Tomoe’s night of surprises

She keeps surprising me.  Tonight, I was happy to witness three things that she’s learned to do.

First, I got to see her standing on her own quite a bit.  She was in her bed, and she usually holds on to the sides when standing.  But occasionally, she let go and stood there for a good 2 or 3 seconds without holding onto anything.  Her balance is improving, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s standing on her own very well in a month or so.

Second, she’s getting better at holding her bottle.  She’s learned that if there isn’t much left in it, she should hold it so that the bottom is higher than the top.  She’s starting to understand that’s how she can drink.

And finally, as I was about to take her out to pick up my wife from work, I said to her, “Let’s go see mommy!”  She immediately gave me a big smile and was very happy.

She’s understanding more and more these days.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.

8 months old and almost standing

On the 25th, Tomoe turned 8 months old.  Hard to believe she’s already that old.  She also continues to surprise us.

In the past week or so, she’s been trying to stand up without any support.  She’s succeeded in balancing for 2 or 3 seconds, but quickly falls down.  She was early with crawling, early with standing up with support, and now she seems to want to walk early.  She’s going to need new shoes soon.

On the 24th, she went to the clinic again to get her third round of DTP.  I never realised how many shots babies get.  Tomoe’s been so good, she hasn’t cried once.

She’s showing definite signs of communication with us now.  She responds to her name, gives a big smile whenever greeting us when either of us comes home, and I could have sworn she was trying to copy my wave.  She also hates being left alone.  If we’re out of view, she’ll start crying.

Enjoy the pictures!

She still sleeps a lot.

Sometimes she sleeps in odd positions.

With her gums irritating her, she likes to bite things, including my finger.

She really likes the feeling.

She can bite really hard.

Sometimes her bite hurts.

Sleeping with her favourite blanket.

She has a new bathrobe. She seems to really like it.

She’s wondering what it is.

Now looking a little moody.

It’s been a scream

Tomoe’s new thing to do is scream at the top of her lungs.  I guess she’s exercising her volume now.  She does this at the worst time, too.  It’s late evening and my wife is trying to sleep.

These days, she’s been quite noisy.  A couple reasons are separation anxiety and teething.  When is that first tooth finally coming in?  I thought teething was only supposed to last a few days for each tooth.  Her separation anxiety happens whenever she’s left alone in a room.  Tonight, my wife was on the bed trying to sleep, but as I left the room, Tomoe started crying.  Not so much we can do about this.  I know she’ll grow out of it, though.

No pictures this time, just a quick update.  Also, she can stand on her own for about 3 seconds now.

Eating, teething, and more

Plenty has happened for Tomoe in the last couple weeks.  We’ve had a couple of immunizations, some physical development, and more!

First of all, a week ago, she got her Hib vaccine (Haemophilus influenzae type b) and this week got her Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine.  She was pretty good for both, though she gave a bit of a sound during today’s shot.

Physically, Tomoe is getting stronger.  She’s can stand with support, and frequently bounces between squatting and standing.  She’s also been able to stand by herself once, but only for 1 or 2 seconds. She’s getting pretty good at holding things and manipulating them with both hands.

Recently, she hasn’t been eating solid food as much.  She’s been chewing on things a lot, and it appears that a tooth is finally close to coming in.  She’s also been having difficulty sleeping at night, most likely due to this.  We’re discovering some of her likes and dislikes.  She loves yogurt.  But it seems she doesn’t like cheese.

Her intelligence is most definitely developing.  She can communicate some things with us.  When she wants to be picked up, she reaches her arms out.  It appears that she can copy waving a bit.  She also loves to clap my hands.  She doesn’t clap her own hands yet, though.

One big thing that may turn out to be difficult is that she showed signs of separation anxiety when I was home alone with her one night.  My wife was working, and she kept crying no matter what I did.  Feeding, changing her diaper, playing with her, holding her, all resulted in crying.  But that was only one night, thankfully.

I think I’ll finish with some pictures! Enjoy.

Nice hair! She just had a bath.

Holding the spoon, but no skill. She can’t feed herself yet.

Two hands are better than one?

She’s happy to eat real food.

Close up!

Sometimes she can move around a lot. She has a teething toy on her head. This was after her Hib shot.

She loves to watch our dog Biscuit.

Sleeping with her favourite blanket.

Snacking on a rice cracker.

She’s really devilish.

She doesn’t seem very scary.

Because of her teething, she’s rubbing her gums on the edge of the bed.

Biting hard!

Security blankets are for babies!

It’s been a little while since I’ve updated what’s going on with Tomoe.  Well, she’s now 7 months old, and doing great.  There have been a few changes recently, though.

The biggest change is that she’s now sleeping in her own bed.  Basically, while sleeping with us is fine, if either of us isn’t in bed, Tomoe’s in danger of falling off the bed.  She’s getting very active, and if she wakes up while only one of us is in bed, she may crawl to the edge. So far, she’s sleeping fine in her bed.  Another advantage of using her bed is that it can double as a playpen.  If we’re busy, and she’s getting into mischief, it’s an easy way to keep her out of trouble, keep her safe, and let her play with her toys on a soft mattress.  She can also stand up as much as she wants.

Another big change is that Tomoe’s got herself a security blanket!  She’s had the blanket for a few months now, but only recently has she become so attached to it that it actually stops her from crying.  She loves it!

Tomoe’s also received her second DTP shot, and she took it very well.  She seems to have no problem getting her vaccinations.  The only problem is keeping her still.

She’s also growing quickly.  Her weight is average at 8.1 kg, but she’s already 75 cm!  Normal for her age is 60-70 cm.  Apparently, that’s what I was like at her age.  She may end up being a tall girl. She’s not very chubby.

She’s now eating solid food twice a day, and it includes a lot of vegetables, rice, bread, fish, and meat.  She doesn’t seem to dislike anything yet.

Tomoe has started problem solving.  She dropped a toy, and it disappeared behind something.  She seems to understand now that it’s still there, she just has to go over or around the object.  Getting smart!

And now for some pictures.

Sleeping on my foot again.

She’s really happy in her bed.

She loves her blanket. It’s a Pez blanket.

Happy, even though she’s blurry.