First Independent Steps

You know we have easy weeks and tough weeks with our little girl. Mostly easy weeks thank goodness and this week was an easy one for me. The teeth have settled down for now and she’s sleeping through and everything’s all right in the world. Sure, she has a few tantrums here and there and she’s taking the pee out of me when it comes to feeding time but that’s ok. No temperatures, rashes, loads of smiles and cuddles. Its good.

She got her first pair of shoes the other day. She’s been cruising for a while and she’s just started to walk unaided, tentativley at first, but she’s getting more confident. Its lovely when we catch her talking a sneeky walk when she thinks we’re not looking. She’ll smile, collapse to the floor, clap, we’ll clap and she’ll do it all over again.

We took her out shopping yesterday. Usually we’d just wheel her around in her pram and she’d be happy enough but yesterday I could see she was itching to get out so we spent a great 20 minutes walking up and down the isles. She’s a fast mover on her own now. She can get about 5 meters before she goes down. That’s going to get better. Great fun. Made us think though, we’ll need a strap or a lead for her or she’ll be gone. She’s a demon for getting back in the pram now but a little distraction usually sorts that one out.

What lovely teeth you have my dear!

She's teething. Badly. You can tell from her big red cheeks and the constant yomping on her fingers. Oh yes, she's also keeping me and her mum up for hours on end in the wee hours for the last week. It feels like it did in the first 3 or 4 months, that feeling of not quite getting enough sleep. Even with a full 8 hours (rare anyway) you just don't get quite enough sleep. You know you're not 100% in any part of your life because of it but you just have to get on with it.

Her first tooth came through at about 6 months. It was at the front on the bottom. It stayed there on its lonesome for about a month before the top two front ones came along. She was fine, not a bother. A little frozen cucumber to ease the pain and she was happy. Night times were ok, the odd night of interruption because of teeth but we were still feeding overnight at that stage (that's another story altogether). She stayed with 3 teeth for another two months, the second front bottom tooth stubbornly refusing to grow. Eventually it came and there's been a stready stream of teeth since. She has 12 now I think.

This week or so she's been particularly cranky because of her teeth. We're trying our best to minimise the pain for her during this and we know it's not going to last forever but its tough when she has those rare days when she's just not in great form, not eating much and not sleeping enough.

If you have any tricks that work for teething i'd be delighted to hear. Our arsenal includes the frozen cucumber which works brilliantly for the minor teeth but doesn't seem to do much for the canines or the molars. Teethers never held any interest for her and we don't like resorting to calpol unless we have to.

Suggestions gratefully received...please!!!

My Daughter and Me

You’ll have to forgive me but this is my first adventure into the world of blogging so I’m not actually sure what the protocol should be in terms of language or even who I should be addressing or what I should be writing. I guess my purpose here is to share my experiences of a huge year for me with the birth of my gorgeous daughter and I think I’m just going to write what I feel at the time.

She’s 13 months old now and it feels like she’s been here forever. I do remember life before her though and I must admit to sometimes missing that life. My wife would say to me “miss what?” - i’m not into sport and don’t have any all consuming hobbies but, still, the thoughts of sleeping in until I wake up, being able to go out without planning anything more strenuous than where to go and a rough idea of how to get home again or planning that holiday to the Maldives or New York are so attractive. I really took my freedom for granted then. Would I go back? Not unless I could come back. My daughter means the world to me and I get all starry eyed when she does something new and normal on the way to becoming my little girl. The first time for her is also the first time for me.

None of this is news for any parents out there reading this I know. Just from talking to my colleagues and friends over the last year I probably have an average to easy little girl (i’m not sure I should be calling her a baby any more!). I hope you find this interesting as I post my thoughts and experiences over the next few weeks and months as my daughter grows and develops and I go through the highs and lows of fatherhood.

I would welcome your comments so please feel free to post.