Drink! Straw!

Apart from the pee-soaked swim nappy incident, we also discovered something cool about Emily today. She can drink through a straw!

At the aforementioned Sainsbury's Cafe, we bought her a juice box with a straw as we didn't have a bottle for her. We thought we'd try the straw on the off chance before emptying the juice box into a cup.

To our astonishment, she sucked it all up and never thought twice.

Our child continues to amaze us!

Been caught "napping"

On Saturdays, we usually take Emily to Aqua Tots to learn the very basics of swimming - kicking, holding your breath under water, etc.

Today, the class was cancelled - we're assuming due to weather which, by now, was not a problem. Usually on Saturdays, we'd swim, change and either go for breakfast or do errands. Today we skipped the first two and headed straight to the latter... much to our peril.

After stopping a couple of shops (including bargain-ladened T.K. Maxx), we decided to take a coffee/breakfast break at the local Sainsbury's Cafe, with Emily still kitted out in her swim wear - bathing suit, waterproof nappies - under her snow suit.

When it came time to go, we got a rude shock - Emily was soaking. First thought was the high chair had some liquid spilt in it that we put Em in. On further examination, we realised that the waterproof nappies weren't actually pee-proof.

I can only imagine the discomfort of sitting in your own urine for any length of time, but credit to Em, she wasn't ALL that upset!

A quick change later (we always have a change of clothes for after swimming, so it was only a matter of getting her into the "street wear") and the crisis was a funny footnote.

As a parent you're continually learning and we learned today the important lesson that waterproof is not pee-proof...that or babies don't like Sainsbury's cafes.

Hey, dummy

We've not really given Em a dummy since she was really little. I think we've missed out on a trick here.

Normally, Sue breastfeeds her and that sends her to sleep. With Sue's imminent return to work, we won't be able to count on this as the magic bullet for much longer (especially for afternoon naps).

Today, after much advice, we decided to break out the dummy again. Magically, it took about 10 minutes and a minimum of crying before her Em-ness was fast asleep.

Here we thought it was the milk sending her off - and sometimes it is, judging from her drunk-eyes. Today, we realised it might also be the sucking motion itself that pushes her over the edge into Slumbertown.

Whatever gets her there is good in the end!

TV make baby dumb

Everyone knows that reality TV turns your brain to mush. The conventional wisdom is that kids TV - the good stuff, the educational stuff can only help.

Having read an article at ParentCentral made me quite aware and scared that even educational, learning stuff like Sesame Street can have a detrimental effect on Emily.

"In one of the most extensive reviews of its kind, the Seattle pediatrician says infant-aimed DVDs such as Baby Einstein, and even award-winning kids' shows like Sesame Street, can do more harm than good to children under the age of 2."

Of course, my parents used the TV as a baby sitter while doing things like laundry and making dinner and I turned out OK. Just wondering if I would have turned out better than OK if I wasn't being babysat by The Count and Grover.

More food

Visited with friends yesterday and their son is underweight. Made me think of our little food vacuum.

Still curious whether we're under or overfeeding her. She just seems to shovel in everything you give her. There are the warning signs she's not starving anymore, which are also akin to being bored. However, if you take that sign as being full, she can easily be crabby an hour later due to hunger. Best to make sure she eats quickly then? Not sure.

I went to Sainsbury's the other day and stocked up various types of cheeses for Em. A couple had fruit in them, a couple didn't. I realise that some - like feta - are mega salty, so they're out. I don't want her on an all cheese diet (how AWESOME would that be, though), but a nice variety from jars of sludge is nice.

Em also had her first curry the other night. Some tasteless chicken curry concoction for kids from Asda. Added some mango chutney to give it SOME flavour, but was careful not to add too much as it's obviously rather sweet. The chunks of chicken took their toll on poor Em though as she seemed to chew and chew and chew... rubbing her eyes like she was about to nod off.

I've said it before, and I'll reiterate now, I can't wait until she can speak or articulate things, so she can tell us she's full or hungry... or tell us what she likes, doesn't like and why she was choking.

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.