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.

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.

- 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'.

- 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:

- 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:

Al fresco dining

Today was the first day of 2012 we dined outside.




This girl loves being outside as much as I do, which makes me very happy.

Ivy also loves Charlie. She said "Woo woo" a lot today, and started to say something that sounds like dog ("doh").

Sitting in boxes, and especially being pulled around, is a new favourite.



Not pictured: We went to the park, and got Ivy out of the pram so that she could try walking around the main park area, rather than just the fenced in play area. Last time we tried this she refused to move and it was like her feet were rooted to the ground. This time she happily walked along holding hands and sweetly looking up at us, she got pretty confident too and went off in whatever direction she felt like. She walked loads, and obviously tired herself out as she even went to bed earlier than usual!

Very Recently

- Ivy has learnt to fake sneeze. And then she looks at you with a big grin all expectantly while she waits for you to return the fake sneezing goodness. It is the most adorable sound she makes as she opens her mouth wide, tips her head back and then forward saying "Aaahh tt". I actually die a little from the cute every time I hear it, and that is a lot of dying per day.

- At dinner this evening she was holding up each item of food towards me and looking at me. At first I thought she was offering it to me so I put out my hand to take it and thank her, but she whisked her hand away and with a cheeky grin swiftly popped it in her mouth. Then I realised she was asking "Mmmm?" each time, so I told her what it was. I ended up saying "Pea!" a LOT in a very short space of time. I think she would be quite happy to eat peas and sweetcorn all day.

- Ivy TOOK A STEP for the very first time today. A single step towards Grandad while double waving. Definitely a case of only doing it while distracted! This was just as I was telling Ivy that as she is one now it is ok if she starts walking. And as my parents were telling me about when I took my first steps (a story I had not heard before).

- Ivy had her first trip to the theatre yesterday! We saw Good Clown Bad Clown at The Old Vic. It's meant to be for 4 years plus, but Steph can get free tickets so we took Ivy anyway. Amazingly, it kept her attention for an entire hour. She got a bit fidgety towards the end when she got a bit peckish but as long as I kept the rice cakes coming she didn't take her eyes off the performance. The stage was on the floor, and we chose a seat right at the front, so the performers got a bit close at times which made Ivy grip onto me tightly. There was also the popping of a balloon quite near the beginning (Ivy's first experience of this), which made her grip very tightly. Mostly she sat transfixed and very still on my lap. Towards the end she even started bouncing and dancing to the music (the song that went "Evil evil evil, bad bad bad" !), waving at the clowns, and decided she wanted to sit on Steph's lap. We will definitely be going along to some more kids shows!

Oh me darlin'

Sometimes I am amazed by babies.

Ivy is a bit coldy, I feel like I'm coming down with something and she appears to be too (which by the way must mean that I caught it from her because if I'd got it first she would have got antibodies from my milk). And so she is not very interested in eating food. She was complaining to get out of the highchair and not even tempted by food that she would usually devour in seconds, when I decided I fancied a Clementine. I offered a piece to Ivy and she sucked and chomped on it enthusiastically until such time that she felt she'd got the goodness out, and then 'asked' for more. She did this to quite a few pieces, despite being uninterested in any other food.

Her body knew that it needed a bit of extra vitamin C to help her fight off the cold. And I find that really amazing. I'm so glad we trust her to decide what and how much to eat.

Spicy Pinto Bean

She spots it.



This requires immense concentration. Cue duck face.



Oops, distracted. But who wouldn't be by that dinosaur bib?



She goes for it.



But it's slippery. So much concentration required.



Check out that pincer grip, only the second time ever I have seen her pick something up with one finger and thumb.



In the mouth!



Smushed it and spat it out.

The face of a baby who has tried to eat a pinto bean that is too spicy for her liking.



Raspberry blowing solves everything!

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.