First words or just blah blah blah

Em has been "talking" now for quite a while. First there was "da da da" then there was "ba ba ba," you know just getting used to sounds. Over X-Mas she seemed to add "dukka dukka" to her repertoire as well.

The other night cousin Ben was over and as he was leaving we were all saying "buh bye" as you do, but in that annoyingly condescending way you can only get away with talking to a baby. As we were doing what most adults would smack us for, Em actually said "buh bye" as well. Of course, this has not been repeated since and part of me feels that a trained parrot has no idea of what they're saying either (i.e. we said it so much she just repeated it).

Since that "monumental event", Em has now added "ma ma ma" to her vocab, which has pleased Sue to no end. For me, it's signifying that Em is becoming comfortable with more sounds and mouth movements and this kind of development can only be good.

Airlines and the children who fly

Image via Wikipedia

Our recent Canadian oddyssey was interesting airline-wise. We flew Air Transat (or Transhat as many who fly them call them). Emily, being an infact got NOTHING in the way of travel allowance, and Sue and I got a meagre 20 kg baggage / 5 kg carry on. To be fair, Emily was allowed a nappy bag free of charge as well as taking her push chair on.

We've just checked Air Canada for our return to Canada in May. Emily will cost 10% of an adult fair, which works out to be about £58 (not sure if it's 10% after taxes, surcharges, etc.) For this infant fee, she gets TWO bags at 23 kg each, as well as 10 kg carry on. Now I don't know if she gets a nappy bag for free, but this will be over looked given it's an allowance comparison of 56 kg vs NOTHING. Sure Air Canada are a bit more expensive, but when you weigh up the hassle that Air Transat seems to be, it's a no brainer.

Sue and I also get 56 kg each (Carry on might be a tad more). This works out to be well over 150 kg for the three of us, as opposed to what Transat offered us over X-Mas - 50 kg total for the three of us.

Food

As Emily grows up, it gets rather obvious that she won't be sustained by milk alone. That hit us during the first weaning session back in the summer.

However, as she's still a baby - albeit a 10 month old baby - the issue we now face as parents is how much to feed her. She is still crying for one of two reasons - tired and hungry, sometimes at the same time (which is a good indicator to feed before sleep). When I've fed her what I assume a 10 month old would need, and she gives me indications of non-interest, I take it as a sign to remove the bib, take her out of her high chair and move on to something else.

More often than not, I've been caught out and she let's out either a grizzle or stares with desire at the food I'm then feeding myself. I think the problem stems from the fact that she's a human dust bin - she will eat anything and in any amount that we stick in her gob. I really don't want to put her stomach capacity to the test and report that 'yes, 41 slices of bread was too much,' but she is always accepting of any old piece of edible you wave near her mouth.

As the months wear on and she begins to be able to communicate cohesively, I guess we'll get a better indicator of things like 'I'm full,' I'm hungry,' and 'I hate vegetables.' Until then, the dark art of baby meal capacity is a guessing game I think I'm losing.

Dukka Dukka

Emily's not speaking yet, perse, but she is getting more verbal. Apart from the ubiquitous "da da" (always first with the important words!) she's now been known to add utterances that sound similar to "ape" and just today we heard something similar to "ma ma". Of course, to her it's just babbling as she has no clue that we are called mum and dad.

The one phrase she is uttering quite a bit, and it really started in Canada, is "dukka dukka". It's quite cute watching her furrowed brow get to grips with the complexities of a stuffed toy while uttering it in all seriousness. Not quite so cute, when she's saying it behind a wall of crying and tears, but the good and the bad come with the territory.

We're now back from the great white north and Emily had a lovely time. She seems - touch wood - to be coping with the jet lag better than mummy and daddy as it's currently 1am and neither of the adults are ready for bed, yet Emmers is fast asleep.

Having brought her back into her familiar surroundings, it's quite amazing how much she's changed in the three weeks we were away. Apart from uttering "dukka dukka" all the time, she's also noticeably taller, and she's begun pulling herself up when you go to pick her up. We're going to have to figure out quite soon how to drop the floor down a level on her crib.

I was once told to cherish these first few months as they are only that - a few months. I really didn't know how true that was until we got home.

New Year!

Went to my mate Matt's place for New Year's Eve with Sue and Em. 

Matt and his wife Clare have a three year-old called Liam. Thankfully they still had all his toys, high chairs, travel cots, etc. (comes with having all the space you get in Canadian homes). 

Anyway, Em was in seventh heaven with all the toys she could play with and it was quite nice to have her play with a slightly older child, albeit a rather loveable rambuncious three year-old boy.

As parents, we're living on a different plane now - our concerns are different, our attitudes are different and our conversations are different. Sue and Clare chatted about being a parent, we all discussed child care and it was interesting seeing in the New Year, only the second year that Emily has known. I kinda wonder what new things she'll be doing when we see in her third year... walking... talking... potty trained... cursive writing... who knows.

Merry Christmas everyone

Emily's still not adjusted to the time zone difference - surprise. We've been woken up by her around 5 am the last couple of mornings.

This morning, however, we decided to pop out to the living room and open a couple of presents, sort of a sub-family Christmas just the three of us. Emily got a few gifts from Santa to open, and Sue and I opened our gifts from Emily. It was quite nice, just the three of us, and foreshadows what we have to look forward to in years to come.

We have the full-on family present opening later and I'm sure it will be completely overwhelming for Em... it usually is for me!

UPDATE: Em got LOADS of stuff and in no way was looking like she'd be able to sleep again. She got a real kick from playing with the wrapping paper as well.

Looks like we made it....

After an interesting flight and the world's worst wait for "oversized luggage" we finally made it out of the airport and into the waiting arms of my mum and dad - nana and grandad to Emily.

The flight was quite uneventful - apart from some turbulence - which is good. I was quite concerned how we were going to entertain Emily on our laps for 8 hours, how we were going to eat our delicious plane meals and other such things. It all worked out in the end, although I think the heavier she gets the less fun it's going to be. The fact that we had 4 movies one after the other helped pass the time as well.

Now we're in Canada, we've got all sorts of fun in store - snow angels, snow men, walks in the ravine, etc. I just wish that in years to come Emily could remember it all.

Underwater photos

Today was end of term for Aqua Tots. Emily received a certificate saying she mastered the techniques of the Duckling level of the program - and we received the underwater photos taken the week before (the best of which you can see on this page).

I have to say, I'm quite dismayed by the photos, as they really only show that we've been able to forceably make our child submerge in a body of water. The look on her face alone is enough to call the RSPCA (please don't).

At today's final class, however, we were given goggles so we could dunk under with our child and actually see them in action. Sue and I both took turns and I have to say, Emily looked quite the pro, even opening her eyes - much better than the photos relay.

We're really looking forward to the next level in January now. Who knows, more of this type of thing - teaching kids skills from an early age - we might not have to worry about the future of British sport of Olympians after all.

Child minding

We've taken Em to the DB child care centre a couple of times and to be honest it's a nightmare (getting everyone ready at the same time, fighting for a spot on the commuter train, Em coming down with the green groolies, etc.)

We've sat down, worked out the figures and decided we're now going to try a local approach.

There's a woman in Carshalton that does child minding and for the time being, we're going to be dropping Em off there every morning and picking her up every evening.

Having had a year off - almost - and never really being apart from Em, Sue's in two minds over what to do, childminding-wise. The obvious choice - quit her job and stay at home - really isn't financially viable. Sue's other option is flexi-time, working 4 days a week.

Over the last 9 months, Sue's not only got incredibly fond of the bond she's formed with Em, not having to endure commuting, or office politics, she's also made friends with local mums - most of whom are going back either part time or flexi-time. Part of Sue's reasoning for flexi-time - the main being spending as much time with Em as possible - is to maintain social ties with the local mums.

Come February, I imagine it'll be quite a lot of trial and error in the beginning, with a few late arrivals at work, or seperation anxiety attacks by Em (and Sue).

I think as far as the natural progression of life goes, this has to happen at some point. I know from my experience it just didn't happen this early, and if we could afford it, it wouldn't with Em either.

Swim times

We finished our penultimate Aqua Tots session today and as such it was photo day!

I don't think Em has been underwater as many times as she was today. We took two photos - one of her alone, and one of me and her. We did them both twice. The one of me and her had Em under my chin.

I was worried the water pressure would crush her as we jumped under the water, but she survived and apparently even opened her eyes. Sometimes, I wonder who's child this is - I STILL have trouble opening my eyes under water.

We get the photos next week, and then start the second course of Aqua Tots in January.