A year ago Thursday Blog Hop - Why go vertical?

I am taking part in Mommy Only has Two Hands A Year Ago Thursday Blog Hop.
Check out the rules on Mommy Only has Two Hands. The other two hosts are From PDX With Love and Wyatt Family Farm.

Going down memory lane - a year ago today. It is nice to see how far we have come...

I went back to last year's blog post on 7 October 2009. A year ago we were worried about our baby starting to walk while she did not crawl first. She only did the bum-shuffle or the crab creep. She was nearly ten months old. She finally walked at 13 months, skipping the crawl!

Why go vertical when you can go horizontal?

Mieka has not started to crawl yet, and it seems she is not going to. All she wants to do at this stage is walk, with us having to walk with her. She also enjoys the walking ring, but her favourite way of moving around now is walking while being held. Whenever we put her down on her stomach, she freezes in the position, with her arms straight, and complains. She only stops when we pull her up again. How do you get a baby to crawl, when she wants to walk already? I can imagine years of extra maths classes because she has skipped the important crawling phase in her development… Why worry? We will deal with that later! Now we are the enablers in her horizontal quest! I think she is super intelligent, and does not need to go through all the phases.
(Says the proud mom wink-wink)

Overrated, the crawling thing, I say now! We are dealing with the crawling in the little gymnastics. There are better things to worry about...

17 months - toddler update

Drums: Dum-Dum-Dum-Ta-Dum! The toddler is 17 months today!


Quick update: (Why it is SOOOO nice that they actually grow up!)

- The sleeping is going better and better. We have more and more nights where Mieka sleeps until 5/6 in the mornings. (Ta-Dum! Our sleep deprived nights are getting fewer and further in between!)

- She has 12 teeth. We discovered an extra four in her mouth about two weeks back. Big bonus – we did not notice teething-relate niggles! (It was probably those few many nights we did not sleep through... Who knows?)

- The breastfeeding is working well. I am planning to continue until the two year milestone, or until Mieka decides to quit. I read somewhere (on KellyMom?) that when you wait for the toddlers to wean themselves it is usually between 3-4 years of age. (Gulp!) We’ll see! I did not expect it to last as long, but it is one of the most rewarding experiences ever. And the bonus – it is very good for them! (Pat on back! You go, Powerwoman!)

- Mieka got her MMR injection on Wednesday. She was two months overdue. She had a runny nose the whole time. I was also a bit apprehensive because of the link between MMR and autism, and because a lot of babies get sick after the injection. The teen got measles from the injection 15 years back! A doctor convinced me that it is better to get the injection sooner than later... (Thumbs crossed.)

- Mieka “told” me her first story this week. I was breastfeeding her, and she started to poke her eye, and saying something like “seer” (sore). I eventually deduced from that that she got sand in her eyes at day care.

- It is going very well at day care and the new class. She enjoys the activities and singing, and we can see the difference at home. (The “lights” are brighter!) She swings and rolls her arms while “singing”, and loves-loves building puzzles and blocks and sketching.

- She prefers spending time on our hips (big back-breaker at the moment (literally)): She gets us to take her finger, and as soon as she gets us up, she wants to be picked up while she directs us in the direction she wants to go! When she does not want to be put down, she folds in her legs, and no ways is it possible to get her to stand... (This too will pass.)

Oh, we love this little girl! She is a big pleasure in our lives! And she is growing up... Very quickly! (Big smile!)

Our little girl has become afraid

Something of the scared little face that we see...

Lately we have noticed that we have to watch what is showing on television. We have to keep our fingers on the alt button. Even stuff that we think is not worth mentioning makes our little one afraid.


She sees an ugly face, or a strange creature, sometimes even a “funny” face, and she looks at us with eyes full of fright! I was not even aware of how many strange things are being shown on television. Our days are filled with abnormal apparitions: a devil with red horns, an ugly face on a clay tablet, and a man with tattoos on his face... We are being bombarded with it!

The thing is – as soon as she has seen it, she has seen it. You can’t undo an image in the mind... We will have to be extremely careful from now on!

This is most probably where the stage of being afraid is coming into play. I used to be a very scared little girl myself. I remember being in my bed when I was small; not able to move because of being scared. The teen also used to sleep with a night light, and to this day she does not watch any scary movies. We have a rule: we rather do not look at something when we get the inclination it is going to be scary. We change the stations!

From now on: we will change stations even more quickly!

How do we teach them to not be afraid? Is it possible to do it, or is it a normal phase in development?

Our little Princess at 16 months; an update

(The detour at the hospital yesterday, with the abscess, got us a little bit side-tracked.)

What she is doing now at 16 months :

- I am a little bit worried about the language development. A friend said she should be speaking 10 words by now. Let me count: Mamma, Pappa (daddy), tatta, hello, Arnia... She is even calling every other object “pappa” now? And the rest is mermaid-speak. Should I be getting worried?

- The finger still points and she now comes to fetch us to walk with her. Not that it is always clear what she wants. It seems she is happy to go in any direction, as long as we are going with her.

- The new class at day care has definitely “turned on a few more lights”. She seems to be more interested in drawing, building puzzles and reading. It was a good thing to have moved her from the baby class. They also don’t have any problems with her going to sleep on the mat. She spends two hours sleeping in the early afternoon, a bit longer than the rest of her friends. (But she used to sleep twice during the day in the baby section).

- I am still breastfeeding. The two year goal is within reach! I think it is a comfort thing during the night. She loves to sleep while being latched on. I am treasuring these wonderful bonding moments. After I have seen the Avatar movie, I think of breastfeeding in the same context as the species on Pandora who latches on to the Tree and the animals with their “hair”.

- I am struggling to get her 100% healthy. She has missed the MMR vaccine at 15 months. It seems that she has an allergic type of sinus problem. I think milk is number one suspect, but I have looked on the shelves, and don’t think that soya is a good alternative. I feel a bit unsure to cut it from her diet at this stage? (Which a friend suggested.)

- She is sleeping much better. The problem is getting her to fall asleep. I feel that 8-9 is a bit late, but that is usually the time she goes “down”. She wakes up once or twice, and sometimes she goes right through until 6. I hate it every day I have to wake her for day care. Powerwoman is allowed to say it, and to keep on hating it! Not nice to be a working mother when you leave a sleepy baby in somebody else’s arms...

- She loves shoes! She has no problem in the mornings to sit down for us to put on her shoes. And she doesn’t take it off until she goes to bed at night. It was a struggle yesterday to take it off in hospital. She was trying to put it on again the whole time. She is a girl, for sure! (Smile)

The Centre of our Universe

Photo: Patrick Pretorius Photography.

Mieka is still in the developmental phase of being the centre of her own universe. Everything revolves around her. She is nearly 16 months old now!

A quote from Practica:

“She believes that the sun came up today because she woke up and that it will set this evening because she needs to go to bed.”

Dries said to me this weekend that our household truly revolves around her. It is not something that we are experiencing negatively, quite to the contrary. We are enjoying her and how our lives have changed because of her. We are planning our days and our activities around her.

She also dictates how we spend our days. The joys of parenthood! (No sarcasm here!) So far it has worked out well for our little fairy – her world is our world, and we revolve around her!
Shame – it is not going to stay this way... (Smile)

We got our photos back from dear friends of ours. We are very lucky to have a photographer as a friend!

Isn’t she the cutest?

Photo: Patrick Pretorius photography.

The Toddler’s section at day care

I am so impressed with my Mieka. She is taking it in her stride: moving from the babies to the toddler’s section at the day care this week.


Yesterday they reported to me that she even slept on her mat with the other toddlers.

There are pictures of autumn and autumn leaves pinned up against the wall with her name on it every day of the week. It is the theme of the month: Autumn. (We are beginning to feel a little pinch of winter here…)

When I fetch her in the afternoons, she is walking around outside with the other children. On a mission by herself, of course! She looks so small walking around with the bigger children, and my heart goes mushy when I see her. She is always so excited when we go to fetch her!

It is doing her good, because she seems a bit more eager at home to read her books, and she watches with great concentration when they show animals or planes or babies on the television. She gets very upset when the picture changes… Enquiring to us with her little hand (showing “come-here, come here”) to put up the same footage again. Very cute!


(Photo by Grandfather James)

The toddler’s last day at the baby section at day care

Another milestone! The toddler is apparently ready to move over to the toddler’s section at the day care. Today is her last day with the babies!


This is how we have to let go... Small little steps turn into big steps! And tomorrow she goes to university!!! Oh, come on, Karen. No need to be dramatic! (Powerwoman welcomes the opportunity to help her child into the big(ger) world!)

I am feeling a bit apprehensive. She is still my baby, but apparently not!

The one lady that looks after them at day care is also of the opinion that they are still too young to move. There is another toddler who started to walk months before Mieka, and she went to the toddler’s section two months earlier. She struggled adjusting, crying; and they had to bring her back to sleep with the babies during the day.

I want to do the right thing. Are they ready to move at 15 months? I see that she enjoys doing things with her hands, like scribbling and painting. Luckily they have been taking Mieka to the toddler’s for two hours every day for the past two weeks. They said she was in awe of the other children, and just walked around, looking at everything.

They don’t have cots in the toddler’s section, only small mats. How do they get them to sleep on them? We struggle to get her to sleep in her cot at home...

I hope they prepare their bottles with the same care as with the babies...

No, stop it, Mrs. Neurosis! You can always ask them to take her back to day care if she does not adjust well.

Our baby is BIG already!

(Photo: Mieka with the strong arms of her dad in the background)

Small milestones: Potty training 1st and stairs

The toddler and potty training. No, we haven’t started with potty training for the 15-month old, but we caught her doing the right thing!


We have noticed that she regularly shivers and let’s go when we take off her nappy just before we put her into the bath. She loves sitting on the potty with her clothes on. Last night we put her directly on the potty after we took off the nappy, and she made her first pee. We applauded her, but I not sure that she made the link?

The things you get excited about when you are parents... A pee in a pot makes us go “Whoop de whoop!” (Smile)

Mieka also loves nowadays to sit on the first step of the stairs. She goes round in circles before she does a back-up with her bum to land it on the step. Sometimes she misses, and does it again. She then sits smugly on the step for a few seconds before she tries it again.

It progressed yesterday to her beginning to climb the steps. I know; it is very late for her to only now start climbing the stairs on her own. I have heard of babies who climb/crawl the stairs since they were six months old. She is a bit more reserved with regards to trying new things. Which I think is a bit of a blessing for us – we don’t have to check her the whole time. (She loves climbing the stairs when we hold her hands for month now, and she climbs it with one foot on one step, barely making the height of a step with her short legs.)

She started to climb by going up on her knees, and enjoyed it tremendously when we clapped hands. She was going up, and clapping hands for herself on each step. No we will have to close the security gate at the bottom of the stairs as well... (We have a gate at the top of the stairs already.)

Cute, very cute!

The toddler is 15 months

It sneaks up on you! She is 15 months. What happened to 14 months? Gone! Oi!
Our little girl is getting more independent by the day! How I love watching her; exploring and walking and making her little demands. The pointy finger is still getting the job done! (Smile)
Eating is a bit more difficult now. I am still buying some Purity for times when we haven’t finished preparing a meal. I get her to eat about three or four spoons before she shuts her mouth. But she loves playing with it (See photo). She loves eating with us, but we are not exactly sure that’s she gets a substantial amount to eat. Because most of it lands on the floor...
She enjoys Barney very much. We have a Barney DVD, but it does not keep her occupied for long. The little Barney book or Barney doll gets her excited every time. I know three lines of a Barney song:
“I love you
You love me
We are one big family...”
When I start singing it, she starts dancing and nodding with the head. She doesn’t get tired at all of hearing it! I have to repeat and repeat... (Who knows the rest of the song?)
She repeats most of her words. When she starts with “Mama-mama-mama”, or “Papa-papa-papa”, we say “Mieka-Mieka-Mieka” to her. Not really sure what she wants... But I think it is some sort of verbal love expression. (My heart melts every time! Sweet!) I will do anything for her, for sure!
When we call to Arnia, her sister, she also calls her name. It is a difficult name to learn to speak. Arnia took a very long time to say her own name.
Mieka enjoys playing with the cube with blocks and numbers that fits into their specific places. Her dad has taught her to clap hands, and now she claps and smiles every time she gets it in (with help, of course!)
She uses the remotes to phone her grandmothers, and we giggle every time she walks around holding it to her ear... 15X cute at 15 months!
(I am glad I am able to pin down these cute little milestones and things that she does. Thanks, Blogger!)

The toddler and instructions

A great milestone has been reached. The toddler understands enough to be able to perform relatively simple instructions or tasks.
A favourite is throwing things into the dustbin. (I can just imagine we are going to search for our things from now on in the dustbin...)
The best is the fact that she is willing to do it over and over again.
“Give the dog a snack.” (Also a favourite activity)
“Take this to your dad.”
“Bring the book/toy/bottle.”
I am amazed at how much she understands, even though the communication depends on the pointy finger and grunts...
The more we are able to keep her occupied (read HAPPY), the more we are able to get in a bit of rest. (I love this phase – hope it will last for while? Before they notice that it is not that cool to do what your parents instruct you to do? (Smile)
Now, if we can only give an instruction with regards the sleeping...
We went out of our way last Saturday to go and buy a duvet at Tree House, a wonderful baby room decoration shop. I saw the same type of duvet at a friend’s house. Mieka has been sleeping very well since Saturday night. The duvet is light, but also warm. It helps because she seems to keep it over her during the night, where the rest of her blankets invariable landed up at the bottom of her feet.
(Thumbs crossed!)
(The toddler is fourteen and a half months)

(Photo: Mieka with the dog last night)

Related posts:

14 months

13 months

The personality of the toddler

The toddler is walking

Mermaid-speak

The toddler has been speaking to us in recent times in a rounded vowel–type of language. It sounds as if she is speaking underneath the water. She looks at you, very seriously, and rolls beautiful sounding “words” out of her mouth. (I am struggling to describe it.) I am calling it mermaid-speak. We do not recognise any words in this mermaid language of hers.
It is SOOO cute; we starts smiling as soon as she starts a conversation, and sometimes we find ourselves bursting out with laughter. It is too difficult not to smile, at least.
I hope it won’t impact her negatively; the fact that we are not able to hold a straight face/s.

I hope that she understands that we think she is adorable when she speaks in her mermaid language?

The toddler is 14 months - UPDATE

Mieka, our baby (translate toddler, but I still wants to call her my baby), was 14 months on Sunday! Every day we think she can’t get any cuter than this, but she does!
When I look back at the baby videos of earlier I am amazed at how much cuter she is now. The lights were on, but she was not there yet! (Smile!)
She is getting more vocal, but we only understand the few obvious ones, like papa, mama and tata (goodbye). The hello is there as well. The pointy finger STILL gets the job done, with a few grunts here and there! (Talking is highly overrated…).
She is fascinated with planes and birds, and makes circular movements with an mmmm-sound. Where are all the planes when you want to look at them?
She enjoys music! (We have hopeful visions of one member of our family being musical…) She starts bobbing and humming with music on the radio or television. Last night she was taking her bum right down to the ground, but lost the rhythm and only got it back when she got upright again. Very funny!
The sleeping is going much better. We only struggle to put her down, but then she sleeps through, most of the time. I have to wake her (which I hate doing!) on week days to get her ready for day care. (Working mother complaint!)
Walking is a great source of enjoyment. We enjoy watching her, and she enjoys exploring on her own. I think she is not the most adventurous explorer, but it has its benefits. She usually explores in our vicinity, and it helps to keep the eye on her.
She loves unpacking cupboards etc. and walking with the goodies to place it somewhere else. We don’t mind her unpacking, as long as it keeps her busy. Strange how easy we exchange a neat home for a bit of peace and quiet AND reading.
She has got 8 teeth now, and it seems another one is due, because there is a constant dribble on the chin.
She has turned into a fussy eater, but the baby books/experts say it is okay. We try to keep her occupied to get in a few spoons of food, and she takes a few bites of what we are eating, especially if it comes from our plates…
The breast feeding is continuing. It got a bit of a knock this last weekend with us being away on the cruise. I expressed a little bit, but I don’t think it was enough. It was only last night that she seemed satisfied again, and dropped off to sleep while still on the breast…
(Sigh of relief! It is the easiest by far!)
What’s next? We enjoy her with every single new milestone reached!

(Photo by grandfather James on Sunday)

Related posts:

The toddler is officially a walker

Baby milestones

The toddler is officially a walker

One of the biggest milestones has been reached: The toddler is walking! The day care has been telling us every day that she is walking further and further (from last week)! One of those awful irritations when you have to work! You don’t get to experience the first FIRSTS…
She has been doing the three steps for nearly a month, but now she is standing on her own, and WALKING! We can’t get enough of it, cheering her on with each step! Very cute!
She is thirteen and a half months old!
She skipped the crawling altogether. There are consequences because of it. (The worrying was not neurotic, after all!)
The crab creeping did not do the job. There is a lady who comes in to massage the babies at day care. (The lucky little fish! I am in my forties, and can only count on one hand how many times I had a massage. Now my little one is getting a weekly massage (which I am paying for)). Apparently Mieka’s neck is not stiff enough! When she is pulled upright by her hands, her head still hangs to the back.
I have to find ways of addressing this.
Do you have any ideas, or know of places where to search for information when a baby skipped the laying on the tummy and the crawling? (What if there are even bigger consequences later on when we don’t address it now?)
The little tortoise is walking! We are so proud!

(Photo: Gys Oosthuizen)

Related posts:

The personality of the toddler

The baby is a toddler

Baby update

Why go vertical when you can go horizontal?

The personality of the toddler

The note from the day care states that she is a well-behaved little girl, and that she enjoys the company of the other babies. How much of the behaviour that we see now in the toddler is part of the person that she is?
We are making assumptions about the little people, and I think we sometimes get it wrong. We superimpose our own personality traits on our children, thinking that in some way they are carbon copies of us. But we tend to forget that they are their own individuals from the very beginning. Am I making a correct assessment, or am I over-thinking it again?

Mieka has many quirks and traits. The blog is a way of capturing it.
She seems to be very cautious with regards to new experiences or things. She doesn’t like to rush into things. When we try to push her, we only get loud protests and kicking legs.
She tends to bite on her gums or folding her bottom lip inwards (see photo). Is it a sign of concentration/stress, or is it the teeth really bothering her? I am glad that the day care sees a good little girl. Because we find her constant demands on our attention very exhausting! Does it imply that she is a different person at the day care than she is at home with us?
She frowns easily, but laughs easily as well. But somebody in the family has described her already as a serious little girl. Especially when she concentrates on new experiences. She loves looking at small things and exploring it with her hands. We don’t hear a thing from her when we push her in her pram in the malls, looking at the people and everything around her.
Now she is at her happiest when she is walking, holding on to a finger. The pointy finger is still pointing like a berserk compass, not knowing where north is, and we are able to show her anything. She is easily distracted! (This is not going to last, I hear. Smile)
I hope we will remember how sweet this time is with her, and how she makes us smile countless times during the day. When she laughs, we laugh as well…
Thank you, Mieka, for the joy!

The toddler is not hitting other babies anymore

A while back we were worried about the baby hitting other babies. We saw the disturbing behaviour while she was “playing” with a friend.
But yesterday Mieka was happily playing alongside her friend Zander . They both complained a bit when the other one had a play thing in their hands they also wanted to have. But it was not a major upheaval in the baby politics. (Take that for worrying about the little things – most of it get sorted by themselves!)
It was another day in paradise, enjoyed with friends in Potchefstroom in South Africa.
Really awful times! (Evil grin)

The baby is a toddler

The baby is a toddler already! One year olds are not babies anymore. I feel sad to realize that my baby is not a baby anymore. I’ll have to change my status now. I am a mother of a toddler, and not a baby.
Where are the BRAKES?
She is one bundle of inquisitiveness at the moment. When she opens her eyes, it starts with the pointing (yes, it seems the pointy finger are going to stay for a while). Points, points, points… and when there is no reaction from us, it is scream, scream, scream… VERY exhausting!
She is becoming more mobile by the day. She stands and moves along the furniture or whatever she can hold onto. She has given her first few steps already. The crawling is not an option anymore. The crab creeping works very well for the little lady. It has a bright side as well; I can keep on putting on dresses, because with the bum shuffling the dresses does not get caught up underneath her knees. And she looks very cute in a dress.
Eating has become difficult - for us as the parents, not to her. No more the easy way out with foods from jars. We have to think of finger foods for her to eat. She just closes her mouth and turns away (with a look of disgust) when we bring a spoon near her.
“I am not a baby, Mom/Dad!! I can eat on my own!”
She mostly uses her hands, and the back of the spoons and forks to pummel the food.
Sleeping has also not been mastered by the parents. We are still doing the nightly rounds. When I compare it with the first few days and weeks, it is now a breeze. (Powerwoman will not complain!)
She has a new thing; she starts to kick her legs vigorously when we try to put her into her bed. A tantrum type of manoeuvre? Or is something bothering her? Bad, bad teeth!! (?) She also wakes up screaming, but with the eyes still closed. She wants to sleep, but something is out of whack. We need that baby translator badly!
The hair is starting to grow. Not long, and we will be able to put in the ribbons…
Hold on to the reigns; our baby is a toddler!

(Photo: Mieka was not impressed with the musical water fountain at Silverstar Casino last night.)

Wordless Wednesday #3

Big Heads and breastfeeding

The one year goal is looming of weaning Mieka. From the beginning I said I would see how far I could go with this. I continued expressing feeds at work until she was 9 months old.
Now I am still breast feeding at night; when she goes to sleep, during the night, and early mornings. And sometimes over weekends or off-days. It is still going very well. And I am beginning to re-think my goal of one year. She is my last baby, and it has been a wonderful bonding experience for both of us. There is nothing that soothes a baby quite as well as putting her on the breast!
The first teeth (now seven already) are beginning to be a bit of a pain (she starts grinding when she has had enough). That’s a draw-back, but I tell Mieka “No!”, and it seems as if it has helped! She hasn’t done it in a while. Another draw-back is the fact that she gets easily distracted. When there is activity around us while I am breast feeding, she stops and wants to look at what’s going on. I have to keep her occupied with necklaces and earrings during the day while I am breast feeding her. The belly dancing earrings helps a lot. (Smile) Oh, and it doesn’t help to put a blanket over her head; then she tries to get it off as quickly as possible. She thinks we are playing peek-a-boo.
In the early months I could breast feed her any place, because I just threw the blanket over her. (In South Africa it is frowned upon when you pull out a breast. You have to cover up here.) Now I can’t feed her anymore in public, because she pulls off the blanket…
When something is still working well, should you stop doing it?
I asked the paediatrician at her one year visit, which was this morning, about his advice. Mieka has been very healthy the past year. She only got antibiotics once and that was a few weeks back. He said I can continue for as long as I want. I’ll take his advice for now! I know I will be very sad when I have to stop….
The paediatrician also said that she’s got a big head when he took the measurement. He asked us about the big heads in our family, and we immediately said her dad’s got a big head. No wonder we struggle getting the t-shirts to fit over her head. We’ve got two Big Heads in our family now! (Smile)
Photo: Breastfeeding when Mieka was only a few days old (Photo by Debbie Rogers, my aunt)

Baby update

11 months, 2 weeks:
The baby does not sleep through the night. Not yet! But it is going much much better, thank you very much! We had a bad week last week when she was sick, but it is going very well again this week. Getting up twice at night is a bonus to me, and I have decided to not consider it a sleeping problem. I get up, put her on the breast, and sit-sleep for 20 minutes before I put her back in her bed again. If she complains, I take her to our bed until I can carry her back to her bed. Powerwoman got used to the interrupted sleep in any case… Sleeping sorted!

Mieka is still crab creeping, and we have to especially wash her left calve which is black every night. She uses the left leg to maneuver herself on her bottom in the direction where she wants to go. But she LOVES it when we hold her by her hands to walk. She has also found the stairs to climb while we are holding her hands. She manages to climb with alternative legs, not stopping on a step – even though her short little legs barely manages to lift up high enough. She is able to walk holding on to only one hand, but it is still going wobbly.

I can leave her for longer standing up near things, which she loves. While she is vertical, we struggle to get her to sit down again. She stiffens herself, and we have to bend her to get her to sit. Or, NOT!
She loves playing with containers and taking things out and putting it back in again.
She still gets excited when she sees her own reflection in mirrors or windows, and she claps her hands every time. (The Blonde reaction. Smile)

I can make out a “hello”, “tatta”, “ta” and “Mamma”.
And she laughs her head off when she “frightens” us. She makes sounds like The Exorcist! (Very funny to hear! Luckily I heard another baby over the weekend that is making the same sounds, or else I would have been worried…)
Mieka eats very well, and she loves to eat with us. I put the same food we have in her plate, and we try not to cringe while she dives into it. She manages to get some of it into her mouth, and the rest that lands on the floor is vacuumed up by the dog. That’s the only time the dog stops barking, while waiting underneath Mieka’s chair…

We are amazed at how much Mieka has become a little person with her own personality! I just hope that these words are able to show some of it!
And she gave all three of us a huge big open mouth kiss this morning when we asked for it! Nothing better than that!

(Photo: Mieka with her arms stretched out behind her head, while sleeping in the car seat)

Sign language for the baby

I have voiced my concern about Mieka who screams and hits at other babies when they come near her. Tasneem, an occupational therapist, suggested that “some children develop conceptual language faster than they develop language ability “. They get frustrated, and that’s why they start to hit. Some throw tantrums. She suggested we could try sign language. It has made me think that it is worth a try. I googled some of information on the Internet, but I am not sure how to learn the signs to the baby. Last night I tried to learn her about the sign for a ball, holding my hand in a round form, and twisting it. I did not get any response.
Mieka waves at us, and she claps her hands when we sing “Handjies klap” (clap the hands), but we are still trying to teach her how to blow kisses to us. She starts to make the b-r-r-r sound while pulling her hand over her mouth when we blow kisses to her.
Do we create our own sign language, or is there a good site out there which could help me? I am not very creative coming up with signs.

(Another photo by grandfather James on Sunday)