Proper autumnal weather today – it’s chucking it down… No plans for me and Jessica today, apart from hanging around the house, with her playing and practising her walking, and me trying to do chores in-between Jessica practising her walking… Yes, I’m still holding her hands as she walks around the house and she’s so keen – it’s all she wants to do most of the time now…! She’s speeded up now and is more confident: she spots something at the other end of room (if it’s something that gets her a bit excited – usually something that I don’t want her to play with, like a remote control or a stack of photos or a glass of orange juice – then Jessica opens her mouth wide and starts to breathe loudly and rapidly, it’s terribly cute) and off she goes…!
Another way of showing excitement that Jessica’s started to use is bending her knees so she bounces up and down whilst stamping one of her feet. She can only do this standing, of course. As an example, she did this when she spotted Daisy when Cara and Daisy were over visiting last (this was last Friday, 28th September). She’s ever so adorable when she does this – she reminds me of a little chimpanzee…! Especially when she does the breathing bit (see above) at the same time… I noticed Isac, Jessica’s cousin, doing this when we were over in Sweden for Midsummer (and he was about the age Jessica is now), so it must be a baby thing.
She walks alongside things now, like the bath, hand over hand without any support and she has also grabbed at my trouser legs to try to pull herself up. She’s started to realise that she can reach all sorts of things now, like the stereo, leads, all sorts of bits and pieces on shelves and tables, the phone… I gently steer her away from certain things, but as soon as she doesn’t need me for support anymore, we will of course have to have tidied all the things we don’t want her to hurt herself on, slobber over or tear well out of the way.
Jessica hasn’t made any serious attempt at crawling yet: she’ll lift herself up slightly, so her bum leaves the floor, and rock back and forth until she’s leaning forward, but just as she’s putting her hands on the floor in front of her and you think “excellent, she’s just about to start crawling now” her arms give way and she collapses in a little heap on her tummy. If she’s in a good mood she doesn’t mind for a little bit but sooner or later she starts to complain and needs lifting up. We reckon now that she’ll skip the crawling bit and go straight to walking – after all, once she’s mastered it, it’ll take her places faster and more efficiently.
About 4-5 days ago I noticed Jessica banging two objects together for the first time, two rattles, and she has done so a few more times since. She has also brought her hands together in a soft ‘clapping’ motion. She has quite enjoyed it when I’ve clapped my hands in front of her (wanted to grab hold of my fingertips and put them in her mouth) so maybe she is consciously copying that.
Generally, she still likes whacking things with the palm of her hand – still at the ‘bam bam’ stage, as Ian puts it.
Jessica likes holding things against her mouth, with her mouth wide open but her lips sealed against the object, and blow – this includes Mummy’s cheek and it tickles…! It’s really lovely though, feels like a sign of affection. I kiss her on the cheeks a lot, and sometimes I blow a bit of air on her or make smacking noises – again, she might be copying my behaviour, I guess.
She’s now able to pick up fairly small or thin objects by pinching them between her fingers. She’s got quite a strong grip, actually, as she’s able to pick some of her bigger toys – like the rainmaker rattle, the larger stacking cups and a foam football – up by pinching them with the fingers on the one hand. She can even shake the rainmaker rattle while holding it this way.
Regarding foods, Jessica had her first ‘grown up’ breakfast last Friday (28th September): Weetabix and full fat cow’s milk. By all accounts, it was a success. She had about two thirds of it the first morning I served it and has finished it almost every time since. We give her two Weetabix biscuits and then soak them in milk so it turns porridge-like. This has worked out quite well in the last few days, so that she’s had the above for breakfast at about 6am, then a bottle of formula at 9am, then solids for lunch at 12 noon, another bottle of formula at 2-3pm (depending on when she has her afternoon nap), solids for dinner at 5pm and finally her last bottle of formula at bedtime, which still is 6.30/7pm.
I’d like to keep her up for slightly longer in the evening to try to get her to sleep for longer in the morning as a 5.30/6am rise does feel a bit harsh some days… But when she gets tired in the evening she’s so miserable – tired and crying and nothing can amuse her – that we just don’t have the heart to keep her up any longer. It wouldn’t be fair on her. And somehow, at the moment, I doubt that it’d make much difference. Just dreading when the clocks go back soon: does that mean she’ll be waking up at 4.30/5am…? I’d have to do something about that, if that becomes the case. Maybe a nappy change and then back to bed.
With Ian home in good time most evenings nowadays, he plays with Jessica pretty much as soon as he’s in the door (oh, you should see her face light up when she spots him…!) and then when she’s starting to have had enough of the day, Ian changes her nappy and clothes while I prepare her room (draw curtains, bring nightlight through, fold back clankets) and her bedtime feed. Then Ian follows me up the stairs with Jessica in his arms. When I’m sat in the chair that we’ve put in her room he puts her on my lap and kisses her goodnight and then I feed her. As soon as she’s done feeding, she’s normally sleepy. I put her over my shoulder to see if she needs a burp and then put her in her cot and kiss her goodnight. Sometimes she starts to cry as I leave the room but normally that only lasts for a minute or two. She’s generally very good at settling herself, including during the day.
Finally, before I sign off, I need to tell you about what Jessica did yesterday lunch-time. She quite enjoys drinking water from glasses and bottles without any teats or sippy lids on, just sipping it carefully straight from the rim, but I have to help her of course so it doesn’t go everywhere. Yesterday after she’d had a couple of sips from a mug she got a bit carried away and yanked the mug towards her – the way she does with the bottle of formula or her sippy mugs when they have their lids on – and splashed herself in the face with about a third of a mugful of water…! She drew her breath fairly sharply and looked stunned, but to her credit she didn’t start to cry. Think she was a bit in shock…
Gabriella