A little TLC* saves the day

* Tender Loving Care

I don't know what is happening at the moment, but I'm all out of sorts. During the day, I switch from Happy Smiley Baby to Evil Demon Baby in a matter of seconds. Nothing makes sense and things just seem too much suddenly. So sometimes I'm not as nice to Mama as she deserves... May I state for the record that I'll make it up to her with breakfast in bed as soon as I can: 1) walk, 2) prepare breakfast and 3) carry a tray?

So yesterday was particularly tough ( Mama would say it might have something to do with me not sleeping enough...), and there I was standing on her lap, when suddenly I start lashing out and with no control of my arms, I can only witness my little hands grabbing at Mama's cheeks and hitting her. Understandably enough, she yelled 'Ouch' and then, I don't know where it came from, I just KNEW I had to kiss it better, so I leaned in and gave her a wet kiss on the cheek.

For good measure, I gave her a good morning kiss this morning when she took my out of bed.

I think it worked... Friends again?

Starting solids

That Mama of mine has some very peculiar ideas... Apparently, she wants to try baby-led weaning when I'm 6 months old. Well, anything where I'm the leader, I'm all for.

But I just don't get her 'transition package'. The lid from a can of tuna in olive oil? Is that supposed to make me like fish or somin'? As you can see from the picture above, I'm quite puzzled by what exactly I should do with it, so to humour her, I play with it and throw it on the floor a few times.

That being said, I can't really blame her. It all started at christmas when Nonna ran out of ideas of how to entertain me one morning and decided to kick off the weaning with the lid from a Bonne Maman jam jar.

Jam? Tuna? I couldn't say which one I prefer, as they washed the lids very thoroughly before handing them to me. So how's a girl supposed to acquire taste, then?

Godt Nytaar, Bonne Annee & Happy New Year!

Yes, it's a bit late, but Mama says we have all kinds of good excuses.

First off, we were both sick in the first 2 weeks of December, coinciding neatly with the first time we were all alone, Far being away in Malaysia for 5 days. Mama caught a nasty cold & cough in Denmark, passed it on to me where it became worse and while nursing me, she neglected her own, which jumped through the window of opportunity right into her sinuses. Apparently, that was very painful especially when I screamed. Who knew?

But we both got well enough to travel to France on our own. Boy, do I love travelling! So much to see, I didn't know where to look. And forgot to blink, as usual. It was great to see Nonna and Morfar again, but tough to be separated from Far so soon again after his return from Asia. Luckily he arrived just a few days later, looking very tired.

I don't remember much of christmas and new year, as I slept through most of it, but I'm told I had a great time, wore beautiful red patent leather shoes and got nice gifts that I can't use yet. I hope next year is more interesting...

The best thing about my holiday was having 4 people (and a dog) to entertain me all day long. So I did the only humane thing, and entertained some of them at night to show my gratitude for all their efforts. It's tough being back in London now, with just Mama who does what she can to keep me stimulated, but I can tell she's running out of ideas. Although there is one particular game I love. No, wait, 2.

They both involve a harness... The first one is tied to the ceiling, and I can stand up like a big girl and jump around to my heart's content. It's tiring, but such a thrill. Maybe I'll try it with my head down when I'm older?

The other one is a high chair, so I am now at the same level as Mama and Far when they eat. And speaking of eating... The best bit of sitting in the chair (after playing with my 'Tuna in Olive Oil' lid - washed thoroughly) is sipping water. Tastes horrible, but VERY fun to swallow and to spit out. I still prefer my Mama's dish of the day, but she tells me I'll have to move on one day. Soon. She can't be serious, can she?

Anyway, to cut a long story short: lots of happy wishes from the 3 of us for 2008. I hope I'll meet ye'all this year!

And we are airborne!

This weekend, we went to Copenhagen to see Farmor. Which means that I have now been on a plane, as well as on the Eurostar when I was just 3 weeks old. Jet-setter, me!

This flying business is fan-ta-stic! Mama carried me in my red sling all along, and I fell asleep on the train out to the airport, but from the moment we stepped into the terminal at Heathrow, until we stood in line for a taxi in Copenhagen, I didn't miss a beat! I didn't even cry - ok, just a wee bit as we were 'commencing our descent' as the pilot said. Otherwise, for some reason, Mama insisted that I eat during take-off and landing. Something to do with my ears. I swear, she has some funny ideas about anatomy, that one.

I even had my own RED seat-belt (to match my sling - accessories are such an important part of one's style, dahling), as you can see in the movie above (in Technicolor, for once).

As for the weekend itself, you'll have to wait until the next episode.

To be continued...

Who said Daddy's Girl?

My Daddy is very funny. He says his name is Far, but Mama calls him something else. Very confusing!

He has a great big cartoon smile and always makes me laugh and smile. Except when he pushes my arms through my sleeves. I don't know WHAT he does, but it just doesn't do it for me.

2 days a week, Far spends alot more time at home, and Mama smiles even more. Maybe she's happy he's home, or maybe she's just happy that he takes me for long walks so she can catch up on her sleep. Honestly, I don't know what keeps her awake at night! Moi?

Some mornings if I wake up very early, Far and I go upstairs to have breakfast, so Mama can sleep a bit. After a while, I get hungry too watching Far eat, so I start to make adequate noises to show him that he might want to think about waking the Sleepy One. And then he tries all sorts of tricks to make me think of something else. Rattles toys in front of me. Dances with me. Makes funny faces and noises. Pur-lease! If he was starving, would he care for a clown or a stand-up comedian? No, I don't think so. But I do appreciate the effort, though, so I give him 4 points for Artistic Impression.

Wonderful wonder week

On the last day Nonna and Morfar were here, I started getting cranky (or so they say). They were all talking about over-stimulation and over-tiredness and giving Morfar a hard time for playing too much with me. Then on Monday, Mama and I went to baby-massage. I don't know why she keeps going, because although I love a little massage AT HOME after my evening bath, I cannot see the attraction in lying in a too hot room full of other babies, naked. Can you? I think Mama goes there for her own social life improvement. And that's ok with me.

Anyway, the instructor gave all the mums a diagram showing which weeks they could expect us babies to be "fussy" (as if!), and whaddaya know? I was slap-bang in the middle of one. Apparently it's something to do with mental development and blah-blah-blah. I don't understand all that, but if you want to read more, go here. As for me, I just know I've been feeling funny and out of sorts and not understanding why things appeared different. And when I feel like that, I just want my Mama. And presto! Not too popular after 4-5 days of clinginess, I can tell you, and yet despite the night feeds which take up to 2 hours, the non-existing naps and the screaming never far away, my Mama can always be counted upon for more cuddles. Granted, she had a slight break-down the other morning, but I can tell you, I would have had one WAY earlier if it had been me.

Then suddenly this morning, I managed to somehow get a brainwave to her. So she stacked up lots of pillowsin her bed and propped me up against them. And I could sit!!! WEHE! I didn't even flop miserably to one side like I used to. So that's why I'd been feeling funny, I guess. My sense of balance was working over-time.

As she types this for me, I'm sitting in my beloved sling, because an evil woman has stuck a needle in each of my thighs. OUCH! And Mama didn't even yell at her! She said something about it being for my best. Yeah, right! More like vengeance! I think we're even. Until the next wonder week, which coincides with... Christmas!!!

Exhausting!

Who knew grand-parents could be so exhausting? I thought babies were supposed to be hard to keep up with, but have you tried keeping up with my Nonna and Morfar?