Leila Rose Petal

Dear Leila,

You are 18 months old and quite the grown up toddler now. No more our little baby girl.

Since you began walking you seem to have been running developmentally. It’s like a whole lot of things were just waiting for you to walk on your feet and since then they’ve been rushing to happen. Except for teeth. They still take a very long time to happen.

One of the nicest things has been the way you talk. You’re picking up new words all the time: Too many for me to list. You’ve always been quite good at making yourself understood, but now you can use words to do it too. And I can ask you questions and get very definite yes or no answers (your brother could learn a thing or two from you on this one). “Would you like a biscuit?” “Yeah!” “Do you have poo?” “No, no, no” - that last response is not to be trusted, though. I usually go by what my nose tells me when it comes to poo.

You might tell me sometimes when you’ve got a pooey nappy (and occasionally before it happens) but that doesn’t mean that you’ll let me change it without a fight. In fact about the only thing clothing-related that you’ll go along with happily is putting on shoes and socks. You love to have shoes on. I’ve had to put them out of reach to stop you bringing them out of your room all the time and insisting upon wearing them. You try to put them on yourself too, but you can’t do it yet and that leads to tantrums. Once you have shoes on you’re all ready to head to the ’sho’, which could be kinder, the park, or the actual shops. And when we do go out you insist on walking out to the car under your own steam.

You feed yourself most of the time now and you’re even beginning to master the use of a fork. When my help is required you hold the spoon or fork out to me and say ‘do’. Sometimes you just want me to load them up for you (usually so with the fork) and will do the rest yourself. Sometimes you’re happy for me to do the work while you play with a puzzle.

In spite of having access to cars and blocks (and even playing Lego with Finn) you’re very, very interested in dolls. Your favourite is ‘Baby’, a little doll I bought you a couple of months ago. Every time we go through the toy department at T@rget you point and yell ‘doll!’ in the girlie aisle.

The loveliest thing about you being 18 months old is your relationship with Finn. You adore him and he mostly adores you back. I love to hear the two of you giggling as you play some terribly silly game together. It makes me so, so glad that you’re here with us that my heart could burst.

Its lovely having the 18 months old you with us.

Love,
Mum

Watching Telly In My New Hat by Nicky P

Dear Leila,

Tomorrow you will go into the toddlers’ room at childcare. It won’t be your first time there - you’ve visited a few times when other kids have been away - but it is your first day there permanently.

To honour your foray into the world of (slightly) bigger kids I knitted you a new hat over the weekend. You’ll be playing outside more in the toddlers’ room and will have to keep your hat and shoes on. Since your other hats keep getting misplaced in cars and prams I thought it would be a good idea for you to have a specific childcare hat that will live in your bag.

Its a little wonky (I’m hoping that washing and blocking will fix that) but it will keep your head warm and look very cute. And the leaves on the top will make it easy to pick you out from the crowd.

Love,
Mum

Dear Princess Petalpants,

I’ve been meaning to blog about the words you use for a while but keep forgetting. We just had a little conversation, though, and I thought I should sit right down and blog about it.

You were standing next to Finn’s desk looking at the pile of activity books we have there for him. You looked at me and said “Book.” So I said “Book?” and you said “Book”. Then I said “Would you like a book?” and you said “Yeah”. So I got some of your books out for you and you’re looking at them now.

When I write that you said ‘book’ I am exaggerating a little but I’m not sure how to type what you actually said. Like most of the words you use it sounded like the word ‘book’, but without the ‘k’ sound on the end. I don’t know how to type that. You also say ‘dog’, ‘cat’, ‘down’, ’sock’ and ‘bath without the endings on them.

Your favourite word at the moment seems to be ‘juice’, which comes out sounding like ‘choooozzze’. You are also rather fond of ’shoes’ - both the word and the object - and that comes out sounding like ’shooshoooze’. This should not be confused with your word for the fish which is ’shoosch’ (or something like that).

‘Ta’ is reserved for when you’re giving things to people and when you’re given something you say ‘dada’ in a singsong tone that reminds me of one of the carers at childcare saying ‘there you go’. This is quite different from the way you said ‘dada’ to Dad last night. There can be no doubt that are different words/phrases. ‘Hello’ is a word you’ve been using for a while too. You say it as ‘hedo’. You love to say “hedo dog”, “hedo cat”, “hedo shooosch”.

As I wrote above, you also say ‘yeah’ when things are offered to you. At one point you said it a lot, but it’s becoming less frequent. ‘No’ is also a lot less frequent than it used to be and generally appears to reserved for times when you really, really don’t want something or someone is trying to do something you don’t want them to do - like Dad washing your hair.

‘Mum’ is another word you use sparingly. You say ‘mumumum’ sometimes when you are upset. Today in the car Finn said ‘Mum’ as he almost always does at the beginning of a sentence and you followed up with ‘mumumumumum’. It was quite cute.

Love,
Mum

Dear Princess Petalpants Snotbucket,

You are 16 months old and I haven’t been updating your blog anything like often enough. Your mother has always been absent-minded but these days her head is like a sieve and she has you and your brother to thank for that. You’ll understand when you have children.

It seems that your major achievement this winter is going to be a world record level of snot production, coupled with being completely miserable and grumpy. I hate to tell you this kid, but you’re not a nice person when you’re sick. Its a good thing that you’re so gorgeous that we can forgive you anything (although I do get tired of being smacked in the face).

Your last cold turned into an ear and chest infection and required antibiotics to see it off. You had to stay home from childcare for 2 weeks and it was a long 2 weeks - for both of us. You were healthy, happy and eating properly again for all of ten days before the next virus struck. You had your first day back at childcare on Thursday. On Saturday you were very snotty. Yesterday you were snotty with a temperature. You refused to eat and spent a lot of the day being cuddled by either Dad or I.

That last point is how I know that you’re quite sick. You do like cuddles but generally quick ones. Bit of a hug and a squeeze and a pat on the back - maybe a kiss if we’re lucky - and then you’re off again. Yesterday you rested your head on my shoulder for ages. I sat on the couch with you lying against my chest and I think you fell asleep for a while. You haven’t done that since you were a tiny thing. So we’ll be off to the doctor again today.

In other news you’re still not walking … well, not on your feet. You occasionally wobble 3 or 4 steps here and there on your tootsies but for the most part you’re content to waddle about on your knees. I’m not sure whether this is odd or not but I keep telling myself that you will walk properly when you’re ready. I’d just like you to be ready sooner, rather than later. You have lovely shoes waiting to be walked in and dresses that you can’t crawel in waiting to be worn.

You also haven’t produced any more teeth and still have only your middle ones, top and bottom. When you’re eating the lack of gnashers doesn’t slow you down much. You chow down on pretty much anything you’re presented with. Things which don’t succumb to being gummed into submission are carefully removed from your mouth and placed on the table. Sometimes you drop them on the cat who waits underneath the high chair. You think it’s hilarious when you hit her on the head. She’s not so amused, but it’s food so she tolerates the indignity.

Well, my princess that’s it for now. For all the illness and the grumpiness, the not walking and the lack of teeth, you are - as always - the light of Dad’s, Finn’s and my life.

Love,
Mum

Our Little Princess has been beset by yet another cold. We were meant to go on a long walk today but we decided that the weather and the baby’s mood were both too foul, so Leila and I stayed home. Finn and Mark went but found it too wet when they got there so they’re off to a mega shopping centre in search of an advance screening of a movie about a fighting panda. For those of us back at the ranch there has been much yelling and crying, doses of both paracetamol and stuff to dry up noses, snot by the bucketful and Baby Einstein and Play School dvds on high rotation (Play School is the more popular of the two).

We’re quite used to our Princess producing huge volumes of snot, but there are two slightly worrying elements to the current bout of snottyness: a really harsh cough and a refusal to eat much other than bottles and sweet biscuits. If the Princess is not looking a lot brighter tomorrow morning there’ll be a trip to the doctor for her.

The Cupcake Kid by MarkOMeara

Dear Leila,

It’s taken me a couple of weeks to get around to writing this because I am slack. This is not good. A letter to a girl for her first birthday should happen close to, if not on, that birthday. You can tell your therapist all about it when you’re a big girl.

You are one year old. It’s very trite, but true, to say that it’s hard to imagine the little squished up girl who opened one eye, looked at Dad and I and then shut it fast as the same happy little girl who is crawling around our house getting into everything. It doesn’t make it any less wonderful though.

A week after your birthday we had a party for you with most of your family and friends to help you celebrate. That was late too. You didn’t notice at all. You had a great time with people who love you, lots of presents to play with and cup cakes to eat. The cup cakes, with pink icing and heart-shaped sprinkles, were made by Dad by the way and he did a fantastic job.

In terms of milestones you’re crawling, pulling yourself up on the furniture, saying a couple of words (’no’ and ‘ta’), eating like a champion (while still keeping your supermodel figure) and doing almost all the things the typical one year old does. The stuff you’re not doing is of no consequence - it’ll happen in its own sweet time.

I took you to see the Maternal & Child Health Nurse the other day for your 12 month check up. My main reason for going was to get you weighed and measured, since everybody tells me how petite you are and I don’t notice. It turns out that, while you’re reasonably long for your age (on the 75th percentile), you’re rather skinny (25th percentile) - hence your supermodel figure. I thought perhaps I’d been under feeding you, but I was reassured by checking Finn’s 12 month measurements and finding that, although you are smaller than he was, a similar differential existed between his length and weight. So you are both tall, skinny kids - fine with me. That’s what I was and I’m pretty sure your dad was too. We are a family of tall, skinny kids (Dad and I are still skinny kids on the inside).

Now’s the point at which I tell you just how much you light up our lives. Seeing you and Finn together is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. Perhaps especially so when he’s bouncing toys off your head and you’re sitting there laughing about it … until it hurts. Then he gives you a kiss and an awkward hug and the fun begins again. This is everything I could want for both of you. A sibling you can laugh and play with, have a cry and a cuddle with and then go on together. This is my family and you complete that picture.

Happy 1st Birthday my Princess,
Love Mum

The Yelling Face by Nicky P

Yesterday we headed down to Queenscliff for an overnight camping trip. It was, without any exaggeration, the worst night we have ever had with Leila. She quite simply wouldn’t sleep.

She might have been cold. She might not have liked using her Kinderkot. She might have been too aware of the audience sitting close by. Whatever it was, it was enough for us to decide that there are no more camping trips for The Little Princess until next summer.

By then she will be big enough to be told to go to bed. She still might not like it, but she’ll be better able to communicate what it is she doesn’t like. And we can tell her to ’shut up’ and she will have some idea of what we mean.

Watching the big kids play by Nicky P

Dear Leila,

This month’s update is a bit late, I know, but we’ve been a bit busy lately. I was going to wait until next month and include this month in that one but for two things: I do have stuff to tell you about this month that I will have forgotten by then and the next update will be for your first birthday and should be about that only since it’s a big milestone for a little girl. So here we go with month 11. Read the rest of this entry »