Tuesday, July 29, 2008

12 month check-up

On Monday 28th we went for Emma's one year check up:
10,750 kg (feels like a lot more to me!) 75cm (that's 25cm since birth!)
and she had 2 vaccinations which are giving her a bit of a fever...


Although I don't really want to start fitting Emma into a box, it is kind of reassuring for a first time parent to read up on development milestones so that you know what to expect and have an idea of what your kid should be up to when.

(Above: waiting for the doctor with Annabel also known as "tata yéyé")

According to the development milestones listed by baby weekly (which I have really enjoyed receiving and am sad is ending at week 52 since Emma's birth!) Emma is "ahead" in using her hands (has been removing socks for ages, lifts heavy objects, puts things in baskets, pulls them out, claps...) and can recognize gestures by words (clap, tap, "dodo"), she will point to things she wants instead of crying (although she cries when you remove something she wants). However, she seems to be "lagging behind" in anything that has to to with actually getting on to her two feet; no standing, walking nor even proper crawling so far!

The pediatrician said she is pretty heavy which makes it more difficult for her to walk but that the key thing is she is moving around, the "how" isn't so important. I think they only start worrying if your babe isn't walking at 18 months.


In the waiting room at the Pediatrician's with Annabel (aka "tata yéyé")


Some more great news is that now she's allowed to eat practically everything. So tonight I made her some of my favorite meatballs in the world - Baba's recipe! - but a mini version for her lunch tomorrow and hopefully the day after. Hope she likes them.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

my first year with Emma

On Monday 28th we went for Emma's one year check up:
  • 10,750 kg (feels like a lot more to me!)
  • 75cm (that's 25cm since birth!)
  • and best of all she's now allowed to eat practically everything!

Although I don't really want to start fitting Emma in to a box of development criteria it is kind of reassuring for a first time parent to read up on development milestones so that you know what to expect and have an idea of what your kid should be up to.
According to the development milestones listed by baby weekly (which I have really enjoyed receiving and am sad is ending at week 52 since Emma's birth!) Emma is "ahead" in using her hands (has been removing socks for ages, lifts heavy objects, puts things in baskets, pulls them out, claps...) and can recognize gestures by words (clap, tap, dodo) she will point to things she wants instead of crying (although she cries when you remove something she wants). However, she seems to be "lagging behind" in anything that has to to with actually getting on to her two feet; no standing, walking nor even proper crawling so far! The pediatrician said she is pretty heavy so it makes it more difficult for her to walk but that the key thing is she is moving around.

In terms of stranger anxiety, she doesn't seem to be experiencing too much of that and is generally quite curious when seeing a new face, hearing a new voice etc.


Today, on her birthday we went back to the clinic where she was born to sort of reminisce and say hi to the midwives and nurses who made it a wonderful time for me a year ago. ONE WHOLE YEAR AGO!!!!!


"In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul."
- Lisa T. Shepherd


Saturday, July 12, 2008

Emma - July 2008

nearly 1 year old, not exactly crawling - more of a bum shuffle - but already have loads to say... and um, dribble... Too much a-shakin' for my milk to stay down

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Emma update


Mobility

Today for the first time, at 11 months, 1 week and 2 days, Emma tried pulling herself up with the bars of her play pen. Her bum got nicely off the ground, hung in the air a few moments while her face sprouted a determined expression and her hands gripped the wooden bars, then she plunked back on to the multi-colored sponge lettered carpeting of her play pen.
In truth, she has actually been lifting her bum off the ground by grabbing on to me or legs of chairs, but this is the first time I've seen her use the wooden bars and keep so upright.

She is still mostly bum shuffling to get around, albeit much more efficiently now, and is grabbing, opening, shaking and strumming anything she can get her hands on. She can now swiftly get from her back on to her tummy and from her back into a sitting position - although she tries the latter more eagerly on our bed than on the floor where the landing surface is much softer should she not make it the first time around. When I put her on the floor, she moves with one leg under her bum and pushes with the other. I'm not quite sure how this works but she definitely get from one corner of the room to the door in no time at all.

Favorite activities
While I am under the shower she loves opening the bathroom cupboard under the sink and pulling out our stock of toothpaste, soap, and my Veet wax strips. She systematically tries shaking, knocking, banging each object individually or against the floor, cupboard or anything else she can reach.

She also loves: removing her hat as soon as you've put it on her; handing you objects and then reaching out for you to return them; tearing up Mummy's magazines; eating bread (and especially anything she can eat on her own); looking down at where she was sitting/lying before you picked her up; playing peek-a-boo; throwing things on the ground then looking down to see where they are (yes, I pick them up dozens of times); trying to sit up while I'm changing her nappy (not so great); most of all, her pink star-fish.

Another favorite is bath-time with her duckies, hippo and the dolphin and recently discovered that clapping her hand against the water makes a great sound ans splashes Mummy! Yesterday she took to tapping her hand against her wet tummy and really enjoyed the musical effect.

Right from the start, Emma has been very sensitive to rhythm and music. Be it Church bells, drumming sounds, the electrical sounding music produced by one of her toys, me singing or clicking my tongue even Amy Winehouse gets her bobbing up and down and puts a smile on her little face. Too cute, even if I am her mother.

Sleeping is still fine
At night she goes to bed at 7pm and gets up at 7am. This has meant that since April when we managed to get rid of the "dream feed" by moving it gradually from 11pm to 9pm while decreasing its quantity and simultaneously increasing the quantity of milk at 7pm dinner time, I have had my evenings "off". Yay!!!! She still wakes when she looses her dummy especially now that she is so mobile in bed and end up sleeping across and at the bottom of her cot. Grobags are a must as she loses the covers in no time at all.

During the day she still has two naps. In fact, at the moment they are very regular and the patters is the same on most days. Mornings: 9h30-11h; afternoons: 2h30pm-3h15pm. This is a bit tricky as it means I really need to work my day around naps, lunch and tea-time but gradually and when she is ready, we'll decrease the morning nap and try to increase the afternoon one so that we end up with one big nap.

Looking forward:
I'm hoping to have switched naps before Emma starts going to the day-care centre in Vienna mid-September so that there are not too many changes at once. But in between the move, holidays and starting day-care as well as trying to respect her need for two naps it's going to be a bit of a challenge.

Well, I guess there's the update on Emma. Hopefully I'll manage to do this a bit more regularly in the coming months, especially as I am sure there will be lots to tell!


Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Stub out your cigs

Today Geneva bans smoking in public areas (restaurants and cafés) where smoking wasn't already banned.
Hurrah for kiddies and Mummies and well, for anyone who wants to enjoy their food.


I wish they would make lunch-/dinner-time "smoke free" in restaurants not big enough to have proper non-smoking areas... especially in the winter time