at all, with the boys following me around mopping up my puddles and cleaning the toilets the second they get dirty.

Timothy is more like me in other ways. He wanted to learn to swim, so I started him out floating and he just took to it straight away. He's a total water baby!

I don't want to push him into going professional or anything, like I did but he's got a good technique and I bet he could if he wanted to!
Eliot and I are both really glad that Timothy's such an active kid. We like keeping fit and it's something we value for Timothy too.

Eliot would do well to occasionally remember that Timothy is only four though. He throws that ball so hard, I'm amazed it hasn't hit him yet.

Timothy is at such a great age right now. He's gone at pre-school in the afternoon so when I'm home, I feel like I have more time for myself. But when Timothy's home, I have so much fun hanging out with him anyway. I don't miss the baby stage at all.

I'm going to have to psych myself up to deal with little ones again soon though; Eliot and I are expecting another baby in the summer! It was planned, although we were expecting to have to try for at least a little longer than we did, seeing I got pregnant so fast with Timothy.

We weren't sure what Timothy would think but we tried to sell it to him by talking about how great it will be to have another playmate around.

He's not quite as enthusiastic about the idea as we were hoping but maybe he'll get a little more excited when the time draws nearer.

I'm not showing yet but Eliot's already started feeling my belly every day, just in case he feels a kick. It's very sweet but it's probably a bit early.

I think some of Eliot's excitement has rubbed off on Timothy though. He saw his dad rubbing my belly and I think it finally clicked for him that there's a baby in there. So now he talks to it and he's a little more open to the idea of a little brother or sister.

Eliot couldn't wait to tell his parents. They were both so happy - this will be their seventh grandchild.

Eliot's parents are so adorable together. I often wonder how different my childhood would have been if my parents had stayed together.

I have been making an effort with Mum lately, at Eliot's urging. We're doing okay, I guess. She's never going to be my favourite person but Timothy loves her and I don't want to rob him of his grandmother.

Timothy really does adore his grandmother and I know she loves him too. I just have to pick our conversation topics carefully and avoid the things we tend to argue about.

I was a bit worried about inviting Mum to the family barbecue we normally have on the weekends but again, Eliot insisted. I was so worried she'd embarrass me somehow but it all went smoothly.

I think it's good for Timothy to see both sides of the family together every now and then too. I don't want to pass my family angst onto him.

Now that I'm getting along with both my parents (to some degree, at least), I'm starting to wish they'd agree to being in the same room together. But as it stands, they only ever visit separately.

The relationship I have with my other mother, Debbie, is much more of a mother and child type relationship. She came over to see Timothy, forgetting he'd be in pre-school and we ended up talking about all my pregnancy symptoms until he came home.

She was just doing the motherly thing and worrying about me but I'm really feeling okay. A little tired, a few cravings, not much nausea; nothing I can't handle!
Timothy loves all of his grandparents but I think he might love Luc more than he even loves Eliot and me! If Luc hasn't been over in a few days, all we hear is "when's Uncle Luc coming over again?" until he finally visits.

Before I had Timothy, I would have never considered Luc one day becoming a dad but I can really see it now.

He's so great with Timothy and I really wasn't expecting him to be. I hope this new baby is as close to Luc as Timothy is. But what I'd really love is to see Luc with his own kids one day.

Notes:

• Title is from Fire In Your Belly by Liam Finn, who I'm sort of fangirling over right now. He played support for Wilco when I saw them on Saturday and Sunday and he was so wonderful.
• Eliot and Timothy talking to Cordy's non-belly was just me experimenting with allmenus again. I wanted to see if they'd be able to use the interactions before Cordy was showing and obviously, they could! I was really impressed that Eliot's hands were touching her belly and not just hovering about it, as if there was a belly there.
• This is the first round since Cordy started college where she and Linnea have not argued. It was very strange! I kept waiting for them to start fighting but they seem to be getting along.
• Baby Lane is due in Summer 2025. I'm as excited as Eliot is, lol! Because this is the last autumn update, I've already bumped Cordy up to her second trimester. And seeing Cordy got pregnant, I'll be doing Winter birthdays tomorrow after all, as little as there is to report! ;)