Friday, July 22, 2011

If you're happy and you know it ...

...Touch your nose!

Those are the words that led to me realising how much Rebecca is taking in.

I have known for ages Rebecca can understand what we try to communicate on a very basic level, but had thought it was all down to tone and facial expression, with just a couple of words (Yes, No) being understood.

On Friday last Mummy was having a singsong with Rebecca to an MP3 of the classic of the toddler dance floors - "If you're happy and you know it". It's always great to see Rebecca moving to the music and loving every second of it, so I stalled in the background and watched. When it got to the point of "...touch your nose" Mummy said "You touch your nose" a could of times and - WOAH! - Rebecca put her hand up and touched her nose. And she did it again the next verse too.

Did I mention my daughter is amazing?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Busy week

It has been a very busy week for our little Rebecca. And a bit hectic for Mummy and Daddy too!

Rebecca is starting to discover more and more around her. She has started to clap her hands with us, and is feeding herself nibbley food (cut up bits of toast, chopped up apricots). She is just amazing to watch - every day shows progress, and she is CONSTANTLY taking everything in around her.

She has started to take less of her bottle at lunchtime (2.30pm) and that's a bit of concern. But we wouldn't be parents if there wasn't always something concerning us!

But the big event in the last week has been STANDING UP. Yes, at less than 9 months (she turned 9 months yesterday) our little baby was standing up. Last Friday I went in to say good morning on my way downstairs and Rebecca was sitting up, and then took a hold of her cot bars and pulled herself up to standing and stood there smiling and giggling at the proudest Dad in Ireland.

This standing has led to a flurry of activity around the house. Our quiet home has been transformed into a minefield of unsteady accidents waiting to happen, viciously sharp edges and skull cracking surfaces.
We have removed all the keys from the internal doors and put bolts high up on the bathrooms - one family member and one friend have each been locked into a room by their toddlers so we are aiming to avoid a repeat here.
Granddad provided a playpen which is a Godsend. Where Mummy used to be able to take a minute to run for a bottle or to the loo, now it is too dangerous to take our eyes off Rebecca for a second so the playpen is a safe haven for Rebecca to move about in. She seems to love it, and enjoys tidying her toys up within it (a trait definitely more from Mums side than mine).

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Going mobile

I spent the last few days away from home due to work, and came back to this grown up girl who definitely resembles the baby girl I left behind, but this one is crawling about and getting up on her own. All in all much more grown up.

I think Rebecca does this when I'm not looking. One of these days I will go to answer the phone and come back and she will be looking down on me.

The down side is she keeps bashing herself off things. We now need to work out how to reduce that as much as we can. A playpen will be in place in a day or so, but there is a whole house full of hazards. Even just in her cot she manages to fall over and bash her head off the bars.

It's horrible to hear her scream but I really can't think how to avoid it. Sher has to learn the idea of not hitting off things or to put up her arms when she falls, but at the same time I don't want to have her suffer any pain she doesn't need, obviously.

I think I will ring around my parents and friends tonight to see if they have an advice. Sometimes I feel like an idiot not having had this all worked out ages ago. It's not like I never knew she was going to stand some time.