I left Tim overnight for the first time when I went to my sister's hen party in Westport. I hadn't really thought about it beforehand, but as the day approached, I began to worry that I would miss him terribly.
Michael, Tim and I were spending the second week of our holidays beside Lough Mask in Mayo.
I deposited Michael and Tim at the door of our holiday home and took off with the car. Every time I thought of Tim I missed him, so I stopped thinking about him and began to enjoy my freedom instead.
I've completely stopped breastfeeding now, so it really is freedom. Stopping was more of an emotional problem than I had expected. It felt like I was severing a link with Tim but thinking about it was worse than actually doing it.
I had promised to be home in the early afternoon the day after the hen but then sent a text to say that it would be closer to 5p.m. A return text swiftly followed telling me to "Move ass!" Before I had time to flatter myself that Michael had missed me, the next line said that he would have been fine it I had left him with a car and a nanny!
The week on Lough Mask was very relaxed, but for the lack of a washing machine, which meant I had to handwash Tim's things every day, before finding a great dry cleaners in Ballinrobe.
We went for a picnic at Lough Mask one day. Just as we had settled ourselves down after lugging Tim and his paraphernalia to our chosen spot, we heard a roll of thunder. Just 15 minutes into the picnic, the first rain fell to the ground. Tim and I took flight to the car leaving Michael to pack up as fast as he could.
Tim was delighted to return home after his holidays. His interest in his cot mobile was revived, and he said hello to himself in all the mirrors in the house. His fortnight away had brought him up to five months old. During his holiday, he learned to roll onto his tummy and onto his back again.
He weighs 18 lbs, is 71 cm long and is moving around the cot so much that he usually ends up wedged in a corner of it, no matter how tightly I tuck him in.
His teeth still haven't arrived although they are visible, and are definitely the cause of our continued broken nights. Tim's willingness to eat anything includes devouring Teetha, a homeopathic teething remedy, with gusto.
Susan Hayden is an Irish Times staff member - her column on the first year of Tim's life appears fortnightly.