new balance

What a day.

It all began at 6.20 when a little monkey who had sneaked into our bed at some point during the night woke up screaming thanks to a very noisy car outside. She was obviously still tired but refused to go back to sleep in any position. We realised that this really was our day starting, an hour ahead of schedule. Chris went off to work after breakfast and I was left with a very overtired baby who didn't want to play, didn't want to have her nappy changed, didn't want to go in the jumperoo, didn't want to to do anything except be carried about. She had an early first nap and I managed to have a shower but it still wasn't long enough for her and so the grumpiness continued until just before lunchtime when I cuddled her to sleep and held onto her so she could sleep for longer. An hour and 15 minutes later (and a good chunk of my book) we had a happy baby! And so begins the rest of my tale.

I left her on the rug quietly amusing herself with a kitkat wrapper (As much as I don't want her to eat paper, I think other mothers will be with me when I admit that as long as it isn't dangerous and its keeping her happy then sometimes I cave and let her play with strange things) whilst I was sorting some things out. It was the silence that aroused my suspicion. I dashed back into the living room to find her standing up at the little coffee table a second away from sending my tea (cold) flying onto the floor and sofa. I dashed in, removed the tea and sat her back down. Disaster averted, but this marks the end of an era. I can no longer leave her anywhere I am not, not even for a second.

Another exciting development today was standing properly, with two feet firmly on the floor. I stood her up and moved my arms away and bingo, 5 seconds of balance! I had expected immediate collapse but no!

Who needs to crawl when you can stand?

(Recent tongue discovery has led to frequent tongue sticking out poses)