Play feeding

The Toddler doesn't have many dolls. She has two, but she doesn't really show all that much interest in them.

Which is why when she started playing with one the other day, I was really curious to see what would happen.

She cradled it and gave it a hug. Then she pulled up her shirt as if to feed it, and placed it on her bellybutton.

I chose to not read in to that as an indicator on sagginess on my behalf.

Then this morning, she found some of the padded inserts from an old bra of mine, and stuck them down her shirt - she told The Bubby 'it's time to feed!' and then pulled them out and left them on the bedside table.

She also tries to help with The Bubby is distracted at feeding time, by pushing on her head to say 'not watching tv! It's time to feed!' before whispering 'that's better' when it looks like she will feed.

It's adorable, but also interesting to see how much of it she has taken in. She does point and say 'milk in there' and knows kind of what's going on when I have to express. I am just glad she has never asked for any.

Knees

The Bubby is getting really good at rolling over on to her belly, but not so great at going on to her back.

Now, there has been more than one occasion where she's been crying in her cot rather than napping, and I've walked in to find her at the top of her cot, on her belly.

She has also started pulling her knees under her butt. As in, the next step will be pushing up on her arms, and the step after that will be crawling.

STOP PLEASE.

Let's just focus on rolling first so we can all get some sleep, before my gorgeous baby Bubby becomes a crawler then a stander then a toddler....

6 week needles

Same as the last baby, we had to get six week needles done.

I'm just glad The Bubby doesn't have tears yet - so she just looked angry rather than sad.

The poor little thing - she was very vocal about not liking it, and it seemed to take longer than I remember, and she 'cried' longer than I remember. Even halfway through the feed afterwards, she was still pretty distraught.

(Though, she did only wake at 3:30 and 7:30 last night!)

Development Check

I took The Bubby in for her development check yesterday.

She passed!

She now weighs 4.7kg, so she sits at the 50th percentile for weight, 25-50th for head, and 50th-75th for height.

Her hearing is good, her eyes are good (like The Toddler, she is drawn to the lights), and her hips felt good and her rolls are lined up. She peed while being measured (again). Her lips were nice and wet and the dint in her head is just her fontanel.

I only got 3 out for 30 on the depression test, but really, considering I have a toddler at home as well, it's okay to feel sad sometimes, or to feel like things are getting on top of me.

She has needles on Monday (oh no!) and then we're drawing to the end of our appointments. She will have a hip ultrasound next week (and again at 6 months either way), I have to see the endocrinologist and physiotherapist and then that's it for a while.

Bring on the Thursdays and Fridays where I can just sit and rub my nose in her gorgeous hair all day.

Second weigh in

After waiting over an hour in the waiting room, to have only two people go in, we were in and out relatively quickly today.

Chubby bubby is now 4335g - a gain of 455g in two weeks.

Which is, of course, great. But the typical worrier in me has me thinking about how she gained more than that in the previous fortnight....

I know that she couldn't keep putting on that much weight each week, but it goes to show how even a good result can appear to be a worrying result.

She is now in the fiftieth percentile for weight, height and head width - nice and average.

They also didn't seem too worried over the fact that The Bubby grunts continually like Peppa Pig. I guess we'll ask about that in our pediatricians appointment that is coming up.

First official weigh

I took The Bubby out and about today - we dropped The Toddler off at daycare, met The Husband at the hospital to drop off his referral for a bone density scan (his bones are 20-25% stronger than other people in his age group - hooray!), visited friends at work, bought some more 0000 suits with feet on them (brr, it's cold) and got her weighed.

The nurse I saw was one of the two who did the home visit - she recognised me before I did her (mental note, she has short hair).

So at birth, The Bubby was 3180g.
Checking out of hospital she was 3090g.
At one week old, she was 3210g.

Today, at one day short of three weeks old, she weighed 3880g.

The nurse said 'is that right?! That can't be right....'.

It was right.

The Bubby has now gained an average of 340g a week - on track with her older sister who was gaining an average of 360g a week before she was a month old.

I am so relieved.

I am so relieved that these short feeds (last night, she was only doing 7 minutes a side) are fine. I am so relieved that I don't need to find ways to try to force her awake and drink more. I am so relieved that I am hopefully producing another chunky roly-polly chubba bubba.

(now I need to go back and swap those 0000 suits for 000 suits - she won't be in 0000 for much longer at this rate)

These boots were made for walking

Now that the baby is up and off and around everywhere, she is ruining her socks. This is not helped by her newfound status of being 'the outdoor type' and keen to get out in the dirt and grass and up and down the stairs in our backyard.

I took her in to the specialty kids shoes shop to get fitted, as every attempt I've made to fit her for shoes has resulted in us losing said shoes - the baby has (adorable) chubby feet.

When she sat up on the step in the shop (just like the big kids!) the lady hrm'd as she set her tiny baby feet in the foot measurer. "She's not even a size three. I'm not sure what we'll have."

It took three pairs of shoes, and three trips out to the back storeroom, before they found a pair that 'fit' her. And by 'fit', I mean there is probably another third of the length of her foot left as gap up the top. Her feet are also wide, and chubby on the top, so one pair was too narrow, and the other pair cut in to her chubby little feet tops.

Her shoes are little cream t-bar shoes, with a heart on each toe. There are also cutouts in the toes, so she'll be able to wear them in summer.

As the baby toddled around the store trying them out, she kept getting caught up in her steps.

"Does she normally turn her feet in like that?".

Yes, the baby walks with a bit of a turn-in, but it's mostly her right foot, and not normally so noticeable. It was probably exaggerated by the fact she was kind of wearing clown shoes.

After paying $49.95 (!! More than I spend on shoes for me!!!!) the lady suggested we bring her back when she needs new ones, and they'll get her some with extra support, in the hopes that it will help her gait.

I hope it has nothing to do with her hips, and that a bit of practice sorts her out.

Check those hips

A few weeks ago I was wasting time on the computer, when I should have been doing something productive. I clicked through the online paper and saw an article about a doctor needing to be retrained. I clicked through and discovered it was the doctor we have been seeing for the baby's hip dysplasia. Awesome.

Of course, the husband and I were a little worried, so we booked an appointment with the pediatrician, so we could see if we should get a referral to someone else. The appointment wasn't until almost two months after we called in, but then I got a call this afternoon giving me one hours notice to bring the baby in for a cancelled appointment.

The pediatrician went around in circles a few times, but we decided that we would wait another 6 months before we take any more action. He said that her results and her hips are good for her age. Not great, but good. He said that another xray at 18 months would give us more of an idea on how she is going. When we told him we were relieved that we would get the check then, he explained that that was always his plan - he always xrays babies at 18 months. We didn't have another appointment or an xray referral from him, and the orthopedic surgeon also hadn't said anything about an 18 month check, so that's a little confusing, but either way it's a good result.

If we were to take her to Sydney, it is unlikely they would do anything apart from tell us to come back in 6 months. As it is, the pediatrician said that if the baby needed surgery, he would go through Sydney anyway, so we're no worse off. So at this stage, we will be taking the baby in for an xray in early January, with a follow up appointment with our pediatrician, and a referral to Sydney if we want.

Hopefully, the next few months of walking will do her hips some good.

Of course, he did ask questions about the shape of her head towards the end of the appointment, but he didn't explain what he was talking about and he took it back once he saw I was confused. So that's not great.

But he did weigh and measure her and go through a quick check. I did visit the nurse yesterday to have the same check completed, but she marked her on the charts as as 12 month old, not an almost 14 month old. So while I thought she was >90% for height, 50-75% for weight and 50% for head, she is actually spot on 50% for all three.

Shopping

The baby's first birthday is in a week. ONE WEEK. (It's crazy that this all feels so new, but I'm nearing in on a year of it now).

This morning, we headed out to pick up a present for the baby - she's getting one of those multi-phase bike things - basically, we'll be pushing her on a bike with a handle of the back on it, and it will transition through to a little trailer-wheeled trike in a year or two.

There's a few more small things to get, and I still have to (start) planning her party next Saturday. I can't really wrap my head around the fact that this is the first birthday of the baby that we made.

Weigh in

I took the baby in to be weighed yesterday, now that we're pushing it out to once a month or so.

She weighs 9.435kg (50th percentile) is 76cm long (75th percentile) and a head circumference of 50cm (50th percentile). That's an increase of 200g, growth of half a centimeter, and head gain of 5cm in a month.

Her head has followed the average course, but her height and weight have dipped a bit in the last month (but still fine). But since the last appointment, she has dropped both her breastfeeds and learnt to crawl, so it's pretty fair.

The nurse suggested we try her on soy milk, seeing as she is not liking the cows milk, so I'm going to head out and get her a few different types. She also suggested a soft tip cup for the milk, but maybe one that is different to all of her water ones - I had been giving it to her in a hard tip cup so that she wouldn't get it confused with water and stop her water.

She didn't seem too worried about her milk intake as she is still getting three dairy serves a day, and she said the same thing that the last nurse had - it's our job as parents to offer it, and her job to take it.

Walk walk run

The baby is getting closer and closer to walking. You could easily keep her entertained for hours, walking through the house holding her hands. We also had a go this afternoon of holding one hand each, the husband and I, walking a lap as a little family.

She's getting faster with her walking.

She's walking more with her walker trolley, rather than just holding on and trying to keep up as it slips away.

She is crawling around more, faster, with more intent and direction.

It's going to be amazing.

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...!

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.

Breaking through

We think we found the cause of the terrible day last week - while feeding her lunch on Sunday, the husband noticed another flash of white in her top gum.

Tooth number five is almost through, her top right tooth.

Pleeeeeeeeeease let there be no more drama with it!

Development Check

I took the baby in for her 6-9 month development check yesterday - we could have done it earlier, but we wanted to wait until she was out of her harness (I had no idea what they would actually check).

All is going pretty well!

Her weight has slowed down - she hasn't really gained anything noticeable this month. When I asked if this was okay, the nurse commented that it was to be expected once they get more mobile. When I told her that I didn't think the baby was all that mobile, she pointed out that in the month since she has had her harness off, she has learnt how to roll both ways and scootch backwards - that's getting mobile. When I told family about this, they also pointed out how much more head and arm and leg moving she is doing as well.

She is in the 80th percentile for height, so she's getting good and tall.

While I was filling in one of the forms in the book, the nurse commented how fine she was being held by a 'stranger'. She also commented on how active she was, as the baby was pulling for her hair, her necklace, her glasses - whatever she could.

The book asked whether I had any concerns about the baby's preschool skills - when I commented that I didn't know what that meant, the nurse demonstrated drawing with a pen and then giving the pen to the baby - preschool skills are when they are curious and copy. The baby did a little line scribble, and the nurse commented that it's not usually applicable until they're 10 months or older. So, yay!

She said that the baby was quite strong - demonstrated through her commitment to stomach crunching and holding her head up when she was meant to be laying flat, and the way she likes to lift her back up off the mat so she is kind of like a baby rainbow. When they tested if she was weightbearing in her legs, she noticed that the baby likes to get up on her tiptoes first - so we should make sure we tilt her backwards a bit until she is on her heels, and make sure she doesn't try to grip with her toes.

When she made  a comment about sitting, I showed her how well she sits. The nurse did agree she was good, but did reinforce that tummy time is the most important thing - learning to crawl is more important than learning to sit.

So we have a bit of homework, but I think she's already doing better on her tummy and on her heels

It is pretty amazing to think that in the last month or so she has learnt to roll both ways, learnt to scootch backwards, gotten a whole lot better with her sitting, mastered more of the skills on her activity toy (she can lift the flap back and forth now), she spends much longer at tummy time, lifts her back off the mat, grew two more teeth, started chatting, started planking and started with 'bub bub bub'... it really has been a big month!

Hair

The baby wasn't born with a lot of hair (despite the old wives tale of pregnancy heartburn = hairy baby and the way I chewed through those Tums all night long) - just a fine dusting of little hairs all over her head.

She's had all hair colours, moving through stages - what little hair she had was quite blonde at first, then it turned darker and grew in to a little mullet. Then it turned a little ginger and the mullet seemingly rubbed off.

Depending on the light, it looks to be all three - most of the time, to me, it looks like a mousy blond. I noticed a little tuft right on the crown of her head this morning, and it looks blonde. But close to her head, it seems brown. And in the sunlight, traces of ginger still.

Over the last month or so, it has really started to thicken out (in comparison to her virtually invisible initial hair, that is). It's growing thicker on the top than the sides, in a big thick line down the top of her head - sort of like a mini Ruby Rose:

How awesome would that be ;o)

'No'

I got an email from one of the many baby websites I'm subscribed to - it's another one that updates you on your baby's progress from week to week. Apparently, for 7 months + 2 weeks:

By now, you may have already told your baby that the telephone is not a toy, or that rattles are not for throwing, or that his sister's hair is not for pulling. At this age your baby may begin testing your authority by refusing to follow your simple directions. He's not being disobedient or wilful – just curious.

Keep in mind that he also simply can't remember things you tell him for more than a couple of seconds at a time. The best tactic is to use a simple "no" and then distract him.

Similar to this post the other week - how?!

I think that perhaps what I can't get my head around is the whole concept of learning a language. In my head, they need to be shown a thing, have it pointed at, and the name said a bunch of times so that they know what it means.

And obviously, you can't show them a 'no' or a 'sad' or a 'love'.

On the same theme, my dad sent us a link to an article that babies aged six to nine months understand the meaning on many words, with a big leap at the fourteen month mark.

I guess I better up my talking and pointing!

Turning

This afternoon, I was trying to trick the baby in to having a nap with me - I was tired, she was but she was in denial.

I lay her on the bed and held her teething ring up in front of her. As I turned it, the bubbles would float through the little sections from the bottom to the top. Then I'd tip it upside down and they'd do it again.

After a while, she was reaching out to grab on (as she does) so I passed it to her.

And then she turned it upside down. And then she turned it again. And again.

I tell you - this whole baby-turning-in-to-a-person thing is crazy amazing to watch.

Wonder weeks

An online friend has posted this chart a few times, and it's a great reference:

'Wonder weeks' are rough periods of time when babies go through developmental leaps - all this thinking and learning makes them fussy (apparently, they even sleep less as there is just so much going on in their heads they can't relax). Then, once they're done 'leaping', they fall back in to their 'usual' lovely sunny demeanor.

The fact that the baby is now at roughly 30 weeks might explain why there is a lot of crying and arm flapping going on in our house at the moment...

Shade cover

We were trying to get some gardening done today - the husband started outside while I fed the baby and put her to sleep, then I had 45 minutes to get as much done as I could.

When the husband ducked inside to put on some sunscreen, he came back out with the baby, a little earlier than I expected. I set her out in her rocker chair and a bunch of toys and a hat, in the hopes we could continue to garden while she would keep herself entertained. But, of course, there were tonnes of flies and mosquitos hanging around, so we couldn't really just leave her out there to fend for herself.

I remembered I'd bought a shade/bug cover for the stroller, so I sat it over the chair. She was happy for a minute or two, then she was not. impressed. at. all.

So I brought her inside and we played on the bed. And I fed her. And we played some more. And she continued to mope - she would be happy when you leant in to kiss her, but cranky when you weren't. I tried some Bonjella on her top gum and it seemed to calm her a bit, then I tried to put her back down to sleep. It took three tries to get her down for good - she just wanted to lay on my chest while I sat in the rocking chair, and she would hum to herself. Then as soon as she's stop and start to get sleepy, I would put her down and she would wake up cranky. The only way I managed to get her down was to put her in her cot and then keep my head on her belly for a minute, so she would think she was still on me.

Last night I slept 1am-230; 240-330; 355-545; 600-730; 740-900. Then the husband got out of bed and took the baby so I got two hours of unbroken sleep.

I hope this is her top teeth coming in.

I hope they come soon.