All (almost) clear

Talia finally had a hearing check at the audiologists today, following on from the one where she was too clogged up with a cold to be able to test properly.  It showed that although her eustachian tubes are “sluggish”, her hearing is within normal ranges.  They’ve recommended we go back in summer to confirm that the sluggish tubes are not a permanent problem.

Hoorah, one less thing on the list of potential problems! Although I’m sure selective deafness is only a matter of time…

If you’re happy and you know it…

A wonderful thing happened this weekend.

I’ve been clapping to Talia for months, probably about 5 or 6 months, since she started sitting up. Apart from general applause and renditions of Pat-a-cake, I would clap three times and say “clap, clap, clap” as I did it, over and over again. She would smile at me with the sweet but slightly worried expression that says “mother, I love you but you look like a crazy lady hitting your own hands together like that.”

Then suddenly, yesterday while visiting my parents, my father clapped for her and she clapped back again! Then we all joined in - three generations of family clapping. It was very cute, and a lovely moment for us to share.

Then this morning came one of those wonderful “my child is a genius” moments.

Talia was in our bedroom, full of early morning energy, and, without moving my hands myself, I said “clap, clap, clap” and she started clapping!! She knows the word clap!! And it wasn’t a fluke, I’ve been saying it on and off all day to the same reaction (because I’m so excited I just can’t get enough of it!!!)

Woooooooooo hoooooooooooooo!

Return of the spoon!

Talia has been doing very well eating only finger food, but at some point she will need to graduate to cutlery.  I decided it’s time I relaxed enough to let her practice using a spoon and not stress if it goes everywhere. She’s been putting a toothbrush into her mouth for the last week or two, and I figured a spoon shouldn’t be any more difficult.

So on Friday I let her loose with 2 spoons and a limited amount of yogurt in one of those suction-cup bowls. And it went really well! I was helping her load up the spoons, but she was putting them in her mouth herself (she really doesn’t like me trying to do it) and a surprising amount of yogurt actually went in and stayed in.

The next morning I tried the same thing and she threw the spoons on the floor - yogurt-o-rama!  Fortunately our sealed cork floors are very forgiving and easy to clean. Then in the evening we visited my parents, and I shared some dessert with Talia by passing small spoonfuls of icecream and lemon pudding, and she did a much better job.  (If you’re reading this Mum, please email me the recipe, it was delicious!)  

So I think we’ll be doing spoon training every day or two until she gets the hang of it, although I think the challenge will be more the food than the spoon!

Café Finisterre - finger food for the fussy

First, the good news: we’ve broken the 8kg barrier! Talia weighed in at 8.165kg this morning. She is 14.5 months (11.5 months corrected). It has taken her 3 months to put on this most recent kilogram, which is exactly how long it took her to put on her first kilogram after leaving hospital. Fortunately, although not without it’s challenges, these past three months have not been anywhere near as stressful as those first three months.

It has been ages since I posted about what Talia is eating, and I’m sure to forget if I don’t write it down. Since the Great Spoon Strike began in April, I’ve had to come up with a wide range of finger food to cater to Little Miss Picky’s culinary whims. Food can now be categorised as follows:

Almost always acceptable as food and eaten regularly: avocado, beef sausage, dates, cooked veges (peas, mushroom, carrot, potato, sweet potato, celery), yogurt coated sultanas, fish (usually served crumbed)

Might be eaten, might not, depends on the day and there’s no way of telling in advance:
Part A (slightly more likely) omelette, pikelets, cheerios, sultanas, rice, meatball, matzah ball, muffin, pasta, red & white beans, corn, capsicum, grapes, chicken, biscuit
Part B (slightly less likely) cheese, banana, pumpkin, dried apricot, apple, rice cracker

Was a hit but we don’t dish it up every day: sushi, cake, prawn, cheesecake, hot chips, smoked salmon

Used to be popular but not at the moment: wholemeal toast (spread with avocado or peanut butter), fruit toast (spread with butter), cruskits (without or without avocado)

Oh seriously, there is no way I am going to eat that: mandarin, strawberry, anything on a spoon (eg weetbix, yogurt)

Things we haven’t fed her yet: chocolate, ice cream, jelly, tomato, salad greens

My first toothbrush

Now that Talia has teeth next to each other (4 at the top and 2 at the bottom),  I realised I ought to make more of an effort with brushing them, something I had always intended to do but hadn’t quite made part of our daily routine. I had been taking her into the bathroom so she could watch me brush my teeth before I ran one of those little slips-over-your-finger brushes over her gums.  Then this week I actually bought a proper baby toothbrush, gave it to Talia to hold while I gave a demonstration… and she got the message!  She put the brush into her mouth and waggled it around in a convincing imitation.  For a baby who vary rarely mimics anything we do (like waving or sticking tongue out) it was particularly good.  I called Daddyfeatures in to take a commemorative photo.  And here we are: