Here we go again...

So as I revealed last week at the MAD Blog Awards, on here and, well, everywhere to be honest, Kate and I are expecting our second child in April next year. As was the case when we learned that Dylan was on his way, we are delighted and terrified in equal measure. While we've now been there, seen it and done it, there are new neuroses to overcome as well as the return of some of the standard ones that I'm sure all expectant parents experience.

We don't mind what we have as long as he/she is healthy and grows up to support the right team. We are also concerned – as we were with Dylan – that the new baby will inherit one – or more – of the medical complaints we suffered during our early years. Kate had to undergo an operation on one of her eyes and I was born with terrible hearing and also had to go under the knife. As a result of my temporary 'almost-deafness', my speech was so bad that, on recordings that my parents still have, I sounded like the Soup Dragon out of Clangers. Weirdly, my sister – who is two years younger – seemed to understand what I was burbling on about and sort of translated for me. I say 'sort of' because she did have a tendency to use the word 'radiator' quite liberally when telling our folks what her babbling big brother was banging on about and I definitely didn't have a strange fascination with central heating. I digress. Thankfully, my operation was a success as was Kate's. Anyway, thinking about it, that makes us two of the three wise monkeys – if we shove a dummy in Dylan's mouth we could have the full set!

The next concern is about how Dylan is going to feel about it all. It's enough for the poor little man that, when he eventually finds out I've been writing about him, he's probably going to need a whole lot of therapy, so how will he react to having a younger sibling? The signs, thankfully, are good. He loves other kids and always tries to make friends with them. My sister recently gave birth to her second child, Ella, and when Dylan saw Kate holding her, he wasn't too fussed to give him his due. The only nagging doubt I have on this front is that he'll react in the same way I did when I was introduced to my sister. "Say hello to Gemma, Tom," said my Mum. "Put it down, Mummy," was my evil response. Oh dear.

Still, there's plenty of time to get our heads round the changes that are afoot as well as one certain little monkey whose antics will distract us from worrying too much about what's awaiting us.