crawl, baby, crawl

it seemed like yesterday that you learned how to crawl. now you are unstoppable.

Happie girl

you are such a happy girl.

at 9.5 months, you are growing up so quick.

don’t ever stop being so happy, baby girl.

ba-lu-ku

you got your first ba-lu-ku on 24 June.

you were sitting on my lap and playing at the dining table when you suddenly lean forward and hit your forehead on the sharp edge of the table.

you turned bright red and screamed.

Beginning of an era

today marks the beginning of an era – mobility.

baby girl, you pushed yourself on your knees from a sitting position this morning. with the support of the side of your ball pool. daddy and i were so excited to see that.

later in the afternoon, you pushed yourself on your knees and then got onto your feet, bum in the air, hands on the sides of the ball pool for support – for the first time!

for a long while now you have been refusing to lie down quietly on your back for nappy changes or your nightly before bedtime wipe down. it is a constant battle to change you when you kept wanting to sit up and/or stand up with us holding your hands. from distracting you with toys to forcefully holding you down, you name it, we have tried doing it. toys of all sorts that one can only imagine – from dangling bibs, ribbons, mobile phone to daddy and mummy’s spectacles.

even meal times have been challenging. you often decide that you like to stand up in your highchair to eat. you can’t stand by yourself yet but you would grab hold of our hands and stand up wobbly and then open your mouth wide for the food. what a cheeky little monkey you are.

9 Months on…

There!

Happy 9 months birthday Mikaela! Instead of the usual cupcake, mummy made a banana bread for us! Yummy yummy. We’re still a bit worried about you being too thin, but other than that everything is going ok. You have your good days and bad days… on a good day, you will be very happy, interactive and sleep better at night (3 hour intervals). On a bad day, you will be whinny, cry and always only want mummy… Also you will want mummy to carry you and sleep at night.

You have also started to recognise words… You know your own name “Mikaela”, Ball (the one on the stairs), buttons and spectacles. You love to go outdoors and shopping with us. Your smile brightens our day!

Eating with us

Mikaela is eating breakfast with us on the table!

sweet dreams

baby girl, i was carrying you in my arms while you slept and you were smiling in your sleep.

what sweet dreams are you having?

what peaceful and lovely face i was looking at.

what a beautiful gift from God.

sweet dreams, my baby girl.

Movie time

tonight, daddy and i finally caught a movie together. thank God for Grandma who kindly offered to look after you while you slept so that we could go and catch a movie.

nobody told us that it is going to be difficult to watch a movie after you have a baby. but hey, i do not mind not watching one while i am watching you grow up.

nevertheless, it was a good movie – or rather, it was good to spend some time with your daddy and watch a movie (Terminator 3 Salvation) together. something that we have not done in a long while. in fact, the last time i watched a movie (Star Wars – Clone War) was almost 9 months ago. on 12 september 2008. the eve of your arrival. you had decided that it was boring staying in a pool of water in a dark place and burst the water bag. you arrived 15 hours later.

8 months on…

i have not forgotten your 8th month birthday, baby girl. i just did not have time to blog about it, that’s all.

as usual, we had a cupcake on your behalf.

this month, we saw you grow more and more vocal. you are constantly smiling and happy.

but when you cry, you are still very feisty.

you love your activity table and still love to put things in your mouth.

we started wearing you in a carrier which you can face outwards. it has been a godsend. it allows me to carry you and do stuff around the house when you are a little fussy and refuse to be carried by other people.

daddy also started wearing you in that carrier and bring you out for walks early in the morning. you love your walks with daddy, taking in all the sights and sounds. and of course, daddy’s singing.

we love your wide gummy smile. with your eyes in a slit. at 8 months, you still have no teeth even though we can see and feel your bottom two teeth near the gum line.

you still wake every 2 – 3 hour overnight for a comfort feed. sometimes, refusing to go back to sleep after a feed. you will be smiling and gurgling and daddy will always say, “out of point, mikaela. out of point.”

during the day, you have started to roll in your hammock and refusing to go to sleep by yourself in it. we have to go back to bouncing you on the gym ball to get you to sleep.

to be continued…

Cupcake

today, Mikaela, you turn 7 months old.

you are still quite petite, weighing a small 6.2 kg. you are still in 3-6 months clothes for Pumpkin Patch and you just outgrow some of the 000 sized clothes which are meant to be for 3 month olds.

not growing much in weight and size, you make it up in character. still a feisty little girl. you start to show your preferences for certain toys and certain people. you smile when you see mummy and daddy and that absolutely melts our hearts. your arms also reach out to us when you see us coming towards you.

you love to put everything in your mouth, from chew toys, to hands, to handphones, to microphones, to plastic bags. you love to bounce on your tippy toes even though you cannot stand by yourself.

your godpa said you are a bit wobbly for a 7 month old so we have been getting you to sit up and putting you on your tummy. before that, you were always on your back as it is easier for us to prevent you from scratching yourself.

you are still a very squirmy and itchy scratchy baby and it is still a challenge to change your nappy, moisturise you or carry you around. your rashes come and go and you are constantly on strong steroid creams but that has not dampened your smiles and chuckles. i pray to God constantly that He will take the eczema away soon as it is so heart wrenching to see you itchy all the time.

today daddy said that we should get you a cupcake and celebrate your 7 month old birthday. we got you a pink cupcake with hearts sprinkles on top. daddy will eat the cupcake on your behalf for now. i am sure you will have your own cupcake and eat it soon enough.

looking at your peaceful sleeping face, i realise that you have grown so much this month. grown to be more like you. so unique and special. your personality is showing bit by bit and i am discovering you more and more each day. getting to know you is very exciting and a humbling experience. each smile, each cry, each touch, each chuckle – thank you for sharing them with us.

i thank God for bringing you into our lives, our little cupcake.