Jessica’s blog.

Like yesterday, Jessica woke earlier than usual. Yesterday it was at the unearthly time of 4.30 and despite a nappy change and a dose of Calpol, she didn’t want to go back to sleep. We think she came close but it didn’t quite happen, so Gabriella got up and Jessica had had a bottle of milk by 6am.This morning was slightly better (for us!) as she woke at 5.30am. After I’d put her blankets back over her and resettled her, she did eventually go back to sleep. At 7.30 she’d had enough and wanted to get up, so she was fished out and I fed her breakfast.

We happily played for a few hours and opened her presents – it was mainly me opening the presents whilst Gabriella sat with Jessica on her lap (the former having had a well-deserved lie-in) with Jessica showing little interest in them, with only one or two exceptions: she really seems to to like a box of plastic eggs (given by our friends Cara, Richard & Daisy) that squeak when pushed, once the shells have been removed – these apparently are great fun to throw all over the place.

Jessica had her morning milk slightly later than normal and went back to bed where, after several attempts to re-settle her, she went back to sleep.
We had to wake Jessica up just before 1, so she could have her lunch before we took her for her one year weigh-in.
She’s continuing to grow on the same upper curve on the chart and is 82cm (2′ 8.3″) and weighs exactly 12kg (26lb 6oz). Because she’s so tall, we’ve started to put her in clothes for 18 month to 2 years. Her trousers are ok for length but it’s the vests that are getting a bit small as she’s got a long body, just like me. The nurse at the drop-in centre said that Jessica’s weight/height is in proportion so there’s no need to worry.

By the time we’d got home, Jessica’s farmor and farfar had arrived and, after briefly dropping presents off (to be opened later…) we set off for Godstone Farm.

Jessica excited about another excursion!

Jessica seemed fascinated by the animals (as she’s previously been) and happily watched them. At Godstone Farm, there’re are pens where children can get in with the animals. Whilst we thought Jessica was a bit too small to go in the pens with lambs, Gabriella did take her in to get up close to a rabbit. Unfortunately, as the rabbit was just lying there, she didn’t see it and nearly trampled the poor thing in her attempt to see what was going on outside the pen!

Jessica was eager to run around lots but as the ground was fairly uneven, she stumbled several times but there was always one of us close by to catch her. In the end we decided that it was safer to hold her hand especially as the ground was sloping and she tended to lurch downhill.

As it’s Jessica’s birthday today this will be the last post, as our intention was to only document her first year here. We’ll continue posting photos in the gallery, so please do check when you have a chance.

Gabriella and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it and would like to thank you for you interest in keeping up to date with our delightful daughter’s progress so far.

Ian.

Ian and I had decided to make this a smaller occasion, as we’re both working and I’m pregnant: only family this time, and do the big kids’ party with lots of friends for Jessica’s second birthday. We also asked Ian’s parents, Jessica’s farmor and farfar, if we could hold the party at their house, as we weren’t sure how far they would have come with the damp-proofing works at our place.

On the day of the party, Ian and I had planned for the three of us to go over to Albert & Diana’s for 10am and let Jessica have her morning nap there while we got everything ready for the afternoon’s festivities. As it happened, Jessica started dozing off in my lap already during her morning bottle at 9.30am, so there’s was nothing else to do but to put her in her cot at home. Ian went ahead to his parents, while I stayed with Jessica. As we had had the foresight to prepare ahead – including putting up all the decorations the previous day (we had decided to go for a very simple ‘theme’: pink and silver) – there wasn’t too much left to do but to warm the food up for the buffet and assemble the two birthday cakes. So we hoped that Jessica would have a nice long sleep, to get her in as happy and alert a mood for the party as possible. And we were lucky: she had three hours sleep, then Ian came back home to have a quick lunch with us before we all went over to Redhill.

Diana’s cousin Rita with husband Clive, daughter Alison and Alison’s boyfriend Dan had arrived only a little while before us. They were a bit early as they’d set out early from Wolverhampton but both weather and traffic had been good and they’d decided to not worry about a break. Ian changed Jessica into her party dress and shoes (something she wasn’t very happy with), while I put the cakes together: sponge with strawberry jam and whipped cream with crushed meringue in between, and cream and a layer of pink marzipan on top – a variation of a recipe of my sister’s.

As the rest of our guests arrived, Ian took charge of warming the buffet food up, while Jessica and I went to greet them. It was my aunts Anette and Monica with their husbands Yngve and Hasse respectively plus Monica and Hasse’s daughter Helena, as well as my aunts’ cousin Inger and her husband Frank. Jessica got a little bit overwhelmed as they all bundled together into the little hallway as one big, happy, chatty crowd and started to cry. She soon perked up though, as people started to spread out through the house and she got used to the amount of people, and she was happily walking all by herself between the different rooms to have a look around, sit on someone’s lap or just do her usual thing of picking all the magnets off the fridge or trying to grab the owls off the lower shelf in the dining room or a handful of the soil in the plant pot on the floor by the French windows.

After people had finished their food it was getting a bit late in the afternoon, so we decided to bring the cakes out before Jessica’s energy started to flag and she’d need her dinner. We all gathered in the dining room and lit the little silver candle on one of the cakes. (I’d decided to keep the cake decoration simple: a dusting of icing sugar and one single candle in the middle to represent Jessica’s first year – I’m not great at complicated decorations and didn’t want to do something that might end up taking a lot of time. One thing I’d felt we didn’t do right for Jessica’s naming party was to run around too much getting things ready and not paying her enough attention during the morning on what was supposed to be her big day… I didn’t want to repeat that mistake.)

Everyone sang to her, first a joint ‘Happy birthday’ and then a Swedish ‘Ja, må hon leva’ complete (after some hesitation…) with four cheers at the end. Jessica looked a bit bewildered but not at all unhappy, and took great interest when Daddy was about to cut the cake – reaching for the knife, of course, and then intently watching him cutting the first slice.

After that, Jessica’s Auntie Wendy and farmor handed slices of cake out to all guests, while Jessica retired to the high chair in the kitchen for a bit of birthday dinner – a jar (again due to time restraints, I’m afraid…) of Caribbean veg with fruity rice but followed by a bit of birthday cake as a special treat. (We’re really careful about not giving Jessica any sugary food or drink and will try to keep that going for as long as we can – which probably won’t be as long as we’d like…!) Jessica wrinkled her nose at the first little piece – she didn’t seem sure about the sponge, so I made the next 2-3 spoonfuls mainly cream and strawberry jam (the latter sweetened with fruit juice, not sugar, so not as bad as it may sound). Then we finished off with a bit of banana, something she really likes.

My family left at about 6pm, whereas Rita, Clive, Alison and Dan stayed on for a bit longer before they started their journey back up to Wolverhampton. We all sat down in the living room for a chat while Jessica played, mainly pushing a baby gym-style frame back and forth across the floor between us. She was still in a good mood and Ian and I were chuffed that she had coped so well with the party, having so many people around her and being given so much attention. She had had lots of compliments for being so cute, for her smile, her pretty dress and shoes. And my cousin Helena pointed out that she too has just the one dimple and in her left cheek, just like Jessica, so we now know where that comes from!

Although February perhaps isn’t the loveliest time of year weather-wise, we were just as lucky with the weather as for the day of Jessica’s naming party: clear blue sky and fantastic sunshine! The perfect early spring day.

And so we have almost come full circle… It is so hard to imagine that there was a time before Jessica – her first year has gone so quickly and still it feels as if she has always been here with us. Soon the daffodils will be in bloom again, like they were last year during the first week after Jessica was born. Ian and I cannot imagine life without her now – she is the loveliest, most gorgeous and fun little girl we could ever have hoped for!

Gabriella

Jessica still has trouble settling for her day naps. Well, I don’t think she thinks of it as a problem: she’s having much too fun pulling herself up, walking about the cot rearranging the bedlinen and chatting to herself. But the result is that she gets tired and cranky, as she’s not allowing herself to relax, switch off and sleep. Well, correction, really, if anyone thinks she cries non-stop as a result, because she really doesn’t – she tries to be happy and cheerful and is glad to see us, but she has less patience with herself if she stumbles or falls over, which she does more often as she’s tired, and she’s more ‘clingy’. The best choice of activity is usually to sit down with her and look through a stack of books together.

After being a bit at a loss about what to do, I’ve now tried putting her to bed, kissing her and leaving the room as per usual, then coming back every ten minutes to tidy the cot up a bit and lay her down again. The first couple of times she’s quickly on her feet again but after a couple of times more, she starts to get too tired to pull herself up, and when eventually she is too tired to do so, she stays lying down and goes to sleep quite quickly (though not without a grumble – she’s inquisitive and loves to explore and finds restraints on that frustrating).

Someone suggested laying her down straight away after she’s stood up, but she’s so quick up on her feet that it would all turn into some sort of wrestling match, and I don’t want to do that – feels like I might as well tie her down with straps… So I let her get a bit of it out of her system each time instead. Feel a bit awkward still (insisting that she does something she obviously wants to do), but I have to realise that she’s too young to make the connection between tiredness and sleep, especially when there are so many other more fun things to be doing… I don’t like the expression ‘mother knows best’ as I don’t believe it’s necessarily true (depends on the mum, surely – being a mum doesn’t automatically make you wise, don’t I know it…!) , but in this instance I know I shouldn’t feel bad about insisting on what actually is best for her.

After having napped about 11am to 1.30/2pm over the weekend and a mere hour and a half midday yesterday (yes, I’m not even considering trying for an afternoon nap at this stage), she managed to fall asleep at about 9.40am today and is still asleep as I write this paragraph at 11.30am. She was very tired this morning, though: her Dad cheered her up by just being around but otherwise she kept starting to cry for no apparent reason and kept wanting to be carried, as if walking about under her own steam was too much. So I’m glad she’s getting some rest now. Her night-time rest – although I didn’t hear her being awake and I’ve not noticed her standing up in the cot during the night so far – maybe wasn’t very good.

We have now got Jessica a new cot, by the way. Ian bought it at a house clearance, so it’s second hand but in good condition. It’s a cot bed, so should last Jessica until she’s about 4, and is both bigger and lots sturdier than the cot she’s had up to now (which Ian has dismantled and will be tucked away until the new baby arrives early summer). That makes us feel more at ease now that she’s moving around in it so much. She’s really strong now – maybe that’s a general baby/toddler thing.

Her room isn’t ready yet, still – well, it seemed hardly any point before the new windows came in… But now we can sort it out properly. I’ll have to touch up the paint on the wall in a few places, then we’ll sort out curtains, a new overhead light and get some things up on the walls, maybe a rug on the floor: generally make her room more cosy and play-friendly…!

At the weekend, the weather was glorious – almost spring time with lovely clear-blue skies and no need for a jacket in the sunshine. The three of us had a nice, relaxed weekend at home. Saturday (9 February) afternoon, after Jessica had had her lunch, we put her in the pushchair and took a stroll over to a green area with a stream, Emlyn Meadows, that Ian had discovered not too far from where we live.

Jessica loved it of course: running around across the grass, dragging one of us behind her (we were reluctant to let her run/walk on her own, as the ground was sloping and really uneven in places). She picked up dry leaves, grass, little twigs and old, dirty chestnuts off the ground to - more often than not - put in her mouth. We couldn’t prevent her from chomping on everything, but we did our best with the muckiest things…!

She grumbled a bit when we put her back in the push chair to get her home for some afternoon formula, but seemed to sit back and enjoy the view almost straight away. We’re so looking forward to summer, when we can let her run around in our garden again!

What else has happened since last…? At the weekend, I saw Jessica running toy cars across the floor for the first time – a bit hesitantly, but she’s discovered that she can use the wheels (and that toy cars are good for other things than just putting in her mouth…!), which we’re quite chuffed with. She still loves her little toy Miffy, when we play peek-a-boo ourselves or with her dolls or soft toys and she still likes to topple any towers we build using cups or building blocks, and to throw the pieces from her jigsaw puzzle as far behind her as possible. And she’s still very keen on her books. She will now happily walk up to her toy box, grab the side for support and choose any toys she wants out of it herself. The washing machine isn’t quite as interesting anymore, but she loves opening the door to the oven – and leaving it open for us to walk into (it opens vertically)…!

Her fourth tooth (top, front right) came through Tuesday 5 February, so she’s now got two little pearly-whites at the top and two at the bottom…!

Gabriella

Friday evening was my first day back at work and Jessica’s first full day at nursery. Jessica decided to sleep for a little bit longer than normal that morning, so I had lots of time to run around and sort out her food, my work stuff and other last-minute things. The hand-over at nursery was very efficient (though friendly). I’d written a sheet with notes on Jessica’s routines and behaviour regarding eating, sleeping, etc., which I handed over with her and her bag, kissed her good-bye and then I was off to the station. No time to think much about the fact that I’d be parted from her all day, which probably was just as well…!

I knew it’d take me a while to get back from work. Ian was fetching her from nursery, as he will every Thursday and Friday when she’s there, and sadly I didn’t get to see Jessica before he put her to bed. I was missing her loads and wanted to give her a kiss and cuddle… The nursery staff had told Ian that Jessica had slept at 10.15 to 11.35am. Later they had tried to put her in the cot for an afternoon nap as well (as I’d told them Jessica normally sleeps for a couple of hours and she had seemed tired) but that had been unsuccessful. As a result, she was of course really tired at the end of the day and went to sleep a bit earlier than usual. Unfortunately, I think this might be the pattern for the days that I’m working: I won’t get back from work in time to see her before Ian puts her to bed… (Hopefully she won’t see me as the baddie, handing her away in the mornings – then Daddy realises she’s gone and comes to the rescue…!)

I arrived home only minutes after Ian had put Jessica in bed, which meant that Ian could dash off to fetch my sister Malin, who’d just landed at Gatwick, flying from Stockholm Arlanda. This meant of course that Malin and Jessica didn’t get to see each other that evening either. But Jessica was up at 6am the following morning, and after she’d had her breakfast, wash and change, Malin was awake to and keen to see her.

Over the Day Saturday, Malin and I went into London to go shopping, to Upton Park and central London (Oxford Street/Tottenham Court Road), while Ian was looking after Jessica. We made sure to come home in good time in the evening, though, to spend time with Jessica and the following day we had no other plans, so Malin and Jessica got as much time together as possible. They seemed to really enjoy each other’s company, with lots of giggles on Jessica’s part. As Jessica’s cousin, Malin’s little boy, is only 3 months older than Jessica, Malin of course had plenty of up-to-date experience of kids Jessica’s age…! It was sad to see my sister go again – we don’t get anywhere near enough time together, but I was so pleased that she could stay with us for a couple of days and that Jessica got to see her again too.

Monday and Tuesday (4 & 5 February) this week, Jessica and I have been hiding out at Ian’s parents, as they’re busy putting in new windows in our house. They’ve done the bathroom, living room, Jessica’s room and our bedroom so far, and it’s staggering the amount of condensation there ISN’T collecting on our window panes now…! Today is supposedly the day for the back door and hallway window. As the house is very unpleasant (freezing!) to stay in with big gaping holes in it all day, Jessica’s farmor and farfar have kindly offered us refuge. As Jessica loves it here, we’re both enjoying the change of scenery (and hopefully we’re not getting under anyone’s feet – though, judging by the affectionate attention that Jessica’s receiving, it doesn’t seem that way…!).

Unfortunately our landlord has asked the window fitters to do another few jobs around the house, like checking and possible fixing the roof, which means they might be in there for the rest of the week, even if the windows are done by tomorrow. I’m keen to have our house back as soon as possible, so that I can get on with the things I need to do without worrying about other people being there, but the sooner the do things, the sooner they can finish, I guess. It’s just not knowing how close to Jessica’s birthday it’ll all get… Both Ian and I have taken a few days off and we’d rather be able to relax about our house in peace. (Plus it’d be the nice to have done some hoovering and tidying after all the work that’s been done – we’ve had to shift lots of things to make space around the windows and they’ll take time to put back in place.)

Saturday Ian reported that Jessica had pulled herself up in her cot for the first time. He’d come into her room and there she was standing up by the bars looking mightily pleased with herself. And Sunday the ‘trouble’ started… For the last few days, as we’ve laid her down in her cot for her day-time naps, she pulls herself up to standing within seconds, then bounces up and down, walks about the cot, kicking and dragging her pillow and muslin about and tries to reach things on shelves around the cot. If you lay her down again, she’s up before you even get the chance to put the blanket over her.

It wasn’t too bad Sunday, but yesterday – although she was evidently knackered – she insisted on pulling herself up again every time I lay her down, so at regular intervals I fished her out of the cot and bring her downstairs again for some play (just in case I was wrong and she wasn’t tired, after all – babies’ needs do change, so I was prepared that I could have been reading her signals wrong). When she finally went to sleep it was at ten to one – after I’d stroke her hair, let her suck my finger (something she’s not done since she was a little baby) and sung a lullaby (“Vyssjan lull”). At that point she had been awake for 7(!) hours and was shattered, with tears streaming down her face. As soon as she allowed herself to stay horizontal, she was asleep within minutes…

Today I managed to get her to fall asleep at 11am, sitting by her cot singing a lullaby again, and it was obvious that she was shattered. So I don’t think it’s her need for sleep that is changing, even though I’m sure that’ll happen and quite possibly soon: at the moment it’s the excitement of being able to stand up in the cot that’s mucking things up. Maybe when the novelty wears off, she’ll stay lying down in her cot and go back to her previous sleeping pattern again.

Gabriella

As it was Gabriella’s birthday, I took the day off so we could spend it together as a family.

Gabriella had a lie-in and got up around the time that Jessica had her morning nap. In the afternoon after Jessica had had her lunch, we went to Tilgate Park, which isn’t too far away, where they’ve got a Nature Centre. We have been before but the weather was so foul that day, that we weren’t able to wander round properly. Thankfully it was dry this time and Jessica was able to get out of the pushchair to see the animals properly.

Before we’d had chance to get Jessica out, two inquisitive turkeys came up to take a look. So brazen were they, that one tried to nab her Tummen rattle. As it’s attached to the pushchair, the bandit bird didn’t get very far with it. Before they came even closer, we decided that we should move on to look at the cockatiels.

Jessica showed as much interest in them as she does birds in our garden and was capitivated by the bright colours – at least I think that’s why she was looking at them for so long.

From there, we moved onto a pen with cockerels, hens and guinea pigs in. The nature centre is so obviously designed for children: the railing for the pen was the ideal height for Jessica to look over (and under!) and again she seemed really interested in the wee beasties.

Having looked at the hens etc for a while, Jessica decided that Daddy needed to go for a walk and shot off at fair old speed, dragging him along with her.

We soon found our way to some more pens, with larger animals.

Jessica showing her delight at seeing some goats, before moving onto look at a pig sty with Mummy.

By now it was getting near Jessica’s afternoon fed, so we all headed to the cafe where Gabriella took the following photo.

We headed home after we’d all had a drink as Jessica was starting to get tired: her current cold seems to drain her of energy. It was a lovely afternoon for all of us and very relaxed.

There’s been quite a few thing s that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. Jessica’s getting more and more confident on her feet, sometimes she’ll even run short distances between things totally unsupported. When she does lead me on tours round the house, clutching one of my fingers, more for reassurance than support really, I’m finding that it’s easier on my back now she’s getting taller.

Last weekend, I witnessed something Gabriella has experienced a few times too. I’d brought a load of washing through out the machine and plonked them on the settee, ready to start hanging it. Jessica, on seeing the clothes, promptly came over to ‘help’. I use the term very loosely, as she is really insistent that clothes belong on the floor. She is really very determined, throwing them with great gusto and paid no attention to Daddy explaining that he really didn’t want the clothes on the floor. It was a battle, but eventually I managed to hang them to dry, using all sorts of distraction techniques.

A game that Jessica never seems to tire of is peek-a-boo. It doesn’t really matter what’s used to hide behind or who’s hiding. One of her favourites is round/behind her high chair. She also like hiding behind her bib and then appearing. Probably her favourite though is where I put a muslin over her head and one over my own: she shrieks with glee once she’s first pulled hers off then mine. It’s such a happy sound!

Ian.

Have forgotten to mention Jessica’s teeth! After a bit of a pause after her first tooth at Christmas, she cut her second tooth (in the top jaw, front left) on 19 January and her third (bottom jaw, front right) on 25 January, plus a fourth one is just under the surface in her top jaw, on the right hand side. Her cheek’s been hot and red and she has occasionally moaned with a hand in her mouth, in response to which I’ve given her Calpol and a bit of teething gel, but otherwise we haven’t really noticed anything particular from her teething. I’ve heard some babies get nappy rash and some cry a lot, but none of those have applied to Jessica.

She’s been dribbling a lot, but that’s been continuous and not necessarily more or less because of a certain stage of a tooth being cut, so I guess that’s just how some babies come – I’ve been told I used to dribble a lot as a baby, and Ian too, so she’s inherited it from both of us… Once she’s a bit older, her dribbling should hopefully stop. At the moment, we keep bibs on her pretty much all the time (apart from when she sleeps), so that her clothes won’t get wet and soak through. Her wearing bibs may not look the most flattering, but the alternative would be that she’d get a red, sore chest and we’d have to change her top regularly, and that doesn’t sound like fun to me.

Another thing I’ve intended to mention is the colour of Jeesica’s hair. It seems to change a little bit from week to week – sometimes day to day – being lighter or darker, redder or blonder. Overall, though, her hair seems to come out more red on photos when we are using flash, than we think it really is. Close up, Jessica’s hair looks blond with strawberry blond highlights. When I saw the film Lost In Translation I couldn’t help compare the colour of Jessica’s hair to that of the actress Scarlett Johansson’s (n.b. not the pink wig Scarlett wears in the bar…!).

Her eyes are still blue – perhaps slightly paler than the early days but still intense.

Gabriella

Last Sunday (20 January) Jessica was 11 months old. Can’t believe it’s almost a year now…! Time has gone so quickly, it’s like she’s been with us forever – in a good way: it’s very hard to imagine life without her.

On Wednesday (23 January) Jessica and I were over at her farmor Diana and farfar Albert’s for the whole day for the second time. Ian drove us over, as he will be taking Jessica there on Wednesdays in future, and it was a good test run to see how it would all work. We left at about 8.15am and it took us as long as half an hour due to traffic, so next time we’ll leave a bit earlier and see if that helps.

In the afternoon, Diana and I took Jessica over to the health visitor weighing clinic to have her weighed as close to her 11 month day as possible. It wasn’t very busy but Jessica still had time to explore some of the toys and beam at a couple of babies. When another mum and baby arrived, she was suddenly off into the hallway, one hand touching the side of the archway and then the side of a bookshelf as she hurried past…! It was a new experience to have to hurry after to catch her, but I was so proud of her confidence and how steady she was on her feet. When she got to sit on the scales she kept very still, so her weight was quickly noted as 11.4 kilos (25lb 2oz) – in line with her previous progress.

Jessica seems to really enjoy staying at Ian’s parents, busy walking around exploring their house, and Diana and Albert are building up a bit of a toy collection for her, so that she’ll have plenty of new and exciting things to entertain her when she’s there. She’s also slept in the cot in their library a few times both morning and afternoon now, so she’s getting used to that too. I’ve popped out every so often to get Jessica used to the idea of me not being there, though unfortunately mainly while she’s had her morning nap… Next time I should probably keep away for a bit longer, maybe pop out for lunch. Diana and Albert seem to be enjoying themselves very much too, which is lovely. Both Ian and I are very keen on them being active grandparents (which they certainly seem keen on too) and for Jessica to build a close relationship with them – that can only be a good thing for everyone involved.

Yesterday Jessica and I went over to one of the mums from the post-natal group for lunch again. Some of them see each other more often but Jessica and I are a bit at a disadvantage as I don’t drive (yet) and can’t just hop in the car on impulse to go to Redhill or Reigate, and we hadn’t seen anyone since December some time. The other mums have offered us a lift but it’s also down to me being slightly disorganised… Not everyone could make it this time but there were still five of us mums with babies, including the hostess Lisa with her Tommy. It’s so nice to see them all grow and develop! Jessica impressed everyone by happily walking about the place. Although the others are now pulling themselves up to stand and some walk with the help of a little trolley, they’re no quite there yet. So I was a proud Mummy, of course…!

We’ll have all our babies’ (well, toddlers now, really) first birthday coming up now soon, of course – the first one being Paula’s Kai on 31st January. The Jessica is next, together with Kelly’s Lily, as they share a birthday on 20 February. I’d like to invite them all around for some birthday cake but am not sure how practical that would be, as I’ll be back at work and we’ll probably have double-glazing put into the house round about that time too… Maybe I’ll think of a way.

Jessica’s room still isn’t ready, as we’re waiting for the damp problem to get sorted and the new windows to be put in. But often after Jessica’s naps we linger a bit to explore what there is to play with up there. There are a few books in her bookshelf that haven’t been brought downstairs and she likes tearing them down from the shelf and look through them. Another fun activity is to grab the bars of her cot and shake. As she’s quite strong now, I half expect the cot to crumble when she does that…! We’re currently looking for a cot bed for her, which will last her a few years, so that her current cot can be passed on to the new (and not quite as strong…) baby.

Unfortunately, Jessica’s suffering from a bit of a cold at the moment. It’s not been too bad so far – she’s just been a bit sniffly – but today she’s got a bit of a cough and is more tired than usual. She’s still cheerful and it’s not a case of her having a temperature, but she runs out of energy quicker. Jessica and I were due to go over to Cara and Daisy’s this afternoon and we still will, but might not stay too long – will see how it goes. Jessica was falling asleep while drinking her morning bottle, though thankfully (with the help of a few nudges) she finished her formula and then I brought her upstairs to bed already for 9.30am. Will see how long she sleeps for.

Gabriella

Lots more have happened since the new year, so here are a few more recaps:

Jessica stayed at the nursery for the second time on Friday, between 1 and 4 in the afternoon again. She’d had a better morning nap this time and was better geared up for it – recognising the place since last time probably also helped. I felt a little bit more at ease leaving her there this time and didn’t spend the three hours away from her fretting and missing her quite as much as last time – I’m getting used to the idea too…! There were a few more children there this time, still all a few years older than Jessica as the other babies had not started yet, but Jessica grabbed the hands of one of the staff and marched right into the thick of things with a big smile on her face.

When I came back to fetch her, she looked tired sitting on the floor playing with a bead frame. The staff told me she’d been playing happily most of the time this time, though a couple of the boys had scared her and made her cry by being noisy. That’s one of those things that she’ll have to get used to though, of course: coping with bigger children. When I kneeled down on the floor next to Jessica, she grabbed my hand to pull herself up and then wanted to start walking about exploring, so I fished her up and we went home. I didn’t try putting her in her cot for an afternoon nap this time, maybe I should have as she was probably very tired after a busy afternoon packed full of new experiences, but she seemed to be buzzing playing at home, so I left her to it.

For the last two weeks, Jessica has been holding her water mug herself and drinking from it more and more often. She started wanting to hold it herself a fair while back, but not quite as successfully – missed her mouth, held it upside-down and poured lots of water in her lap or dropped it. Now she confidently grabs it off the table, drinks and then puts it back. (When she wants to put it back, that is – more often she favours bashing it against the table top and then throwing it on the floor, just to peer over the arm of her highchair at it.)

Jessica got a lift out puzzle from her Auntie Wendy for Christmas and she really likes it: she keeps walking up to it (we’ve put it on the seat of a chair so that she can play with it whilst standing), takes the pieces out one by one and throws them behind her, most of the time without looking where they’re going… A lot of her play at the moment seems to be about picking toys up and throwing them: toys come out of the toy box so that the floor in the living room looks like it’s suffered a minor explosion, and Jessica’s bath toys first get thrown into the bath tub, while she’s standing on the side of it watching her bath water rise, then out of it on the floor once she’s in the tub herself (I usually wash her hair and body first thing but since the new year started I often don’t get a chance to before the sponge flies out of the tub and onto the bath mat…).

Jessica’s nap times during the day have shifted slightly to be a little bit later in the day, but not much, and they’re still fairly predictable: from about 10am she sleeps for 1.5 to 2.5 hours and from around 4pm it can be 45 mins to 1 hr 15 mins. She still seems to sleep quite a lot compared to what I hear about other babies. But sleeping is good, of course: it gives her brain and body chance to grow and develop and gives a few more moments to do things without having to worry about keeping an eye out for her at the same time.

I’m pleased to say that Jessica’s eating my home-cooked food again since before Christmas. Some she seems to like more than others, but I’m glad she appreciates the variety. I’ve made her both a curry and a chilli and she had them both – I didn’t make them too strong of course to start with but they weren’t completely wussy either.
Gabriella

It’s been a long while again, unfortunately. Jessica does new things every day – big and small – and sadly I won’t be able to remember to tell you everything, but I will do my best.

Jessica has several cardboard books now and she loves looking through them, will happily sit down and turn the pages all by herself for 10-15 minutes or spend just as long in my lap looking through books together with me or Ian. I give her a little bit of a helping hand sometimes: even if she’s really good at turning the pages now, she’ll sometimes grab several at the time, especially when she’s ‘speed reading’…! Sometimes I get to talk a fair bit about what’s on the page and she pats them, but sometimes her mission seems to be to turn the pages as quickly as possible. When she does the latter, she has a very determined look on her face, often with her mouth slightly open and her tongue sticking out. (I tend to look at her rather than the books – she’s so gorgeous when she’s concentrating…!)

Monday 7th January Jessica took 5-6 steps on her own, completely without support and without stumbling, halfway across the hallway, from the shoe rack to the living room door and very calmly grabbed the door frame. She has days when she is slightly less confident, but since then she regularly takes 3-4 or more steps from one thing to another (or one of us) and sometimes just stops in the middle of the floor and stands there for a bit without losing her balance. She still prefers to hold somebody’s (read: mine…) hand for speed to get from A to B. I must admit that I’m quite happy to oblige – and also suspect that Jessica didn’t start walking independently as soon as she might have because I’ve helped her along as much as I have… But it’s not a competition, is it – I know she’s clever and capable and I don’t feel there’s any rush. And I also think it very likely that she’s steadier on her feet walking on her own now because she’s got to practise with support for longer.

After New Year, Ian and I took Jessica over to Clark’s in Crawley to buy Jessica her first properly fitted shoes. They measured her feet as 3 1/2 G, which means that they are slightly wider than ‘average’ (F being ‘standard’). They normally had a few different shoes in that size and Ian and I had our eye on a pretty purple shoe (most of them were pink) but when we were there, unfortunately, they only had the one we didn’t like quite as much (a very pink one) in stock. Still, we went ahead and bought those anyway, as we needed to get her a pair of shoes and she won’t be wearing them forever (she’ll grow out of them quicker than we know it…!). She got a size 4 G, so that she has plenty of room for her toes and a bit to grow into, but we could see that she was slightly awkward walking in them, not being used to her feet being quite as big… Still, she didn’t complain when she tried them out but were happily walking about the shop dragging Daddy behind, so we’re pretty confident they’re not uncomfortable. We also bought her a pair of slippers, as she’ll need these for nursery, and didn’t have any choice but a pair of VERY pink slippers, complete with a little white cat with a pink bow on the front of the left one – the cat meows three times if you press it… At that point Ian and I had, however, resigned ourselves to the fact that if we didn’t want to shop around for ages, we had to go with what limited choice there was.

Jessica spent her first few hours in nursery on Friday 11 January. She’ll be starting properly on Friday 1 February, when she’ll spend the whole (8am to 4.30pm) of Thursday and Friday there while I’m at work, and the nursery suggested starting to ease her in already, during two afternoon sessions. While Jessica had her morning nap I was packing a bag for her with nappies and a few other bits and pieces and, embarrassingly, I was crying a bit too… I suspect that I’m finding it harder than Jessica that she’s starting nursery. I’m trying to focus on the fact that she gets a new, exciting experience and that she’ll learn to interact socially independently from me, and that this can only be good for her development. But as I know her and her habits better than anyone and Jessica doesn’t talk yet, I guess I worry that she won’t be understood properly and there will be misunderstandings and frustration as I’m not there to ‘interpret’. But, as my sister pointed out: “at a nursery, they’re professionals”. So I need to rely on them knowing how to take care of her and be ready to loosen the apron strings a little…

Unfortunately, Jessica didn’t sleep quite enough that morning and was a little bit grumpy all morning. When I dropped her off at nursery, I left her sitting on the lap on one of the members of staff, happily playing with an abacus. I kissed her goodbye and told her I’d be back in three hours, but she was too busy to notice me leaving. I was told that most of the kids were on holiday with their families (and that Fridays are quiet anyway), so there were four members of staff to three children, including Jessica. I couldn’t help thinking that was a good start: Jessica would be able to get a bit more attention during her first visit.

When I came to fetch Jessica, I could tell that she was tired. The staff told me that she’d been playing happily for the first hour, then it seemed like she’d realised that I was gone and got a bit grizzly. Remembering that I’d said she hadn’t napped well in the morning, they’d tried putting her in one of their cots but she’d been too busy playing and shaking the bars to go to sleep. They’d also tried putting her in a baby bouncer (Jessica went off those about 4-5 months ago – she just gets frustrated and wants out) and then tried to rock her in her push chair (that’s never really worked) and it didn’t send her to sleep, but the latter seemed to calm her down, presumably as the push chair is familiar to her.

Jessica was pleased to see me when I sat down on the play mat next to her, she wanted help to stand and then grabbed me by the shoulders ‘bouncing’ up and down, then wanted to be off and explore holding me by the hand. She didn’t have an afternoon nap at home either but was a very contented baby until bedtime, playing happily by herself and I didn’t hear a single grumble – my guess was that she was so happy about being home again, she forgot all about being tired…

Regarding Jessica’s bedtime routine, we never got around to introducing a bedtime story and she’s gone back to settling at her normal time again, so presumably her evening restlessness was something temporary. She’s still usually ready for bed at 7pm, unless she’s not napped properly during the day when she might need bed a bit earlier. Ian and I take turns changing her for the night and giving her her last feed – feels nice to do it as a joint thing plus it’s quicker: while one of us changes Jessica’s into her night nappy and pyjama, the other one goes upstairs to check that her room (curtains drawn, no toys on the floor, night light at the ready) and bed (blankets and pillow in place rather than crumpled up in a heap after her last day nap) is ready for the night and then warms her evening bottle of formula. We still feed her by the light of the nightlight in her room before taking her bibs off, putting her in bed, tucking her in, giving her a good night kiss, switching the nightlight off and the baby monitor on, and leaving her to it. Usually, when we put her in bed for the night, she flashes us a big grin and does little ‘star jumps’, then grabs the muslin we let her have to bed with her and rubs her face with it. She rarely grumbles much about being in bed for the night – sometimes we hear her chatting or moaning to herself over the monitor a while before she goes to sleep but very seldom is she upset.

There is so much more to tell, but that’ll have to wait a little longer. Will finish off, though, with a photo of Jessica and Daisy from Monday 14 January when Cara and I met up last with our little babies. (We meet up regularly, although I don’t mention it every time on the blog.)

Gabriella

Jessica’s Uncle Carl-Fredrik left again to catch a plane home early yesterday (Friday 4th January) morning. Jessica really enjoyed him being here: she was giggling and chuckling lots in his company and he was excellent at finding things to do to distract her and cheer her up when she was getting tired or bored. It was great that the two of them got to spend a bit of time together. Carl-Fredrik played lots with Jessica and also fed her her first hardboiled egg, which she seemed to really like.

On Wednesday (2nd January) Carl-Fredrik and I brought Jessica into London for her very first visit…! It was after some hesitation on my part: I didn’t want to get ‘stuck’ in the middle of a world city with a fed-up, screaming baby and a long journey home. But it’d have to be done some time, there’d be two of us to carry the pushchair up and down the stairs in the underground and Jessica might just as well be fine with it all. And I agreed with my brother that I shouldn’t be afraid to attempt new things with Jessica – after all, I’d been apprehensive about the first time I took Jessica out in the pram on my own and now I think nothing of it…

Jessica had a nice long two-hour sleep in the morning, which meant that we couldn’t catch the train we’d first intended to get but on the other hand it meant that Jessica would be more rested. I fed Jessica her lunch on the train (two thirds of a jar of shop-bought cheesy pasta and veg, followed by a handful of whole blueberries and a few sips of water) to save some time and then she got to sit (well, stand and jump up and down, really…) on my lap for the rest of the journey in to Victoria.

Throughout, Jessica seemed happy mainly taking in her surroundings when on the train, in the underground and walking down Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. There was a chill in the air and a breeze that bit our fingers, so I made Jessica wear her gloves, something she isn’t very keen on in general, but thankfully she didn’t make much of an attempt to take them off. (Usually she shakes and shakes one of her hands until that glove falls off and then she uses her free hand to quickly pull of the other glove – I’ve watched her…!)

As Carl-Fredrik and I had planned to visit a couple of specific shops on separate shopping streets, there was a bit of walking involved and we didn’t get time to actually ‘do’ much. (It probably didn’t help that the underground train on Victoria Line didn’t stop at Victoria, so part of the journey had to be made by a replacement bus, which involved us going back on ourselves a bit as those only went to Pimlico…) We didn’t want to stay too long in London, in case Jessica got really tired but wouldn’t be able to nap in the pushchair with it being so busy around. In the shops, the music was loud and Jessica got a bit bored. So in Habitat I unwrapped and took her out of the pushchair for a bit to let her look around, which cheered her up straight away. She wanted to push the pushchair around while I was holding her, but that tends to make my arm muscles ache after not too long, so I let her walk around for a little bit instead (though the floor was slippery and she started reaching for the stacked sale crockery, so not for very long…).

On the return journey, we didn’t have to wait long at Victoria for our train to come in. I fed Jessica her afternoon bottle when we’d got on board and then had the pleasure of changing her nappy for the first time on a train… It wasn’t too bad while we were still at the platform – although the changing table was high up and without any edges, and Jessica kept wanting to roll over and reach for a bright yellow bar next to her head – but it got trickier as soon as the train started to move. In hindsight I should have ignored the fold-out table and changed her on the floor instead. After that, Jessica was bright and breezy again, standing on my lap looking out the window, reaching for the overhead lights or playing with Carl-Fredrik, stopping to listen every time there was a message on the tannoy.

In the end, Jessica didn’t have an afternoon nap. We got back home and she was happy and giggly throughout the rest of the afternoon and early evening, cruising around the furniture and playing by herself, with Carl-Fredrik and Daddy when the latter came home. Both Carl-Fredrik and I agreed that, although we hadn’t achieved much, it was good to have taken the ‘risk’ making the journey with Jessica and nice to have had the change of scenery. For Jessica herself to really enjoy London, though, it might be better to wait until she’s a bit older and take her to the Zoo or, when she’s school age, museums.

A few other notes:

On Thursday (3rd January), Jessica took let go of my hand and took four steps on her own, then stumbled on the fifth (but she fell slowly and I caught her before she reached the floor).

Jessica reaches her hand out towards things very often now and though I’m not always sure exactly what she’s looking at, I try to repeat short, simple words, so that perhaps she’ll start to copy the sounds.

The last week or so, Jessica has taken longer to settle for the night. Even though she rubs her eyes and acts tired, she seems to perk up towards the end of her evening bottle and then she cries and is restless for up to half an hour to forty minutes before she goes to sleep…! We go up to check on her every so often, and to pick her up and hold her for a little bit so she knows she’s not been abandoned, and then put her back in her cot on her back and the right way around again (sometimes she’s manage to turn herself completely around, often she’s on her front with one or both legs sticking out between the bars, fairly often all squashed up in a corner, and once she was sitting up, which was a first). Ian has suggested we add a bedtime story to the bedtime routine, after her bottle, so we’ll try that.

This morning Jessica put a potato in the washing machine and then left it there. So we definitely need to check inside it in future before we put a load of washing in…

Gabriella