Dear Arddun,
This month, you
Discovered your voice.
Not that you weren’t heartbreakingly beautiful as a newborn, but for weeks all we’d heard was either crying or silence and not very much in between. But then you discovered your voice and suddenly, we’re having conversations. You’ll coo about your day, and ask – rather than yell – for your food. You wake up, and you chat to Mr and Mrs Owl on the wall, and we lie in bed and listen to you through the monitor. These coded conversations! They waft through our corridors and fill us with an overwhelming sense of contentment.
Started swimming classes
Mostly a Daddy-Daughter time, our Saturday mornings are now all about Swimming – working out your wake time, your feed time and your travel time so that we can get you in the best possible mood to basically bob about the pool and have a plastic watering can pour pool water over your face. You have NO idea what’s going on, but you’re easily the youngest kid in the block and therefore readily excused. Also, many mothers goo-gah over you because damn, you look ridiculously cute in your swimming costume, although Mommy worries that you’ll take the word POO in POOL quite literally one day, and…
Watched your first movie with mommy
One Day – a drama/romance with Anne Hathaway. You fed and slept through the whole thing. It was bliss for both of us.
The second movie we watched together was The Help. Mommy got ambitious and bought a choc-top. She also couldn’t reach the feeding cover in the dark. You fed and slept for most of the movie. We both emerged with choc stains down our fronts.
Noticed the TV for the first time
More on this in a separate post. But Mommy now understands why it’s SO TEMPTING to use the telly as an electronic babysitter while she prepares dinner.
Started reading the bible
Our midnight feeds now include reading 2.5 chapters of the bible – in chronological order. Genesis was easy. Job was, frankly, a painful book. Of course, Mommy just assumes you can read her thoughts when she’s silent-reading.
Got 3 new lullaby albums
Your music collection just got bigger, with rockabye lullabyes from Guns ‘n’ Roses, Queen, and… Madonna. The last was entirely your own doing. Mommy spent one breastfeeding session playing excerpts of Madonna, and you loved her. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Learnt to laugh
While out shopping one day for baby dresses, you decided that life was particularly dandy and so you laughed. And laughed. And laughed. And Mommy got so sentimental about the moment, she popped back into the same shop the next day and bought the dress that started it all.
Learnt to roll over
After a week of being too busy to do much Tummy Time, Mommy decided to place you on your front and voila – you shot up like a cobra, and then you rolled over. We tried this again about six times, so we know it’s not a fluke. However when it came time to exhibit to Daddy, you basically flopped on your tummy and gurgled, while Mommy kept insisting that it wasn’t a figment of her imagination or sleep deprivation.
Started hanging around with Molly the Dolly
While practising how to grip and grasp, you discovered that Molly the Dolly has got skinny legs, googly eyes, a big head, and a bell in her tummy. And no matter who shakes Molly, you think it’s ha-la-rious. Much kicking and laughing usually ensues.
Met grand-uncle Tony and grand-aunt Ann
Who took our first family photo! Which made Mommy very happy! Also, there was much cuddling and comparison of facial features. We all agree that your hair is lightening in colour, and certain expressions are All Daddy. Definitely no paternity test required.
Finding The Happy 