Saturday 25 June 2005
Hello, and welcome to my 12th Update. Today I am exactly 10 months (or 43 weeks + 3 days) old. That means that I’ve now been outside for as long as I was inside! I apologise for the long break between Updates. Things have been a bit crazy in my house, but we’re slowly getting back to normal now, so I’m aiming to Update you a bit more regularly in future.
We’ve had lots of people come to stay with us lately, which Alex and I have loved. First, Grandma came down from Brisbane for a week at the very end of last month, then Nanna & Granddad came up from Sydney for a few days, then Grand-Annette came to be my ‘roomie’ for almost a fortnight, then my friend, Kim, spent a week here. My lovely Soss is due to arrive on Tuesday, and I can’t wait to spend some time with her, too. It’s been wonderful having friends and family around to tend to mine and Alex’s every whim. I think for the most part we’ve trained our carers quite well, and I hope they’ve enjoyed some special cuddle time with us, but I have no doubt that they’ve been equally pleased to get back home for a well-earned rest, too! I’d like to say a giant THANK YOU to everyone who has so generously come to help look after Alex, me and our parents in the last month while our Mum has been out of action. We really do appreciate it and now would like to prescribe each of you a ‘Bex’, a cup of tea and a little lie down! I’ve also seen (great-grandma) Doffy and (great) Uncle Bruce, both of whom came up from Sydney to visit me a few days ago, and a couple of weeks before that I had a visit from (cousins) Bradley, Melanie and Baby Noah. I’m planning a trip to Sydney mid next week with Soss and Mummy so that we can meet up with Mel & Noah at Doffy’s house for lunch for some more cuddles.
I haven’t seen very much of the babies in my Mothers Group lately, although I did get to see them briefly last week. I’ve been keeping in touch via email, though, and will resume our weekly meetings when my usual chauffeur is back on deck.
You’ll be pleased and excited to know that I’m now the Queen of the Wave. I’m very good at it, and am happy to bestow a smile and a wave on just about anyone, at any time. I’ve been waving hello, goodbye and anything in between for about a month now and have developed my own unique style. None of this ‘royal’ wave for me – no siree bob. I am tending towards the ‘trying to flick wet paint from my hand’ wave style. It’s quite fetching; I’ll show you next time I see you.
I haven’t managed to clap hands yet, but I love watching other people do it, and I make a point of studying what they do, so that when I do start to clap, I do it well. I love all the songs about clapping, and like to clap my hands on the floor or my highchair tray in lieu of clapping my hands together.
What I have become proficient at, however, is standing up. I love it! One day I was happy to sit, and the next I’m standing like there’s no other option! I pull myself up on just about anything (so beware if you’re wearing elastic-waisted trousers/ skirts around me!), and resolutely refuse to let go and sit back down just so that you can do something boring like move or walk. In the last few days I’ve decided that I’m clever enough to stand up and only hang on using one hand, and although I’m fairly insistent that that’s the way of the future, I have had a number of small tumbles while perfecting the manoeuvre. Occasionally I’ve attempted to ‘cruise’ (walk hanging onto the furniture), but that’s not really something I’m overly comfortable with just yet. Wait until my next Update, though…
I am – for the most part – a really good eater. I’ve certainly got much more of an appetite than my brother. Just today, in fact, my Mum peeled a pear for me, and I ate the lot! She tried to cut pieces from it and feed them to me, but I was much happier holding onto the whole sticky, slippery thing and munching away until there was little more than stalk left. After that I gnawed through a couple of pieces of cheese, ate a bowl full of mixed vegetables, finished off half a jar of strawberry yoghurt with rice, then had a bottle before bed. Just a normal dinner for a 10 month old baby. I had a funny little tummy last week so went off my food a bit, but seem to be well back into the swing of things now.
Although I’m still a good-natured and generally placid little creature, I’m beginning to realise more and more that if I want something, I have the power to really let my feelings be known. Woe betide the fool who makes off with something I’ve just set my sights on! I can turn on the pouty face and waterworks almost as quickly as Alex, and I don’t sob quietly, either. I can, however, still be very easily distracted by almost anything else, and my attention span is really no greater than that of a newt, so my hissy fits aren’t (yet!) too much of a drama.
I try very hard to talk, and sometimes people get very excited by my attempts. Daddy is convinced that I direct my "dadadada" at him, although other people think I’m just as likely to address him as "mummm-mummm-mummm". I almost certainly make an "Aaaaaa" sound and mimic the intonation of people calling out to Alex, and he is definitely my major focus. I love him to bits and try so hard to communicate with him and get (and hold) his attention. My little arms and legs wave uncontrollably whenever I clap eyes on my brother, and my already big eyes open wider and I grin manically whenver I see him. My ‘talking’ reaches fever pitch and if I’m being held by Mummy or Daddy, I wriggle and writhe in order to get away and over to see my gorgeous big brother. I am smitten! My parents are fairly sure that I will make "Alex" (or some variation of it) my first proper word.
I’m very good at amusing myself and can happily play with the toys in the loungeroom on my own. By far and away, though, are ‘real’ toys, such as shoes, the telephone (when I can get my sticky hands on it), mobile phones, the TV remote control, keys etc. I seem to have really got the hang of this telephone business. I put toy telephones up to my ear and try to say "hello", and a couple of times when the (real) phone has rung, I’ve put my hand up to my ear and tried to say hello. A few times In the bath, too, I’ve put the face washer up to my ear and am obviously pretending to be on the phone. It’s very cute!
And that, me thinks, brings you up to date with what I’ve been up to. As I said earlier, I will try very hard to make my Updates more regular in future.
I hope everyone is happy and healthy!
Much love from
Baby Jess
xxxx