... and now in video!

Yes, swimming is fun!

To start off the lesson we do a few laps around the pool with Nellie on her tummy. See me swimming!! Here's a better quality but harder to load version (even with broadband it will take a few seconds to load): See me swimming!! Sadly, our camera only records video, not audio, but it's better than nothing. We want to buy an HDD camcorder (same technology as an MP3 player) but they start at £500! Any donations towards this worthy cause gladly accepted!!

For those who only have dial-up modems and can't see the video, here are some photos of the same events. Firstly, here we are doing a lap around the pool. Then comes preparing for a vertical submerge. Before getting any water on their faces, or submerging them, the parent has to get eye contact and say, '[Name], ready, go!' Janel already seems to recognise the phrase as she was less afraid of getting her face wet this week. Last week we had a lot of tears and crying and I despaired of her ever learning to love the water.

Finally, here we are playing 'Humpty Dumpty'. Sadly, Graeme took some lovely videos of the submerge and the game, and while I was converting them so that I could put them on the blog, I managed to corrupt them and now they won't play! I'm so cross with myself as they were far cuter than the one above! At least we'll have another opportunity next week to record some more....

Speaking of those with dial-up v.s. those with broadband.... A few people have commented on the poor quality of the photos on the blog. We deliberately use poor quality photos to make it easy for those on dial-up to load the pages. If you'd like print quality copies of any the photos, please email us a list and we'll email you the originals.

We recently bought her an activity centre to play on, which she loves! Here's another video of her playing in it - again, even with broadband it will take a few seconds to load. See me play. Again - here's a photo of it:

...and now in stereo!!

This is a test to see if we can get some of Janel's gurgles posted on this site - if if works, there'll be more to follow.

Click here to download the file

Watch out, Ma

And so it begins.... After putting her down on her tummy last night, when I went in this morning she was on her back. Nellie can now officially turn herself over! I don't know whether, if she's on her back, her can turn onto her tummy or not (as you use different muscles to do that), but no doubt that won't be far behind. No more leaving her on her own on the change table, or on the couch, or on the bed! And so we enter a new phase.

Another first happened yesterday. I've been signing to her for simple things - like milk (rapidly making and unmaking a fist to simulate milking a cow) and nappy (tapping your hips simulating the velcro tabs on the nappy) - and yesterday she tried to make the sign for milk! Of course, because she still can't voluntarily open her hand she couldn't, but she tried. Again, she was copying me, rather than trying to initiate communication, but that won't be far behind either.

Still no sign of these teeth - I think they've settled back down again. Consequently, she's slept through the last 3 nights in a row and been feeding like an angel - between 150-180ml (approx 6 oz.) per feed. Yay! Mommy's got some sleep (which has only made me more tired as my body has tried to catch up on my sleep deficit) and baby's' got a full tummy. What more could we ask for?

Oh! We've found a way to record her making noises - Graeme's going to put the link from this blog to it up so you can hear how cute she is! Watch this space for lots of laughing and cooing.

Ag nee man!

Things go from bad to worse. Graeme had to work the 1st weekend in May, so he did 12 hour days on the Sat and Sun, which meant that while he worked 12 days straight, I also failed to get a break in caring for Janel - which meant we were both exhausted at the start of the week.

As it happened, our little darling had the most difficult week last week - constantly crying, waking up 3-4 times at night again, unable to feed properly, throwing up most of her feeds, etc. - by the end of which I was in tears feeling completely unable to cope and so losing my temper with her, and consequently feeling like a bad mother! What a mess we got ourselves in.

Over this past weekend though, part of the reason became apparent when, after doing no poos for a week (which is normal for her) she proceeded to do 4 in 48 hours - 3 green ones too! Thank God she got them out though - not that it's made too much difference to this week. We had another really bad night and morning last night/ this morning - more frequent waking, more crying, more poor feeding, more throwing up.... All I can think now is that it must be her teeth giving her grief that's causing all the problems, so I think tomorrow I'm going to buy some Bonjela and see whether that helps.

However, on the positive side (must think positive and count blessings!) when she's happy she's become very chatty and interactive. She loves singing with us, and she's starting to enjoy games (tickling being the main one she enjoys). She's also started taking an interest in our food. She had her first smell of fresh herbs last weekend, and she wanted to eat the parsley after she saw me eating it. (I love having a garden I can plant things in - my corn/ maize/ mielies are sprouting beautifully, as are my cucumbers, butternuts, peppers and herbs. I can't wait for harvest!) She also had a small taste of yoghurt today, which she wasn't too sure about at all - so I think this weekend I'll buy a Braun blitzer thingy and start to introduce her to solids.

Another positive is that we've finally found a childminder for Janel for when I go back to work (in 2 weeks!!!! EEEEEEEEEKKK!). It'll just be for the 7 weeks while I'm at work, but it will be full time for those 7 weeks. I'm not looking forward to it AT all, but what can you do?! After the summer, I've found a nursery I want to put her in for 2/3 days a week - just to help her development in social interaction with other babies.

Anyway, Madam needs a bath - it's already past her bedtime (but with all the throwing up there's no way she's ready for sleep yet).

Nicole

Don't count your chickens...

After sleeping through for several nights consistently, we're back to waking up every night sometime between 1 and 4am for a feed. Don't count your chickens, eh? Still, I know that this next goal post is on the horizon, so I'm hanging in there.

The good news is that our visit to the consultant yesterday went very well. She's officially been discharged from the prem baby check-ups because she's doing so well! She weighed in at 5.6kg, which is less than I'd hoped, but still a good weight. For those who follow the curves, this is on the 25% curve, which is a drop for her because she was tracking the 50% curve. Still - she's happy and healthy and gaining weight. What more could I ask for?

She is definitely teething now, and has two little white bumps in the front of her lower gum. Fortunately, she's not in pain with it yet - but is chewing on everything and anything she can get into her mouth (which is fortunately not much!). Fingers are a definite favourite, as are clothes and muslins. Her motor control has developed to the extent that there is one particular ring toy she is now able to hold and guide into her mouth by herself to chew on. In the photo she's trying to chew on another of her ring toys, but when this was taken we needed to put it in her mouth for her, and then she would try to hold it in, with limited success.

Which brings us to feeding. Given that she's now getting teeth, I've decided to wean her off breast completely over the next month as I don't fancy being bitten. I don't think we'll start her on solids just yet, although maybe giving her a bit of starch before bed will help her break the sleep-through barrier... hmm... now there's a thought.

While she remains a happy and contented baby, she is much more aware of strangers and unfamiliar environments now, with separation anxiety fast developing. I still don't know what triggers it for her, as sometimes she's perfectly happy going to strangers, but other times won't even go to someone she knows.

I've been visiting nurseries all this week to find a place for her for when I go back to work in a month, and I've been fascinated watching her responses to them. She's suddenly noticed other babies - not children, but babies/ pre-toddlers specifically - and is fascinated by them. We were thinking of getting a nanny or childminder for her, but seeing how taken she was with other babies we decided that a nursery was probably better as she would enjoy the stimulation of other kids, even if she gets more colds as a result.

She's also "talking" now. She loves it when we copy whatever sounds she's making - she's really good at making both the English and Afrikaans 'g' sounds - laughing whenever we do. I wish I could record the sound of her giggles to put on the blog for you to listen to! They are just the cutest sounds ever. (If anyone knows of some free software that allows you to record sounds straight onto your PC, please let me know. We have a mic, we just need the software.)

In the clothes department we've been very fortunate. A friend gave us several bin liners' worth of clothes for her! It's taken me ages to sort through them (they've been used by several children so many have shrunk so you can't go by the age on the label), but we're getting there. It's great as that basically sorts her out with clothes for the rest of the year!

There's the clarion call - gott dash!

More firsts!

On Tuesday we had another first. Janel woke up from her nap crying. When I went in to check on her she'd sicked up and there was blood in it. Panic stations! After checking her over for injuries & finding none, my mind went blank. She wasn't exhibiting any other signs of illnes - no fever, no unusual crying, etc. Part of my mind was going beserk, thinking she was dying, and the other part was saying there must be a logical solution because she was smiling & showing no signs of distress. I stood in the room holding her, overcome by indecision yet feeling I ought to DO SOMETHING! It was then that I remembered: I've developed a cracked nipple again (oh joy!) and I realised that I was probably bleeding when she fed - the blood was mine, not hers! No need to panic.

She also had her first moment of stranger anxiety on Wed. I was at my mid-week women's Bible Study, and one of the women asked to hold her. Previously, Nellie has gone to her, with no problems. Not this time! She was being held by another woman, and as soon as she was passed across, she took one look at the new admirer and promptly burst into tears!

Next week is her appointment with her consultant, at which point she will be weighed for the first time in about 2 months. I'm looking forward to seeing how much weight she's gained. I've been going through her clothes and taking out the ones that are too small for her. When I compared them to her prem clothes, it's hard to believe how tiny she was! I really should take a photo to show the comparison. Ag well!

She's starting to sleep through the night now - going down at 7pm and waking at 5am. It isn't consistent, but it's happened 3 times in the past 10 days, so I'm confident it is only a matter of time now till this is a regular thing - bring it on!!

Photos galore! (2)

Graeme's youngest brother, Phil, has just (at long last!!) got engaged to Brenda. At the Sunday picnic, I suddenly needed to do something, so quickly passed Janel to Brenda - who promptly froze in panic. There's nothing like being dumped in the deep end to teach you to swim!

Having got over her initial fear, once we were back in Cape Town after the wedding, Brenda asked me if she could hold Janel. At the time Janel was with Phil, having a great time of laughing. Everyone was so thrilled to hear that Brenda was keen to hold her that we all gave a big cheer. Phil then proceeded to clap loudly - right in poor Janel's face, giving her a massive fright, and she promptly erupted in screams, much to Brenda's chagrin! (Once Mommy had soothed her, Janel was very happy to go to Brenda, so she did get to hold her after all.)

Tata, who is not a wine drinker, had been given a bottle of 1973 KWV Cinsaut in the late 1980's. (KWV is an excellent, popular, but slightly expensive, Cape wine.) He decided to keep it and open it when his first grandchild was born. Roughly 15 years have passed from that day, and Janel has been born, so we opened it to drink at a family dinner. It wasn't vinegar, which is the good news, but it wasn't a great wine either. However, if you thought of it as a fortified wine, it was really quite palatable!

In the month away Janel has developed quite a lot. There were a number of firsts for her. These photos aren't necessarily the actual first moments, but they at least document what the event was.

She's discovered her fingers and now chews on them with great glee.

Here, with Gogo, she's demonstrating how she's started pushing up and trying to stand.

She's also started to really push herself up and will also try to pull herself up into a sitting position if she's lying in your lap.

An early developer: she's 'reading' - actually, she's just fascinated by the black and white of the text. She's not in the slighest bit interested in the pictures!!

She's taking much more notice of her environment now - she discovered first Mommy and then herself in the mirror. We spent a delightful 15 minutes smiling and laughing with our images in the mirror.

Because she can now sit so much better, she is nearly ready for her highchair. With a few bits of padding, she's fine in it even now - only for short periods though.

Granny (my mom) was the unfortunate recipient of another first - Janel's first illness. We'd had a family braai for my side of the family, and one of her cousins had had a vomiting & diarrhea bug. Ouma got it, and then later, so did Janel. One morning she just cried and cried, for no apparent reason. I left her with Granny while I went out for lunch with one of my nieces, not realising that the reason she had been crying so much was because she was ill. When I returned an hour and a half later, she had a fever and had been vomiting. Poor mite! I felt like such a bad mother for not realising. Thank goodness for Granny!!

While out shopping, I made an impulse buy of this little African outfit. While she may have been born in London, she will be an African child!

Here's Ouma (my step-mother). She was such a support and gave me a real break every now and then - she helped with feeding, and was a star at burping!!

Oupa (my dad) was the recipient of a lot of hugs! I think he got the best deal of all the grandparents.

Of course, there are a lot more photos of our trip I could publish here - like the wedding itself - but as this blog is supposed to be about Janel, I'll restrain myself. Maybe I'll start another blog for our trips....

In the immortal words of Warner Brothers, then: That's all folks!