Thursday 31 May 2012

Hair

The baby's hair is finally starting to grow.

Sadly, it's growing in a mullet.

I've put a clip in it a few times, but she doesn't really have that much to clip at the front - it's sort of like a fruzzy mohawk at the front, and wispy mullet at the back (with more on one side of her head than the other). Plus her hair is so fine it slips out of most of it and just hangs on to a few hairs which really can't be that comfortable.

The other morning I was playing with it and held part of it to one side like a pigtail.

And you guys, she just looked so toddlerish. It was uncanny. So of course, I haven't done that again.

Sometimes I hold her like a baby and sway her fast, saying 'Rock the baby! Rock the baby!' because it makes her crack up. But my baby is growing up...!

Wednesday 30 May 2012

Shopping

Shopping - urgh.

As the baby hasn't breastfed since Sunday night, I decided it was time to hit the shops.

I bought two new pairs of jeans, in a depressing size. Although, not as depressing as I was able to get a half size. I think I'm going to need to start doing sit-ups in my spare time.

I also went bra shopping. Normally, not too depressing. This time? Yes depressing.

Pre-baby, I was a 12DD-E. During pregnancy, I bumped up to a 14E, what with the whole ribcage-expanding-to-accomodate-organs thing. Once the milk came in, 14F.

Now? 14DD-E. So the boobs are back to size, but I'm fatter.

It didn't help that the baby was cranky everytime we stopped to try something on, so people all through the shop just heard wailing coming from the ladies changerooms.

But, I have got to say, it is GREAT to be back in underwire for the first time in over a year and a half!

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Dogs

I've been really pleasantly surprised with how well our dogs are handling the baby.

Well, one more that the other.

The smaller one (who is less than 3kg) snapped towards her the other day. He has a world of stomach issues and gets grumpy and sooky when he is unwell. He doesn't bite hard, he would put teeth on her hand, with no force. But he got in a LOT of trouble for that.

The bigger one is amazingly patient. They both seem to spend all day chasing each other. If the baby isn't crawling over to her dogbed, the dog will come and sit by her (usually trying to lick her, but often just getting in the way).

The baby has tried a couple of times to use her to stand up, but hasn't succeeded yet.

But what is SUPER adorable is how the baby is trying to play with her. We have a box of ropey dog toys that we got for Costco for them for Christmas. The baby has seen her carrying them around in her mouth, so she has started to hold the toy out towards the dogs mouth for her to hold on to it. Yesterday, they were almost playing tug of war with it (very closely supervised of course). Today, she doesn't seem to know what the baby wants, but it's short lived anyway as I have to confiscate it as soon as she goes to put it in her own mouth (roughly five seconds after she first picks it up).

Monday 28 May 2012

And then there were none

Breastfeeding is pretty much wrapping up.

After the discussion with nurse ten days ago, we've been doing our one feed each night pretty well. At first, it was great to have her actually feed for a minute or so without pulling off every 10 seconds or so.

Then after a few days, it started to return to how it was.

When I got to the husbands parents house on Wednesday after my swimming lesson, she was whingy after dinner, so I took her in to their bedroom to feed - I would have got 30 seconds max, only one side. She wouldn't take any more when we got home and put her to bed.

Thursday night, we would have got about 10 seconds, one side only.

Friday night I tried to feed her after dinner and before her bath as I was going to dinner at a friends house, she took none.

Saturday at the coast she took less than 10 seconds, one side only. We got about 20 seconds one on side in the morning when she woke up just after 6am because it was really hot in the room.

Last night, I got her one each side for about 30 seconds, but would have only swallowed about twice on each (she swallows loud!).

It looks like we're wrapping up.


Sunday 27 May 2012

Coast trip

We went to the coast for the night with the same friends as last time.

Again, the guys did some fishing and the girls did some baby holding and sitting and chatting (and eating WAY too much).

And again, I know I shouldn't compare, but I got to see differences between the baby and her three-week-older friend.

Our baby is still generally smilier and lower maintenance - for example, they were both getting tired before we left - the baby was getting quieter and just slouching on my lap, whilst he was getting crankier and more vocal and needed a bit of a walk (although she woke up around the same time and had already had a nap, he hadn't had one). Coordination is in similar spaces - she commando and normal crawls and is pulling up on stuff while he is butt shuffling, but he is pointing at things. Her hair has grown but he still has more, and one isn't more noticeably chubbier than the other. She did get to sleep quicker I think, although they both seemed to sleep well. She isn't really breastfeeding at all, and he is on four a day. I think she was eating more solids, but I think we feed her more often. He did say 'dad' a lot, and he has a quieter voice. Neither of them spewed (thankfully!). She is taller.

He can point out his eyes and nose and mouth and knees and toes (and on his parents too). He sits and looks while you read him a book, rather than trying to open and close it while you read. He knows what he wants and knows how to express his displeasure.

Exciting to see what might come in our future!


Saturday 26 May 2012

Stand up

So  the baby pulled herself up on Sunday.

Then she did it a few times (with help) on Wednesday night when we put her toys up on the couch out of her reach.

Then she did it on Thursday when I noticed her go quiet from the other room and walked in to find her standing at the coffee table with the remote.

While the husband was watching the baby monitor yesterday, it filled up with her face - baby was standing in the crib. I went in and grabbed her and declared that she wasn't to go back in the cot until it was dropped to its lowest height (I just googled and found that you're meant to drop it as soon as they learn to sit).

The husband dropped it straight away - and then it took half an hour for the baby to get to sleep as she kept pulling herself up to a stand in there.

Next step is going to be her pulling herself along the furniture....!

Friday 25 May 2012

Childcare

We first visited the daycare closest to our house on our way back from getting my stitches out of my hand. We stopped in because I think the husband realised I'd been putting it off and he was driving.

I was surprisingly okay with it, so we filled out our details I called every two months or so.

Late last month I decided we'd need to ramp it up a bit, so I visited a few more that were close to my work.

One was run by a really nice lady - she took her time and seemed very genuine. But she is leaving in a month or so, and I worry that the good staff and culture could change once she is gone.

One instantly gave me the icks as soon as I went in.

One seemed okay, but then I heard from two separate people that they wouldn't put their kids in there if their life depended on it.

The other week I decided to drop in on the first centre again, just to make sure that I wasn't imagining my first impression of it. The girls took me through the room again and I was glad that I hadn't imagined it.

Of course, now that the baby is older and in a crazy cute stage, the idea of leaving her somewhere is a lot harder to stomach. I recognise that. But apart from leaving her with family, I am comfortable with the idea of her spending two days a week there eventually.

When we first enrolled, we indicated that we were after care for her from August 2012. Since then, we've decided (well, I've decided) that I will work part time from August and full time from next year. So now our enrollment sheet indicates we would prefer Tuesday and Wednesday, but will take any days. And that we would prefer from 1 January 2013, but we will start earlier if needed.

I've ramped it up to calling weekly and today I was lucky enough to speak to the director. She remembered my name and commented that she had a message from me last week, but no return number. And that she had looked me up but couldn't find an enrollment for us on file. At all.

Luckily, she had another look after I spelled out our surname and she found it. And she told me I was doing the right thing calling so often. And that it was unlikely we would be able to get any care this year but to keep calling and we would be doing the right thing for her to start next year.

I hope, hope, hope she can get a place.

Thursday 24 May 2012

On my head!

One of the many wonderful things about dinner with the husbands family on a Wednesday is that his parents have lovely soft carpet in their loungeroom.

The husband and his dad were watching the football after dinner last night, so we headed in with the baby and she got a chance to run amok on the floor.

We were playing around with how to promote the babys crawling, based on the fact that she'll do a crawl on the last few 'steps' to get to something that higher than she can reach on her belly. So the game went as follows:

 - Place plush monkey on my head
 - Baby commando crawls about halfway
 - Baby then crawls a few steps
 - Baby pulls up and sits on the tops of her feet
 - Baby bounces up and down, reaching for my hands
 - I put out my hands to help her stand
 - Baby takes a few guided steps
 - Baby pulls monkey off my head
 - Baby gets rolled back across the other side of the rug
 - Repeat.

It was actually lots of fun.

(And it made me think about how much more I should spend time with her doing that kind of stuff during the day.)

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Slide

The baby has worked out how to open sliding doors.

So yeah, yay for development and all, but it's a little alarming to be in the middle of something in the bathroom and have her cheery proud head appear in the doorway...

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Funny moods

Just when you think you've got everything under control, she'll keep throwing surprises.

The baby is in a funny mood - just wants to be held. I put her back to bed to see if she was tired (she woke up somewhere between half an hour and two hours earlier than usual and she's had two naps) but I can see her up on all fours in her cot, screeching.

She's okay when she's being cuddled and doesn't want to be put down - something I worked out once I had started pulling stuff out of her cupboards to rearrange them. So know it is a screeching bombsite.

These days are always going to be there, but I do think I'm better at handling them now.

I'll give her five more minutes and then rescue her for cuddle time if she's not calmed down any.

Monday 21 May 2012

Pull up

Last night, between the baptism party and heading out for dinner, the baby pulled herself up in to a stand on the coffee table. She wanted the remote from the coffee table, so she grabbed on to a placemat and just pulled herself up.

I have a friend in my mothers group who commented that her daughter went from commando crawling everywhere for ages, then within 2.5 weeks she progressed through crawling, pulling up, standing and walking.

She is commado crawling/worming everywhere faster now, and she'll usually do a few crawls at the end if she's trying to reach something, but she's not doing her proper crawl a lot.

I just propped her up in to a stand in front of her shopping trolley toy, and she stood unassisted for 30 seconds or so (until I picker her up as she was whinging a little).

I wonder how soon until she does it again?
I wonder how quickly we'll move through these milestones?

Sunday 20 May 2012

Baptism - done!

The baby was very well behaved at the baptism!

She woke up around 7 and napped again from 9 until just before we needed to leave.

She was mostly quiet during mass before the ceremony (and very cute). She was a bit more vocal during the actual baptism, but the priest seemed to find it quiet entertaining, so it went well.

She was also the oldest baby (there were two others being done at the same time) and so she was the most animated, but no one cried or screamed out - the priest had a little trouble pouring the water on her head as she kept twisting her head around to see what he was doing.

She was very spoilt with gifts - she got two beautiful necklaces and three bracelets, little holders for her first tooth and haircut, as well as lots of books and some outfits and a beautiful snowglobe and a musical carousel.

Unfortunately, she didn't want to nap with everyone there, so she went over five hours before she had a nap of only 30 minutes. And because she was overtired, she wasn't eating properly. So by the time we got to the husband's parents house for his fathers birthday dinner she only wanted her mum.

Which was actually kind of nice for me, that she was showing a preference for me over anyone else, but it was a bit hard on the husband.

But she's now holier than a basketball hoop!

Saturday 19 May 2012

Baptism

Tomorrow the baby is getting baptised.

Both the husband and I are were baptised, and we went to the same primary school (only a few minutes from our house), high school and college. We both went to church weekly until some time towards the end of high school.

The husband is an atheist. Flat out, science only, no souls, atheist.

I am a little more fluid. I'm not really sure what I believe. Souls? Yes. Heaven? I hope so. Jesus? Not sure. But I am pro marriage equality, I believe priests should be allowed to marry, and women should be able to serve at the same level in the church. There are a few things that have affected my family to some degree that I also disagree with.

That said, we both believe we were gifted with a good education and our daughter should be able to access that. Also, we believe that family is important, so we wanted formalise the relationship between her and some of her aunts and uncles, and we knew that there were people in our family who also thought it was important.

When I was younger, I remember hearing about the other families who only went to church at Christmas or Easter time. It's more likely than not that we will become one of those families, but at this stage I believe we will  be guided by what she wants to do.

Fingers crossed that she behaves...

Friday 18 May 2012

And then there was one

(There has been a few more crawls today, but the baby still prefers to commando crawl to get where she wants.)

I went to visit the MACH nurse yesterday - I was tossing up whether or not to go, but decided to in the end so that I could get her weighed and measured, and to ask about her feeding.

When I visited the GP earlier in the week to ask about my back (she believes a disc popped out, struck a nerve and popped back in) and get my flu shot (ouch!), I asked about the baby's feeding - how it's rare to get more than a minute from her, how she pushes and squirms and bites, how she's down to two a day. She gave the same advice that I have gotten from the health direct line and from a few nurses (keep persisting with formula! no cow's milk until after 12 months! she still needs two feeds a day when she is 12 months old!), and suggested I go in and see the nurses again to ask.

The nurse I saw yesterday was lovely.

I explained to her that I was paying particular attention over the last few days so I could describe exactly what was happening. Both mornings after breakfast, the baby would feed for less than 5 seconds on one side (and none on the other). When I tried again an hour later, I got less than 30 seconds on each (and she bit again).

The nurse said that from the sound of it, the baby  is trying to tell me to drop another feed.

Which now seems so obvious. But when you've had so many people tell you that they have to have at least two feeds a day at this stage, you can't see it.

The nurse said that our job as parents is to provide babies with the opportunity to eat healthy and nutritious meals, and it us up to them how much they have. She said it's the same with feeding - if you try to force breastfeeding or food, it can turn in to a bigger or worse problem (they can pick up on the pressure and the tension). She said as long as the baby is having milk with breakfast, cheese and yoghurt then she is well and truly covered. She said that the baby is so close to 12 months old that there is no point in stressing.

She said that the guidelines around cows milk are that babies shouldn't replace a feed with cows milk until 12 months, but there's not a magic line that clicks at midnight on their 365th day. I said that the baby has actually been having cows milk for a long time, as I didn't realise that they weren't meant to have it on their breakfast until after they were 12 months old - the nurse told me that the guidelines are changing and they will be recommending babies have milk in/on stuff from as soon as they start solids.

She also said if I get to 11 or 11.5 months and the night feed is still a struggle, then its okay to switch to cows milk.

It was just such a relief to get some practical advice/understanding. Someone who could see what was working and not working. Seeing the baby, rather than just reading out of a textbook.

Today was the first day the baby didn't have her morning feed.

She is fine.

Thursday 17 May 2012

Sitting and crawling

Over the last few days, the baby has been demonstrating a new level of control over her coordination.

She has started sitting herself in different ways - she leans back so she is bent at the knees and sitting on the tops of her feet, where she can bounce up and down. Or she scoots her legs out to the side and sits with a lean to one side. She pulls herself on her belly over to one of the toyboxes or the shopping trolly toy, sits up and pulls stuff out piece by piece as if there something she is specifically searching for.

While she was rocking on all fours near her toy table tonight, I placed the stacking cups on the top of them to see what she would do. She lifted one of her arms to pull at them, realised she couldn't reach, and then moved her other arm closer. Then she pulled the table closer so she could reach them.

I spent the best part of half an hour setting the stacking cups in different positions and places, trying to convince her to crawl so I could film it for the husband.

I got one crawl.

We are going to have so much fun with this!!

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Learning the hard way

Today for mothers group we headed out to an indoor playground place - a few ball pits, different playgrounds for different aged kids, and a teacup ride. It seems a few other mothers have the same idea - there were clusters of mums at tables around the place, and a few older kids running around.

Things were going well (we discovered the baby doesn't like ball pits), and all of the babys were having a good time - the ones that can crawl were going great guns, the others were more than happy to play with the balls or just sit around.

And then.

We'd noticed the boy (he might have been two?) earlier in the babys play pen - he sat in the ball pit and was throwing balls around. I thought he was cute because he had a big boofy head, but then the other mum I was talking to noticed at the about the same time as me that he looked like a bit of a bully. And then he started throwing balls at us, but it was hard to tell if he was doing it to be naughty - I mean, he was only a kid.

As we were sitting by the ball pit a bit later, he jumped in - arms and legs kicking everywhere, causing the mothers that had their babies in there to get them out. Then he got out and was about to (purposefully) step on one our babies. Then he made move to hit another one. A few of us were quick to lean forward, and tell him no. He looked at us. Then he made a fist and made to actually punch a 10 month old.

I was sitting with my legs between the girl and this boy, so I lifted my foot so that it was gating the baby from him. And then he crumbled in a ball (no, this isn't a defensive post where I kick a baby! I promise there was no contact) and just cried. And still, his mum was nowhere.

After a minute or so, he got up and walked over to his mum - sitting at a table only a few metres away from us, with a baby and another mum.

Then he hit his baby sister.

So it kind of explains his apparent distaste for baby girls - maybe he's not getting enough attention?

It struck home to me just how hard it would be with two kids - this poor mum went to this place so that she could have something to keep her son entertained so she could catch up with friends while taking care of her newborn.

But.

There's a fine balance between that and letting your feral snotty bully run around and stomp/punch babies.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Lift that leg

The baby has worked out my bathtime routine for her:

 - wash face
 - wash hair
 - wash back
 - wash belly and arms
 - rinse
 - wash legs

How do I know she knows? After she's rinse, she lifts her right foot up to me and smiles, then lifts her left leg too.

So clever!

Monday 14 May 2012

Drip drip

Either the baby picked up a cold last week, or she is teething.

Snot and drool. Everywhere.

We've been running the humidifier at night, offering her plenty of food and water, keeping her warm, getting some extra naps in, and spraying saline up her nose (she won't let us use the bulb that sucks the snot out).

An interesting side effect has been her minimal feeds. Like teeny tiny feeds before she cracks it.

From the reading I did on self-weaning the other week when she dropped from three feeds to two, there is no such thing as self-weaning. If you don't offer it, you are weaning your child. And lots of mums apparently 'give up' around the 10 month mark as their child gets more distracted and less passionate about feeding.

My plan is to keep persisting and see what happens. Maybe give it a week or so and see where we go from there because it could be her nose.

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to get a flu shot and ask about my back, so I might raise it with her.

Sunday 13 May 2012

Mothers Day

Today was Mothers Day - my first one!

As it drew nearer, I spent a fair bit of time thinking about what it really meant. What the day was for, and just how damn much my mother (and the husbands mother!) have actually done for me, and us, and the baby.

I sorted out the gifts for the husband mum (I think he was just as surprised as she was while she opening it!) (we bought one part of it together, but I didn't think it was enough). The baby gave her a card, a photo of her and the husband from our recent holiday, and a book that they can read together that we saw and fell in love with at the gallery in Cairns.

I organised a package of gifts for my mum from my brothers and I, but she isn't allowed to get it until today when when three quarters of the family get together for family tea. The baby also gave her a card, a photo of her and I from our recent holiday, and a book about a nana and granddaughter spending the day together.

I also gave my mum a card, saying (for the first time I guess!) how much I appreciate everything she's done for me.

Because it wasn't until I started thinking about mothers day and how much it has affected me, that I even started to understand that my mum has been through this exact same journey (four fold!).

Saturday 12 May 2012

Pills

This evening I opened my last jar of pregnancy/breastfeeding tablets - by the time I finish the jar, the baby will be one year old and on to cows milk.

Before she was born, I had some fear that she wouldn't be able to breastfeed - or more accurately, that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed her. That something wouldn't work properly and it would just be a struggle. And she was fine. We've been so lucky to have come this far without any problems - no blocked ducts, no grazing, no biting to draw blood, nothing.

When she first started breastfeeding, I was sure I would feed until she bit. She would have three chances, and only three, then she would be DONE. Of course, that didn't stop us either (although not for want of trying!).

In the same way that my thoughts or plans haven't played out, who knows what will actually happen.

But while I enjoy being needed and I like the extra excuse to sit and cuddle her, I don't think that I will miss the struggle as she stretches back when she's not really feeling like it, or being the one to (almost) always doo her night time routine because of that one crucial step, or those moments when she stops and lays there with it in her mouth and I tense up as I wait to see if she's going to bit or not...

Friday 11 May 2012

First Aid - one

So, yesterday I got a 'chance' to use some of my first aid skills.

We have a few big oak/elm trees (I don't actually know what type) out in the backyard, and while they are beautiful trees, they are the bane of the husbands existence from around March to July each year.

As the first signs of Autumn show, they drop thousands of tiny little brown leaves, each about half the size of a five cent piece. Once they've dropped about three quarters of all they have, the start shedding the next size up, thousands of leaves roughly the size of a finger section.

It was one of these leaves that the baby decided to put in her mouth.

I saw her just as she was doing it, a split second too late.

I tried everything I could to get it out - of course 'Open!! Open your mouth!!!!' didn't work, and she reaaaaaaaally doesn't like people poking around in her mouth, so I was trying to jam my finger in there (avoiding the seven teeth) and trying to fish out this leaf.

The last I saw of it, before my finger was rudely ejected, it was stuck to the roof of her mouth.

And then she started coughing in a half choke.

Instantly, she copped a couple of thumps to the back.

I was down on the floor next to her, and I put her on her belly on the floor, then picked up her butt, and then gave her a few more for good measure.

Then it seems she swallowed it.

Gotta say, I am glad I had done the course - while I was trying to fish it out, I was visualising what I was probably going to have to do next.

I also gotta say, I have to keep a better eye on how clear we keep this floor (even though one of the childcare owners indicated that she will quickly work out that leaves are not tasty and she will give up on them).

Thursday 10 May 2012

Pull up and fall down

Yesterday at mother group, the baby pulled herself up in to a stand twice on the ball rack toy.

Then, at the SIL's house, she pulled herself up on the ottoman (to get to the afternoon tea, after I assured them that she wouldn't do it).

Of course, at the last moment her feet slipped out from under and she slipped and banged her head right on the floor (the second time she burst in to tears in less than an hour).

It took a little while to calm her - it was a bit of a shock for her as it was the furthest she would have fallen, as she went from her highest high to her lowest low (literally).

It was also interesting for me in terms of wanting to calm her, but also wondering what people were thinking... I know that I wasn't being judged on how I dealt with her, but I'm pretty conscious of trying to soothe her while still trying to encourage her to be resilient.

As a person, pre-baby, I've generally been pretty blase about a lot of things - in many ways, blase about 'important' things, and then deeply affected by things which might not seem so important. So even while I had her little tears on my shoulder I was thinking about how I could help her without mollycoddling her, but also how I just wanted to hug and kiss and babytalk her until she forgot about the shock.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Bark worse than bite

Today the baby and my cousin and I visted my SIL and the baby's beautiful cousin for afternoon tea.

My brother and SIL have a giant dog who is young at heart, and still adjusting to having a tiny baby in the house - he was out the back when we arrived.

The baby scooted herself over to the glass door to have a look at the dog - he caught sight of her, had a good look, and gave a single loud bark.

The baby did the biggest jump I've seen.

And then she slowly turned back to me, her lip dropped and she started to sob.

It didn't last long, but it was a very clear reaction to being shocked, where she just wanted her mum to help her feel better.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Another funeral

Sadly, the baby attended her second funeral today.

Unlike the last time, she didn't sleep at all in this one - she only slept for 10 minutes of the 45 minute drive there. She also didn't poop this time (THANKFULLY) - more people would have definitely noticed this time.

She was squirmier though - she was not content to just sit on my lap. And it was quite a small gathering.

My aunty told me it was nice to have a baby there. And I can see that it would be 'nice' to have something or someone to take our mind off it for a little while, to give you reason to not get pulled down in to your sadness.

Monday 7 May 2012

Dear Baby - Month #10

Dear baby,

I almost forgot to write this to you - I actually wrote something else instead!

I looked back at the last letter and saw I got a few things right, and a few things not so right. You aren't crawling yet, but you are pulling yourself along the floor. A lot. All over the place. You're getting more coordinated with it, and more determined, and you're seeking things out - mainly the dogs, and the dogs bed, and the dogs food.

Our bigger dog is going to be your dog, I can just tell. She seeks you out pretty much all day. When you're in the highchair, she's there. When you call out from your room, she sits by the sliding door.  When you cry, she looks at you. And when you're on the floor, she sits right by you. You can't seem to help yourself from pulling on her collar (to the point where you busted it today!), and she just sits there and takes it. I ask you to let go, and you eventually do, but she doesn't move. If you're not pulling her collar, you're touching her toes (which she hates). She just lifts her foot and then places it right back down, unfazed. I was a little unsure of how the little dog would go with you - he was feeling unwell last week and you wouldn't leave him alone, even when he turned his back to you which was his signal for you to leave him alone. Then, today, I saw you pulling his tail. And I was very glad that he didn't yelp or bark or growl, but I am going to need to keep a closer eye on the two of you.

Funnily enough, you are taking a liking to the same tv show that our goddaughter loves - Giggle and Hoot. We took a photo while on holiday with you, of you staring slackjawed at the tv when the show came on. And then tonight, the husband pointed out how you spun around straight away to look at the television when the theme song came on. You love it.

Speaking of the holiday, we had a fantastic time. You were pretty good on the plane and you were very patient in the car and stroller, considering how mobile you are now and how much you love to move. We went to Cairns Zoo, we went to Port Douglas (where you had your first taste of icecream - only to have your own full Weiss bar on the plane trip home!), we went to the Daintree twice, we went to Mossman Gorge, we went to Mareeba Coffee Works, we went to Kuranda, and we went to Cairns. You put your feet in the ocean for only the second time in your life, you came in a swimming pool with us, you posed for photos, you squeaked your way around the apartment, and after the first few nights you started sleeping through the night. And this has continued now that we are home (knock wood!).

The days are getting easier, and you're getting older. I love the way you smile at me every morning when I get you up. I love you sleeping from 8pm - 9.30am. I love your cheeky smiles, I love the way you shake your head at me when I tell you 'no', I love the way you splash and flick and spin around in the bath. I love the way you babble 'bub bub', 'dad dad' and 'mum mum mum'. I love the way you get sad when you think I'm taking your cup away when I'm just refilling it for you. I love the way you stare at me quizically when I'm doing something silly, I love the way you try to imitate the noises I make but really you're just opening your mouth like a fish, I love the way you have started offering things to my mouth and crack up when I pretend to eat them.

I love that you're a bit of me and a bit of your father and a bit of each of my brothers and my parents and my cousins and my in-laws.

I love you, baby girl.

Sunday 6 May 2012

Lets discriminate

I think the baby is learning to discriminate between 'mum' and 'dad'.

This afternoon she was sitting on the couch with the husband, and kept repeating 'mum mum mum mum' and looking around at me and him.

As soon as I took her, she stopped.

This might put some more tension in to the favorite game in the house at the moment 'who do you love more?'....

Saturday 5 May 2012

Sicker

I've been doing my bit to keep babyproofing the house - finding things as she's finding them, then sorting them out.

I'd noticed her pulling at the plastic bags next to the fridge (a bad habit I picked up somewhere along the way), so I decided to pull them out this afternoon and sort out the bags. There were a few aprons beside the fridge too, so I pulled them out to stick them in the washing machine.

As I walked from the fridge to the laundry (about 6 metres), I looked back to see where the baby was, to see if I had enough time to start the washing machine and could still see her.

And then I saw something in front of the fridge, about two metres in front of her.

And my stomach dropped.

A. dead. mouse.

OHMYGOD.

She was nowhere near it. But. Had I not looked back? I feel sick just thinking about it.

Like almost teary sick.

I can't even imagine...

When will I stop doing this sort of thing?!

Friday 4 May 2012

Bullet proof / Baby proof

The baby moves a lot freer now - she pulls herself along on her belly, swooshing both hands to one side and then the other like she's doing some bizarre hula dance. After watching her slam a finger in the tv unit draw and expel massive amounts of drool from her mouth while chewing on a tiny leaf from one of our oak trees (and then catching the babyproofing segment on Better Homes & Gardens), the baby and I ducked off to Bunnings to drop nearly $200 on babyproofing stuff.

Ouch.

I bought some of the hanging cupboard things that I remember my parents having in the bathroom, but they are SUCH A PAIN IN THE BUTT that I don't know that we can be trusted to keep them on all the time. I think I won't even bother installing the ones that I bought where you stick a finger the crack at the top of the drawer or cupboard and push down, because I saw these nifty ones that you open by waving a magnet in front of it.

Of course, while I was pottering around and babyproofing things (I stuff my back wiping up some spat-up banana on Wednesday morning), the baby found her way to the floor lamp and worked out that banging the floor clicker on the floor is not only annoyingly loud, but turns the light on and off and on and off.

And then she made her way to the dog food bowl for a sample.

I guess things get different types of easier and different types of harder.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Mum mum mum

Mum comes third!

After "bub" and "dad", the baby let out her first "mum" today.

It kind of came out as she was whinging with her mouth closed, but she's been pretty consistent with it ever since - in fact, she's doing it so well that I've caught the husband replying "no.... dad dad dad!" when she says it.

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Countdown from two

The baby is down to just two breastfeeds a day.

When we got back from holiday, I opened an email that outlined a few days over the next three months that I need to go in to work to get trained in the role I will be starting on the first of August.

I had already made the decision when the baby started biting me (it only happens once every week or so now, and not usually too hard) that I wouldn't go back to pumping milk because I was over and done with being so engorged and uncomfortable, and it takes at least half an hour to do after each feed. We tried to get her on to formula by adding it to her cereal, but it wasn't really working so we gave it up.

Yesterday I tried to replace the afternoon feed with formula in a sippy cup, but she was on to me. She took a small taste and then pulled a very unimpressed face. I managed to trick her a few more times with the sippy cup (she'd open her mouth for a drink until she got a taste of it and would then pull away) and a few more with a normal cup without a lid, but I don't think she took much at all.

I stayed in all afternoon as I fully expected her to turn a bit feral from hunger, but nope. She was totally fine.

I called the nurses line this morning just to confirm that it was okay to 'drop' that feed, and it was fine.

And I've got to tell you, it feels so freeing to know that our day is now fully our own. Of course, I need to keep aware of her nap times, but I don't need to worry or factor in that feed. Just the one after breakfast and the one before bed.

Of course, I may be a little more upset when she is completely weaned, but this is a nice midpoint.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Games

There's only so many times it would be reasonable to say that the baby is developing in leaps and bounds, but the baby is totally developing in leaps and bounds!

She is getting wrigglier and more determined, so I've found myself holding my carkeys between my teeth while I buckle her out or buckle her in to her carseat, or to stop her wriggling while I carry her in or out of the house.

I was trying to stop the wriggleworm from sticking her hands in to the husbands hot meal on the plane (she did knock over his softdrink though), so I had her facing me on my lap. Which needed two hands. So I had her robot toy in my mouth for her to play with.

As soon as she locked eyes on it, her whole face lit up and she puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulled until I let go with my teeth. She looked down at the toy in her hands, looked back up at me, smiled and then held it back out towards my mouth, for me to take it back between my teeth. And off we went until I was worried for my teeth.

I need to get used to this sort of thing happening - while watching Play-School the other morning, she clapped her hands and kicked her feet during 'If you're happy and you know it', wiggled her butt to the music (she throws her waist back and forth if you say 'dance dance dance!' to her), and then waved goodbye at the end of the episode.