In honour of our fourth anniversary this week, Guillemots I Must Be A Lover.
(I originally intended to post Simone White's Baby Lie Down With Me but it's not on YouTube)
And if you want a song for the day, everyday, check out Ivy Dances.
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Thursday
Day 7: a song for the day
In honour of our fourth anniversary this week, Guillemots I Must Be A Lover.
(I originally intended to post Simone White's Baby Lie Down With Me but it's not on YouTube)
And if you want a song for the day, everyday, check out Ivy Dances.
Monday
Up On The Ride
Did you know that Kwojo has a music blog? Ivy Dances was inspired by, well, Ivy dancing. Kwojo has posted a song for every day since (although not usually anything to do with Ivy dancing any more).
This is what I am listening to lately, and makes me dance (when no one is looking) (well maybe when Ivy is looking).
I love this band, and Kwojo bought me their latest album for my birthday! It is one of FOUR they are releasing THIS YEAR. I am already impatient for the next three!
What are you listening to?
This is what I am listening to lately, and makes me dance (when no one is looking) (well maybe when Ivy is looking).
I love this band, and Kwojo bought me their latest album for my birthday! It is one of FOUR they are releasing THIS YEAR. I am already impatient for the next three!
What are you listening to?
Sunday
16 Months
Ivy turned 16 months this week. I am gradually started to loose track of her age in months, and it takes me longer to answer when asked how old she is.
At 16 months Ivy says:
Zis? (This?)
Mum/Mummy/Ma/Mama
Dad/Daddy/Da/Dada
Shoes
Cheese
Toast
Toes
Door (most used word at the moment)
Bee (her bumble bee backpack)
Baby
Owl
Uh-oh (does that count as a word?)
Whee (for fun stuff, again, is that a word?)
Dot (when drawing dots with her pens)
Eye
(Spaghetti - still only that one time!)
She also makes sounds for:
Dog: A-wruh/Woo woo
Car: Hurmm (sounds a bit like a throaty "ham")
Owl: OOooh Ooohh
Gorilla: OOhOOh
Lotion: Pssh
She copies a lot of words too, like: bird, burp, ball wipe, huit (French).
She signs:
Milk
Eat
More
Finished
Daddy (working on it)
Hot
Drink (sometimes)
Nappy (sometimes)
Sleep (sometimes)
Hat
Thank you
Daddy
And a couple of video's from April...
She really loves the keyboard. The whining at the end is because she suddenly noticed the owls on the shelf (they have been there her whole life and she *just* noticed!).
She still loves the phone. She is also wearing loads of clothes because this is what happens when we are inside for too long - she finds coats and asks me to put them on her! She paces on the phone like Kwojo. Notice when she drops the phone she says "shi.."? Oops, may have got that from me, need to make more effort not to swear!
At 16 months Ivy says:
Zis? (This?)
Mum/Mummy/Ma/Mama
Dad/Daddy/Da/Dada
Shoes
Cheese
Toast
Toes
Door (most used word at the moment)
Bee (her bumble bee backpack)
Baby
Owl
Uh-oh (does that count as a word?)
Whee (for fun stuff, again, is that a word?)
Dot (when drawing dots with her pens)
Eye
(Spaghetti - still only that one time!)
She also makes sounds for:
Dog: A-wruh/Woo woo
Car: Hurmm (sounds a bit like a throaty "ham")
Owl: OOooh Ooohh
Gorilla: OOhOOh
Lotion: Pssh
She copies a lot of words too, like: bird, burp, ball wipe, huit (French).
She signs:
Milk
Eat
More
Finished
Daddy (working on it)
Hot
Drink (sometimes)
Nappy (sometimes)
Sleep (sometimes)
Hat
Thank you
Daddy
And a couple of video's from April...
She really loves the keyboard. The whining at the end is because she suddenly noticed the owls on the shelf (they have been there her whole life and she *just* noticed!).
She still loves the phone. She is also wearing loads of clothes because this is what happens when we are inside for too long - she finds coats and asks me to put them on her! She paces on the phone like Kwojo. Notice when she drops the phone she says "shi.."? Oops, may have got that from me, need to make more effort not to swear!
Ivy, recently
- Says "door" (did I mention she likes going outside??) and "owl" (when she wants me to make an owl sound)
- Is into closing doors and drawers, even if you are using it at the time.
- Learnt the sign for "more" in an afternoon. We decided to start teaching her it at lunch time, and by dinner she was using it!
- This week she gave up on signing and words and gestures and anything else and instead used whining to try to communicate everything. Oh my god. Most irritating sound. With lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement she is starting to use communication that doesn't make my brain hurt.
- Is pretty good at kicking and dribbling a ball. She learnt this just from watching Kwojo. It's amazing/scary how much they pick up on when your aren't even try to teach them!
- Effectively used a fork for the first time to spear a piece of sweetcorn and eat it. It was impressive, and the concentration required was immense. (Another example of learning from observation).
- Has started using Kwojo's afro comb! She also uses forks to brush her hair.
- I unintentionally taught her to say "Wow" when she looks at the sky. She occasionally notices that it's there, throws her head back and stares skyward with a look of awe on her face. So I'd say "Wow, Ivy! Look at the sky, wow!". So now when she throws her head back she says "Waaaw!". Yes, the sky is pretty amazing.
- A while ago, when she had her immunisations, she was offered a chocolate button by the nurse and as she was really upset we gave it to her. She reluctantly took it, and then fed it too me! She was so sad and confused, and all she could think to do was give it to me - so sweet.
- Loves anything with wheels, and makes a "brrrrm" sound for toy cars as she moves them around.
- Is quite cuddly. She wraps her arm around my neck and rests her head into my shoulder. It's lovely. She didn't used to be as affectionate, she was too busy and on the move.
- Will put the lens cap on the camera while I am using it.
- Has a reading voice when she opens a book or sees words anywhere. She usually says "de doh di dah" in a soft slightly sing songy voice - I guess this is what we sound like to her when we read?!
- Enjoys the keyboard, and the many ways of playing it.
- Is into closing doors and drawers, even if you are using it at the time.
- Learnt the sign for "more" in an afternoon. We decided to start teaching her it at lunch time, and by dinner she was using it!
- This week she gave up on signing and words and gestures and anything else and instead used whining to try to communicate everything. Oh my god. Most irritating sound. With lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement she is starting to use communication that doesn't make my brain hurt.
- Is pretty good at kicking and dribbling a ball. She learnt this just from watching Kwojo. It's amazing/scary how much they pick up on when your aren't even try to teach them!
- Effectively used a fork for the first time to spear a piece of sweetcorn and eat it. It was impressive, and the concentration required was immense. (Another example of learning from observation).
- I unintentionally taught her to say "Wow" when she looks at the sky. She occasionally notices that it's there, throws her head back and stares skyward with a look of awe on her face. So I'd say "Wow, Ivy! Look at the sky, wow!". So now when she throws her head back she says "Waaaw!". Yes, the sky is pretty amazing.
- A while ago, when she had her immunisations, she was offered a chocolate button by the nurse and as she was really upset we gave it to her. She reluctantly took it, and then fed it too me! She was so sad and confused, and all she could think to do was give it to me - so sweet.
- Loves anything with wheels, and makes a "brrrrm" sound for toy cars as she moves them around.
- Is quite cuddly. She wraps her arm around my neck and rests her head into my shoulder. It's lovely. She didn't used to be as affectionate, she was too busy and on the move.
- Will put the lens cap on the camera while I am using it.
- Has a reading voice when she opens a book or sees words anywhere. She usually says "de doh di dah" in a soft slightly sing songy voice - I guess this is what we sound like to her when we read?!
- Enjoys the keyboard, and the many ways of playing it.
Ivy, recently
- Now says: shoes, cheese, toes, toast.
- Really is obsessed with going outside. As soon as we are downstairs she finds her coast and asks for it to be put on, and then zipped up. She rubs the ends of the zip together until she gets frustrated that she can't do it and asks us to make it work. She also finds her shoes and asks for them to be put on. If she can see her backpack, that goes on too. Then she will either stand at the front door pointing and gesturing "come on" or whine to get in the pram. This is usually before I am dressed or have had breakfast. If we go out, and then come home, she wants to go in the garden as soon as possible. Indoors simply will not do.
- Has discovered her belly button and loves it. Over winter she would be dressed in tights under trousers and a long sleeve vest that pops up between the legs, so the only skin she would see would be her hands. When good weather came, tights and vests were no longer needed and she realised that she has skin in places other than her hands. She pulls up her trousers and slaps her legs with glee, and will pull up her top to find her bellybutton on demand!
- In the mornings Ivy calls for me by saying "Mum"
- Is really good at holding hands, and has learnt that she can lead people where she wants. She has strong grip! She also does it for a sense of security, sometimes.
- Prefers to eat from a plate or bowl (rather than straight from the table), and it usually doesn't end up on the floor. She is also keen to use cutlery, because she sees us using it. She can get a pre-loaded spoon or fork into her mouth, just can't load it up with food herself yet. She's working on it. Meals aren't usually as messy as this anymore:
- Really is obsessed with going outside. As soon as we are downstairs she finds her coast and asks for it to be put on, and then zipped up. She rubs the ends of the zip together until she gets frustrated that she can't do it and asks us to make it work. She also finds her shoes and asks for them to be put on. If she can see her backpack, that goes on too. Then she will either stand at the front door pointing and gesturing "come on" or whine to get in the pram. This is usually before I am dressed or have had breakfast. If we go out, and then come home, she wants to go in the garden as soon as possible. Indoors simply will not do.
- Is really good at holding hands, and has learnt that she can lead people where she wants. She has strong grip! She also does it for a sense of security, sometimes.
- Still loves dogs and gets excited, points and barks when she sees any. We finally got a video of her version of barking. She also makes this sound if she hears someone say 'dog' or 'Charlie'.
- Ivy likes the wobbly chair at the park, and wobbles herself on it with surprising force (it scares Kwojo). She is now keen to sit on normal chairs and tries very hard to wobble them too!
- Signs a lot. Now signs 'hot', 'sleep' and sometimes 'drink'. As well as 'eat' and 'milk'. Between these signs, the few words she says and general gesturing and sounds she is quite effective at communicating with us. She is signing 'eat' here:
Saturday
We have a walking baby. A toddler?!
Ivy has very quickly got the hang of the trolley (no more sticking her bum out and arms out stretched - glad I got that on video while it lasted!), even pushes one handed and lifts it to change direction.
She is also getting the hand of walking independently alarmingly quickly! I have been instinctively excited about this, and encouraging her to take steps. But I feel some sadness at the end of the baby era. I'm not sure I am ready for her to stop being a baby and start being a toddler! I felt a little panic yesterday when I realised that there is no going back: she is walking now. I tried to think of the ways I could discourage her but Kwojo brought me back to reality and pointed out that it would be cruel (my suggestion: sitting her down every time she stands up).
Yep, she loves her bells.
She is also getting the hand of walking independently alarmingly quickly! I have been instinctively excited about this, and encouraging her to take steps. But I feel some sadness at the end of the baby era. I'm not sure I am ready for her to stop being a baby and start being a toddler! I felt a little panic yesterday when I realised that there is no going back: she is walking now. I tried to think of the ways I could discourage her but Kwojo brought me back to reality and pointed out that it would be cruel (my suggestion: sitting her down every time she stands up).
Yep, she loves her bells.
Trolley
This was one of Ivy's birthday present's. At first she would stand, hold on, take one maybe two steps and then "OMG bricks!!" and she was distracted and playing with the colourful wooden blocks. Now she seems to get the the walking and pushing is quite fun too. I can't help but be in hysterics by the way she walks with her bum sticking out and her arms outstretched.
She had her own team cheering her on and providing motivation for her to walk towards them!
She had her own team cheering her on and providing motivation for her to walk towards them!
Thursday
Ivy, recently
- Now signs "eat" as well as "milk". It's interesting that she can differentiate the two types of hunger. She is quite pleased with herself over learning the new sign, she even does it while she is eating and looks at us expectantly for confirmation. We sign back and say "eat" which makes her so happy!
- She understands pointing now, and no longer looks at your hand (thank you Steph for POINTING that out. Aha. Ha...). I think this means she is now more clever than a dog.
- Loves to dance and bounce. It is oh so sweet. On the last week of Rock-a-Bye (baby group we have now graduated from) she bounced herself for the first time by bending her knees, instead of just being bounced by me (during the bouncing song). Since then she has been doing this loads, supported and unsupported, with a big grin on her face. Her latest dance move is to twist her shoulders with her elbows sticking out. She does this to music, including my singing (!), or at any time just because she feels like it.
A sample of signing 'eat', dancing and bouncing:
- She understands pointing now, and no longer looks at your hand (thank you Steph for POINTING that out. Aha. Ha...). I think this means she is now more clever than a dog.
- Loves to dance and bounce. It is oh so sweet. On the last week of Rock-a-Bye (baby group we have now graduated from) she bounced herself for the first time by bending her knees, instead of just being bounced by me (during the bouncing song). Since then she has been doing this loads, supported and unsupported, with a big grin on her face. Her latest dance move is to twist her shoulders with her elbows sticking out. She does this to music, including my singing (!), or at any time just because she feels like it.
A sample of signing 'eat', dancing and bouncing:
Sunday
The time that Steph broke our baby
So, Steph and Ivy somehow, and for some reason, ended up having a screaming contest. Ivy would scream, then stop and look to Steph for her response, and Steph would scream slightly higher, then Ivy would go higher again. Eventually neither of them could get any higher...
Ivy ended up fairly manic... and then it was bed time!
See that little double wave she does? It's so sweet, this seems to be her way of appreciating something. She also waves when you say hello to her, or someone arrives or leaves, and randomly at people she likes the look of.
Ivy ended up fairly manic... and then it was bed time!
See that little double wave she does? It's so sweet, this seems to be her way of appreciating something. She also waves when you say hello to her, or someone arrives or leaves, and randomly at people she likes the look of.
Monday
October
It has been so long since I last put photos on the computer that I hadn't even created an "October" file. It now contains 685 photos and vidoes.
October was the month of:
- MANY teeth. Ivy now has 7. (Mid September she had none)
When she had just one top tooth:
- Changing seasons. It is now officially Autumn. Which means hats, woolly jumpers and bear-suit time. The month started with summer temperatures.
- Today, Ivy's first Halloween, and turning 10 months. We all have skeleton costumes!
- Sleeping! Ivy is now fairly regularly sleeping through the night which is amazing. (Sleeping through the night = 5 hour stretches). Not totally consistent yet, but enough that my default state is no long Zombie.
- Realising that Ivy's hear needs brushing semi often to avoid dreadlocks. Oops! Luckily she doesn't seem to mind (having her hair brushed, not having dreads).
- Teeth means eating loads more. And this month she is loving potato, pasta, peas and yogurt. And actually being able to eat corn on the cob!
- Teeth also meaning tooth brushing. Ivy became so attached to her first toothbrush that she refused to let go of it and so it got lost.
- Ivy learnt to wave, and although she is fairly inconsistent with it she has said "hi" and "buh-bye" at the appropriate time while waving!
- She also learnt to clap, working really hard on it day and night (she would wake and enthusiastically but sleepily clap at all hours, which was both adorable and frustrating because there are plenty of daylight hours to practice!) but once she had mastered it, she lost interest. Clapping now has it's place first thing in the morning, and only very occasionally at other times.
- Clapping sort of generalised to everything when Ivy realised that you can clap your hands against things, as well as clap things against things. This is also known as bashing stuff, or drumming. She does this all the time, especially when she is at the table waiting for food (both hands slapping on table).
- Finally mastering her beaker, and then dropping it multiple times until it cracked. She now has a cheaper, more robust, but more difficult to master, beaker.
- Ivy has really started to love being read to, and it has become a lovely part of her bedtime routine. She turns the pages, and has even learnt how to open the flaps on Dear Zoo. She may be asking for more lift the flap books for Christmas! Also has taken an interest in touchy feely books.
- We have had to baby proof the kitchen cupboards as Ivy discovered the joys of pulling everything out of them. Which was quite sweet until she broke four bowls. Baby sitting surrounded by shards of ceramic is just not great. Also had to move the sofa in front of the book shelf. It was cute that she was pulling her books off the shelf, but not great that all the books were in a crumpled pile on the floor which she was standing on to try to reach anything else that might somehow still be left on the shelf.
- Ivy has been saying lots of "mum-mum" and similar. To begin with it seemed to mean that she wanted comfort, to be picked up. But now it just means "I want (something)", like yogurt, or your phone.
- Independence and confidence. In the park or at other people's houses Ivy used to only crawl over me and very close by, but this month she has started to just crawl off and explore.
- Ivy has started signing for milk! She started off amazingly well and I could hardly believe how quickly she grasped it, but now she is very inconsistent with it.
- Going to the park everyday. Ivy loves watching the dogs run around, and going on the swings and wobbly things. (I don't remember the park sounding this loud when we were there yesterday, but you can hear Ivy's happy little sounds too)
October was the month of:
- MANY teeth. Ivy now has 7. (Mid September she had none)
When she had just one top tooth:
- Changing seasons. It is now officially Autumn. Which means hats, woolly jumpers and bear-suit time. The month started with summer temperatures.
- Today, Ivy's first Halloween, and turning 10 months. We all have skeleton costumes!
- Sleeping! Ivy is now fairly regularly sleeping through the night which is amazing. (Sleeping through the night = 5 hour stretches). Not totally consistent yet, but enough that my default state is no long Zombie.
- Realising that Ivy's hear needs brushing semi often to avoid dreadlocks. Oops! Luckily she doesn't seem to mind (having her hair brushed, not having dreads).
- Teeth means eating loads more. And this month she is loving potato, pasta, peas and yogurt. And actually being able to eat corn on the cob!
- Teeth also meaning tooth brushing. Ivy became so attached to her first toothbrush that she refused to let go of it and so it got lost.
- Ivy learnt to wave, and although she is fairly inconsistent with it she has said "hi" and "buh-bye" at the appropriate time while waving!
- She also learnt to clap, working really hard on it day and night (she would wake and enthusiastically but sleepily clap at all hours, which was both adorable and frustrating because there are plenty of daylight hours to practice!) but once she had mastered it, she lost interest. Clapping now has it's place first thing in the morning, and only very occasionally at other times.
- Clapping sort of generalised to everything when Ivy realised that you can clap your hands against things, as well as clap things against things. This is also known as bashing stuff, or drumming. She does this all the time, especially when she is at the table waiting for food (both hands slapping on table).
- Finally mastering her beaker, and then dropping it multiple times until it cracked. She now has a cheaper, more robust, but more difficult to master, beaker.
- Ivy has really started to love being read to, and it has become a lovely part of her bedtime routine. She turns the pages, and has even learnt how to open the flaps on Dear Zoo. She may be asking for more lift the flap books for Christmas! Also has taken an interest in touchy feely books.
- We have had to baby proof the kitchen cupboards as Ivy discovered the joys of pulling everything out of them. Which was quite sweet until she broke four bowls. Baby sitting surrounded by shards of ceramic is just not great. Also had to move the sofa in front of the book shelf. It was cute that she was pulling her books off the shelf, but not great that all the books were in a crumpled pile on the floor which she was standing on to try to reach anything else that might somehow still be left on the shelf.
- Ivy has been saying lots of "mum-mum" and similar. To begin with it seemed to mean that she wanted comfort, to be picked up. But now it just means "I want (something)", like yogurt, or your phone.
- Independence and confidence. In the park or at other people's houses Ivy used to only crawl over me and very close by, but this month she has started to just crawl off and explore.
- Ivy has started signing for milk! She started off amazingly well and I could hardly believe how quickly she grasped it, but now she is very inconsistent with it.
- Going to the park everyday. Ivy loves watching the dogs run around, and going on the swings and wobbly things. (I don't remember the park sounding this loud when we were there yesterday, but you can hear Ivy's happy little sounds too)
Sunday
Crawling
I realised that I never got around to posting any crawling videos. So here is Ivy at 6.5 months having just figured it out and still a little wobbly.
And yesterday at 8 months (and a bit) crawling, standing, cruising. Pretty skillful and pretty fast (despite too-long trousers).
She says "hey" really high-pitched in the video, we often have an exchange of hey's and hi's that lasts ages. I am trying to get this on camera but as soon as I start filming she stops because the camera is too interesting (she is plotting to eat it).
And yesterday at 8 months (and a bit) crawling, standing, cruising. Pretty skillful and pretty fast (despite too-long trousers).
She says "hey" really high-pitched in the video, we often have an exchange of hey's and hi's that lasts ages. I am trying to get this on camera but as soon as I start filming she stops because the camera is too interesting (she is plotting to eat it).
Wednesday
Tuesday
Reach and GRAB
Since sitting became official a couple of weeks ago, Ivy has suddenly 'got' reaching and grabbing. I don't know if these two motor skills are at all related (probably not as I know non-sitting babies who are good at grabbing), but she figured them out simultaneously. Previously, Ivy would reach (not very far) for something she was interested in, and as soon as her fingers touched something (often her other hand) she would bring her hands straight to her mouth. Suddenly, she is reaching at arms length, even leaning her whole body, successfully grabbing what she aimed for and happily tasting it. This also means she is now interested in her toys for longer than a few seconds. It must have been frustrating (and boring) for her to just look at stuff, not be able to touch it, and then taste her own hands again. We bought her a couple of wooden teething toys that she can easily handle, to give our knuckles a break from being gnawed on.
After Kwojo and I have eaten, Ivy likes to sit on my lap and chew on my empty plate or the edge of the table. I'm looking forward to starting baby-led weaning at the end of this month! She loves the apple juice carton (yet is uninterested in the grape juice carton which is a slightly different shade of green) but it is such an awkward shape for baby hands to grab. She gets excited when she sees it, flailing her arms, reaching for it, and making a little beak shape with her mouth. She is also very interested in mugs, and watches closely as we lift them to our mouths. She is clearly not ready for tea or coffee yet though.
Suddenly she is trying to reach and grab everything, not just her colourful toys. Nothing (within her arm length) is safe! Not even my face (owch). She is especially interested in grabbing the camera, see?
Kwojo's phone looks pretty desirable to those chubby little hands too.
Ivy is yet to learn the difference between 2d and 3d, so she tries to grab things that can't be grabbed - pictures in books, patterns on clothes, the baby in the mirror. And things that are too big to be grabbed, like the sofa and printer. Things that can but shouldn't be grabbed... my face.
After Kwojo and I have eaten, Ivy likes to sit on my lap and chew on my empty plate or the edge of the table. I'm looking forward to starting baby-led weaning at the end of this month! She loves the apple juice carton (yet is uninterested in the grape juice carton which is a slightly different shade of green) but it is such an awkward shape for baby hands to grab. She gets excited when she sees it, flailing her arms, reaching for it, and making a little beak shape with her mouth. She is also very interested in mugs, and watches closely as we lift them to our mouths. She is clearly not ready for tea or coffee yet though.
Suddenly she is trying to reach and grab everything, not just her colourful toys. Nothing (within her arm length) is safe! Not even my face (owch). She is especially interested in grabbing the camera, see?
Kwojo's phone looks pretty desirable to those chubby little hands too.
Ivy is yet to learn the difference between 2d and 3d, so she tries to grab things that can't be grabbed - pictures in books, patterns on clothes, the baby in the mirror. And things that are too big to be grabbed, like the sofa and printer. Things that can but shouldn't be grabbed... my face.
Sunday
Sitting
An early attempt at sitting in March, nearly 3 months old:
(I don't know how to rotate the video)
And some pretty successful sitting at 4.5 months old:
Sitting is now official. Look, no hands!
And she is not even 5 months old yet :)
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