Advanced baby milestones!

I was just reading the milestones on babycentre.de (the German version of the UK/US site) and found out that Madness is advanced. I am one of those mothers who says her child's intelligent, I openly admit it. I do temper it, though, with saying I have to wait till he's a little bit older before I can really be sure.

Heh. That's why I check the milestones on Babycentre... suuuuure. (Well, really, it's because I don't want to clean, proofread, work on my novel or nap, but that is not the point here!). Anyway, all the three things in the "advanced" column of the 17-month babies Madness can do. He's been brushing his teeth for months (after we do, obviously) and has been dancing to music for months. He's been kicking a ball for months. He's not yet 17 months old. Again, heh.

Anyway, if I keep thinking like this, I'm going to convince myself that Madness is a genius and enrol him into University for his second birthday. So, time for a topic change.

Travelling on my own was challenging. Once I actually got to England, and home, everything was fine, but wowzer. Carrying my hand luggage, our coats, my laptop and my baby through an airport was quite the adventure.

I'm pleased to say that when I had to drop something, it was the luggage and the coats that copped it, rather than the baby. He walked everywhere but where I wanted him to walk, making me glad we had 50 billion hours to catch our connecting flight.

The 50 billion hours we had on the way back weren't as adventurous. In England, I got a wrist holder thing, kinda like a friendly, child-safe set of handcuffs. Okay, okay, I'll say it: I put my kid on a leash.

Turns out he didn't need it, because right on our gate was a child's play area. Pretty funky thing to have in an airport, actually. Only there was nowhere for the Mummys to sit down. Woe.

We met a two-year-old there that was a whole head shorter than Madness.

Also, whilst in England, not a day went by without the word "Papa" being mentioned at least a dozen times, making me feel horribly, horribly guilty for separating them for the week. Well, not really, but I did feel a bit bad.

Then I ate some Cadbury chocolate and knew the trip had been worth it.

Fun Tip: If you're travelling alone, make sure your carry on luggage is big enough to fit your baby in it. Kinda like Paris Hilton and her silly little accessory she tries to pass off as a dog. Only bigger and more whingey.

Serious Tip: If you're travelling alone, make sure your carry on luggage is big enough to fit your baby in it.

Another week over

Wow, did this week fly. Madness and I traded grumpy moods and illnesses. He was reacting to his vaccinations (reaction generally happens within the first ten days) and I think I was just being a narky cow. Too many late nights this week with too many projects happening at once.

Hello, Headache City. Population: One narky cow.

However, all is better now. Right in time for the weekend. Madness and I took a trek into the city on Friday to have a look at the Christmas market and meet up with Dimples and her mum. It was a glorious rainy, grey and windy day. Perfect for outdoor shopping in a crowded city! Everyone's so pleasant on days like that. Especially Madness.

Madness said his first word outside Mama and Papa. He said "heiss" which is the German word for hot. He said it while touching the heater. I was on the toilet at the time, and he was sitting at my feet (honestly, I can't even widdle in private!) and still I grinned with joy. Lucky I didn't jump up and down like I wanted to. Ew. We're raising him bilingually, and I think it's funny he said German first, where it's me who speaks English with him.

Also, he is walking more than he's crawling so I'm going to look into getting him his first pair of shoes next week.

Shoes and words, and here I am in denial and thinking gee, remember last week when I was still pregnant? The circle of life goes on.

Only, I think mine's more like a hexagon. An asymmetrical one.

Fun tip: Those plastic rain cover things only work when you unfold them so your baby and pram/stroller are in a plastic bubble. If you pull it back to get on the bus, or go inside a cafe, and you don't pull it back over the pram when you leave and it's raining outside, Baby will get wet. Just sayin'.

Serious tip: You don't need to buy shoes for your baby until they're truly walking more than they're crawling. And when you do buy hard-souled shoes for your baby, make sure you can fold them almost in half before you purchase them. They need a lot of give in them for those little baby foot muscles to develop properly.

C'mon, Madness! Walkies!

Madness has started taking tentative steps (literally) to becoming the most tiring experience of my life. The very first steps were taken on the 29th of October, where he promptly fell forward onto his hands and then gracefully onto his side (honestly, I was expecting him to come up with shoe polish on his face, and a gun in his hand. He looked just like an escaping soldier in a B-movie. Only little.). He did not walk again for almost two weeks, obviously deciding that commando rolls were not for him. Which is a shame, as they go perfectly with the commando crawling he does through the house. The boy must have elbows of steel.

Now, he's taking two or three steps every hour or so, and no longer rolling to the side when he falls down. His little bum waddles contentedly in his nappy with each step, which is the cutest thing I've seen in a while. Which says a lot, for Madness is pretty darn cute. We've secured the house as much as we're prepared to go, the rest of the time, we'll just have to tell him no.

He's also going through a growth spurt, which means lots of late-night wake up calls. They used to last for hours (literally, at least two) but Big M got the tip off his sister to give him something to eat. When her daughter was going through her spurts, she woke up really hungry. So we tried that, and voilá! he went straight to sleep after his banana. Thank goodness, for it was 1am and I had stayed up late for no other reason than it was Saturday, and I could.

An advantage of growth spurts, though, is that Madness sleeps a lot. He's going for his second three hour nap in as many days as we speak. I napped for an hour and a half of this one, though, so I'm not getting anything productive done. Which is fine. I deserve a weekend, too!

Fun tip: Indulge in a bubble bath. A warm cozy bath after baby's bed time is the perfect way to relax. I often fall asleep in mine, which is not recommended as the acoustics in a bathroom don't do your snoring any favours! And the possibility of drowning (though my husband assures me you can't unless your drunk) is enough to prevent you from dozing off satisfactorily.

Serious tip: Make sure your child has independent play time and use this to have your own. A half an hour of doing your favourite thing (as long as it's not, you know, cracking open the Whiskey) does wonders for rejuvenating the batteries.