Chaletgirl

Dear Emmeline,

Another month snuck up on me and I missed writing to you on the 4th. Happy belated 14 months, my sweet girl!

You’ve had a delightful month! Most of it was spent on holidays where you enjoyed the constant attention of your extended family. You were well on holidays, if a little grumpy. Since we’ve been home you have been both less grumpy and less well.

You’ve just had your 5th bout of tonsillitis since October. Your doctors are trying to knock it on the head with some strong medication in the hope of avoiding surgery and get you off the constant courses of antibiotics.

In more interesting developments you are ‘cruising’ all over the place. From chair to bench to table, and using your pushers, you are exploring all over the house on your feet.

Your very favourite game is to stand up next to me, or something else suitably large and soft, get your balance on your feet for a second or two, then fling your arms in the air and dive on top of me. With a big smile and a shriek of joy.

You just want to be on your feet all the time and trying to get you to sit down on the floor is nearly impossible since you won’t bend your little legs.

Another game you love to initiate is peek-a-boo. You cover your eyes and then throw your hands away shouting
“aaaaaa-bah”.

You still love hats. And underpants. Anything you can fit on your head.

You love the water. Even the beach. The waves were a hit!

A nice change in your routine happened this month when you dropped your morning sleep. You don’t sleep any more at your other nap to make up for it {sigh} but it is nice not to have to juggle a 9am sleep with a 9am preschool run.

When we were on holidays it was too hot for your usual grobag and wrapped-to-the-mattress setup on the bed, so you just slept in a summer bodysuit or singlet with a muslin wrap to cuddle.

Since we have come home, we have abandoned the wrapping-to-the-mattress, but reintroduced the grobag. So now you sleep in all sorts of contorted positions. We dropped the level of the cot because you can now stand up. And you’ve become quite attached to your muslin wrap since you started sleeping with it.

Other than that, your routine is unchanged. No new teeth. More lovely silky hair. I weighed you the other day at just over 9 kilos.

In terms of your food, I have just kept you on the basic diet that you have been on through the elimination diet….but with the introduction of a few new fruits and vegetables. You still prefer meat above anything else, but you go absolutely crazy for lychees (just like your brother) and I am dreading the time when they go out of season. You also love grapes (cut into half) and these strange Korean rice and sesame seed cakes that a friend introduced to Henry.

From last month, I was right about the vaccine. It was the metals in the chemicals that make up the vaccine that affected you. The ‘magic lady’  said that if one is sensitive to them, they go straight to the brain and affect the personality. That was exactly what happened, but I am delighted to say that we are doing well to reverse that effect, and you are a happier child for it.

So, my dear girl. 14 months. I fear that your baby days are fading fast and you will be a toddler before I know it. Although I am not fond of the baby stage, I don’t want you to grow up too fast, please. Those little curls at the back of your neck are just too sweet. And kissable.

We love you, dear Emmeline.

Mama

xxx

Just a quick post. We’re safely home, all unpacked yet ready to be suffocated by the washing piles. The Christmas Tree came down the day before Australia Day, under threat that I would blow my top if the tree was still standing as we were eating lamingtons and pavlova.

Henry is back at preschool, and my husband is back at work. The former is nice, the latter is heaven. As much as I love him, after 5 weeks off he was getting under my feet and upsetting my routine.

Life feels like it is back to normal.

Which it is really, because my dear daughter has had high fevers for two days and her fifth bout of tonsillitis. If it didn’t all just feel so normal, I would cry.

We have managed to get her fast tracked to the ear, nose and throat specialist, who we are seeing today.

The party line seems to be “No Tonsillectomies Under The Age Of Two”, but, as much as I could be the poster child* for the dangers of general aneasthetics, I can’t help but think it might be a better idea than this.

So if you think of me today, think of me behind an enormous load of washing, as it rains outside, with an 8kg hot bundle of misery clutched to my hip. Oh and waiting for a (probably late) specialist with that same bundle, only hot and tired as she misses her lunchtime nap.

Oh, it’s a glamorous life I lead.

* A routine removal of my appendix turned into disaster as I vomited, under the anaesthetic, into my lungs. I think it’s called aspiration pneumonia. I ended up in intensive care and spent my 15th birthday in hospital. Nobody need ever explain to me the danger of a general anaesthetic.

Dear Emmeline,

You turned 13 months last week and I missed writing your normal monthly post. In my defence, we are on holidays and are spending so much lovely time together that you must understand I missed it not because I was preoccupied with anything trivial, but because we have been rolling around on the floor laughing and tickling each other,  swimming in the pool, and taking walks in the early evening when the weather finally cools down.

In the last month you have celebrated your first birthday party and your second Christmas, and at least this year you played with your presents, and, of course, the wrapping and boxes.

On Christmas Day, you loved munching on a bit of turkey and some ham. You are definitely a carnivore….you love all kinds of meat and prefer it to any other food, which is not exactly balanced, but at least I don’t have to worry too much about your iron intake.

You surprised us all on Christmas Day by pushing yourself up to standing, and since then you have become stronger and stronger and definitely more agile. You are cruising around the furniture and walking when held by the hands. You’re not that close to standing by yourself just yet, but I can see it won’t be long with all the practice you are getting.

You have become somewhat grumpy since your birthday. You have a sneer and a snarl that would floor lesser mortals and you don’t hesitate to show your contempt of anything or anyone that doesn’t meet your immediate needs or wants.

I have a couple of theories about this, and only time will tell. I wonder if the MMR vaccine has upset the balance in your gut that we had previously achieved. Or perhaps it is the change from breastmilk to formula. I hope that when we return from holidays and get you back to the ‘magic lady’ that the smiling happy baby I know lies beneath that snarl will emerge again.

You are having a lovely holiday, aside from the grumpiness. You really enjoy the pool, and you have adjusted to sleeping away from home this time MUCH better than last time. You seem to really love the fan twirling above your head which keeps you cool on these hot sticky nights. You love to watch the boys play football, and enjoy our walks around the streets of Noosa in the early evenings.

I have written about this before, but you truly are obsessed with hats. A hat can keep you occupied for longer than anything else as you try and get it to sit on your head. If you can’t find a hat, then a pair of Henry’s underpants have been found on your head, and sometimes a fat quarter of fabric draped over your ears. It makes me laugh every single time.

You are starting to mimic sounds. Sometimes you can say “Hi!” whilst waving your little hand. There is a sound that sounds remarkably like “T’ank you.” And you can mimic some of the lyrics from Wiggles songs that your Daddy sings to over and over. Especially the ‘Ho, ho, ho’ at the end of ‘Here Comes the Reindeers’. This is your very favourite song of all time, and your rendition of wiggling hands as reindeer ears, and even some of the dance moves is most impressive.

Nothing much has changed in terms of your routine. Same sleeping, same eating.  Your 3 milk feeds are now an amino-acid based formula that you adore. Too much. I’m not nursing you anymore and I think you might miss the closeness a little bit, but you have adjusted very well.

I haven’t done anything sensible lately like weigh you or measure your height. I’ve just been pointing out birdies and trees and pelicans. Nothing that helps me keep track of your growth. More along the along the lines of keeping you smiling. I’m not too worried. Your thighs look more and more like mine, so you are hardly fading away.

You are still a delight to us. We know that underneath that frown and that grimace is the sweet baby Emmeline that we have come to love. You can’t put us off that easily. Like it or not, you are stuck with us, baby girl, and we love you no matter what.

Cheer up, sweetheart. Life is really very, very good.

All my love

Mama.