sixteen months old

I have two months of photographs to sort out, so I will add them to these two posts when I have finished!

Dear Beatrice,

Congratulations on being 16 months old! I would say one of the major themes for this month has been “frustration.” I suspect and hope there is some sort of language explosion about to happen, but without words you have still developed all kinds of signals that tell me you are frustrated about something.

The first sign was when you started throwing things in anger (then sometimes picking them up just to throw them again!). Daddy and I can see you scanning your immediate area for a likely candidate for throwing, then the deliberation with which you grab it; it’s a very grown-up thing to do and, unfortunately, very funny, though we try not to dismiss your feelings by laughing at you. Then came the advent of the full-blown proper tantrum, where you throw yourself to the ground, roll around, and wail. Then, while we were away on holiday, you started banging your head on the walls or floor (never very hard!) and biting me on the backs of my legs if I wasn’t giving you 100% attention constantly–but the banging and biting seems to be part of a specific kind of frustration related to boredom, so I think I can keep them at bay.

The thing about biting, though, is that Daddy and I are pretty sure it’s not always because you are frustrated or angry. It’s very close to kissing, and sometimes you lean in toward my face, then say “bite!” and nip my lips or cheek, sometimes while pinching my face, when in fact I think you intend for both the pinch and the bite to be nice. It is also a thing you can both do and name–most of your words up to now have been nouns, so I think things like “bite” and “walk” are both exciting concepts to you.

But to return to a point up there: yes, we went on holiday this month. You visited your Granny Cloahe and Granny Cathy in Arkansas for a week (where you also saw Auntie Kim and your BFF Eleanor), and then we met your Gran (who you called Nana) in Destin, Florida, for the next week. You did extremely well on the airplanes. Going out, you charmed everyone around you. There was a young man of about 25 sitting across from us who said you were the cutest child he had ever seen, and one of the flight attendants came and sat with you in the floor (we were on the bulkhead) and played with you for a long time. Coming back, you again charmed everyone around you–that is, except for the slightly unfortunate half hour where you screamed uncontrollably because you couldn’t get to sleep. After that, though, you slept and then woke up happy, so I think all was forgiven.

During the holiday you got on well with all your grandmothers and the new people you got to meet, and you seemed content. Everything was low-key in Arkansas, so all you needed to do was run around outside on the grass, eat at regular intervals, play with all of my old toys, and sleep, and you managed all of that pretty well–though you did end up sleeping with Mommy and Daddy every single night, because you kept waking at 2am due to jetlag, seeing us in the same room, and insisting on crawling in with us.

In Florida you had your own bedroom, where you slept very well, and we had a huge suite to run around and play in, PLUS a pool that was perfect for you, PLUS a private beach connected with our hotel. We went to the beach one day. It was beautiful. The only problem was . . . you apparently hate sand. We put you down to walk on the sand and you wailed. Then unfortunately you then plopped down to sit in the sand, whereupon you lifted your hands and feet up and balanced on your bottom as if to say “GET THIS STUFF OFF ME!” We put you on a towel then (which effectively imprisoned you), and you were ok then as long as at least one of us sat next to you (and you enjoyed watching us make sand castles). You loved paddling in the sea, but unfortunately that also involves walking on sand, so you kept alternately shrieking with delight and dismay. By the time we left, everyone else around us had cleared out and you started laughing. Was that your plan all along? to make the private beach truly private?

By the time we left Florida, you looked a little battered, with a skinned knee, bruised shins, a skinned elbow, a blister on your foot, and a small graze on your back. I hadn’t considered what the combination of a toddler who has just learned to run but is wearing shorts, short sleeves, and new sandals might mean. None of these things seem to bother you, but they do bother me! But at least you are finally starting to get some hair, which does improve the overall look.

This month you have also started pointing decisively at things that aren’t in books. You’ve been pointing things out for a while, but I was beginning to think you would never point to actual stuff in the world (I was imagining it was out of politeness, of course). I think your favorite thing to do is to point at whatever I am eating and say “What’s THAT?” Naturally I always end up giving at least a little bit of it to you. It’s usually something you shouldn’t really have (and by extension neither should I!).

Speaking of pointing at things, you also now happily show the world your belly when we ask you where it is, and you bend over and touch your toes when I ask where they are. You’ve had your head, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth down for a while. Maybe by this time next month you’ll know your philtrum, gnathion, and opisthenar?!

The best and funniest thing you have started doing is announcing a decisive and enthusiastic “YEAH!” in answer to most questions. (You’re still not in love with “no” yet.)
“Beatrice, do you want a banana?” “YEAH!”
“Do you want to get your nappy changed?” “YEAH!”
“Do you want to go for a nap?” “YEAH!” *runs to the door, then crawls up the stairs to the bedroom*

That last part is absolutely true. At the moment you are more than happy to go to bed at naptime/bedtime and you know exactly where to go to get there. I’ve never seen anything quite like it and I am just enjoying it while it lasts.

Daddy and I are enjoying our little toddler, and I think we are meeting your growing demands for playing, running around outside, and reading. Fingers crossed for a dry and warm summer, and also for our garden to get sorted out soon.

I love you,
Mommy

fifteen months old

I have two months of photographs to sort out, so I will add them to these two posts when I have finished!

As I write this, you are actually 16 months and 2 days old. I am going to write the 16 month letter directly afterward! But never fear, I keep good notes about what you do from day to day.

Dear Beatrice,

You are 15 months old! This month you have had your biggest teething challenge yet: all four of your front molars emerged at once. This wasn’t much fun for you, though fortunately we didn’t suffer with much sleeplessness thanks to Calpol. In the day, though, you have been grumpy and crying randomly, and directly after you started crying one time, I saw that the gum above one molar was bleeding a little bit. So I think it has been a painful time for you, poor thing.

You have decided to set yourself some physical challenges this month, such as walking backward and walking around with a muslin over your head (which sometimes you wear like a hat–hats being another new obsession for you). I’ve been surprised at how good you are at both of those things. Sometimes you still crawl (especially right after you have crawled up or down some stairs), but if I say to you “stand up and walk for Mommy” you do it straight away. You also say “Walk! Walk!” when you are walking and when I put your shoes on you. (Speaking of shoes, you are in your second pair already!)

You enjoy dancing, and I know you know the word “dance” because you will dance on command. You really enjoy the Sleeping Bunnies game, which you must have learned at nursery. You also appeared to do an accidental front somersault this month, but I think what must have happened (as I only saw the first part out of the corner of my eye) was that you were doing your usual downward dog yoga pose, you decided to walk forward a little too far, and you fell over your own shoulder. You looked a little surprised afterward and you didn’t try to repeat it.

Your language ability is growing to the point that it now seems impossible to document which new words you are saying. Part of this is because you repeat most things we say to you, but it is hard to know how many of the things you repeat will become new words that you will actually say on your own later. For example, you repeat “shoes” after me a lot, but you never say it on your own, whereas I said “cereal bar” to you probably once, but you now know the term and request a “cece bot” when sitting down in your high chair. But words you have definitely added this month include “book!” (usually shouted while thrusting a book at me to get me to read it to you), “bubbles,” and “cuddle.” You can say “no” and shake your head, but you don’t really say it a lot (yet?!). You have also FINALLY learned how to say “meow” for a cat (even though “cat” was your first word and you did animal noises shortly thereafter).

I’m not sure if it is possible for you to make jokes yet, but you have started telling Daddy that cows say “baa”–but in front of other people you say cows say “moo.” I think you must have got it wrong one day and enjoyed Daddy’s reaction. Now we make a game of it, but I do worry that you are going to start really believing that cows say “baa.”

This month we have also seen a big improvement in your separation anxiety. While you still don’t like it if we get up and leave the room suddenly, you can usually be distracted if one of us is remains in the room with you, and if we do leave you alone in your playroom (which is in sight of the kitchen), you don’t have the same hysterical reaction that you have been having that made it impossible to get anything done. Perhaps relatedly, you have also let go of your attachment to your pacifier, and you have slept for a couple of weeks without it at all, which pleases both Daddy and me very much.

In short, it’s been a fun month, with lots of laughter and lots of running around! I am looking forward to the end of the long cold winter, because I think you will really love going wild in the park.

I love you,
Mommy

fourteen months old

Dear Beatrice,

[I wrote this two weeks ago and I had even uploaded photos. I just didn't put them together until today. Oops.]

This month has been a really big one for you. Your major achievement is . . . walking! After hesitantly holding on to things in order to walk, you started taking more and more steps before plopping down onto your bottom. Then, one day, I pulled your walker ahead of you as you chased after it, giggling, for SIXTEEN steps in a row. After that, you were unstoppable. Now you do all the walking, all the time. Sadly, your first pair of shoes is not nearly as adorable as I hoped, but you needed some right away, and the ones you got were the only pair in the shop that fit you.

You have also decided to do a lot more . . . talking! Well, talking in the sense that you are happy to repeat anything we say to you, even though you don’t know what it means. I got both you and me laughing our heads off by convincing you to say “Oh dear!” in a very mournful tone of voice. But you also happily repeated a new word, “watch,” while holding on to my watch, and it seemed to become a new vocabulary word for you straight away, since you now say “oooo-ATCH!” every time you see it.

Your other new words include button, water, milk, walk, and head, and you have now expanded your understanding of “star” in that you can identify stars in books and on clothing.

You also say “back” all the time, which to you means “I want to get down.” This comes from the way Daddy and I have taught you to crawl off the sofa: I always say “You must go backward!”–and now any action of getting down from something is “back!” to you.

Going to nursery seems to be further developing skills we have introduced at home but which we haven’t particularly pushed you to do. For example, you now happily put rings on and off the stacker. You’ve had the stacker for ages, but you’ve never been all that interested, and I haven’t insisted that you play with it, but one day I looked over and you were stacking and unstacking like it is your favorite activity in the world.

You now also stack blocks like a maniac (your record is 5) and, best of all, you now love to put things away. This is welcome after your previous preference for throwing them everywhere, and I thank your nursery for teaching you!

You are also getting better at hand motions for songs like Wheels On The Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You’re Happy And You Know It, and so on. I think this is because you are at nursery on Fridays, and they have a set weekly program where Fridays are music days. I wonder what you would be doing if you went on a day with a different focus. If you were always there for Theatre day, would you be performing Hedda Gabler ceaselessly? Time will tell, if we ever extend your nursery hours.

The hardest thing at the moment is that you still suffer from huge separation anxiety if Daddy or I leave the room. You don’t have any problem with being dropped off at nursery, though. This has been going on for such a long time. I remember hoping that nursery would help you get over your separation anxiety–but while it hasn’t made it worse, it hasn’t helped either. I think you are simply a very social person, and you don’t want to be left alone. So nursery is fine because you are getting dropped into a room full of kids and adults you enjoy spending time with, but staying in your baby-safe playroom full of toys and books is no good even though you can still see Mommy or Daddy in the kitchen next door.

But you also do so many nice things now: you blow kisses, in a big theatrical way. MMMMM-WAH! you say, as you throw your arm wide. You also grab your toy hairbrush and give everyone including yourself a good grooming (not that you have much hair, still).

But the best thing by far is that you now bring me or Daddy books when you want us to read to you. Fortunately you currently seem happy to bring us a variety of books (not just The Gruffalo over and over, though I am sure you would be happy with that) and after 5 or 6 you are happy to go and play with something else. You also love tea parties, saying “tea,” and going around “drinking tea”–I guess I did have an English baby after all.

This has been a really exciting month for Mommy and Daddy watching you learn and grow. We are so proud of you! (Especially Daddy, with all that tea!)

I love you,
Mommy

thirteen months old

Dear Beatrice,

Oh dear! I’m starting this letter at nearly 11pm on the 5th of March–in just over an hour you will be fourteen months old, not thirteen! This makes me officially the latest I have ever been with a letter to you. So I’d better get going.

Let me cast my mind back to 28 days ago (curse you, February, you short month). Aha, here we are. Yes, my little thirteen-month-old, you have continued down your course of amazing change and growth. Tooth number 8 has come through: your final baby incisor. I get the feeling you are getting a molar too, but nothing has poked out yet.

Physically, that has been the biggest change, and of course that is not very big. But you have made enormous changes in what you actually, you know, DO now. So, for example, you started stacking blocks this month (in the sense that you made a stack of two, once, before knocking it down–but according to Mumsnet, I’m sure it counts). You’re also interested in putting wooden puzzles together as long as I give you plenty of prompting and applause. You’ll brush my teeth when I am brushing yours–in fact, that’s usually the only way to get you to let me.

Your grandma and grandpa taught you how to point to your nose, ears, head, eyes, and mouth, which you love to do–and you understand when I say “be gentle” as you’re pointing to/poking MY eyes. (I used to say “gentle” to you while stroking your hair; now if I say “gentle” you stroke my hair!). You’re very chattery and have added cheese, bye, star, and biscuit to your vocabulary.

You now always consistently wave for hello, goodbye, and goodnight, and you have started doing the star motions for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and most of the motions for The Wheels on the Bus. I think you have been doing some learning at nursery–

–and that’s right! You have been attending nursery two days a week since the middle of January. You really love it; you’re never sad when Daddy or I say goodbye, and you’re always in a good mood when I pick you up. As of your thirteen-month birthday, I haven’t yet started back to work, so we have settled you in gradually, and that approach seems to have worked well.

At nursery you are also getting into some activities that I don’t do with you at home, like painting and really messy play. I have been given your very first painting, which is so precisely done that I suspect you might have been given some guidance.

Another good thing that must have come from nursery is that you are competently using both a spoon and a fork now. I do give you spoons and forks at home, but I haven’t really pushed you to learn how to use them. Imagine my surprise when you speared a bit of chicken and raised it to your lips like you were sitting in Gordon Ramsay’s. Your spoon work is still a little messy, but I encourage you to get on with it if the food in question is thick enough to stick to the spoon.

You’ve decided it’s time to think about walking, but you are being ever so cautious, which is not like you (as I will shortly discuss). For a long time now you have been cruising enthusiastically around all the furniture, and you are more than happy to push a walker around, and you’ll walk holding on to our fingers, but we have only just seen you take your first tentative steps without support. Your record this month is 6 independent steps. We know you can walk; we’re just not sure when you’re going to decide to let go of everything and do it properly.

So, caution is your by-word, right? Not so much. This month you had your first (I’m hoping only) emergency room visit. This came about after you decided to wiggle out of the lap restraints on your high chair, stand up, and stand on the tray, all while I was right next to you but just not looking in your direction. When I did look, I made the mistake of gasping, which frightened you, and you fell right on your bottom. I panicked and called the emergency services; they said to keep you still, but of course the moment I was off the phone with them you were running around like a lunatic with your walker as usual. Even though they were sure you were ok, they recommended that we go see the doctor in the emergency room. Fortunately we didn’t have much of a wait and you were pronounced absolutely fine. I have now switched to a more secure high chair!

I am starting to see the beginnings of what tantrums might look like from you, but fortunately you are still easily distracted and generally very happy, so even when you do have grumpy moments (and I won’t pretend you don’t!), they’re only a small part of our day together.

All in all, you really are my proper little toddler now, and even though this new phase is daunting, I think we’ll both be fine. The women who look after you at nursery say that you are so lovely, which just confirms what I already know and tell you all the time: you are a good, good girl.

I love you,
Mommy

P.S. That last photo isn’t very good, but it is you taking your first tube journey!

one year old

Dear Beatrice,

Happy toddlerhood! The fact that you are not quite walking yet is irrelevant, as far as I understand it–you are now one year old; therefore you are a toddler. You have changed, and in celebration of that, this website has changed too. I hope anyone reading it isn’t too perturbed!

This time last year you emerged into the world after 13 hours of labor and one emergency C-section. You were a fairly serene little baby, all things considered, and that has how you have remained. You were a good sleeper and a good eater from the beginning, which is more than a first-time mother can ask for.

I’ve tried to keep up with the enormous change you’ve undergone in the past year, and I feel like (late letters notwithstanding) I’ve captured most of it reasonably well. So let us continue in that effort!

This month has found you moving more consistently to having only one nap per day. My darling, one year is very early for a baby to make this change! Are you sure you don’t want to keep having two naps? It does make it easier for Mommy to have a shower at a reasonable time when you have an after-breakfast snooze–especially since your horrendous separation anxiety doesn’t allow me to leave any room you are in, even if you can see me, and even if I am just the other side of the baby gate.

When you can stand more solidly, perhaps I can consider taking you into the shower with me? I don’t know how most people make these things work. So far it seems to work in that I don’t have a shower until after your lunchtime–not entirely sustainable!

Speaking of standing, though, you now can stand unsupported for several seconds, and you have even taken two independent steps. You would think that such caution in walking would mean you are generally cautious–but no. You are a daredevil climber, and you can now climb up on the sofa in your playroom, but you don’t really understand how to get down without, you know, falling. I keep trying to get you to climb off backward. I am sure you will eventually understand, one way or another.

You’re still seven-toothed, so you and I have been at least spared the pain of teething during all the other changes you’ve been experiencing. Your new word this month is banana (pronounced “badada,” but definitely in context, and you said it when I was listening to a radio program about bananas!), and I know when you are saying “blueberry” even if it does come out “baubau”. Your animal noises have grown to include a BROOT for an elephant, and at last you say woof for a dog. Daddy has taught you to raise your arms over your head when you roar like a lion, and your roar is remarkably enthusiastic. You also think it is hilarious to do melodramatic fake sneezes.

You now wave one-handed (this has taken a lot of prompting, as you previously only employed the two-handed effort), you hold toy and real telephones to your ear, and you have learned to drink from a straw! You also can identify your ear consistently, and you’re reasonably good at finding your nose.

Daddy and I have noticed that you have a tremendous amount of energy now, but you have a nice big playroom (complete with a ball pit, a gift from your Gran for your first Christmas), which gives you lots of opportunity to exhaust yourself. And your first Christmas was indeed a happy one–you got far too many presents, and you got to meet Santa Claus and visit his grotto at Westfield. Santa said he could tell you were always going to be on his nice list.

This month you had a couple of other firsts, too. Daddy and I took a brief holiday without you–we went to Dublin for a wedding and you stayed with your Grandma and Grandpa overnight for the first time on your own. You were fine with them, but when we returned you gave us the most amazing welcome, complete with big smiles and tight cuddles. And then you went to your first New Year’s Eve party! You slept through the whole thing, letting Mommy and Daddy have dinner and conversation with friends. You woke briefly as we wheeled you home in your pram, but when we got home, you laughed as I carried you up the stairs, and you went back to sleep the moment I put you in your bed.

Happy new year, and happy birthday, my gorgeous little monkey.

I love you,
Mommy

(Have a look here at how you have changed.)

eleven months old

Dear Beatrice,

Aha! Did you think Mommy could publish a letter right on time? Neither did Mommy! Let’s hope this is the beginning of a new trend.

This month we have noticed you really growing up. You’re getting taller, your face is changing to look more like a little girl and less like a little baby, you’re FINALLY getting some hair, and you are outgrowing everything very quickly. I guess all that growing energy is going to your body and not your teeth, because this is the first month since you started getting teeth that you haven’t had one (or two!) come through.

You really want to walk. You sometimes crawl with one leg bent up as if you’re about to stand up, and actually you can walk around the room holding on to your walker (which of course you only use under close supervision). You can now squat while holding on to something and then stand back up, and you have started letting go while standing, balancing on two feet for seconds at a time. So I don’t think walking is very far off.

Your verbal abilities are growing by leaps and bounds. You now say “uh-oh” (in that video I prompt you, but you now say it unprompted when you drop things). You say “mama” a little bit more than last month (but still not as often as “dada”), and you have added “ball” to your vocabulary and “bzz” for a bee to your animal sounds. Your comprehension is also good. You will obey requests, such as come to Mommy, go get the ball, come give Pooh Bear a kiss, and so on. You definitely know who is who between Mommy and Daddy, because you will kiss the correct person upon request.

You have started pointing at things, including pointing at yourself in the mirror (you did once say BEE! at the same time, but I am pretty sure that was just a coincidence). The morning after we put up the Christmas tree, I brought you in the living room, where you pointed at the tree and made an excellent “WHUH?!” noise. Of course you don’t really understand Christmas yet, but you do like the lights and the tree, and you absolutely love your little advent calendar, which has a Santa’s grotto scene on it with sweet little pictures behind the flaps.

There have been a couple of small challenges this month. You had a cold that lasted a long time, and it really disrupted your sleep. You couldn’t bear to be put down in your cot, even when really tired–the moment you were down, you started screaming and standing up. I learned that if you didn’t go straight to sleep, the only thing I could really do was cuddle you to sleep and then put you down. Fortunately, now that you are better you are back to going to bed without fuss, but I feel a renewed respect for anyone who has a child who has problems going to sleep. Of course, all of that seemed to come at the same time as a change in your nap pattern–I think you are trying to transition to one nap in the day instead of two, so naps have become less predictable and I am getting less done in the day!

But the lovely things outweigh any challenges around sleeping. The sweetest thing you have done recently which surprised me is pick up a book, open it, and start chattering to yourself in a very specific “telling a story” tone! I also like the way you try to do some of the motions for songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider and Pat-A-Cake (you especially like to poke at your hand for the “prick it and mark it with B” part). You’ve also become surprisingly good at rolling a ball back and forth with me–of course, Daddy now sees your future as a professional sportswoman practically assured.

You have always been a pleasure, but now you really are becoming lots of fun! I love the time I get to spend with you, and I know I am really privileged to be able to do so.

I love you,
Mommy

ten months old

Dear Beatrice,

This is the latest I have ever been with one of your monthly updates, which is funny because I pretty much had it written on time. The problem, you see, is that way back here in 2012 we have to do tedious things like sort through our hundreds of digital photographs manually and figure out which ones we have and haven’t uploaded. Then we discover a way to automate some of this stuff, so we spend a few days setting that up while also making sure to feed, bathe, cuddle, play with, and read to our babies. Then suddenly a month has passed and we haven’t done the main thing we need to do with those photographs, which is to add them to our letters to said babies.

I am sure that when you are reading this, however far in the future, things will have changed enormously, everyone will work so efficiently that we will all be on holiday all the time, and there will be flying cars and personal jetpacks, which run on clean energy. For now, though, we are in a kind of digital Dark Ages. (The alternative is that these problems are not endemic to the times and I am, in fact, really bad at managing myself. I am sure that is not the case.)

But you know the score, so–

Beatrice! You are now 10 months old! I thought you were going to remain a 6-toother, but about 5 days before you turned 10 months your seventh tooth popped through with no real trauma (your front left bottom lateral incisor).

You still love to move and show no signs of wanting to stop, even in your sleep. Your new thing this month has been to wake yourself up by sitting upright, then start crying–or even to sit up in your sleep and whimper. I have to help you lie back down, because you haven’t yet figured out how to do so without falling over. When you are awake, you crawl at speed all around your playroom. You return to me from time to time demanding cuddles, and then you are off again. Of course, I have to be available for cuddling, so you don’t like it if I leave the room. You are increasingly interested in standing up, and I have caught you balancing for half a second before falling back down on your bottom.

Even though you are physically adventurous in those ways, you have become oddly scared by some things you used to love, such as Row Row Row Your Boat and any game that involves lifting you into the air. At the same time, though, you love playing with your ball and have no problem with my tossing it at your head for a header, and you absolutely love being held upside down. So who knows what’s going on with you!

The woman who thought last month that you couldn’t say “cat” would be shocked into a coma this month, because you not only continue with cat but have also added dog, Dada (in context), Mama (only when annoyed, though), and various animal noises when asked, including moo for cow, sss for snake, roar for lion, ba for sheep, and ooo ooo for monkey. You can also understand what I am saying enough to find your lion among a group of toys. You also seem interested in repeating syllables that I say, though that is clearly just an interest in the sound rather than any real understanding of the word (thank goodness, since you were rather taken with “shit.”)

Your kisses remain plentiful, but they have turned painful, since you now like to add a little extra special nip at the end. I am trying to teach you the concept of “gentle” and “rough” but I don’t think you get it quite yet. I have a certain amount of success with emphasizing the “MWAH” sound, which you don’t seem to be able to do while biting me and which you like to imitate.

This month you did something funny regarding the time change. For a full week before the clocks went back, you kept pushing your bedtime, and so your wake time, later and later, to the point where you were going to bed at 9pm and waking up at 9am. While the extra sleep in the morning was nice, a 9pm bedtime is a little hard on me and Daddy because we need to get our own dinner done, which we prefer to do together. But I knew the clocks were about to change, which would push your sleep time back to 8pm-8am as normal, so I persevered. The day the time changed, though, you woke up at the new 6:30am, and you have woken up at 7am every day since.

Your eating remains very good. You are now happily chewing anything chunky that is cooked reasonably well–so I still haven’t given you any raw carrot, but cooked chunks of carrot are fine for you. You love blueberries and will eat a whole punnet of them if I let you (I don’t). You have also become very good at using sippy cups with free-flow spouts, and you now usually have only one bottle per day.

You managed to have your first taste of chocolate due to my carelessly leaving a spoon in your reach, and you loved it far too much. Your other firsts this month included your first savings account and your first library card!

Miscellaneous items this month:

1. You are very flirty with strangers–you like to give them a big smile, then hide your face in my neck, then look back at them with another big smile. You usually get a good reaction with this ruse! You don’t like it if I hand you immediately to a new person, but you don’t usually mind to have a cuddle if you’ve been in their company for about 5 minutes. I don’t think you are likely to turn out to be particularly shy.

2. You cannot bear anything to be in an orderly state. I can occupy both of us for hours by attempting to get all of your toy eggs in their carton, all of your rings on the peg, and all of your cups stacked all at the same time. At the first sight of something in its place, you become Destroyer. I did see you the moment you were born, so I know you’re mine, but these must be Daddy’s genes.

I love you,
Mommy

nine months old

Dear Beatrice,

(The usual yada-yada: you’re nearly 10 months old, but we’re going to pretend you’re not!)

Hello, and welcome to being NINE months old! You have changed a lot from 8 months. Your two top front teeth have come in (bringing you to 6 in total), and they gave you the first teething grief you’ve really had. You had to have Calprofen for about 3 days, and you weren’t really very happy for about a week. As soon as they emerged, though, you seemed to feel so much better, and now you can take bites of things, chomp.

You have also become incredibly active–and I had thought you were active before! Your father and I went to France in the first part of your 9th month, and at that point you were not yet crawling. However, a family with a little girl who is 6 months older than you who also went with us, and I think she inspired you to move around, because the week after you started crawling in earnest. You are now very very fast! Your favorite thing to do is to crawl around for a bit, then push up so your legs are straight and your head is on the ground. You were also really excited by the swimming pool there, even though it was a little chilly. I don’t think you even noticed–you were having too much fun. You also love dancing around to music, especially Shakira and the Black Crowes.

You have picked up other physical skills, too. First, you can pull up on things by yourself, which you demonstrated to your own peril in your cot about three seconds before I lowered your mattress. Second, while we were walking around a monastery in France, you started yelling. To make you laugh instead, Daddy and I did the thing where we patted our hand on your mouth while you were yelling to make a WA WA WA sound. You thought that was so grand that you immediately learned how to do it yourself. Third, you have learned how to clap (and you clap when I say the word “clap,” too–and you also clap when people on television are applauding, which surprised me a great deal).

Speaking of knowing what the word “clap” means, your verbal skills are also widening. You now say absolutely every syllable now (including ma, but sadly not in context). The most amazing thing, though, is that you have now officially said your first word: CAT. Well, “gak” or just “ca”–but it is definitely in context when you see Anya. You have done it in front of other people, so I feel confident in asserting that you are definitely saying cat, even though a lady at a baby development check-up we attended said that it isn’t possible at your age!

I said last month that I need to take you to more classes. We have now been to a Baby Sensory class once, and you loved it, but you caught a cold there which you then passed to both me and Daddy, and it hit us both pretty hard for around two weeks (you were fine!), so we haven’t yet been back for fear of my infecting other babies. Since you loved swimming, I think am going to get you back into a swimming class. But you are also so active that now I’m wondering if I should actually look into baby gymnastics and not just joke about it like I did last month.

Some miscellaneous from this month: Daddy and I took you on a catamaran back from France on a stormy day. It was miserable, and Daddy and I were both so sick. But you just slept through the whole thing. Thank you! You’ve started putting spoons, food, and sometimes your pacifiers in our mouths, which you find hilarious. And now you give deliberate, unprompted kisses–even saying a big MWAH while you’re doing it!

I love you,
Mommy

eight months old

Dear Beatrice,

When you grow up, you’re probably going to ask me if Daddy and I just spent all our time on holiday after you were born. Sadly not, but it does seem that various holidays this year have made it harder for me to write to you on time. You are nearer 9 months old than 8 as I write this, but fortunately I have kept detailed notes on your 8th month and will recount it here! (Having said that, some of the things I would have written on your 8-month birthday do actually make me laugh, since so much has changed–but that is for the 9-month update!)

So! Here you are at 8 months old. You have grown ANOTHER tooth, bringing you to four (two central incisors on the bottom and two lateral incisors on the top). You now say “da,” “teh,” and “ya” very competently–I still haven’t heard a “ma,” sadly. You do, however, give me plenty of kisses (well, more like licks) but won’t kiss Daddy! You do fake sneezes and coughs sometimes, and you also seem to have learned how to whisper, which adds a mysterious air to some of our conversations.

You are desperate to move around on your own. You’re spending more and more time on your tummy, and you now try to lift up your middle and get onto your hands and knees. Similarly, when sitting up you often lean forward so that you’re just almost on your knees. You also enjoy trying to pull up to standing, and if I stand you up next to furniture, you can happily stay there without my support (but you can’t move around, and you quickly drop to sitting). You even “dance” when you hear music (that is, you sort of bounce around and waggle your head back and forth).

This month saw a few firsts: you got your first cold, sadly, but it fortunately lasted only a couple of days and didn’t badly impact your appetite or your sleep. You also went out for your first restaurant meal and ate from the children’s menu; it was an Italian restaurant so the kids’ menu wasn’t just fried salt. You had a salad to start (buffalo mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, and kernels of corn) followed by gnocchi in pesto. I was so proud!

I bought you some stacking cups, and you seemed to know immediately how to put smaller cups inside larger ones, though you don’t like them when I stack them into a tower: you knock them straight down! You also don’t like it now when I change your clothes; you’ve never enjoyed it when I take control of your hands and arms, but these days even putting trousers or tights on you inevitably results in yelling and crocodile tears. Fortunately your dismay is short-lived, and you are fine as soon as you’re off the changing table.

You enjoy spending time with and watching other babies, and we have done a fair amount of that this month. You do, however, have a questionable habit of making them cry–usually by yelling good-naturedly into their faces! I am trying very hard to teach you the difference between “gentle” and “rough.” This is something you need to know for other babies, and of course the dog and cat, but also for me, since you keep trying to rip my hair out by the roots! Woe betide me if I try to wear earrings, and naturally you love Daddy’s glasses.

Seeing other babies, though, is something we need to do more of. All of your regular classes seem to have ended for the summer, and I need to get you back into something interesting now that things are starting up again. I think trying swimming again might be a good idea (and I’ll elaborate more on that when I write for your 9-month birthday), and I am looking into a Baby Sensory class.

After we spent so much time watching the Olympics, I’m pretty sure you’re going to be a world-class gymnast, and I’ve just found out that you could be attending Baby Gym. Mother and Baby classes: a strange and magnificent world I never knew existed before you came along.

I love you,
Mommy

seven months old

Dear Beatrice,

When you grow up and you read this, you may be tempted to ask me why I am always so late with your letters. The answer, my dear, is you! You are so much fun in the daytime that I don’t often take time away from you to write, and by the time you go to sleep you’ve worn me out. Don’t worry, though–we have a lot of fun, and I make notes of new things I notice that you’re doing.

At 7 months, you have finally learned to enjoy being on your tummy, especially if I put a toy in front of you that has a label on it. You are absolutely obsessed with labels; you turn toys around to find them, and you stare at them and touch them, completely fascinated. You still haven’t shown any signs of crawling, but since you don’t mind being on your tummy now, maybe that will happen soon. But when you are on a blanket that can slip around on the floor you do really annoy yourself by moving yourself and the blanket backward by pushing with your arms.

You have started expanding your diet (along with your number of teeth: currently 3), and you now eat everything babies can eat. I froze a batch of chicken curry, and you LOVE it, along with a cod/butternut squash/cheese dish. However, you often prefer to have whatever I’ve got on *my* plate–if you are being reluctant to eat, all I need to do is to put your food on my plate and pretend to eat it myself. You have also got to grips with a sippy cup; quite a lot of liquid still goes down your front, but you pick it up yourself and drink without my assistance.

You are very social and still really enjoy meeting new people, but you are also good at playing by yourself (which you are doing right now, as I write this). You sit with your toys around you, inspecting their labels, shaking your head, playing peekaboo, and chattering. Your favorite syllable is “ba” and you are good at saying it! You are also good at smacking my open palm with yours if I prompt you to clap, but you don’t yet clap your own hands together.

When we got back from the USA I used that opportunity to put you on a different sleeping schedule. You were previously going to bed at 7pm and waking sometime between 6 and 7am. You now go to bed at 8pm and wake sometime between 7-8am. That’s the theory, anyway–it worked until we got our new puppy, Daisy, who seemed to wake you earlier (at least until she got settled in). You and Daisy are already very fond of each other, and I think you are going to be best friends. (You’d love to be Anya the cat’s best friend, but she is less keen.)

It is enormous fun watching you grow up, but it is also very odd: from moment to moment nothing seems different, but when I think of how you were just two months ago, so much has changed.

I love you,
Mommy