Where to begin?

Where to begin with Daisy right now? THAT is the question.

Since my last post, Daisy has gone from walking a few steps unassisted, to jamming around like a toddler on her 9-month old little legs. Quite honestly she looks too small to be walking - it's kind of like that baby in the e-trade commercials; you think she's being animated or something! And although she looks stable some of the time, she has a tendency to spill pretty spectacularly ever once in a while. This is no problem when on carpet but when on hard-wood or tile... not so much fun. Screams, tears ensue. Like this morning, when our dog, Maggie, got over-excited and jumped up her, sending her careening backwards onto the hard-wood floor. Ack! It's so hard to know when to jump-in and when to stand back. I don't want to be a hovvering parent but, equally, I don't want her to split her head open. I'm trying to maintain a balance so she can at least learn the consequences of her actions, but it's definitely hard - my heart is in my mouth most of the time!

At home we've cleared out our dining room, pushing the dining table against the back wall (because, hey, I don't see us hosting an adult dinner party any time soon), to enable her to have more room to move around in. She now literally hits the floor running in the mornings after her bottle, tottering around in circles, around the couch, around her exersaucer (which has found it's "Phase II" purpose), over to the baby-gate to yell for the dogs, and then over to her toy box to pick out books that she demands we read to her. All other toys have pretty much been relegated to carrying items right now - meaning, she uses them only to practice carrying them from one spot to the other. Our house is a graveyard of items Daisy has picked-up, walked around, and then discarded in some odd spot. As for having a tidy house, yeah, I give up.


Carrying something she found around the house.

Of course, all of this is much easier when you’re in the controlled environment of our home. Once you get out into unchartered territory, however, it’s a different story altogether. Curious baby + walking ability = Trouble!

On Friday we had a lunch time play date with the other moms and babies from my Lamaze class – Lisa and Sydney, Krista and Josh, Natalie and Mackenzie – plus my friend CJ, and her son Maclay (2 months), and Lisa’s friend Megan and her son Aaron (8 months). Daisy is the only one of the group to be walking right now and Krista has a very open-plan house. I would see her playing with one baby or another and then, a minute later when I turned around, she was nowhere to be seen. Most of the time she was mingling amongst the adult legs in the kitchen but there were a couple of times where she had managed to toddle all the way down the hallway and into the master bedroom by the time I realized she was gone. Oops! I think the other mothers think Daisy has a slacker for a Mum!


Trying to get into some trouble with her friend, Sydney.

She did pretty good, however, in the new environment and surrounded by babies crawling at her feet, only managing to fall and hit her head once. Of course, she falls all the time but usually it’s forwards and broken by her bum, hands and knees. This kind of fall has become old-hat in our house and barely warrants a notice from any of us any more. But then there is the odd time (2x a day) where she’ll land and lose balance, rocking backwards and bopping the back of her head on the floor. Not too much of a problem on carpet but on tile or hardwood, it’s gotta hurt. So, she cried, I picked her up, and she got over it pretty fast. However, I think the other moms were more upset about it than Daisy and I. Again, I’m sure they thought I was a careless mum but this is one thing I know they’ll have to experience first-hand to realize that you can’t panic every time they hit their head – I’d need some Prozac to get through the day if that were the case!

New environment #2 this past week was the L Street Lofts in Downtown Sacramento. My company was throwing a New Year Family Celebration (in lieu of a Christmas party last year) and rented out a penthouse loft downtown for dinner, inviting all employees PLUS their kids, which amounted to one eight month old, two nine month olds, one thirteen month old, and two three year olds. All of this in a company with only five employees - I know, wow!

To say that the loft was not child-friendly was an understatement. Decorated in the urban loft look with lots of windows, hard corners, concrete and metal, the laminate floors and metal window frames practically screamed “ER Visit” to me. Yet, again, Daisy did good. Wearing shoes (that she didn’t/couldn’t take off) for the first time ever, she plodded back and forth from the designated kids’ area, to the adult/dinner area, toy in hand, and squealing in delight upon arrival. Meanwhile, I did yoga breathing to avoid having a heart attack every time she wobbled near the metal staircase. We came out unscathed, however. Whew!


Eyeing the fireplace at the L Street Lofts with Daddy. All kinds of potential owies here!

Other than walking, Daisy is making progress in other areas too.

TALKING

She can now say “Dad” and “Grandad” (which comes out more like “Handad”) but has no desire to try any form of “Mumma” or “Nan” yet. My mum and I are trying not to feel insulted but it’s a little disheartening to hear someone repeat “Mumumumum” to a kid and then see her say “Dadad” right back at them. :o( Daisy also “mooos” at pictures of cows. Other sounds include “Googleygoogleygoo” (something with Google would be happy about, I’m sure – maybe there’s a money-making opportunity for us there somewhere?) and some pretty blood-curdling squeals of delight or distaste, depending on the moment.

EATING

Daisy eats just about anything now. I think we’ve pretty much determined that she’s not allergic to anything – lactose, eggs, and berries being the major allergens that afflict some babies and that have not instigated any reaction in her so far. She now eats three meals a day with snacks inbetween. Breakfast can range from Cheerios with peaches and blueberries, to eggs and toast, or blueberry muffins/pancakes. Lunch and dinner can be anything: grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken, fruit, vegetables of every kind, potatoes, pasta, rice, bread… you name it, she’s munched on it. On Friday night we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory and she mowed-down on some meatballs with me. But, for the most part, she keeps me honest; eating from my plate means I have to eat fresh, simple and healthy.

She still refuses to have us feed her however, so every meal time is messy as she jams food in her mouth using her hands and, mostly, failing. About 1/3 of what we put on her tray actually gets in her mouth.


After a particularly messy run-in with some raspberries!

PLAY



Things that sing and light-up are old-news in our house now. Books are the #1 favorite plaything and she especially likes book about animals. More than anything I think she enjoys listening to her mum and dad do poor impressions of pigs, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, cats, frogs, seals, rabbits, tigers, chickens, roosters, and monkeys. Some animals I’m seriously considering Googling because I have no idea what they sound like – zebras, ladybugs, hippos, pandas, koalas, all seem to pose a dilemma for us. And then there’s the seal that sounds like a dolphin that sounds like a whale. (Yes, I need help!) Daisy also likes pictures of other kids, who she likes to squeal and wave at whenever she sees them, as well as body-parts – eyes, ears, arms, hands, feet, toes, head; she loves it when we point to the words, point to the picture, and then point to the spot on her too.

MAKING FRIENDS

This child is going to be a social bunny, let me tell you. She has been waving now for a couple of weeks and she takes delight in waving and smiling at everyone who even so much as looks her way when we’re out and about.

If we’re in a restaurant and she’s in a high-chair positioned in a walkway, it’s almost impossible to get her to focus on her food. Her head moves back and forth like an umpire at a tennis match, watching patrons, servers and bus-boys and trying to get each and every one of them to wave back at her. We went to a local Jewish Deli a couple of weeks ago on a quiet night and, by the time we left, she had friended every single person at every single table plus the chef/owner, the waitresses, and the bus-boy! She took the place over! Not that I’m complaining here – I LOVE this about her, as does her dad. She’s so fun to be out and about with - I swear I’ve never talked to as many strangers before.


Waving as she rounds a table at the L Street Lofts.

And that just about wraps it up for this week. It's been a while since I updated, so sorry for the long post, folks. Let's see what trouble Daisy can get herself in before next time!