Little Miss at 20 months

So our little lady is 20 months old. How do I describe her? She is feisty, demanding, bossy, caring, fun, loving, cheeky, and seriously cute as well as infuriating haha. She is also learning so so much all of the time and it is wonderful to watch her growing from a baby into a little girl.20160619_105035

She really has made a sudden leap in the last couple of months, and though we still don’t have many words, her communication has really stepped up. She pays so much attention when we talk to her and understands so much of what we say, often following directions. Her babbling is almost constant and she makes some seriously lovely noises.

She also does have more noises approximating words, sentences and phrases. “i wan dat” is one, though it often comes out as i-on-da with arms thrust at whatever it is she wants haha. I’m also sure that one day when I asked where her ball was she said something resembling “oer dare” and then “igetit” but it is difficult to be sure. We aren’t worried by the lack of actual words. Her brother didn’t speak at all beyond babbling until he was 2, and now he never shuts up haha. And like I say she understands so much and communicates her needs very well. In fact she is so so bossy. And because she is pretty darn adorable she gets her own way from people a lot… Hmm.

The downside to the lack of words is the frustration that we don’t understand her. And frustration when we don’t do what she wants. Ooh she does get frustrated and very much makes her feelings known. Screaming her head off and holding her breath til she is blue in the face. Lying on the floor screaming, sitting on the floor screaming. Oh the tantrums are really really starting, especially when I don’t give in to her bossyness, and we never had it as bad with Monkey. It is so embarrassing at times but I also try not to worry too much.

She can also be the loveliest loveliest girl. She always wants to be helpful and always brings us all our shoes when we want to go out (and when we don’t want to…), she loves washing her big brother in the bath and is so proud of herself when we ask her to give someone something and she does it. She loves feeding her dolls and toys and us haha and is always trying to give people food and drink! She strokes pictures of animals and says aaah and adores her teddies and cuddly things. She loved seeing our friends’ Guinea pig recently and gave them some carrot to eat! She also hates when people are upset and if we can hear a child crying she will get really concerned and say “oh no!” she really hates when her brother is upset too. She loves a good cuddle too and there’s nothing I like more than having her snuggle on my lap.PhotoGrid_1467045986712

She runs just about everywhere and has the cutest bouncy run. As much energy must go into bouncing up and down as moving forward but she looks so adorable when she runs off. She is seriously fast when she wants to be though!

She is intrigued by everything in the world and routinely stops to explore a blade of grass, leaves and was so excited to watch and follow a bumble bee a few days ago, giggling away everytime it flew from one flower to another. In general she just loves being outdoors and if you follow my instagram feed you will know how much she loves puddles and bubbles and climbing. PhotoGrid_1467050215991

She adores being in the bath and is such a water baby. She loves playing and splashing about with her brother but also adores lying down and having a swim. Sometimes in a bubbly bath we can only see her head which is a bit bizarre but she seriously adores it and it’s just lovely seeing her happy in there.PhotoGrid_1467046353251

She is learning so much all the time and getting more dextrous. We have been working on fine motor controls and generally having a lot more involved play she loves sorting things and just exploring in general. Her latest loves are painting, and play doh! She would play playdoh all day long if she had her way. Thank goodness she also enjoys watching peppa pig and paw patrol as that usually distracts her when I am at the end of my play doh tether haha.PhotoGrid_1467053235157

She is desperate to be a big girl and loves drinking from an open cup and using her fork and spoon which is lovely to see. Though she still uses her hands most of the time!PhotoGrid_1467045614881

She still loves her food and though she can be fussy at times with new things on the whole she is great. Favourites include curries, especially with chickpeas in, baked beans, tortelloni in tomato sauce, my homemade soups and strawberries!

She loves books and stories and is constantly bringing books for me to read her, or sitting flicking through pages and lifting flaps on her own. She is getting interested in some more grown up books too and currently loves “What the ladybird heard” and enjoyed her brother’s current favourite “the pirate who lived next door. ”

She is a complete and utter loon at times. She loves spinning around and throwing herself on the floor. It baffles me but is another sign of how full of fun she is. She so loves to laugh and to make others laugh too. We adore our girl so much and it is a privilege to be her mummy, even if she does drive me crazy at times. She is cute as a button and I love, love, love watching her grow and learn.PhotoGrid_1467056019675

 

MummascribblesEthans Escapades

Little Miss is 18 mths old

Wow, so our gorgeous, clever little lady is 18mths old. I can’t believe it as the last 6 months have seriously flown by and she really is growing into a little girl before our eyes. Our baby girl is just not a baby anymore and that’s a scary thought.18 mths

So what is she up to? Well in many ways she’s not changed that much since my update last month, but in other ways she really is developing and changing so much all of the time.

So similarities first. She is still fiercely independent and loves to go her own way when we are out on walks. She is still absolutely obsessed with puddles and it can be seriously hard to get her away from one she is having fun splashing in. Cue screaming and tantrums and kicking off wellies as she certainly knows how to let us know her displeasure! She’s also discovered daisies this month too which really slows down our walks!PhotoGrid_1461566330322

Her communication is one area where she has really developed this month. We still don’t have many words but it really feels like she is on the cusp as there are lots of *almost* words. Still duck, hiya, mama, da-de (somewhere between dada and daddy), dat (that) but also approximations of no (nananananananana at increasing volume), yes, wow, out, down, boots, and my mum is convinced she has said car too. Aside from the words she is really good at letting us know what she wants and getting us to do her bidding. She has an ‘ayow’ noise, which accompanied by a hand wave, means “get me that” or “I want that” or “hold my hand” or basically “help me with this” which we have to interpret depending on the situation!

We are getting good at this but she does expect everyone to be able to understand her too. She is such a little attention seeker actually and loves getting people to do her bidding. On play dates she will always try and persuade (by taking their hands, saying ayow and leading them to where she wants) other mums to help her, even when she doesn’t really need helping! She is such a flirt too and positively beams at people and is learning that helps her get what she wants. Especially with her softy uncles who all adore her!

She has also developed some other really cute hand movements. She loves playing hide and seek (thankfully as Monkey insists on playing at least once a day) and is so cute when she holds her hands up and looks around in imitation of us saying “where’s he gone?”. She also does a similar hand movement when she has done something she is proud of. So when she has put some puzzle pieces in, or I’ve helped her finish something, and it is lovely seeing her so proud of herself. The other hand movement she has learned this month is a high five. She loves giving people high fives and generally has to give a high five to everyone in the building!PhotoGrid_1461585348189

Her personality is developing so much and she loves to laugh and loves trying to make people laugh. She’s actually a bit of a show off, running around and spinning and beaming at people who come to visit. As I mentioned she is an attention seeker so she likes going up to people and messing with them. With adults she goes up with a big grin and almost throws herself at them, and with other kids, she likes trying to tickle them and messes with their hair. She constantly does this to her brother and it does make him laugh!

She loves being chased by her brother and by me, and will take any opportunity, especially at nappy change time or when I am trying to get her dressed, to run away giggling! I do indulge her quite a bit as it is gorgeous seeing her so happy while saying “Mummy’s gonna get you..” hehe.PhotoGrid_1461576088907

Because I have felt a bit like I baby her I have been trying to make sure I do lots of activities with her this month. I looked up the activities I did with Monkey at this age and have been trying to do similar with LM. So we have been painting and playing with play doh which she loves. I’ve also got some puzzles and very simple jigsaws out and she loves having a go at those.PhotoGrid_1461585495955

We’ve also made a bit of a change this month and have moved from the high chair to a booster chair at the big table.
She was in the high chair far longer than Monkey and has always been happy in there but lately less so. She loves sitting at the big table with us and positively beams at Daddy and I during dinner which is amazing. Food wise we are going through a bit of a fussy stage with her unfortunately. I had hoped that baby led weaning would have maybe prevented this but I really hope she doesn’t get as bad as her brother was at this age. So far she still adores fruit, ans she likes what she likes. So meals we have frequently, such as tortellini in pasta sauce, curry, Thai curry, falafel, cheese on toast, soups, carbonara etc, she loves and will tuck into. Anything we haven’t had for a while or anything new she just will not try and it generally ends up on he floor. Seeing a plate of lovely food fly across the room is so frustrating but I am trying to rise above and give her just one or two bits at a time to throw and hope she gets the taste for it! She’s even started pulling apart trusty fish fingers so she will eat the breaded bits around the edge but not the fish despite previously loving them. So frustrating! She does have a good diet so I am trying not to stress but it drives me mad too and I hate having such fussy eaters.20160412_170840

Anyway back to happier things, as I mentioned above she loves puddles but basically she loves water in all its forms. She adores water play and watering the garden. We have done water painting which she was brilliant at and she adores bathtime fun in the bath. To be honest she would be happy playing with water most of the day I think haha and at least it is an easy activity to clean up.PhotoGrid_1461581799751

She also adores just going for a walk. She frequently finds her wellies or a pair of shoes and is actually amazing at getting them on herself which I am dead impressed by. She then presents me with my shoes and I know it is time to go out. She can walk for ages and we have braved a few short walks without the buggy as she can walk a good long way now when she is in the mood. The buggy does help though if I need to get her away from a puddle!PhotoGrid_1461585791928

She loves visiting our friends next door who have a trampoline in the garden and she lives bouncing on there. Their 8 yr old is also really really good with her and gives her loads of attention which she also loves. We joke that she is going to be a gymnast when she is older as she loves being upside down and being flipped over and helped to do role poleys. It’s a bit barmy actually as she even likes lying back and being upside down in the shopping trolley, looney girl! She loves climbing and unfortunately after copying some older children now likes climbing up the slide, which means I have to really watch her and make sure she goes up the steps rather than the slide itself! She’s also teaching herself how to use Monkey’s scooter which is cute and a bit amazing to me as Monkey’s only really got good in the last year. They really are such different children.PhotoGrid_1461586218971

These updates are never the most eloquent of prose as I keep adding bits as I remember them, and I know that they are a bit picture heavy, but I hope one day she will like to read what she was up to at this age. She is a force to be reckoned with at times and has the loveliest smile that just melts the heart of anyone she bestows it on.18 mths 2

She drives me potty at times but I adore her all of the time.

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Little Miss’s First Paintings – 17 mths old

I wrote recently about how I felt like I babied my Little Miss a little. I seem to forget that she is growing all of the time and I realised that I have held back from doing certain activities as I have felt she is “too young” when she isn’t really. So I have been doing what I can to remedy that and trying to be more creative and braver with what I do with her – including, dun dun dun, letting her loose with the paints. We did some water painting in the garden a few days previously and she was great with the brush so I knew she was ready to have a go with the real thing too.

We started off simple, just one or two colours – I went for blue and purple as I thought the least food-like colours would be the best idea to prevent any paint from ending up in her mouth! It was so cute seeing her dabbing the paintbrush in the paint and on the paper, she really is growing up!PhotoGrid_1460986196257

She started to explore the paint with her fingers, obviously, and I added a few more colours. There was a moment where a pink paint covered finger started to make its way towards her mouth but A quick but stern “no” thankfully stopped it in it’s tracks!PhotoGrid_1460986287817

She soon ended up with full on hand prints but she was loving every minute and I have to admit I loved watching her, despite the inevitable mess!PhotoGrid_1460986377973

She kept wanting more and more paint and seemed to be getting overwhelmed and frustrated so unfortunately we had to call time and head to the kitchen for the clean up operation so it didn’t end amazingly happily, but I know it was a good learning experience for her and lets face it, the first of many, many, many painting sessions to come!PhotoGrid_1460986437184

Just because I think she is incredibly cute, here is a little clip of her enjoying her painting session 🙂

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Little Miss at 17 Months

Its been a couple of months since I last wrote an update for our gorgeous girl, and she really has grown up so much in that time. As I type this the poor darling is snuggled up to me as she has caught chicken pox from her brother and she is really not herself. So it is quite nice to think about how happy she is most of the time!20160317_161816a

I say most as she is incredibly strong-willed which leads to some doozies of tantrums. She knows what she wants and if she can’t have it she certainly knows how to tell us she isn’t happy about it even though she doesn’t have many words yet. She is really pushing her boundaries and asserting her will a lot, which is all part of her age but it can be hard work! Most of her tantrums are because she can’t do what she wants… Such as stand on the sofa, push buttons on the laptop or walk onto a road. Some are out of frustration too as she wants to be able to do things that she can’t always quite manage. She is doing so well though.

She is really good with her hands now is really quite dextrous. She loves posting things (as all toddlers do) and adores Monkey’s Mr Potato Head and she spends ages putting things in and out of the holes. She even made a proper face the other day which I was surprised by… Though then went back to random combinations so I think it’s just the law of averages that she would have got them in the right place eventually hehe. She is also learning how to build with blocks. I’ve seen her build a tower of 4 but for the most part she likes to build a few towers of 2 or 3 arranged just so, which is seriously cute to watch. She likes things the way she likes them!hands

She plays so well independently too, in a way her big brother never really has. She obviously loves being played with and she almost constantly what’s me to read her stories, but there is a lot of time when she is just content to potter about by herself, playing with toys. This also goes for little soft play areas. On a recent visit to a cafe with a play area she was happy playing in there by herself for ages and then loved it when some older girls joined her too. There is no way Monkey would ever have been happy playing on his own like this at her age! He only just does it now and even then he gets bored after a few mins. She is so sociable and adores other kids and for the most part other kids love her too.play area

She really is an independent little miss though and when we are out for a walk she often just decides she wants to go in a particular direction and off she trots. Again something Monkey never really did as he never wanted to leave our side. It’s obviously not always a good thing and she gets in such a mard when I have to stop her going the way she wants, to you know, save her life. I mean, how dare I stop her walking in the road!?independent

Another trouble we have with walks is puddles. I’ve actually decided she is addicted to puddles as she just cannot keep away from them. She is generally wearing waterproofs and wellies so is allowed in puddles, but it’s like she can’t walk away from them. She tries, and she takes a few steps, then stops and looks back longingly at the puddle. She can do this a few times before running back to the puddle and starting the cycle all over again. It does mean it takes a heck of a long time to get anywhere if there are puddles about!puddles

She loves being out and about though so I can’t mind too much. She often gets her coat and shoes and demands (wordlessly) that we put them on. Even if she is only wearing pjs at the time haha.She is also trying really hard to put her boots on herself and is great at getting her arms in her coat. She often presents me with my shoes too or takes me by the hand and leads me to the front door bless her.

She is getting so quick on her feet too, running about everywhere, though she also still falls over a lot and constantly seems to have grazed or bruised knees. She also spends so much time running round the living room and spinning herself. She has also even taught herself to jump! She’s only managed both feet off the floor a couple of times but we can’t believe it as Monkey was nearly 3 before he learned to jump. She loves being active, she adores swimming and being the bath and is such a little water baby.

It also looks like she may be talking earlier than her big brother did. She is very vocal and there are definitely early versions of the words, hiya, dada, (often combined to be hiyadada) and duck are the main ones but there are more and more sounds these days and she understands so much that we say and ask her to do (even though she doesn’t always listen… ;)). She also makes the most gorgeous durdle durdle noises, and I managed to get a very cute snippet of this on film one day when she was just sat playing with toy food. Such adorable little noises I know I will miss when she is talking more.

She’s shooting up and seems really tall now which has really upped her climbing on things as she can climb onto some low chairs. She’s fearless too with climbing from one chair to another and scares the bejeeses out of me at times! Oh I could go on talking about her little ways for ages I think so I will leave it there.

She is growing up so fast and while there are many things about the age that I won’t miss (such as poo in the bath, dinner thrown everywhere, the whining etc.), there are many things I will miss. The way she kicks her legs when she is happy and the way she screws her face up when she splashes herself. The sounds she makes… from growling to giggling to durdle durdle ing. The way she shouts hiya to everyone and runs for cuddles, and the way she picks up a phone and says hiya. The way she puts a blanket on her head and spins round in circles, laughing her head off because she can’t see where she is going. LM 17 mthsThe way she sits cross legged when she is concentrating on something and the way she runs away giggling every time I come to change her nappy – especially cute when her little botty is bare! The way she shouts “duck” at every picture of a duck in every book we own! The way she closes the door to the conservatory then plays hide and seek through the glass panes. The way she loves running down hills, with even the tiny slope outside of her Granny’s house providing much merriment. The concerned look on her face if she hears someone crying, expecially if it is her brother. The way she sometimes lies face down on the floor like she has passed out. Such a randomer!

Sometimes I really wish I could bottle her up and keep her this way forever. But I know there is more fun to come too. For now I am looking forward to her feeling better and being back to her normal happy self.

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Little Miss is 1!

Wowee! Here we are at the end of our Little Miss’ first year of life! In the early days the weeks seemed to last forever but in reality the past year has absolutely flown by. We have all come such a long way in the past year and no-one more so than the little lady herself. From a teeny wee thing who struggled so badly with colic, temporary lactose intolerance and reflux… to our beaming, happy, gorgeous little toddler.Lm is 1

I honestly just adore her 100% and she is such a Mummy’s girl which is lovely but obviously a tad infuriating at times when she does not want me to move from her side. I do feel for Daddy too when she is writhing out of his arms to try and get to me. Thankfully though this isn’t all the time and she is a generally a smily happy girl, she is so sociable, she loves people and is just a quite contented little thing really.20151018_111552 (2)

The last month has seen her take the huge leap from baby to fully fledged toddler as she now walks everywhere and I have to admit I love it. At home she is constantly pottering about finding things to inspect and she loves running and throwing herself onto the beanbag, which is hilarious.

Unfortunately it also means a lot of falling over so she constantly has bruises and scratches on her face from face-planting the floor or a piece of furniture poor thing. I also have to keep a close eye on her as she likes picking things up and putting them in her mouth. At home it isn’t too bad (though she has a penchant for crayons at the moment, joy) but out and about is a nightmare and I am constantly saying no and running when I see a fistful of mud or stones heading to her mouth. Sadly I don’t spot it in time every time, so try to convince myself that a little mud never killed anyone! She also likes to find manky puddles of water, splash her hands in them then put her fingers in her mouth… noooo!20151015_164520

She does understand “no” but rarely obeys and generally gives a huge cheeky grin and shakes her head before carrying on what she was.doing… grrr! There are other times when she does listen but they are few and far between… so I sound like a bit of a stuck record but I know repetition is all I can do at the moment, that and picking her up and moving her away from dangerous things such as radiators or the oven!

In terms of food she is still really good for the most part but there are signs of fussiness showing…. sadly BLW hasn’t completely staved this off… she definitely doesn’t like broccoli anymore and I don’t think she is too keen on potato. But even though her Daddy adores potato I have never been a huge fan of potato so maybe it is hereditary? Who knows, we shall see how this progresses though and we don’t have any of the problems we had with her brother as she scoffs curry and anything with pasta and she adores fruit which is great. She also eats a ridiculous amount – easily an adult portion at mealtimes and WAY more than her big brother eats. I have no idea where she puts it all!20150918_114827

She is also a very different baby to her brother in terms of routine. Whereas he was in a fab routine from 4 months and then was always so much happier in a routine, she is so different. We struggled massively to ever get her to settle in a routine for more than a few days at a time, BUT, and here’s the thing, now she is much more flexible which is actually handy. She now is best when she has one nap in the afternoon. She has a long sleep, is happier and sleeps in later the next morning (till nearly 7am, wahoo!). But on days when we are in the car a lot she sometimes dozes off in the morning then either doesn’t nap in the afternoon or has a shorter sleep. And do you know what? She is still fine. She wakes up earlier the next morning (between 530-6) but is still pretty contended on it so I really can’t complain. Monkey was always a nightmare if you shifted his routine even slightly so it is a nice change and a relief after the struggles of trying to get her to settle in a routine all year!

tumbletotsNow that she is awake more though we are getting out and about a bit more too. I take her to tumbletots on a Monday morning when Monkey is at playgroup, which she loves. She loves the other people most of all I think but also has a lot of fun exploring all of the equipment. Then on a Tuesday my parents take her to rhyme time at the local library while Monkey and I have a Mummy and Monkey morning. Apparently she loves going and is getting more and more confident as the weeks go by, which is lovely. I hope it will also do her good to be away from me for a little while every week too. She adores her Nanny & Pops and is very comfortable being with them and they love having her which is great.

She has always been an incredibly loud baby and she knows how to make her feelings well and truly known. We are very much getting a lot of whining and she makes the Marge Simpson noise when she wants something (you know, closed mouth, mmmmmgrh hehe). We do also have the start of words too which is really lovely. She occasionally makes an almost “tickle tickle” sound – much more joined together and unclear, but she has also been known to accompany this with grabbing Monkey in a tickly way… and obviously we say it a lot to both of them so we think she is trying to copy us. She also definitely says “uh oh” and copies us whenever we say it (and hubs now says it a LOT to make her say it) and whenever she drops something, which is massively adorable!! I feel like I am constantly comparing her to her big brother but I can’t help it as this is another way she is very different to him as he didn’t say his first word until he was 2!LMs 1st year

So there we have it, our gorgeous little lady as she approaches her first birthday! I love the determined happy little person she is growing into and am looking forward to what the next year will bring.

Ethans EscapadesNot My Year OffThe Reading Residence
MaternityMondays

Little Miss at 9 Months

Wow so our little lady turns 9 months old this week! Which means she has been in the world for as long as she was growing in my tummy! Her development seems to be coming on leaps and bounds all the time now and for the most part she is a joy to be around. She just beams with happiness when she smiles and melts our heart on a daily basis.

9 months

She is keeping us on our toes though. For a while we have been convinced she was going to be a crawler.. And she can do it… Or could if she wanted to. But she doesn’t want to. Nope, like her big brother she would prefer to walk, thank you very much!

crawling vs walking

So though she can crawl she more often is trying to stand and falls flat bless her… Unless there is something or someone to grab onto. We still had her on the highest cot level until this week but had to lower her after I came in to see her after her nap and found her on her knees, holding the side and about to stand. If she had stood up she basically would have gone head first out of the cot! Eek!

As she wants to walk around that also means we are walking around with her a lot. Not great for our backs unfortunately but I know it will only be in the short term as we did the same with Monkey and he walked pretty early.

Her sleep regression troubles have eased off a little thankfully. My Mum’s tip of rubbing her back helps if she is struggling to settle herself but for the most part she does get herself off to sleep quite quickly again. Phew! Less screaming does make the house feel a lot calmer.

She seems to have settled into a little bit of a routine for the time being… Where she sleeps from 10-1130/12 in the morning,3-4 in the afternoon and then 730pm-6am overnight. It is nice knowing a little bit what to expect but I doubt this routine will last long and, well, I know she can change at any given moment! She does so like keeping me on my toes!!

She is a chatty little thing and been saying dada or jaja indiscriminately for a while and it has been lovely to hear mama or maba come out recently too. I know she doesn’t know what it means but it is still lovely. She is getting more giggly as well and loves being tickled, which is obviously great fun.

She loves people, adores her daddy and still worships her big brother, smiling the second she sees him. She also likes grabbing him, which he takes in good spirits for the most part bless him.

This week we have had a some waving at people which has been lovely and is just another example of how we are entering what I see as the fun stage. Yes it is still hard work, but a little less so and with all of the learning and developments comes a lot of fun for all of us.

lm 9 mths collage

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Little Miss at 6 mths

I’m a little late with Little Miss’s 6 month update as we were away on holiday when she turned 6 months, but here she is on the day she turned 6mths old. Our little beauty! I can’t believe we made her, I just can’t!

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I got her weighed this week at 6mths 1 wk and she is doing really well. Despite losing a little weight when she had Bronchiolitis and didn’t want to eat, her love of solids and her milk has meant she has put the weight back on and more, which is obviously is wonderful news and she is now 15lb8oz

So yes the weaning is going really well, for the most part. We have gone for the traditional puree style weaning as we started at a little younger than 6 mths, and because we found it worked well with Monkey. (I will go into more of this in a future post). Initially I made purees for her and just had jars on days out but while we were on holiday, jars were the easiest thing as I didn’t fancy making purees on my holidays! The problem being that now she mainly wants to just eat the jars and won;t touch any of the lovely healthy purees I am making at home. Which is really frustrating! So, for the sake of less stress, while we will keep trying her on homemade purees, we are using a lot of jars… so bring on the orange food I guess!

WP_20150425_10_15_26_ProMeanwhile she is the oddest child when it comes to drinking her milk. She hates being held to feed and is much happier lying down while drinking (?) where she can wriggle around to her hearts content and have a good nosey at what is going on around her. Seriously, we get into the oddest positions while feeding her!

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She also has a serious aversion to socks and they get pulled off all the time. We tried sock-ons but she pulls those off too and shoves them (and the sock) in her mouth and well the sock-ons felt like more of a choking hazard than anything so they have gone by the wayside now 😕

So what else is she doing? Chatting. Lots and lots of chatting which is adorable. It stopped for a bit but has come back with a vengeance again and is adorable. Here is a little clip of her chatting away in the bathy 🙂

She’s laughing a lot more now too and we have a gorgeous video of that but it has been vetoed as we make her laugh by saying her name over and over!

She’s not sitting unsupported yet, which is totally normal, but we had hoped she would be by now. Monkey was very stable sitting by 6 months and it is difficult not to compare… although he was a tummy sleeper from a few mths old so I guess he built up his muscles sooner than she has. We are eager for her to be able to sit properly though!

She still loves grabbing and Daddy’s ear is very much a target for her little hands at any opportunity. She also likes grabbing anything and everything that is in reach too, so we are having to be careful about where her little arms are heading! SHe is so inquisitive though and just loves grabbing and eating anything she is able to get her hands on!WP_20150423_18_12_54_Pro

Still no real routine in sight and actually it was ok while we were away as she was flexible and fit in to our plans easily. Now we are home it would be lovely if she settled down, but so far she is more up and down than ever and one day she barely slept at all! She is so good at night though (apart from the 530am starts some days) so we can’t really complain

Another exciting little development is that we have discovered today that our little lady has her first tooth! Very exciting. Not sure why I feel so proud of her about it… but I do 🙂

She also loves her walker now and is starting to scoot about in it, especially when trying to reach a toy she can gum (now semi-chew) to death!

So there we have it, our little lady at just over 6 mths old – how the time flies eh?

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Monkey at 34 mths

I can’t believe my little Monkey is only a couple of months away from being 3! It feels so grown up and impossible for my baby boy to be that age… but at the same time it makes sense as he has grown up so much lately and is such a lovely little lad, he melts my heart daily (as well as driving me crazy multiple times a day 😉 !

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So what is he up to? Well lots and lots he is always on the go! You may have read the recent updates about him – Monkey Says and Learning to Read but there is lots more going on too.

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Little Miss at 5 Months

5 Months? Where does the time go? The weeks and months really are flying by and I can’t believe we are nearly at the end of March and that my baby girl is now 5 months old. Nearly half a year already!

5 months

I have to admit I am glad that it is going so quickly though.. Does that sound awful? I adore my baby girl, she is beautiful and lovely and wonderful…. but man is she hard work. I guess I am just not a baby person. I am looking forward to a few months time, when she can sit up by herself, is eating some normal food, starts to get around by herself and starts getting cheekier, actually.

In the meantime though, I will stop wishing away the months and focus on what she is up to at the moment. I’m not sure how much she weighs, I meant to take her on Thurs… but I forgot, lol! She is starting to move into 6-9 mth clothes though. Mainly because she has a long body and a big head so some are getting tight. Her legs aren’t fully out of the 3-6 mths trousers, and honestly we joke that she has short t-rex arms as even with some tops that no longer fit her body, we still have to roll the cuffs up on her sleeves so she can access her hands! On the subject of clothes … she loves being naked. She loves it when we take her clothes off in the morning or at bathtime, she gets so happy and wriggly! In complete contrast to Monkey who has never liked being naked at all.

One of my favourite things about our gorgeous girl is the beuatiful look of undisguised joy when she sees her Mummy and Daddy. It melts our hearts every time and makes all of the hard work so worthwhile. When we go into her in the morning or after a nap and she sees us, she just beams. If I am carrying her up to her Daddy she gives him the biggest grins when she sees him, and she does the same to me when someone else is holding her. It really is wonderful.

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Her hair cracks me up to, it is currently growing straight up as like a fluffy mohican… which is so cute!

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In general she is a pretty smiley baba and loves being with people. She gives so many of her family the beautiful smiles too and adores her big brother. She watches him constantly and actually it is really frustrating trying to feed her when he is around as she wants to be looking at him as soon as she hears him, even if that then makes her grumpy because she is hungry!

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She is so alert and fascinated by everything in the world that it isn’t just her brother that distracts her. She is always looking around at everything and is really grabbing onto toys and things now. She is fascinated by the remote control for the TV and adores some of her toys cooing and chuckling at them. She also loves grabbing on to us. It is lovely when she clutches at our clothing and sometimes when feeding her, a little hand will start pulling at your lips and cheek. Or sometimes when Daddy is holding her she will grab onto his ear or beard which is very cute but not so comfy for him.

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She likes to be propped up into a sitting position but still can’t support herself yet and flops forward if unsupported. After rolling once at about 3 months, she is yet to do it again!She’ll get there though I’m sure. She loves her feet and plays with them whenever she can – lying down, in the bath and she is constantly kicking them and sort of rubbing them together. We noticed this habit when she was tiny and it is even more pronounced now, she loves sort of rubbing her ankles together, crossed and uncrossing them. Basically she is a fidget pants!

So where is the hard work? Well we don’t know if she is teething or just poorly or what but she is so grumpy lately. There are times when we literally don’t know what to do other than give her calpol or baby ibuprofen. I hate feeling like I am dosing her up, so it is a last resort but it is happening fairly frequently lately because it does help her and we figure that it’s not happy pills, it is pain relief, so if she wasn’t in pain it wouldnt help, if that makes sense? 

Now she is on normal formula and we don’t have to worry about Lactose free so much I tried her on Ashton & Parsons Powders, as they helped Monkey at this age, but they seemed to give her quite a bad tummy still. She has an amber anklet, which we lost for a while and honestly didn’t see any difference in her, though we have found it and it is back on in case it is helping in any way! we have anbesol teething gel which seems to take the edge off for her sometimes but is only ever a brief relief and sometimes makes no difference.

It’s just really hard trying everything and putting all of your energy into trying to help her but generally feeling completely useless as nothing seems to work. I don’t want to resort to pain meds but she is inconsolable sometimes and won’t sleep or eat and has to be attached to me constantly. Which is exhausting, mentally and physically when she is also writhing and fidgeting in my arms. It also feels unfair to Monkey when he is left to fend for himself in front of the TV and with toys strewn everywhere as I can’t give my attention to both at the same time while she is in that mood.

All of this is not helping us with her routine. On good days she does seem to be adjusting herself into a routine, that is earlier than we like, but it is still a routine, so we go with it! Awake around 530am until about 730. Sleeps until around 930 then is awake until around 12. wakes up 130/2 ish and then has a short nap around 4, which can be anywhere between 30 mins to an hour and a half. days like this i love as it allows time with Monkey, time for jobs and quality time with her. But when she is in a mess she will only sleep for about 30 mins at a time and so has 5 short naps a day and is still grouchy and miserable which makes the whole day bitty and it is hard to accomplish anything than get her through to the next nap and then grab a little sit down!

LM's Chart of randomness

LM’s Chart of randomness

The amount of food she eats over the course of the day is about the same but the amount she eats at each feed varies massively, which isn’t great with formula as you either waste loads or don’t have enough. So we have come up with a system, we make all the bottles in advance in the morning, bottles with varying amounts in. So when it is time to feed we try and work out based on length of time since last feed (In the morning she will sometimes go from a feed at 530am until 930/10ish, but then she will want another feed around 1130, and sometimes drinks loads at that feed!) but basically end up heating up more and more until she’s finished. It makes it really difficult when planning to go out anywhere and is really frustratig if she hasn’t eaten for hours, and is frantically hungry, but then doesn’t want more than 100ml!

WP_20150303_08_19_29_ProSpeaking of food we are obviously thinking of weaning and had started Monkey by this point, but she doesn’t seem ready. She has had a couple of mouthfuls of baby rice but wasn’t enamoured. I started to worry slightly, I think as I was just comparing her with Monkey and what worked with him, but after a conversation with hubs I realised it’s ok. When we try and give medicine or herbal remedies orally, she automatically pushes it out of her mouth with her tongue. (Which, by the way, is hugely frustrating at times) Hubs reminded me that this is actually a sign that she probably isn’t devleopmentally ready for food yet, so I am relaxing a little. We had got the highchair down and she has sat in it a few times which is good prep but I am not going to rush her.

Wow this feels like a huge update but I guess there is just a lot going on with our little girly. I have to say I have loved writing this update. Sometimes, when she is unhappy and writhing or won’t eat or won’t sleep, I feel as if I don’t know her at all and am a useless Mummy as I have no idea what she wants. Writing this has reminded me how much I do know her, and I am really glad I have started writing these posts so I can look back on them one day.

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