Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I want, I need, I must have.

These...



.... breath.....

The Iron Fist Ruby Slipper. I bow before them. I covet them. I shall inconspicuously leave a picture of them for my husband to see (with the purchase details of course!) It has worked with Tiffany before, maybe I will be in luck again. These are the perfect gift for Valentine's Day... or a 4 year wedding anniversary?.... Big Daddy D... are you reading??

I love all things Iron Fist and have several pairs of their killer heels (plus a bathing suit)... They certainly make statement shoes, just the way I like it. I love my jeans, I love my Chuck Taylor's, but sometimes, you want your shoes to do the talkin'.

My baby is a STAR!

So today Miss A crawled forward for the first time, my heart bursts with pride!



I thought I best blog this lovely moment; I have been extremely slack with recording her growth over the past year so I will do my best now. I also wanted to muse about the idea of baby milestones.

In the last month she started laying on her stomach for longer... then moved to up on her hands and knees, to crawling BACKWARDS and then today, she went forwards... she only did it twice... but YAY!... my baby girl is growing up.

I suspected she may take a little while to crawl as she hated being left on her tummy, she had such bad reflux and colic in her first few months that we never put her on her stomach, much to the disdain of many 'health professionals' around me.

Look, I take the view that she would, sit up, crawl, walk, talk and wean in her own sweet time and that is exactly what she is doing.

Even at only a couple of months old, Avalon was sitting up. To be honest, I haven't seen another baby that has been the way she is in terms of leg strength and also in back and neck strength. She was sitting unaided at 5 months and had been bearing weight on her legs long before that. I figured her for one of these children who would never crawl and just go straight to walking. We will see.

She loves to pull herself up and stand at the couch, play walker, table. She 'walks' with my husband holding her hands-- one foot in front of the other. Gahhh... I am one proud Mummy.

She has also gotten her first tooth in the last 2 weeks, I have felt like she had been 'teething' since she was about 12 weeks old, and have had the amber teething necklace on her 24/7 since then. I guess the jury is still out on it's effectiveness but I have drunk the Kool Aid-- I think it has been great. Avalon never drools and dribbles and I attribute that to the necklace. We have had some inquiring looks about it, but like all else, hey ho!

Milestones are a funny thing, I am not sure if there is 'competition' or not amongst parents as to who does what first. It strikes me as so odd (and terribly silly) I have never felt like that! All will happen in each babies own time. My wish away time? I first notice with the sleep issue "Is she sleeping through the night?" I was being asked that at only a few weeks old. At first I wasn't sure if it aggravated me so as I was sensitive to the fact that she wasn't but then  I just came to the conclusion that all babies are different , and these milestone queries are annoying whether they are sleep related or not!



Each baby will get there in their own time; my best friend apparently didn't speak a word until she was 2 years old and she is one of the most articulate and intelligent people I know. My friend's child got her first tooth at 12 weeks old, and here we are, first tooth at 9 + months. All babies are different and considering the coming through of teeth is really something that cannot be 'controlled' I find the urgency for such as really odd. Another god friend of mine has a daughter who is almost 11 months; she has 9 teeth, crawls faster than I can walk, walks along aided by props and yet has only just started clapping this past week ('A' has been doing that a month or more.) Listen up, the pressure is OFF parents (and family!) Each to their own time.

Avalon was smiling within her first 2 weeks; with her mouth and her eyes... she was always very serene and inquisitive, I have heard her described as an 'Old Soul' on several occasions and I know what people mean- sometimes it is like she looks through you, my brother was the same as a baby and I remember that time well. I guess some babies just sort of stare in the first few months, Avie looked at you like she was sizing you up, trying to figure you out. At almost 10 months old she still has that look about her- adding to that the squeals, arm flapping and hand clapping when she sees her favourite people, my friend Tracy says she feels like a rockstar whenever she sees her.

She started scooching along on her bottom at 8, almost 9 months. One moment she is sitting still, the next time you turn back and she is halfway across the room. It is strange yet and wondrous.

I can hardly remember when she started saying 'Mama'... I believe she was about 5 to 6 months old; I still think that 'Mama' means 'Milk' to her. We also get 'Dada' and 'Nana'.

Even as I type this now I am watching her playing amongst her toys; she is singing, playing with her socks, sizing up her legs (Theses things are still here? Oh they do that!) Her Kora Koala is getting pats on the back interspersed with tight squeezes and bites (yes, don't forget that tooth.) Then the koala gets discarded and she is off on a crawl.... something else has caught her eye.

I could sit and watch her forever.