Monthly Archives: February 2014

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Pointer

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Thursday, 27 February 2014: Three Hundred and Thirty Two Days Old.

Ayla has just started pointing at things with her index finger.

No scrap that, Ayla’s has just started pointing at everything with her index finger.

Up until now Ayla’s shown an interest in things by using her whole hand and arm in a sweeping motion, similar to what you’d expect from a 15th century thespian reciting a monologue to his imaginary kingdom.

It was cute because it was as if the whole world was amazing to Ayla, and everything about a situation or environment was wonderful.

Ayla also used to compliment her sweeping point with a “buh” sound, kind of like “book” but without the “k”… I thought she might have been trying to say look!

But over the last 24 hours Ayla’s taken pointing to a whole new level.

She now uses her only her index finger to point, and instead of showing wonder in the bigger picture Ayla now singles out one small aspect of what’s before her.

Ayla has also introduced new sounds to her pointing, using any one of the many choices in her vocabulary that include mah, bah, kae, da, duh and ah instead of the obligatory “buh”.

It’s still cute but much more grown up, and I can see it won’t be long before Ayla and I are having full blown conversations.

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Tickle monster

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Wednesday, 26 February 2014: Three Hundred and Thirty One Days Old.

Ayla’s always loved being tickled and gets so exited her squeals reach a pitch high enough to almost shatter glass and her smile looks like its about to break her face in two.

And now Ayla’s learned to share the fun of being tickled with Hubby and I.

I couldn’t quite work out what Ayla was doing the first time she grabbed at my underarm and I thought maybe I’d let things grow a little bit “wild” under there.

But after reassuring myself that I wasn’t at all unkempt Ayla’s persistence really had me stumped.

Eventually, with no other solution coming to mind I decided to tickle Ayla under her arm so she could feel what she was doing to me; it wasn’t exactly ticklish but it was certainly making me flinch!

Then it clicked. Ayla was in fact one step ahead of me, deciding she felt like a tickle fight and using her initiative to kick things off.

But now I’ve created a Tickle Monster! Whenever an underarm is exposed at Ayla level (which includes the lying on the couch and sitting on the floor) you can rest assured it won’t be long before her tiny fingers start grabbing and poking and “tickling”.

I pretend to laugh and squeal which set Ayla off in a fit off giggles, so happy and pleased with herself that she can beat Mummy at her own game.

But while it’s all in fun for Ayla and I, when Ayla decides to give Daddy a tickle it usually ends in tears – his!

It seems that Daddy’s armpits, with all their masculinity, are not cut out for tiny pinching baby fingers…. but it doesn’t stop Ayla trying!

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Stood up!

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Tuesday, 25 February 2014: Three Hundred and Thirty Days Old.

Ayla stood up by herself for the first time today!

I don’t think she realised what was happening and she kind of freaked out a little bit, but Ayla was definitely standing up completely unassisted for at least five seconds.

I had just fed her and as Ayla looked no where near sleep I popped her on the floor. But instead of putting her down to sit Ayla’s feet hit the floor first and she actually felt stable.

So I let go.

Ayla didn’t move at first then slowly her arms moved outwards and upwards to help her keep her balance… I just wish I could have seen her expression but with the way I had put her down Ayla was facing away from me.

After a few seconds I could see Ayla’s knees start to bend and her bottom started inching towards the ground, eventually it landed with a solid thud.

I was so excited for her! I kept trying to get Ayla to do it again but she didn’t want a bar of it and refused to stand at all; assisted or not.

We will keep practicing though, so stay tuned!

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Three at once

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Monday, 24 February 2014: Forty Seven Weeks Old.

Ayla and I were very busy today but I think the constant activity helped distract her from the awful pain of teething.

I can see three of Ayla’s top teeth all trying to push their way through at once; one front one and her two incisors (the pointy sharp fangs on either side of the front ones, which must feel like razor sharp samurai swords slowly splitting their way through her gums).

It must be agony for my poor Baby Ayla and I could tell she was suffering because she became grizzly and clingy and hard to please whenever we were between jobs or activities today.

I guess the thing with having an easygoing baby is that it doesn’t take much for it to feel like you’ve suddenly acquired a difficult one and I was grateful for the things that kept her occupied today.

Ayla spent most of the day in water actually – she had a swimming lesson, played with the hose, sucked on melting ice cubes and had multiple baths – and although it kept a smile on her face while I got stuck into some renovations I could see Ayla was distracted and uncomfortable.

I hope the teeth come through soon, I hate to see Ayla in pain like this but I can’t believe her little gummy smile is nearly nothing but a memory!

PS – I can’t remember if I made note on here about Ayla’s third tooth when it came through… it’s her first top one and has joined her two front bottom teeth.

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Outdoor playtime

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Sunday, 23 February 2014: Two Hundred and Thirty Days Old.

Ayla had her first proper outdoor playtime today and she spent it cruising around eating sticks and leaves, chasing the cat and playing in puddles.

Ayla has of course been outside countless times but this afternoon was the first opportunity she’s had to crawl about where ever she wanted doing what ever took her fancy.

Usually when I’ve taken Ayla outside I’ve sat her on a particular patch of grass and kept a close vigil on her whereabouts or I’ve relegated Ayla to her walker knowing she’d could go past the driveway edges.

Needless to say Ayla loved her newfound freedom and was covered head to toe in dirt, cobwebs, dogs hairs and goodness knows what else in no time.

There’s not doubt I’m coming to terms with the fact that it’s near impossible to keep an immaculately clean and well presented baby all of the time, and to tell you the truth I actually enjoyed seeing Baby Ayla have so much fun getting dirty.

Letting Ayla explore the outdoors also meant that I was free to get stuck into the gardening, so long as I kept one watchful eye on Ayla of course!

And, because I we’re to lucky enough to live in the tropics, I knew that no matter how sweaty and dirty we got a quick wash down with was waiting for us at the end!

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Time

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Saturday, 22 February 2014: Three Hundred and Twenty Nine Days Old.

Time has become a very valuable commodity lately.

I’ve always prided myself on my time management and organisation skills but I’ve started to notice I’m becoming less and less productive the older Ayla gets.

It’s probably a combination of trying to do too many things at once – also known as “burning the candle at both ends” – and for the first time since becoming a mum I actually feel stressed!

I know it’s a sign to slow down and drop a few of the balls I’ve been juggling but knowing this is also adding to the pressure!

With my return to work looming in the all too near future I am trying to cram as much fun, activity and Ayla-time into my day as much as possible so the hours between 7am and 9pm have recently resembled a game of chess.

The planner in me is trying my best to maximise the time I have available, and I’ve been starting each day with not just a Plan A and a Plan B, but also Plan’s C, D, E and sometimes F.

Which “Plan” get implemented is dependant on so many factors, such as nap times, the weather, paper work and unforseen admin, and I find myself swapping and changing as the day goes on.

For example, today Plan A involved focusing any spare time I had on loading rubbish and green waste into the ute… Alas, I forgot to ask Hubby if we could swap cars when he went to work at 4am.

So I swapped to Plan B, which meant getting up and ready to go out before Ayla woke up so that we could get the grocery shopping done before her morning nap… Alas, Ayla decided to wake up an hour earlier than usual which meant that by the time I’d prepared breakfast, fed her, washed her and clothed her she was almost ready to sleep again.

Then on to Plan C, which delayed grocery shopping until after Ayla’s morning nap and freed me up to get stuck into some gardening (instead of unpacking and sorting shopping, cleaning the house and doing some washing) while Ayla enjoyed her usual two hour sleep… Alas, only fifty minutes into gardening, when I was covered in dirt, dripping in sweat and no where near finished, Ayla woke up.

So, it was back to Plan B… and so on until finally its bedtime and we recharge for tomorrow.

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Rockabye Daddy

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Friday, 21 February 2014: Three Hundred and Twenty Eight Days Old.

For the last few nights Ayla has refused to go to sleep unless her Daddy’s put her down.

It’s been a huge change for us and one that proves Baby Ayla is growing up all to fast, but as much as its made me feel a bit obsolete it’s also brought a new feeling of freedom.

While I still give Ayla her bedtime feed instead of backing that up with rocking and singing until she falls asleep the routine is now a family affair that Hubby and I share equally.

Plus, knowing that Ayla can go to to sleep at night in her Daddy’s arms means that we’re another step closer to being able to hire a baby sitter and have a baby-free night out!

It also makes me proud to see that Baby Ayla is gaining her independence and starting to make decisions about what makes her feel happy and content, not just what she likes and doesn’t like.

Growing up certainly happens fast, far faster than anyone can explain. I never thought I’d be using the word independent to describe a ten month old baby and I can hardly believe that in a blink of an eye she won’t need me at all.

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Kissing the cat

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Thursday, 20 February 2014: Three Hundred and Twenty Seven Days Old.

Ayla is a cat person I think. It’s not that Ayla doesn’t like The Dog, it’s just that today well… today I caught Ayla kissing the cat.

The friendship between Ayla and Cat Cat has evolved into something beautiful, built on mutual respect and undying intrigue.

For the first few months of Ayla’s life Cat Cat couldn’t have given two hoots about the pink sweet smelling bundle that only ever seemed to eat and poop.

By the three month mark Cat Cat had started to feel left out and neglected, her vacation from attention had become boring and she wanted to go back to being the household princess (but strangely enough and in true feline form, Cat Cat thought she could reclaim her throne by peeing our bed and defecating on the bathmat which of course did the complete opposite and almost saw her relegated to a different kingdom!)

Thankfully though Cat Cat eventually came to realise that Ayla wasn’t going anywhere and, in the spirit of keeping ones enemies close, made herself a new throne on top of Ayla’s wardrobe.

And there, in Ayla’s room, she has stayed.

While Cat Cats’ throne has changed its shape over the weeks and months – she’s tried the dresser, the nursing chair, the change table – for as long as Ayla’s been able to recognise her surroundings Cat Cat has been there, watching over.

At first Ayla’s interactions with Cat Cat were alway supervised but when Ayla became mobile that became much harder to achieve.

But despite all her relentless pestering and fur pulling Ayla has been scratched once and once only by Cat Cat and it wasn’t even hard enough to break the skin.

So today when the two of them were playing on the floor and Cat Cat had had enough, a no-claw swipe was all it took to stop the game in its tracks.

Ayla sat back, shocked, and shook her head as she stared wide-eyed at Cat Cat. I saw tears start to well up in Ayla’s eyes and my baby girl let out a whimper.

I thought that maybe Cat Cat had unsheathed a claw after all but then I realised that it was Ayla’s heart that was hurt by the fact her friend didn’t want to play anymore.

My heart collapsed in sorrow for my baby so I picked Ayla up for a cuddle and gave Cat Cat some time to regroup.

After a while when the incident seemed forgotten and Ayla was back on the floor with her toys, the house suddenly went quiet and the universal sign of “baby’s up to no good” started flashing.

I turned sharply not knowing what to expect, and found Ayla quietly on her hands and knees kissing Cat Cat on the head as if to say “I forgive you, lets never fight again”.