Thursday 6 February 2014

Millie Moo, Look at You!

I've been observing Callum and Millie recently (as you do) and realised how quickly they are growing up! Thought it was about time I did an update here as before I know it the next entry will be of Callum starting work or Uni!

This post will be about Millie, the next about Callum.

 

Millie

Millie is properly toddling now. She is still so proud of herself. She pulls herself up from the floor and does her little zombie-style walk with her hands up in the air to balance her and her knees up to her elbows. Of course, like other little ones, before she has fully learnt to walk she tries to run and there have been a few face plants to the ground with the odd bloody lip but she bounces straight back.

[Children really do have more resilience and are much braver the younger they are - Callum is such a wimp now but used to be just as tough! But then Callum takes after his Daddy Winking smile]

Satisfied with the fact she can now toddle, her brain has switched to trying to speak mode - at last. With both children dragging their feet taking their time to do all the milestones I can't help beating myself up that I am the one holding them back somehow.

Anyway, Millie is focusing on certain words and things we say and trying to copy them. She says "goh" with her hands out for 'all gone' and she drops stuff (on purpose) and says "uh ooooh" for 'uh oh' which has moved on from purposefully dropping stuff and saying "no" while wagging her finger. She regularly says mumma and dadda and I'm pretty sure she knows what they mean but it is hard to tell. I try to get her to point to mumma and dadda in a photo or when we are there say "who's that" etc but she will rarely play along although nursery insists she does it with photos there.

We are trying to get her to ask for her dummy and muslin and she sort of says "dede" for dummy and "noonoo" for muslin but then she also says "noonoo" for anything she wants that is out of reach.

She loves pointing to our eyes and nose - and of course we love being poked in the eye and a sharp finger nail up the nostril!! On a couple of occasions now I have asked her where her own nose is and she has correctly pointed to it. Then if you say "clever girl" she will often start clapping.

So even if she isn't saying a hell of a lot, she is at least starting to understand words.

I was worried the other day when I read on a link (while researching at work) that a child of Millie's age should have a vocabulary of 10 words and I'm not sure she has that many but I've heard so many stories of children not speaking until they were 3 or 4 and then coming out with a whole sentence - Einstein being one of them, I think my brother-in-law was another. I’ve heard this is common for second children too as they have someone to speak for them or to get them whatever they point and grunt at. And, us as parents with our hands full and less time on our hands will go for the quick and easy option of just passing whatever it is they want rather than encouraging them to talk. So, in a nutshell, I've dismissed the worries, especially now she is showing an interest in learning to talk. I will endeavour to try to do the encouragement route rather than the easy one.

Millie loves books and will pick one up, turning the pages while babbling to herself as if reading the story. It's lovely to watch and hear.

She helps us (or often unhelpfully) dress and undress herself, putting her arms in the sleeves or arms up in the air to take off a top or pulls it off if you aren't quick enough getting it over her head. While doing the poppers up on her vest she starts trying to put her legs in her trousers. She also tries to put socks and shoes on...not necessarily her own!

She has a nose that permanently streams snot like lava from a volcano and detests you wiping it so will often sport a snake like skin across her cheeks as you try to wipe it and she frantically turns her head while making her distress known. 

She loves baths, happily splashing and swimming and she giggles lots when sharing a bath with Callum (though he likes to have the bath to himself). She also goes to bed very easily: pjs, grobag, milk and story, bed with dummy and mussie, Ewan the dreamsheep on, and off she goes - and usually wont wake until 7am ish. Though there is still the odd occasion of night wake-ups, usually due to teething or, like the night before last, just because she wants to party from 2.30 until 5am!!

I think Millie is going to be our little performer. She'll gravitate to a musical instrument, sing all the time to herself and loves to dance to the radio and mummy's cat squeals beautiful singing.

She is one little cheaky madam who can scratch your face just to see your reaction, throw a tantrum because you wont let her have chocolate for breakfast (another chocoholic in the family!) and she knows her own mind, for sure!

But what I love the most is how she smiles at you and you just can't help but smile back (even when telling her off). She is my (still diddy) little fairy.

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