It’s week 37 and I have massively failed to do an update in some time! SO MUCH has happened in the last few months it’s completely mind boggling. Your Dad and I have been very busy with buying our first home, arranging it getting decorated, then moving house and finding a nursery for you for when I return to work. I have also been doing ‘Keep In Touch’ days at work too to get back into the swing of thing before I return to work in a month. You’ve been busy with LEARNING and been doing everything! You have learned to; pull your self up on furniture, push yourself up to standing against a wall, ‘cruise’ or walk around holding onto said furniture or wall, stroke the cats without crushing them with all your might, play peepo, hand toys to people, feed people, walk with a walker, use a water cup consistently and actually drink from it, climb the stairs, pull open a door if it’s not quite completely shut, wave and grown 4 teeth with more on the way. Plus a whole bunch of other stuff I have missed.



The fact is that you are growing (physically and mentally) at such a rate we just don’t have the time to catalogue it like we used to. You are remarkable and every day I marvel at how far you’ve come and you always surprise me with something new. You are also at a stage where you are extremely active with crawling, cruising, climbing and pulling stuff towards you but toys don’t hold your attention for long. So it’s exhausting keeping you engaged for more than a few minutes in anything. You’ll happily play with something if I or someone else is playing with you, but your capacity to be content on your own is currently severely depleted. You even follow me when I dash to get a glass of water and pull yourself up on my trouser legs. You do not want to be left behind.

Combine this with the fact we have just moved house and there are boxes everywhere, nothing is screwed to the walls, we don’t have any baby safety gates up yet and the floor seems to be perpetually covered in choking hazards (random bits of plastic, tiny bits of cardboard, gravel) which you take great joy in discovering and then attempting to devour, and it’s been a frantic couple of weeks.

Oh, and you’ve been having the most terrible time with teething in the last week. It breaks my heart as it must be so uncomfortable and you are obviously in pain and there is so little we can do for you. The problem with teething, is that it messes up everything, not just your mouth. You have been drooling constantly (soaking through at least 4 bibs a day), which means your dehydrated but it hurts for you to suck and often to eat, so you’re off your food and you’re not too keen on milk or water either. So I imagine you have a headache from being dehydrated too. Plus your saliva gets more acidic to soften your gums so your teeth come through quicker. But as you swallow it, that upsets your stomach and then gives you terrible nappy rash when it comes out. You have also been mucusey, had a mild temperature and been sleeping terribly, which you can imagine does not help your mood (all can be symptoms of teething). I don’t think either one of us has slept more than an hour in the past week. I’m really hoping as your final front tooth has finally popped out, that we may have a break for a while. You’ve been a trooper though, doing your best to keep playing and asking for cuddles whenever you’re not 100%. Calpol is amazing stuff and I have massive respect for babies and parents before it’s invention.

Another exciting thing that happened recently is you went to nursery for the first time! By all accounts you seemed to really enjoy it. You love exploring new places and you’re getting more fond of babies your own age too. So to have the opportunity to maraud around discovering new toys was fantastic. The second day we took you, you just went straight for a walker and basically ignored your Dad and I as we tearily waved our goodbyes. The third day you did grizzle and hold you hands out to me and it did break my heart a little. But apparently you settled down very quickly and promptly set off on an another adventure. You come home knackered and rubbing your eyes, but that doesn’t mean you want to go to bed any earlier, or at all in many cases! I think you were so thrilled by the day, that you just can’t wait to tell us all about it. But of course, you can’t yet, so it has to be done through the medium of interpretive play. Of course we understand this is the most effective way to get the information across to us at precisely our dinner time and is best communicated while our hot dinners are cooling on the table.

The most amazing thing to watch is when you learn to make a new connection with the people around you. You are so pleased and it feels like you can’t wait to be able to tell us all about your day. I was out for coffee with Grandma a few weeks ago and you just started feeding her your finger food. You tried it once and then you seemed exhilarated by the fact you formed a new method of contact with someone. So you kept doing it, and every time Grandma pretended to eat a little piece (I’m sorry to tell you that she did not eat your carrot sticks and wheat puffs), you grew more excited. It was a privilege to watch.

A few days ago, you started initiating games of peepo. You grab any near by fabric, a towel, a blanket, your top and pull it up over your face with both hands stuck straight in the air, then a few seconds later pull it back down. You are so pleased when we react and this game is now a regular in our 2 hour play sessions, morning, noon and night. You play peepo with such purpose, much like when you’re crawling out the door or the living room somewhere unknown, you need to do it. For science! Or maybe, for babies everywhere! I am so humbled by your determination, the sheer joy you get out of achieving things and your clear desire to share that joy with others. I think you will keep those traits for the rest of your life.

This is a tiny tiny snap shot of what’s happened in recent weeks. I have completely neglected to mention anything about your journey to the ZOO for my birthday. Or your various trips to the park in the sun or the fact that Nanna Hewitt will be coming up soon for good (how exciting!!!). But I feel this post has gone on long enough as it is.

I love you my Lily-Boo and it is an honour watching you learn and grow. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful you are. Even in the dead of night, when I have lost count of how many times we have woken up and I hold you tightly singing the same songs my mum used to sing to me, I cannot help but stare at your face in wonder. You are remarkable.

Mummy

xxxx