26th July 2015

Thankfully, the octuplets' first birthday had fallen on a Sunday so neither Sam nor Tom had work. The octuplets had grown and developed so much in a year that Sam couldn't believe that just 12 months ago they were all lying in incubators, fighting for their lives. Now, they were fighting over toys!

They could all walk to some degree, though some needed more support than others. And none of them could walk more than a couple of steps without holding on to something or someone. Unfortunately, whilst Tom had gone out to get shopping for the day's celebrations, Sam was left in charge of the impossible challenge of getting them dressed.
"Right, who wants to get changed first?" Sam queried as she entered the room where all eight infants were standing in their own cots, with four on the left and four on the right with a short passage down the middle for accessibility.
"Mama." Aaron said rather loudly.
"Thank you for volunteering, Aaron." Sam said sarcastically as she walked over and picked him up. "Cor, you lot are getting heavy aren't you?" Sam groaned as she balanced him on her hip and then walked into the other room containing two changing tables and boxes and boxes filled with clothes and other items for the babies. There was also a large soft fluffy shag rug used to lie the babies on whilst Sam changed the other babies where they couldn't hurt themselves or get up to mischief.

Sam took his white baby grow off and then changed her nappy, but as she took out a pair of soft jeans and a blue shirt, she turned back to find Aaron standing on the changing table.
"You're not supposed to do that are you?" Sam said sternly as she lifted the nappy clad baby and placed him on his bum on the changing table.
"Foo." Aaron smiled cheekily.
"Food?" Sam smiled. "I've told you before, you've got to be patient Aaron. And trust me with 7 brothers and sisters, you're going to need patience in your life." Sam said as she pulled the shirt over his head. "What would you like for breakfast this morning? We've got apples, toast, oatmeal-"
"Food!" Aaron proclaimed and Sam smiled as she pulled his jeans up.

"Right, is it you who doesn't like wearing socks, or is that your brother?" Sam questioned as she opened the draw filled with balls of paired up socks. She pulled out a pair of socks to try, and as she began to pull on a sock Aaron giggled and pulled his feet towards himself as he squirmed about. "No, you're the ticklish one aren't you?" Sam smiled. "Right, that's you done. Shall we go and get Jonny?" Sam said as she picked Aaron up and placed him gently on his feet on the carpet on front of her. Sam held his hand as he slowly took a few steps towards the door. But he became slower and slower until he stopped completely and grabbed on to Sam's lower leg with both hands.

"Mama."
"Is that all you can manage?" Sam asked as she picked the tired legged infant up and balanced him on her hip. "Don't worry, you'll be running away from me in tescos and causing havoc before you know it." Sam joked halfheartedly - she had picked him up to speed up the process as it had already taken ten minutes to dress just one of them, and Aaron was one of the most cooperative.

Just as Sam was carrying Summer and Leah down the stairs, the front door opened to reveal Tom with his hands filled with shopping bags.
"Ah, you're just in time to help me with feeding time at the zoo." Sam announced.
"I've got to unpack the shopping." Tom stated smugly. "The car is still filled with bags as well." He added before he made his way through to the kitchen where six of his children were strapped securely to their high chairs at the breakfast bar playing with either a small rattle or soft toy. "Happy birthday!" Tom announced cheerfully as he dumped the bags on the counter.

His sons had fairly short hair at two inches long, all of which was brown because they were identical. And Leah had dark brown wavy hair down to her shoulders, as did Megan, and Summer, but she had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, Bella had wavy brown hair that went down to her shoulders, and Ellie had fairly straight light brown hair that went an inch below her shoulder.

"Hurry up and pack away, I'll be getting their food ready." Sam ordered.
"And of course, seeing as they're now 1 year old, they're all going to be very mature at breakfast and not throw food everywhere or be silly." Tom said sarcastically before he went back out to the car.

"Uncle Fletch is coming around this morning." Sam said to make conversation with her children whilst she got the loaf of brown bread out of the bread bin. "Well don't sound too enthusiastic will you." Sam said sarcastically as she put four slices of bread into the toaster.
"Food!" Aaron demanded loudly as he banged his fists on the tray over his high chair.
"Aaron!" Sam laughed. "Don't do that!" She ordered as she began to get out a large container of breast milk. She carefully poured 100ml into eight small bottles that wouldn't leak unless sucked, and then gave each of the children a bottle.

Tom reentered the kitchen with the rest of the shopping and to save another trip to the car, he had carried as many bags as he possibly could before he dumped them on the kitchen side.
"You're buttering toast." Sam ordered as she bent down and picked up Jonny's milk bottle that he had already dropped on the floor.
"Fine. But you have to clean the floor after breakfast." Tom smirked and Sam glared at him.
"I clean the floor pretty much very day, it's your turn." She argued.
"Alright, alright, I was joking. I'll do it." He sighed as he got the sunflower oil, dairy-free butter out of the fridge. "I got them a mini cupcake each." Tom stated.
"And is there any spares?" Sam queried sheepishly as she began chopping up bananas and apples.
"I got a box of twelve so we've got 2 each." Tom stated.
"I've got you well trained." Sam smiled to herself.

Feeding time was a little bit harder than the average family household for Sam and Tom, because they had eight babies, which mean eight different sets of tastebuds, and hence eight different sets of likes and dislikes. It also mean there was eight different people to drop things, throw things and play with things which made meals rather entertaining sometimes - though sometimes they just wanted to get on.
"Right, let's start with toast. Who wants a bit of toast?" Tom queried as he leant against the breakfast bar, looking around at his kids whilst he held a plate filled with square inch servings of brown bread toast that had been lightly buttered. He handed a piece to each child because it was best to give them little bits at a time, and it was far easier than giving them all separate plates - it saved on washing up.

Slowly, Tom distributed the toast around the group until they had had enough of it, so Sam stepped in with the small chunks of apple and slices of banana. The octuplets only required small portions so they only had two apples and two bananas between them.
"Make sure that Ellie and Bella get plenty, they weren't too keen on the toast." Tom warned before he began packing the shopping away.
"Right. Here you go." Sam smiled as she stood with a bowl of each fruit and a spoon. It seemed unhygienic to others, but to Sam and Tom it was a large time saver so she used the same spoon for the children as she went around feeding them until all the fruit was gone, and they resumed occasionally taking sips from their bottles of milk.
"Right, what are we having this morning for finals? Scrambled egg or cereals?" Tom queried.

"Um... Neither. Give them half Weatabix each with a tablespoon of natural yogurt and a few strawberries." Sam replied as she placed the two bowls and the spoon in the washing up bowl. "Oh but, Summer and Charlie don't like strawberries so give them a few slices of kiwi fruit." Sam added before she took over putting the shopping away and Tom began to prepare their last bit of breakfast.

Sam was getting dressed in her and Tom's bedroom whilst she had the three boys on their double bed rolling about when Tom came up holding two packets of pads and a box of tampons.
"Are these the right ones?" He queried.
"Yeah, just put them in the ensuite in the cupboard under the sink please." Sam replied before she lifted Charlie up and put him more towards the middle of the bed to prevent any falls. Tom did as he was told before he came out, snuck up behind Sam and slapped her on the bum.
"Oi! What was that for?" Sam shrieked as she quickly turned around.
"Becuase exactly one year ago today, your bum had changed because you'd gone into labour." Tom replied.
"My bum changed?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"You never said."
"That's becuase I knew you'd be self conscious when you had other things to worry about." Tom replied. "Right, I'd better get back to the girls. I promised them I'd read a princess book to them." Tom smirked as he kissed Sam on the cheeks before he left the room.

"Uncle Fletch is here!" Fletch announced as he entered the living room with Tom, where Sam was sitting on the floor with the octuplets. Some were crawling, some were walking whilst using the sofa for assistance and others were playing with toys.
"Uncie." Summer smiled as she lifted her arms up towards him. Fletch bent down and picked the girl up.
"Hello..." Fletch had to glance at Tom for help because he never could work out who was who as summer, Megan and Leah all had the same facial and hair features as they were identical.
"Summer." Tom said.
"Hello summer." Fletch smiled.

Sam realised that as soon as Fletch had entered, Bella and Ellie ran (or rather toddled) over to their mother and hid behind her.
"What's wrong with you two?" Sam queried but as she turned around, the two girls just grabbed onto Sam's hands. "It's only Fletch." Sam said softly which caught the man's attention.
"Hey, you two. Look what I've got." Fletch smiled as he placed summer on the floor, grabbed two princess tiaras from the side and went and sat down on the floor by the girls, but they clung on to their mum even tighter.
"C'mon, it's alright. Look, Fletch is our friend." Sam said slowly but it didn't ease the girls at all. "Fine, come here." Sam sighed as she sat cross legged and then pulled Ellie and Bella on to her lap.
"Can I put this on you?" Fletch asked kindly as he looked at Bella, who glanced back at her mother.
"It's alright, I'm here." Sam said reassuringly, so Bella turned back around and lifted her head a little. Fletch gently placed the tiara on the girl's head of straight, light brown, shoulder length hair. He picked up the second tiara and moved towards Ellie but she squirmed back and grabbed on to her mother. "Why are you always so shy?" Sam moaned. "Look, Ellie." Sam said to get her attention and she raised her head to look at her mum in the eyes. "Uncle Fletch is a nice man, just like daddy. And he's not going to hurt you." Sam stated.

A little while later, Fletch had said hello to all of the other children and played with them for a while, before he returned to Bella and Ellie who were still sitting in their mummy's lap. Clearly, watching Fletch play with her siblings had eased Bella a little as she held her hands out to Fletch.
"What is she going to do?" Fletch asked as he took both of the girl's tiny hands.
"Probably stand up." Sam stated and the girl did so. "She wants you to help her walk. But be careful, she won't get very far." Sam warned.

"Good girl Bella." Fletch smiled as he got onto his knees whilst holding hands with the girl and she slowly walked towards him.
"F... Fetch." Bella said apprehensively.
"Fletch." Fletch said slowly and clearly.
"Fe... Fetch." She repeated.
"That's probably the best you're going to get for now." Sam smirked as she played with Ellie's arms.
"Close enough, well done Bella." Fletch smiled before he carefully lifted the girl up and put her on his lap. "Y'know, I'm exhausted and I've only been here for about an hour, I honestly admire you and Tom becuase I just don't know how you do it. You're brilliant parents." Fletch said kindly.
"Well, I was the one who carried them for months." Sam said sternly and Tom smirked. "But thanks."
"You're never going to let that one go are you?" Tom joked.

"I had my abdomen sliced open, do you have a scar across your bikini line? No, didnt think so." Sam retorted.
"You can barely see the scar, it's just like a thin line." Tom protested.
"You don't see it every day! I do!" Sam protested.
"Actually, I probably do too." Tom smirked and Fletch grimaced in disgust.
"Too much information you two." He warned.
"I don't know what you're thinking about Fletch but he's talking about getting changed in the same room and seeing me when I lift my top up to breastfeed." Sam said innocently.
"Yeah, sure you were." Fletch smirked.

"Mama."
"Ah, now that's a problem because I don't actually know who said that." Sam admitted as she looked around.
"Mama." Bella said as she scrambled off of Fletch's lap.
"No, I think the first time it was one of the boys." Tom stated.
"Mama."
"That time was definitely Summer." Sam stated.
"Oh c'mon you lot, dada, dada, dada!" Tom chanted encouragingly. "Charlie, say dada."
"Dama." Charlie replied confusedly.
"Don't, you're confusing him." Sam whined. "And making them blaspheme." Sam added jokily.
"Well how come most of them can say mama and food, but they can't sat dada?" Tom moaned.

Apparently, Tom raising his voice slightly hadn't gone down well as Bella collapsed from her hands and knees, onto her belly on the carpet and began crying.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Sam said softly as she placed Ellie on the carpet in front of her and then picked the distressed girl up.
"Mama?" Bella sobbed.
"Yeah, I'm here." Sam whispered as she held the girl against her chest. "Here, you want some milk to settle you?" Sam offered as she began to undo her buttons on her shirt.

"And that's my cue to leave." Fletch concluded as he stood up.
"Thanks for coming mate." Tom smiled before he began to sit the babies on the sofa to keep them within close proximity rather than crawling about everywhere.
"No worries, I just can't believe they're already a year old." Fletch admitted as he pulled his coat on. "Right, I'll see you at work tomorrow, and don't worry, I'll let myself out." Fletch stated before he left the living room.
"What are you getting all upset for eh?" Sam cooed softly a dishes tucked the girl's hair behind her ear whilst she suckled away - she didn't often feed them. Well not as much as she used to anyway, at that point, she directly breastfed each of them once a day, and the rest was bottle fed milk or other liquids.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked as Ellie clambered onto her lap and Sam ended up feeding both of them.
"Yeah. Actually, could you get me a bottle of water from the fridge please?" Sam asked politely.
"Yeah, sure. Just keep an eye on these lot."

"How is it possible to be this knackered?" Sam sighed as she flopped into bed besides her husband after giving Charlie his last feed before bed and all of the octuplets had been put down for the night.
"It's possible, because you are Sam Kent, my beautiful, determined, stubborn cow of a wife, and you are an amazing mother." Tom smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. "Y'know, I was going to suggest that we spend a little time together before we go to bed." He said suggestively. "But if you're that tired then-"
"Oh no, I can manage that." Sam interrupted and Tom chuckled.
"You sure?"
"Oh yes." Sam smirked before she jumped on top of him and planted her lips firmly onto his as she was sure she could muster up some energy from somewhere if it meant she could make love to her husband.

Coming up is potty training! Thanks for reading, please review :)