Why I love the Little Tin Bird.

When I wrote my 2012 Year Review I made one hell of an omission guys.

As I mentioned in the recap and at probably other points in my posts, my time in Preston was pretty lonely. I obviously moved away from all my friends and then got a horrible job where I didn't stand a chance of making any friends. And although The Person is a lovely guy and I love him with all my heart, a girl needs her friends.

Apart from anything, if I only have him, who am I supposed to bitch to about him?

However it turned out I wasn't completely on my own. My move to Preston may have taken me further away from my Hull friends, but actually moved me closer to one of what I like to call my special blog friends - namely Heather of Little Tin Bird. (Obviously you know her, I'm pretty sure about 90% of my traffic comes through her site.)

Once I'd moved to Preston I was merely a hop, a skip and a bus journey full of white haired grannies, away from the Land of the Little Tin Bird where I could spend an afternoon in her domain before returning to the general blahness of Preston.

Luckily for me, my move to Preston coincided with her having an actual baby in her tummy and I was fortunate enough to see her both when she was still knocked up and after Tiny Tin Bird (TTB) because a person rather than a bump.

I reckon that most babies are pretty lovely but let me tell you, TTB is the happiest baby I've ever seen. He coos and smiles and waves his legs and arms in the air and is generally just pleasant to be around. Trust me, I've been around a few babies in my time and you can spot the troublemakers a mile off.

More than being able to spend time with a little baby with little baby fingers and little baby nails and little baby arms and legs, I have been able to see a natural mother at work. Heather was made to be a Mummy, of that I am certain, and although at time TTB can be trying (like not wanting to sleep because life is too amazing to miss out on any of it) she deals with it all admirably.

She doesn't pretend to be a Supermum and isn't afraid to say that it's hard, purely because those niggly times far outweigh the joy that she gets from motherhood and being responsible for this little person.

Watching Heather and TTB is like receiving a lesson in motherly love and a wonderful things to watch. Both their eyes light up when they see each other and it's been hard to walk away from them both without feeling a little nag in the ol' ovaries myself.

She is completely at ease and comfortable with her role and exudes a confidence that makes it seem as if she's been doing it for years, rather than a mere 15 weeks.

More than that, she hasn't become someone completely subsumed in all things baby and is still able to have proper conversations with you, remember things that you've spoken about before and make you feel as if your life, in which you're really not doing anything as important as raising a child, is pretty worthwhile too. She is a person that I just find it relaxing to be around and she makes me think that maybe, just maybe, one day I could be as good a person (and hopefully mother in the future) as her.

(And. Despite having a baby she still manages to blog more than I do which puts me to shame I tell you.)

Having Heather there to go to has been invaluable to me. Knowing that someone was only a bus journey away was comforting and I am more than gutted that I've now moved away and won't be able to pop over regularly to see TTB growing up.

Apart from anything I want another go at buttoning up his babygro, which took an unacceptably long time the last time I saw him - although I think my ineptness gave both of us a bit of a laugh. I'm pretty sure he was smiling and it wasn't wind....

And so I slap the back of my hand. How could I forget, in my recap of 2012, that one of the most brilliant things of all happened - a bloggy friendship became a real-life friendship. And how often can you say that?