Steamed Puddings

(Note to friends reading from Facebook – this is a blog entry, and it contains videos, which you’ll miss out on unless you click “View Original Post” at the bottom of this post.)

Gwen, you’re eleven months old. Time is flying by!  It’s been nearly a year since you were born.

I never did get around to writing your last newsletter, but I can tell from my entry for month nine (in late September) that you have changed significantly in the last two months. You’re cruising around furniture, babbling, and being extremely smart and socially interactive now.  You’re taking huge steps to becoming your own person.

helping with the laundry (on Flickr)

You still go to daycare for three days each week, and you seem to love the time there. You barely notice when we drop you off, getting right into playing with the toys at the daycare centre.

at the back door (on Flickr)

Unfortunately, you picked up a cold on your very first visit to daycare and, two months later, you’re recovering from your third daycare cold.  These tests of your immune system were inevitable.  Unfortunately your first cold also got me sick and I wasn’t able to work properly (smelling odours is part of my research) for more than a month.

Your friend Theo, whom you’ve known since he was born exactly one month after you, goes to the same daycare AND you see him at swimming every Thursday morning. You seem to recognize Theo and even “play” together after swimming.

splish splash (on Flickr)

You started cruising (walking while holding on to furniture) in early October and you’ve never looked back. It’s been about six weeks, but you haven’t started standing or walking without support yet. Your dad and I still think you will be doing this by your first birthday, in a month’s time…

Speaking of first birthdays, we went to our first first birthday party a few weeks ago for your friend Silvia.  This will be the first of many to come soon (yours included, which is next!) as your contemporaries celebrate their birthdays in the next four months or so.  You had a great time at the party, and your dad and I got a better idea of what goes on at one of these parties.

pass the parcel (on Flickr)

We’ve gotten into the habit of taking weekend walks with you to explore the local playgrounds.  The Auckland City website has a great list of local playground equipment, but neglects to specify whether the swings are “baby swings” (fully enclosed) so we’ve done some reconnaissance during recent walks.  Our local playground, Rocket Park, has the best swings by far, but the ones at nearby Owairaka Park are pretty nice too.

As I write this, I am preparing for the near future when you will be at daycare on every weekday and I’ll be back at work full-time – starting in a few weeks.  I know these are good steps for both of us – you like daycare a lot, and I like speaking with adults and not worrying about you every moment – but a small part of me will be sad to see our weekdays together end.  I hope our time together will seem even more special when we have less of it to spend.

named room (on Flickr)