Night owl

We went out for tea tonight at Nick and Becky's place. I was my usual jovial self. Becky commented on my 'flexibility' after I wriggled my foot onto the tray of my high chair. She said 'I bet he could do the splits' - she grabbed my legs and the next thing I knew I was doing the splits. It impressed everyone.

Later on I stood up on the lounge, let go of my hands, and fell backwards onto the soft cushions. I thought it was funny. So I did it again and again. Dad thought it was good practice for standing up properly.

I played and talked until we went home, which was around 11pm. I did not find it easy to get to sleep, and we all ended up having a restless night. I ended up between mum and dad in the big bed in the wee small hours, and woke up, as usual, full of beans.

Sharing food

Mum and I went out to our regular friday mums and bubs group.

I was quite excited when we arrived and squirmed with delight when we stepped inside (maybe because it was cold outside, or maybe it's because I'm starting to recognise places I've been to a lot more)

I sat next to Olive at lunch time, we were both in high chairs - we held hands. How sweet! And then I decided to share my lunch with her. A half chewed piece of banana. She grabbed it and popped it in her mouth. Our mums didn't think that was the best thing to do, and so our highchairs got separated. But I figured a way to stay in tough - I grabbed a toy screwdriver and held it out in Olive's direction, and she grabbed onto it. How sweet!

Duck!

Dad and I are getting into the swing of having Thursdays together. Mum went to work, and we went for a big walk to the park with the pram.

On the way we saw a little pee wee bird hopping along a fence. I thought it was funny.

We decided to go to the Japanese Gardens. Dad hadn't been there for years, and remembered there were ducks living in the water there. Now there's flying foxes too. A really big family of them. They were very loud. And probably smelly. We didn't get close enough to give them a good sniff, but their section of the gardens did not look very inviting.

We found the ducks, and realised we should have brought some bread to throw to them. Next time...

Soaked

The doctor told mum to start cutting back on my milk intake and give me more water. So today at lunch mum put a sippy cup full of water on my high chair tray.

I tipped the water all over the tray so I could paddle in it.

Then I tipped it all over myself, on my shirt and onto my pants.

After a quick costume change, I was back for round two.

Some eventually got in my mouth, and by the time dad got home I'd gotten the hang of lifting the cup high enough to get the drink in my mouth without drenching myself.

The clothes I changed into were my good ones, and mum and dad came to the realisation that because I'll grow out of them before I wear them out I should probably wear my good clothes more often than I do.

Stupid needles

I had two needles today. One in each leg.

Ow!

Mum says it was worse today than my first lot of needles, because I seem t understand what's going on - especially when it's time for the second needle. I squirmed. And yelled! But settled down quite quickly.

It was the first time I got needles without dad. But he was around when I head butted the coffee table this afternoon. Maybe I was trying to take my mind of my sore leg.

But it wasn't all sore legs and sore heads today, I had an extended bath time, and tea too. Grandma was very patient and helped me eat tea long after everyone was finished. I'm not eating with the gusto I used to have, but I'm still in the healthy weight range (albeit at the very bottom of the height-weight scale - but that's because I'm still pretty tall)

Standing without my arms

I practiced standing up today. With a bit of a twist. I tried it without my arms.

I know standing with arms sounds strange, but I am very cautious, and I hold onto the closest table, or couch, or person quite tightly.

Mum was sitting on the floor, and I crawled over, pulled myself up, lent on her and let go. I laughed. And then turned it into a game. And when I turn things into games they last for a while!

I also turned the telly on today with the remote control. I don't know if I meant to or not.

Can't eat, growing teeth

The kitchen is full of almost-full milk bottles and bowls of my food. I'm still not eating much.

Mum discovered four little teeth on their way...Maybe that's the reason.

Even though I'm not eating much, I am making up by sleeping lots. I had a huge morning sleep today, but got really tired around 3pm. So mum put me down for another sleep. We all had a bit of an afternoon nap.

Come tea time, I didn't really feel like the spaghetti in my bowl, so mum mushed up some cold pears for me, but I only got through half of it. Dad finished the rest, telling me with every mouthful it was yummy, I think he hoped that if he talked it up enough I'd have another go at it. I didn't.

Transitioning

Mum says I'm transitioning.

My two daytime sleeps have been replaced with one. Mum says this is good because I never was really good at the second sleep of the day. Now I'll go down around 10 and wake up around lunchtime.

And I weaned myself earlier this week.

I'm growing up.

Food and drink

Food and drink have been my issue of the day.

I think I might have had my last breast feed yesterday afternoon. I'd gone off it earlier in the week at breakfast and lunch...But now it's been more than 24 hours since my last feed...Mum says if I don't have one soon the milk will go away and that'll be it.

It's another milestone...but I think in the back on their minds mum and dad are a little sad, if only because a breast feed was a sure fire way of settling me down if I was having a rough night!

I went off my food a bit today too. Avocado sandwiches were on the menu. I stuck them in my hair. On the table. I threw them on the floor. Everywhere except my mouth!

Mum wonders if my milk bottles are giving me more than I was having from the breast milk - it's rather hard to measure how much I was actually having! So they're not too worried yet.

Remote controlled

I am determined to grab remote controls at any opportunity.

Usually the cloest adult will save the remote from slobbery playtime, but sometimes I'm so quick I get there first.

Like today, I grabbed one and pointed it at the telly. Everyone was quite impressed, but it still got taken off me.

I've changed the channel a couple of times while people have been watching the telly, but if I actually get to a button, it's usually something a bit different - like the colour settings.

100 points?

We went to the bank today to deposit my first cheque...It wasn't as easy as you may think.

You see, it was in my name. And I don't have a bank account. And you need 100 points to create a bank account. And you get those 100 points by presenting your licence and passport and electricity bills. And I don't have a licence (not even for my red fire truck) or a passport, or any bills. I have a slobbery book of animals I like to carry around with me, but they wouldn't accept it.

So, believe it or not, the bank manager had to come out and sign a form, and then the cheque was deposited.

We went out for tea tonight, and I was in a chatty mood. On the way home I was vocalising. My 'word' of choice was 'yeah', and I'd repeat it after dad. The trip home sounded like some sort of artistic soundscape, "Yeah" "yeah" "Yeah" "yeah"...It was funny. I kept it up while mum sang me to sleep, "Jesus loves me this I know"...."Yeah"....

Laugh. Repeat

I stuck my head in my mesh toybox today. Mum laughed. So I did it again. And again. Each time turning my head back towards mum a little faster to see her response. I was on a mission to entertain, and didn't want to miss the audience reaction.

Lately I've been trying all sorts of funny moves on the change table. I accidently dropped a ball on my head while having a nappy change, so spent the rest of the time on the mat picking up, and dropping the ball. Mum says I get that from dad, being funny just for the sake of being funny. And getting the odd laugh.

I'm not drinking that

I refused to feed with mum first thing this morning.

I refused to feed with mum at breakfast time.

I refused to feed with mum at morning tea time.

And at lunch time.

It might be because I have a little sniffle.

Or maybe mum ate something I didn't like the taste of.

Or maybe I just weaned myself.

Mum and dad were only talking last night about when to phase out some of my natural feeds (yes, replacing them with unnatural ones!) - So I may have made the decision a little easier, but mum was happy I decided to have a bedtime feed - could it be my last proper feed? Am I growing up that fast?

Party time

I went to my first party (other than my own) today. Aanika turned 3, and we had cake ('we' didn't actually include me - I think mum didn't want a repeat of last week's post-party-hyper-hours) and played pass-the-parcel (although I was too little to grasp the concept of the game) - but I had a good time, and tried a few different foods - I even had a tiny bit of punch. Dad says it's not a party without a good punch. And it was.

I was loud in church today, and roped in my friend Harry, who happened to be sitting directly behind me. I reached out as far as I could and 'laaahed' and 'ooohed' at him until he started being loud too. I was taken out soon afterwards...He has a strict timetable, which includes having a sleep during church. My timetable is a little more laissez-faire.

AM vs PM

I seem to be able to master one set of sleeps during any 24 hour period.

I had athree hour sleep this morning, but tonight it took me ages to settle. It may have been the noisy wind and rain outside my window, but I'd stir every five minutes or so. Mum did her best to get me to sleep, but come 11pm I was handed over to dad. He had just finished watching the footy, and was getting ready for bed, so left the telly on and we both settled in to watch the cricket from India.

I would settle my head, close my eyes, and then a couple of minutes later wake up with a start, look around, and then put my head down again. I finally stayed asleep and dad quietly took me to my room. He slowly lifted me into my cot, and I stirred. But only enough to do a full roll, crash against the side of the cot, but instead of waking up again, I stayed asleep until morning.

One small step for...

I took my first steps today while holding on tight to my fire truck. I don't know if I was fully aware that I had started to walk, but I was holding onto the back of my new truck when I pushed it, the car went forward and I was standing still and seeing there's only so far a little body can stretch, I did what came naturally, I took a step to stay upright.

Mum was quite impressed.

We tried to take a few photos of me for the baby search this morning. I was too busy to stay still, so we couldn't get a perfect photo, but the ones we got are pretty good. Dad wanted to get a photo that perfectly captured my serious side, yet hinting at my cheekiness. Yeah, good luck with that!

Art appreciation

We went to the city today.

Dad had to pick up some computer stuff, some things from Ikea, and the Bonds baby search was on in the mall.

Dad reckons I am the most photogenic baby in the country, unfortunately another five thousand mums think the same thing about their babies, and the line was a little bit too long by the time we joined it. They told us it would be a three hour waut, and we weren't guaranteed a spot anyway, but they'd let us send in our own photo online later. So we decided to ditch the sea of prams and hotfoot it to the art gallery. Much more sophisticated.

We saw some Sidney Nolan paintings and lots of abstract ones (the abstract ones were all on the floor accessable by ramp - and seeing I was in my pram, we stuck by the ramps all day).

I smiled and laughed all day - even in the car - which was a welcome change from the wailing and gnashing of teeth that has accompanied any car trip longer than 15 minutes lately. I still found it hard to settle for bedtime though...

One

It's my birthday!

Time to officially ditch the baby tag and embrace toddlerhood.

We celebrated by visiting dad at work and going out for coffee where I had my very first babycino. How sophisticated!

We had some birthday phone calls throughout the day, and some emails as well.

I entertained myself by filling up the seat compartment on the new fire truck with pegs, and then unfilling it. This impressed mum. I also grinded my teeth a lot today. This did not impress mum.

Mum made a chocolate cake and put one candle on it. I grabbed it, got chocolate all over my hands, and managed to get a decent bit in my tummy. It took me a lot longer than usual to get to sleep tonight. Mum blames the chocolate, although Indiana Jones was on the telly, and I may have just been interested to know how it finished up. As it turned out, mum went to bed, the good guys won, and I fell asleep on dad's shoulder.

Almost there

Today's my last day of being zero.

I started it with a brisk climb to the top of the stairs. Laughing all the way. Dad was follwing close behind, but later on in the day when mum wasn't looking I headed straight to the bottom of the stairs and embarked on the summit all by myself. This was not met with clapping. There are apparently some things that require supervision. Grandma's going to buy a gate and put it across the stair case.

I pointed at grandma's dog when he came inside for a bit. He usually stays outside when I'm at their house. He's only a little dog, but has been a bit growly around other babies, and seeing he's about as well trained as I am, it's better if we stay apart!

I sang some songs with dad, waved my hands in the air and bopped up and down...

The other exciting thing I did today was play on my new ride on fire truck. Grandma and grandad gave it to me last night because grandma had to go away, and wouldn't be around for my big day...So I spent a fair bit of time going backwards (my reverse gear is easier than forwards!) and pressing the horn button.

I don't think I'll have any pressies to open tomorrow, I opened them all at my party...And my present from mum and dad is still in the storage shed!

I made the summit

I reached the top of grandma and grandad's stairs!

I'd been in a happy mood all day, laughing as grandma attached a clothes peg on her shirt, and laughing even harder when I pulled it off. It turned into a game that lasted for ages.

Then I thought it was funny to climb into the suitcase mum was unpacking. It did look funny, me sitting among the clothes...

When dad got home I was still giggly, and he and I hung out in the loungeroom.

We played some music - a Colin Buchanan kids album I got at my party, played a bit of air guitar, and then dad said we should try climbing the stairs.

I set off at a brisk pace, laughing as I went, I slowed down towards the top, but kept going and going, until I reached the summit. Hugs and cheers all round!

Mothers Day

It's Mother's Day. A fitting day for a dedication service. Me and eight other babies got to go out the front and be dedicated at church this morning. My friends Olive and Zara and another baby born on the same day as me were there...I behaved myself, but squirmed a little bit when one of the pastors grabbed me to pray for me.

I ditched my morning sleep, decided not to have an early afternoon sleep (mum had one - it was mothers day after all) so dad and I entertained ourselves with some of my new toys and climbing up and down the two steps in the dining room.

We went out for coffee late this afternoon, and I entertained myself with the menu for ages, before moving onto some rice crackers mum brought in her bag.

Party time, excellent!

I had a party. It was good.

My birthday is next week, but today was Saturday, so we went to the park, put up some balloons, ate cake and played pass the parcel.

It was all hands on deck at the start of the day. Dad and grandad were in charge of the logistics, they went down to the park to make sure we'd have a good spot - and mum, my two grandmas and Lyndall were in charge of the food, they made sandwiches and cheese platters.

Whe we all met up dad realised there were no lollies. "You can't have a party without lollies" he said. So he rushed to the shop and filled his arms with packets of snakes and licorice and jubes.

Our party supplies;

3 plates of sandwiches
2 cheese platters
A bowl of chips
6 packets of lollies
A plate of carrot and cucumber sticks (got to give the impression that we at least thought of being healthy!)
Dips and crackers
Lots of soft drinks, two bottles of fruit juice, and lots of tea and coffee

Dad originally wanted to add barbecued sausages on buns, but that idea was overruled. He's hoping he'll be allowed to do it next year. Or in 2028. For my 21st.

We brought along some paints and some wooden letters that spelled out my name. The plan was for guests to get creative and leave their mark, and for the letters to go up in my room when we finally move in. Which will be sometime this millennium...

They reckon first birthday parties are more for the parents than the littlies, but I had a great time amongst all the grown up conversations. I scored some really lovely gifts too - books and toys and even some clothes.

I had a really late sleep, and woke up in time for a late tea. Afterwards I figured out how to climb down the stair in grandma's dining room. I went head first. Carefully. Everyone told me going down backwards would be easier and safer, but I did it my own way...

Ooops

I broke my first breakable thing today.

Grandma and gradad have moved a lot of things higher since I've started visiting, but today I found a terracotta dish in the kitchen. Before mum could grab it off me I picked it up and dropped it. It broke into three pieces. I fell to pieces too. Yep, it gave me a fright and I cried. I must have been expecting the dish to bounce. It didn't. Mum picked the various bits up and had to tell grandma about what I'd done. She forgave me and we had such a nice cuddle I didn't want to go back to mum for a while.

Me and dad

Dad took a holiday from work so we could hang out together while mum went to work. Thursdays are shaping up to be me and dad days. Mum likes it, dad likes it, and I'm getting used to it.

Most of the day was spent at home. I carried on a bit when it was time for my morning sleep, so dad had to try all his skills. It eventually worked, and I slept for another two hour stretch. Everyone's impressed with my daytime sleeps lately.

Three hour daytime sleep!

Yes, you read it right, I slept for three hours. Yay!

Mum had plans to go down the street and do a few things, like banking and paying bills, and meeting up with dad for lunch. She kept having to push them back because I kept sleeping. We finally met up with dad just after two o'clock! That's a late lunch. But everyone was impressed with my long sleep.

I had a bath in grandma's bath tonight. It's a bit bigger than my blue Ikea bath, an I think I was a bit overwhelmed by all the space. It was like I was on the open seas! I got a bit anxious so we cut my bathtime short. Mum thinks we might grab the blue bath (it's downstairs full of books at the moment) tomorrow.

It's alive!

I was helping mum clean up the kitchen today.

Well, I was in the kitchen when mum was cleaning it up!

I was messing about it in the bottom drawer, and leaned on the vacuum cleaner. Right on the 'on' switch.

It roared to life.

I recoiled, but didn't lose my nerve. I haven't had a good history with the vacuum cleaner or other loud electrical appliances, so the fact I didn't burst into tears impressed, and relived mum.

I looked at mum, she looked at me, wondering if it would set me off. But I regained my composure, enough that soon afterwards I was doing my best to find the on switch again. I spent the next few minutes trying to do it again, banging on all parts of the vacuum, but I couldn't find the magic bit that made it come alive.

Squint

We went for a picnic today with a few of mum's friends. Our family was busy doing moving stuff, so we missed the first course, but got there in time for dessert! Yum.

Some of the bigger kids played a game of cricket, and dad carried me over to the action, and we fielded together.

When we got home mum and grandma went out and dad had the task of putting me to bed. I was pretty tired, but still put up a bit of a fight...So we went into the loungeroom to read a story, sing some songs, and play a couple of low-intensity games (he didn't want me getting too excited). I initiated my own version of peek-a-boo, it's pretty much a squint followed by a big laugh. It made dad laugh too. I guess watching a little baby screw his face up, shut, then open them wide with a big laugh, is a bit funny.

I finally had enough of this game and rested my head on dad's chest and went out like a light. I didn't even stir when he walked me upstairs and put me in the cot.

Many hands make light work

We're staying at gradma and grandad's place at the moment, waiting for our house to get new floors...It means all our stuff is in a collection of assorted boxes and bags aroud their house...And it means there's extra people for me to hang out with, which is great. Every household needs a grandma or grandad on call...

My latest skill is being able to put myself back to sleep if I wake up in the night.

Before this skill kicked in I'd require someone to come and rock me (or pace backwards and forwards) back to sleep. These days I'll wake up, let out a couple of little cries, and go back to sleep all by myself.

Sleeping out

We went out for tea tonight, and I slept in a foreign bed for the first time.

When we usually go out I'll stay up with the grown ups, comfortable to listen to the conversations, and nod off on mum's shoulder. But tonight there was a spare cot in the spare room, and mum decided to give it a shot, and I decided to to give it a shot too!

Earlier today we did a bit of packing up. My main job was to stay out of the areas mum and dad were working busily in...I had another big daytime sleep - two and a quarter hours! Mum's hoping I keep this new habit up...

A box and a ball

Today's fun was brought by an empty coffee box and my tennis ball.

The ball goes in the box, the ball goes out of the box...

Repeat.

Finger food

In a total turnaround, I've swapped my textbook night time sleeps for textbook daytime sleeps, but it came at a cost. I found it very hard to get to sleep tonight. I had my usual bath/tea/feed regime, but wouldn't go down...I had another feed, a walk around with mum, a walk around with dad, and still I wouldn't go down...Almost four hours after my bedtime I finally went to sleep. Everyone is relieved. Everyone is tired...

The AM part of the day was great. Mum had work lined up at a school, so dad took a holiday to spend the day with me. He's in the process of arranging some flexi time so he and I can hang out while mum is at work. We hope it'll all work out, after all we don't want to use all his holidays up one Thursday at a time!

We played and read stories, and I slept for over two hours before lunch, which happened to be leftover lasagne. A few bits dropped off the spoon as I was eating and, using my pincer grip, I picked each bit up and put it back into the bowl. Dad was quite impressed. I like playing the 'putting things into things' game, and, if dad's reaction is anything to go by, cleaning up after myself at lunchtime is apparently something to be celebrated.

As I was putting the food back in, I figured out I could speed up the whole eating process by bypassing the spoon and diving in with my hands. The first time I've ever tried to feed myself like that. I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to do it often. It made quite a mess.