Baby blog

2011-04-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest, I had sort of forgotten about this blog. But now we're expecting another baby, due on October 4, I started thinking about what Holly was like when she was tiny and remembered I kept some notes! So... she's now two years and two months old. She can count to twenty, and has a good stab at getting to thirty. She is 89 cm tall - about 2ft 11 - and seems to be growing rapidly at the moment. Her obsession with In the Night Garden has been going on since before Christmas and shows no sign of abating. She likes to tell stories about her little Night Garden figures and has spent many happy hours lining them up in various places. She can still recognise lots of written words but hasn't yet made the leap to reading... She sings songs to herself, several verses, with a recognisable tune! She likes to dance. She is very bossy, and has gone through periods of having quite spectacular tantrums. Still no sign of the back teeth... so we've got that to look forward to! She loves Charlie and Lola, and the Teletubbies, unfortunately. Currently she likes to eat cheese sandwiches, and boiled or fried eggs, toast and marmite and a variety of fruit and vegetables. And garlic bread. She loves the swings, and will now walk quite happily to toddler groups and shops. We got her a big bed just before her birthday and it has improved her sleeping, although she still wakes up two or three times most nights. She has a half-hour nap during the day. She likes to sleep with Mop, her big rabbit, and her cuddly Night Garden friends. We haven't really explained to her about the baby yet - it's a long way off.

2010-07-31T01:07:00.000-07:00

Holly turned 18 months old this week. She is growing up fast...

She is now talking in whole sentences and comes out with little phrases all the time - her favourite is still "WHAT A SHEMOZZLE!" though... This week she learnt to sing the slightly rude version of Hey diddle diddle. An achievement of which her father is very proud.

She's also coming out with stuff which we say all the time - like "I said NO!" and "Where were we?" and "It's not a good idea."

We took her to the zoo a few weeks ago which she loved - she's still talking about it. We've started writing little stories about what she does in her Big Word Book - she can now read dozens and dozens of words.

She seems to have shot up in the last few weeks - we measured her and she is about 80 cm tall now.

She has recently started giving us kisses - although her Daddy gets most of them. Typical Daddy's girl...

The obsession with YouTube continues - her current favourite is Rainbow. Her favourite toys at the moment are a couple of things her Grandma gave her - a set of Teletubbies and a Sooty puppet. She also has a little wicker chair which she likes to sit on, and turn upside down and hide under.

She has started being fussy about food, which is a new thing. All she really wants to eat is pasta, and she seems to have declared herself a vegetarian, refusing to eat chicken and fish. She's very strong-minded as well...when she doesn't want to do something, she makes it very clear!

2010-06-26T04:42:00.000-07:00

Holly is 17 months old this weekend. She is now chattering away non-stop from the moment she gets up to the moment she goes to sleep! She is starting to talk in sentences and can read more than 50 words.

Her favourite things include going to see the horses and the cows, and running about at the park, and going to see her Granny and the cats. She also likes Sooty which she watches on YouTube.

Her memory is amazing and she will repeat things you have only told her once - everything is being absorbed.

This week she discovered she LOVES strawberries. She also likes Magnum ice-creams very much.

At the moment she is driving us crazy by saying "Mummy eats cat food" and "Holly eats cat food" and "Daddy eats cat food" endlessly. She knows we DON'T eat cat food but she likes to wind us up!

She still doesn't sleep through the night very often but she will regularly sleep through until around 4am before waking up and demanding cuddles. She has a few more teeth - the canines are coming through although we're not sure exactly how many there are as it's difficult to see without getting bitten!

2010-04-10T05:06:00.000-07:00

Holly is now 14 and a bit months and she is trying to say EVERYTHING. She is repeating loads of words and putting some of them together. Her first two-syllable word was "meerkat" a couple of weeks ago but since then there have been quite a few more. She is also saying things like "bad cat" and "silly cat". There's a bit of a cat theme.

She has also discovered hiding (hi-ting) behind the curtain in front of the door which is taking up a great deal of her time.

She now knows most of her letters and can recognise some whole words - so far she has Mummy, Daddy, Holly, cat, flower and apple.

The weather has got much better so we have been going to the little park near the house several times a day - she loves playing on the swings, and climbing on the climbing frame. She can now get up the steps by herself and wander about "high" which she likes.

YouTube is a big hit - she likes watching her "vi" videos of the theme songs from Postman Pat and Poddington Peas as well as some little cat and meerkat clips. I don't think this really counts as watching television...

We took her to see some real live meerkats this week which she found a bit overwhelming - along with some very noisy parrots and some skunks. Not sure she quite knew what to make of that.

We are having to watch what we say to her - yesterday I asked her if she was going to drink her milk or just prat about with it and she replied "Pat out".

Her dad has also told her that her feet smell so any time you mention feet or toes she says "Pee-ew!"

In the last couple of weeks she has moved to having just one sleep a day, after lunch, and can then keep going quite happily until bedtime.

She's also been growing some more teeth and now has ten - the front eight and two bottom molars. Half way there... when she's not teething she will sometimes sleep through until 3, 4 or 5 in the morning although she's still having plenty of bad nights too. But things are improving, slowly...

2010-03-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

We've been so busy that I completely forgot to update Holly's blog over the last couple of months! But she had a lovely birthday. She was a bit grumpy and teething on the actual day but was very cheerful for her birthday party. She loved the balloons and a banner with cats on, and I made a chocolate birthday cake which went down very well. Her relatives got her lots of books - mainly new Hairy Maclarys and Blue Kangaroos. She also has a tricycle which she hasn't really taken to yet but we're hoping she will soon!

A couple of weeks ago we realised that she could recognise some letters - we haven't really been trying to teach them to her, but she has just picked them up from her ABC books. So far she knows a, e, s, m, f, i, and sometimes t, o, w, c, and h. We are very impressed. Her granny has also made her some flash cards with "Mummy" "Daddy" and "Holly" on them which she seems to be able to recognise some of the time.

This week we went with Granny to get Holly her first proper pair of shoes. We were worried she might hate them but she has taken to them very quickly and we've already been for a couple of little walks outside. We're hoping we'll be able to wear her out so she will sleep better!

She has been teething a lot over the last couple of months, on and off, and now has another little tooth at the bottom and I think one of the molars has come through.

Holly has also started throwing some rather spectacular strops when she doesn't get what she wants. Screaming and crying - she seems to have quite a temper. Don't know where she gets that from.

2010-01-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

Holly turned 11 months old two days after enjoying her first Christmas. To be honest, she had quite a lot of Christmases - one with her family in Leicester and at least two with her family in Hastings! She got so many presents that we now definitely need a bigger house...

She is now walking, which is still very exciting! She took her first step on December 10 and has been getting more and more confident ever since.

Her talking is also improving and she is having a good stab at lots of words now although she is still usually only saying one sound for each word - so "s" means snow, snake, and sometimes socks or stories. Today she was having a go at saying "hoops" and "water".

We think she is teething at the moment which would explain some fairly terrible sleeping.

However she is now fully weaned which meant we were able to go out on New Year's Eve and are now planning a night away in a posh hotel somewhere.... we are also working on a plan to celebrate her first birthday, which is creeping up on us quickly now!

2009-12-06T03:10:00.000-08:00

Holly is now ten months old! She has just started trying to talk - she says "mama" and "dada" and "ba" for baby and "duh" for dog and "nuh" for nose... she is also understanding a lot of words now and can point to loads of things in her books, like elephants and tigers!

She is still not walking by herself although she is standing up and balancing for a few seconds sometimes, but she still prefers to hold our hands and walk.

I'm now only breastfeeding her at bedtime, and hoping to stop that soon - a couple of times she has gone without because she has refused to feed and bit me!

The sleeping is still not much better and we have been considering sleep training but I keep putting it off...

I've actually been out a couple of times with friends recently - once leaving Holly with her granny and once with Matt, which has been great!

We're looking forward to Holly's first Christmas now - very excited even though she hasn't got a clue!

2009-11-01T04:47:00.000-08:00

Holly was nine months old on Tuesday. Over the last few weeks she has started to show that she understands several words, but so far not the word "no". She will clap, wave and splash when asked to, and can point to various people in photographs, particularly her cousin Kathy. She can also point to her nose when asked. Which I am sure will be useful at some point.

We think she may be saying "mummy" and "daddy" and "baby" but it's still not consistent enough to be certain. It may be wishful thinking! However she can definitely do "la la la" to the Banana Splits song which her daddy has taught her. Her favourite stories at the moment include Scattercat and Sniff Snuff Snap.

She acquired a wooden trolley with bricks in to push about this month, an early Christmas present from her great-grandpa, which she can push the whole length of the room on her own. She is also "cruising" a lot - walking around from one piece of furniture to another. And she can climb the stairs. She has also been on a ride-on horse at mums' and toddlers'. We have been attempting to child-proof the living room, which has involved moving most of the furniture upstairs!

She now has five teeth, or possibly six - one of the top middle ones has been taking ages to come through and has caused her some problems. We're blaming some bad nights on the teeth, although the last few nights have been not too terrible. She slept for eight and a half hours without waking up last night, which is brilliant.

2009-09-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Holly is eight months old today! It's been a while since I updated as we have been quite busy and Holly is sleeping even less during the day. But she has been learning lots of new things. She learned to crawl! She started moving about in a serious way towards the end of August and is getting quicker and quicker every day. She still wants to stand up a lot as well though. She is constantly trying to pull herself up and managed to pull herself up against the bed last week, then I found her standing up in her cot... Today she actually stood up on her own for a little while when she was in the garden with her granny. Yesterday and today she has also managed to sit back up from being in the crawling position on her front, which is new.
We've been to two big parties over the last two weekends for her granny's 60th birthday. She enjoyed the first one and was the star of the show, but this weekend she had a cold and was not nearly so jolly. We've all got colds at the moment and so none of us are very jolly.
Holly has also started swimming lessons and we have been dunking her - I didn't think I would have the nerve but it wasn't too bad. Last week I dunked her twice and she didn't cry at all.
Her dad has been on holiday for the last week so we've been doing a lot of family things. We went to the zoo for the first time (well, first time for Holly). So she saw tigers and monkeys and wallabies, although one of her favourite bits was looking at the sparrows around the picnic tables...
On Thursday night, after the visit to the zoo, something truly momentous happened. Holly slept through the night for the first time ever! Since then, she's picked up this cold and is back to normal, but for one night, it was great... wonder if she will ever do it again.

2009-08-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

Holly had a fantastic holiday. She enjoyed getting sandy toes and loved being outdoors so much. She even slept better, although since we've been back, the nights are back to being rubbish again... She liked the agapanthus flowers in the garden of the holiday house very much for some reason, so perhaps I should try to grow some for her!
Last week we went on an outing to a farm park and she saw cows, sheep, pigs, tiny piglets, ducks, chickens, goats, etc... I think she likes cows best. We also discovered some cows in a field near our house, which she found very exciting.
She grew a tooth while we were on holiday - it made an appearance on Tuesday August 4, for the record. I can confirm it is VERY sharp after she bit me while feeding the other day.
This weekend we went to see the in-laws in Hastings, and then yesterday pottered out for a spot of village cricket. She was in a fabulous mood yesterday - smiling all day. Then decided she didn't want to go to bed until gone 11pm. Still wondering if she will ever sleep any better... she is now sometimes sleeping for longer during the day, which probably isn't particularly helpful!

2009-07-29T03:20:00.001-07:00

Holly was six months old on Monday! Can't believe how quickly it has gone. She seems so grown-up now she is eating food properly. She had some of Granny's bread yesterday, which went down very well.

She's also started doing a caterpillar-crawl and rolling over both ways in the last few days which means she can now move quite significant distances if she wants to.

We're going on her first holiday on Saturday - to Devon with her grandparents, uncles and aunties and cousin. Very exciting...

2009-07-14T09:50:00.001-07:00

Holly has had a stinking cold. This has not been fun for either of us. A week of very little sleep. Then I caught her cold. So did her daddy. Seemed to be even worse for us than it was for her! Fortunately we seem to be just about better by now. And she slept for almost four hours at a stretch last night. Wonder if this will last...

Baby-led weaning appears to be working. I know this because I gave her some banana yesterday and I think some of it reappeared this morning. Very excited. Told her daddy this charming little story and he seemed less than impressed. Well, it's the most exciting thing that's happened in mine and Holly's world today...

2009-07-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Holly had her first chew of something actually edible yesterday. We tried giving her a bit of cucumber on Thursday, but she just ignored it and then threw it on the floor. But yesterday she had a proper good chomp on some pepper and cucumber. Today she was actually gnawing it. Eventually perhaps some of it will go down her throat instead of all over her clothes, her face and the sofa. I didn't realise you could make a mess with a bit of cucumber. This is baby-led weaning for you. The book suggests we give her "dips" to dip her food into. Yeah right. Are they going to come round and clean up afterwards?

2009-06-29T02:18:00.001-07:00

Holly was five months old on Saturday. She has been delivering a series of rants this weekend - monologues about who knows what? She's certainly got a lot to say for herself.

She managed to sit in her new high chair reasonably happily while we had dinner, although I'm sure she will be even happier when we can give her something edible to chew on. Not long now... Reading up on baby-led weaning and think we might start off with finger foods but not sure about the theory of giving her dishes of yoghurt and dips to spread all over the entire house, as suggested by the book...

Haven't had her weighed for a month but I think we can safely say she is enormous. She's still sleeping for no more than two hours at a time at night, apart from when she sleeps on her daddy. She's sleeping less during the day too - yesterday she had just two short naps. She is not like other babies!

It's very hot today and supposed to be getting hotter this week, which means she wants to feed even more than usual. Drinking gallons of water...

2009-06-24T04:22:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Holly rolled over from her front to her back. Twice. I was really excited. But she can't remember how to do it again, which is a source of frustration for both of us...

She's nearly five months old now. Her legs suddenly seem enormously long. Won't be long before we can start giving her real food. Of course, most parents start feeding their babies earlier but I am rigidly sticking to the "rules" like a fool. I'm sure all my friends think I am quite bonkers.

2009-06-08T01:32:00.001-07:00

Well, I managed to get a haircut - it's now not so easy for Holly to grab handfuls of it and try to eat it. We had a lovely week with her daddy. She likes having both of us around - she gets bored with just me all day! She has been making lots of raspberry noises recently, which get more and more vigorous the more grumpy she gets. This also seems to involve gobbing on the carpet a lot, particularly when she's in her bouncer. The last couple of days she has also been making a lot of very loud squawking sounds. I feel perhaps we ought to tell the neighbours that we are not actually torturing her.

2009-06-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Holly very much enjoyed her first big party on Saturday - there were lots of adoring relatives to admire her. We also bought her a baby bouncer, which is the best £25 we've ever spent - she loves it! Uncle Nellie also came to visit yesterday so she has had a very exciting weekend. And her daddy is on holiday all week. The only blot on the horizon is her injections tomorrow - she has to have THREE this time. Which seems excessive. I'm going to be ambitious and try to get a haircut beforehand. If I manage it, this will be the first haircut in many months...

2009-05-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm no longer in my 20s... aaaggh! Holly is also celebrating being four months old today. We have had a lovely day - Matt took the day off work. He bought me a beautiful necklace and Holly got me a jewellery box. We went out for lunch and tonight there will be pizza and football and a little bit of beer. I have promised myself that next year I'm going to drink a lot more beer... It's a bit strange not having a huge party to celebrate my 30th but I was walking round town with Holly in the evening sunshine a little while ago and thinking how lucky I am that she is here. And if that means no champagne, it's worth it! Anyway, we are having a family party on Saturday and I hope there will be cake. Mmmm...

In other news, Holly has mastered the art of rolling over - but only does it one way. Which is unfortunate because she still doesn't like being on her front much. We are hoping she will learn to roll back again soon. We also witnessed her "playing" properly yesterday - with the funny yellow jangly bear.

2009-05-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

This "having it all" lark is a bit tricky. I'm trying to do some freelance work for parentdish.co.uk. This morning we went to our mums' and babies' group and then on to baby massage. We finally got home this afternoon and Holly was ready for her sleep at about 4pm. Great, I thought, a chance to do some work. Except she just would not go in her cot. She woke up yelling every time I tried to put her down. But I had promised to write this piece today. Ended up doing it with one hand. Much like this post, in fact...

2009-05-11T03:44:00.000-07:00

Holly has had a very busy week. She had her second set of injections last Tuesday... which was horrible! I nearly cried, and she yelled her head off.

I felt particularly sorry for the nurse. It can't be a nice job, making babies – and mothers – cry all day. I felt even sorrier for her when I saw her next victim – a nine-week-old little girl being clutched by an enormous bloke with arms the size of tree-trunks, covered with tattoos. I wouldn't have wanted to hurt his baby...

Holly was also weighed, and is now a whopping 13lb 6oz - almost exactly twice her birth weight. No wonder I'm knackered...

On Wednesday she went swimming for the first time. She looked very cute in her swimsuit. Not sure she massively enjoyed it but she didn't hate it and she will get used to it!

Then on Friday we went on a Big Adventure - down to Sussex to see her grandparents, auntie and cousins. She was very well behaved and on Saturday rolled all the way over for the first time! Then she produced some giggling for her grandma. All relatives appeared very impressed... Holly and cousin Emily particularly hit it off.

2009-04-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

Holly produced her first chuckle yesterday - her first awake chuckle, anyway! It was inspired by a Sunderland accent.... thanks Lyndsay!

2009-04-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

Holly has a rattle with a sucker on it that you are supposed to be able to stick to walls. It doesn't stick to walls, but Holly's daddy discovered it sticks to his head. Cue Dalek impressions. Holly thinks this is hilarious. It's even funnier when he removes the rattle and discovers it has left a large, round, purple bruise, bang in the middle of his forehead. It looks like he has been given a lovebite by a sea monster. I can't stop looking at him and laughing... I hope it fades soon as this may be damaging for our relationship...

2009-04-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

I met a woman today with three children at the mums' and toddlers' group who told me that people who say their baby sleeps through the night are LYING. Ha! I KNEW it!

2009-04-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have convinced myself that my daughter is a genius. Yesterday she started grabbing for her cloth book about animals and then, I swear, started turning the pages... she'll be reading by the time she is six months old! Recounted this to her daddy when he got home and he looked at me like I was crazy.
I have been worrying that she is getting bored with just me and her all day. She started protesting when I was singing to her (fair comment) and then quietened down when I put her in front of the Masters Tennis. Have been trying to tell myself that it's better to let her watch sport than Jerry Springer.
Wouldn't be surprised if she is getting bored though. She could easily outsmart me. My brain has turned to mush. Things keep popping in, then back out again. In, then out again. What was I going to do? No, it's gone again... Holly is definitely the brains of the outfit.

2009-04-15T03:10:00.000-07:00

Had a dream last night that I left Holly in her pram in the middle of town and someone stole her. Am wondering if my subconscious has been affected by her granny singing "My baby has gone down the plughole"... Why are so many songs that you sing to babies so scary? Rock a bye baby is particularly unpleasant.

2009-04-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

And here is a picture of Holly in her new sun bonnet. She is really going to thank us for this in the years to come...

2009-04-15T02:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Holly surrounded by all her bunnies. Yes, this is how I spend my days... I used to have a proper job, y'know. Now my idea of achievement is managing to do the hoovering without Holly yelling...

2009-04-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Holly's visit to her grandparents on April 2 - and her first trip (there will be many) to Groby Pool!

2009-04-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

I am being pestered for Easter eggs. Yes, you might think, Holly is too young to be doing this. You would be right. Her daddy, on the other hand, has been trying to persuade me since yesterday that he should be allowed to open his Easter eggs...

2009-04-09T06:49:00.001-07:00

We went out for lunch today with some of the mums from the new mums and babies group. Would quite like to become a Lady Who Lunches... except that then I will never get back into my Thin Jeans.
Have discovered that one of the babies at the group who sleeps all the way through the night won't nap during the day and therefore yells all day. Which makes me feel slightly better, in a mean, small-minded kind of way...

2009-04-08T02:16:00.000-07:00

Holly just reached out and grabbed her rattle and put it in her mouth. Am ridiculously excited and proud. However, she now won't do it again. Am wondering if maybe she just swiped it by accident while her hands were on their way to her mouth. Most of the time she seems to be attempting to cram both fists into her gob. If she perfects this, it will be an excellent party trick down the pub in 18 years.

2009-04-07T02:34:00.000-07:00

Holly is wearing dungarees today. She looks unbelievably cute. Will post some pics when I have time and she is less wriggly.... Grandpa is coming to visit today, hopefully bringing Granny and Holly's cousin Kathy...

2009-04-06T03:23:00.000-07:00

Found this comment on a thread about babies and sleeping: "I am so tired I wrapped my mobile phone up and put it in the fridge thinking it was cheese".
It's probably only a matter of time before I do something similar. Although Holly did sleep for three hours in a row in her moses basket last night. But only with my hand resting on her legs. If I moved it, she woke up. I did get some sleep, but my shoulder got crushed and my hand went numb. Am wondering if it is possible to rig up some sort of artificial hand...

2009-04-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Holly's daddy was on holiday last week so managed to catch up on some sleep. Also had visit from Holly's nana and grandpop. Nana managed to terrify the health visitor just by sitting there emitting withering scorn (I don't think midwives think much of health visitors). Holly's first injections happened on Tuesday. Matt said he wanted to punch the nurse for hurting his little girl. Wonder if anyone has ever actually done that...

2009-03-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Well, she slept for all of two hours in her new cot last night. The magic hours were between three and five am. Think this was because she napped so much yesterday, rather than the cot... at two am she was lying wide awake, beaming away at her long-suffering mother. This is what babies do - it's their defence mechanism to make sure you don't leave them on a mountain side for the wolves. She has been smiling even more than usual today. I think she is trying to make up for last night. It's working. She is gorgeous...

According to my baby manual, at eight weeks, half of all babies are sleeping for five hours or more at night. I suspect most of these babies are either formula-fed or their parents are feeding them some kind of nightcap. Mothers who give their babies formula are always the ones sitting around talking about how their four-week-old is sleeping through the night. The breast-feeding mothers sit staring into space. They are silently seething. Or asleep with their eyes open. One or the other.

2009-03-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Didn't work. Closed my eyes for ten minutes, then woke with the panicking thought that she was sleeping on an old mattress, which is Bad. Decided to try and transfer her to her basket. Didn't even get up the stairs before she woke, staring at me with reproachful eyes. Yes, Holly, your Mummy is indeed an idiot.

2009-03-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Holly is two months old today. She has chosen to celebrate the event by producing a series of delightful offerings, accompanied by huge grins!
She is currently asleep on my lap, which means that what I should do is take her upstairs, put her in her Moses basket and go to sleep myself. However I know that the minute I put her down she will start grumbling, waving her little arms around, chewing her fists and kicking her legs. Bless.
She has on occasion slept in her basket since she was born, which is fortunate as otherwise I would have died from sleep deprivation. Sometimes she has managed as much as three hours at a time.... but these are rare and glorious events. Today a mattress has arrived for her big cot and I am hoping and praying that she finds this more comfortable. Considering it cost more than the mattress for our own bed, it damn well should be.
A delivery man just knocked at the door, so I put Holly down in the middle of the double bed. Came back to find she is still sound asleep. How did that happen? Am now considering curling up on the floor next to her for a nap...