Ada's First Day at School

Ada's last day!

Today was Ada's last day at Charlton Nursery. She's been there three to four days a week since she was about eight months old.

She missed the "graduation" ceremony while we were in the States but got her special hat.

Arthur will continue to go there so we're not done yet!

On to big kid school on Monday!!!

Daily Arthur: 4 February 2015

Arthur's first ride in a basket, sitting up.

Ada's first professional haircut

Although we have been cutting Ada's bangs for some time, she has never had the rest of her hair cut. It had been getting increasingly difficult to brush and looking a bit straggly, so we decided it was time.

We only seem to have one "kids" hair salon place any where near us, and it's in Bristol, which seemed a bit too far to go. So I booked an appointment at the hair salon at the hotel/club/spa around the corner from us, which listed "children's hair cut" as one of its services.

I booked myself in too, so Ada could see it done before she had to do it. Ada was fantastic. She was very patient while I had my hair cut and then when it was her turn, she followed all instructions without any problems and was very patient then, too. I think it helped that another older kid was having his hair cut when we walked in and she saw that at the end of it, he got a lollipop. She was very excited about this.

We documented it all, including before and after photos. The cut wasn't very severe, and they only just slightly trimmed her bangs, so it doesn't look like a huge change. But she seems to be happy with it, it's easier to brush, and most importantly, we've been through the process and she knows what to expect.

Is this a legal manoeuvre at 8 weeks?

On Friday, Arthur was having some tummy time when he surprised Mark and me by doing this:

He did it once and we were surprised, and we thought it was a fluke. Then he did it again. And then we got out the video camera and he did it one more time for posterity.

Two milestones for Ada, of a sort

Ada has been asserting her independence a lot lately and we generally let her, especially when we're at home. On Saturday, she was buzzing around, playing here and there while Mark and I were in the living room. I heard her go into the kitchen, then the tell tale sound of her scooting one of the chairs to the counter so she could reach something. Then some rustling and a new sound - the toaster! I ran in to find that she had got a bagel out of the package (which had been in the bread bin), pulled the two halves apart (they are pre-split), and put it into the toaster. She was adjusting the dial and just pushing the lever down as I entered. I was the normal parental mix of fright (in case she burned herself) and pride, and a little bit impressed. I gave her a little speech about not reaching down into the toaster and letting an adult get the bagel out of the toaster. We'll see if any of that sunk in.

Later that evening, we all went to the park around the corner from our house before dinner. Ada was playing as usual when all of a sudden she grabbed herself and declared, "I'm peeing." Although this makes it sound like it's too late, usually we have about a 30 second countdown from this point to get her to a toilet. There aren't any at this park, but it is a little bit 'wild' around the edges, so we ran to the side where no one would walk and Ada had her first outdoor pee. She was delighted and has been talking about "peeing on the grass" for the past few days. John and Christopher would be proud.

She's definitely growing up!

Meanwhile...

...back at home, Arthur practices smiling!

Arthur's first bath

Finally got Arthur into the tummy tub. He seemed to like it.

Ada was a great helper, laying out the towels and trying to fill up the tub, and then attempting to give him a rinse after.

Mimi took care of the post-bath cuddles.

Daily Ada: 16 May 13

We are starting the transition from two naps to one. For a week or so,  Ada was only taking one nap at daycare, but until now, she was still sleeping twice at home. But her nights were changing,  which apparently is a sign that it might be time to adjust,  so we're trying it out. This was the first day's try and it went well; only some extra sensitivity and a couple of crying fits.

This picture is in the home stretch - she made it to lunchtime,  but then starting nodding off,  in the middle of eating!

Daily Ada: 17 February 13

Ada's first official step. I was taking a picture of her standing on her own (she had just stood up from sitting on the floor, without the aid of a wall), when she decided to take a step. She seemed pleased with herself. She immediately sat down.
She hasn't seemed interested in trying again since then, so maybe that was enough.

Ada at one year.

Crazy Hair, by Ada

How on earth did that happen? Here we are, Ada's a year old and we're almost at the end of January.

Ada had her one year review last week and got two thumbs up from the health visitor (the children's care specialists that are part of the NHS over here).

Ada's official weight is 23lbs 4 oz/10.58kg and length is 30in/77cm (the health visitor didn't measure her head and I forgot to ask). That puts her in the 91st percentile for both weight and height. She's big, but proportionate, so in other words, perfect!

She has two new teeth that have come through this week. I can't tell if they're her upper cuspids, or actually her first set of molars - I haven't been able to get a good look to see how they're spaced in relation to her current teeth. And they've only just cut through, so they're hard to see. She had been a bit fussy and having trouble sleeping the weekend before, on and off, and then the day before they surfaced (Monday), so that was probably linked. No sign of the bottom ones yet. Whichever ones they are, that brings her to 10 teeth, so she's halfway there!

Ada is not walking independently, but is getting more comfortable with taking a couple/few steps while holding on to someone's hands. She's very occasionally standing independently, but still only for a very brief time. She just seems happy to crawl around and pull herself up on things, or on us.

She's been going through a particularly clingy phase in the last couple of weeks, and will often get concerned if we walk out of the room, even if it's for a short time. She'll sometimes fuss or start to get upset as she crawls after, even if she can see us in the distance and isn't that far away. At swim class, she's had some particularly clingy moments. Although one of the worst classes recently may have been because her teeth were bothering her and the water around her ears was unwelcome.

Ada talks up a storm now. She'll have times when she's incredibly chatty while playing, almost as if she is telling stories of some sort. She's understanding more and more and Ada will now respond by pointing to the appropriate part (if she feels like it) when asked "where's your nose" and "where's your belly button." We're starting to work on other body parts and pictures of people and animals.

Ada continues to surprise and delight us in new unexpected ways. The other day we're certain she was performing her first magic trick at lunch. She was in her high chair and had a small piece of bagel in her left hand. She would hold up her right hand, palm facing up and wiggling her fingers while she dropped her left hand, with the bagel, down and out of sight, below her tray. Then she'd lift up her left hand, empty, palm up to the ceiling. Then she'd wave her right hand as her left hand went down again below the tray, her face pointed away, as she then lifted her left hand up, triumphantly showing the bagel. It was the use of her opposite hand for distraction and turning her face away from the "action" that made it so much like a magic trick and so funny. She did it a few times and really got a kick out of it.

She's good at putting things in and out of containers now, though not always the direction I would prefer. She does sometimes follow instruction and put the clothes I hand her into the washing machine, or the dryer, but unfortunately she'll often also take them back out again.

Her sleep schedule is still much the same, but she is sleeping through the night much more regularly. She is still a pretty noisy sleeper, in terms of rustling and crying out multiple times through the night, but she seems to be asleep, or mostly still asleep when she does it, so she doesn't need attention from us. I will often sleep through it, so I don't even know what's happened overnight. I don't know if she's dreaming or transitioning between sleep cycles or both or what, but she doesn't seem to be becoming sleep deprived, so whatever she's getting must be enough. She still isn't sleeping for more than 30 minutes per nap at daycare, but she does sleep better for naps at home, still at 9 or 9:30am and 1pm. But again, she doesn't seem to be running up a sleep deficit so I've come to terms with the poor napping at the nursery. It is still the area where I'm most obsessive at home, schedule-wise, and I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to let that go. I know she'll be getting to the point when she drops a nap soon, which I'm not looking forward to!

She's still a good eater (I don't think you can be in the 91st percentile and not be!), but I'm probably not quite persistent enough about giving her enough variety, so she does tend to eat her current favorites: bagels, cream cheese, oat crackers, avocado, grapes, strawberries, oranges, cheddar cheese, houmous, yogurt and applesauce. She will branch out into other fruits like melon, plums and the occasional pear, and eats a peanut butter/yogurt dip I mix up. She likes holding and occasionally licking a raw carrot, but doesn't seem to have the teeth yet to do anything else with it. She is not so keen on meats or other vegetables. She will eat them from a pouch, especially if it's a stage one pouch she can slurp out of directly (and most importantly, hold herself), but not when I make them.  I think that's because I haven't offered the same meats and vegetables consistently or frequently enough, because of laziness, so it's more me than her. This is something I want to work on, though I'm not worried about it. Which is probably why I haven't devoted much energy to it, which is why we're at this point in the first place. Or maybe this is just her food phase at the moment. We still don't eat many meals together besides breakfast, so that too is something for us to work on, and will (hopefully) probably positively impact on her eating habits.

She is starting to practice/play with a spoon and bowl - sticking the spoon in and sometimes putting the spoon in her mouth. Or the spoon on the tray. Or the bits of food into the bowl. Or the bowl on her head. Or the bowl on the floor. She is also now starting to try to dip things into yogurt or homous or whatever else is available.

Bottom line is that Ada is wonderful and the first year has been amazing. And already this year is off to a fantastic start!

But looking back, here is a video that Mark compiled with highlights from her first year, and a series of photographs.

Hooray for Ada!

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

ONE YEAR!

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