Hello all! I've lacked internet of recent times hence the blackout. Crazily Ophelia has been on this earth for over 6 months now and so much is happened since I last updated that I can't even remember when it happened!
Sleep: Ophelia mostly (!) goes to bed at some point between 7pm and 8pm and once I put her in her cot, she has been generally going to sleep herself without crying. How long she sleeps for still varies but mostly she sleeps through until at least 3ish although recently she has been lasting til about 5ish and last night she just woke up at 6:50am and stayed up. I cannot tell you how massive this is, I mean this is the kid that was not only nocturnal at first but would always cry unless she was fed to sleep. Naps seem to have got slightly better and the other day she had a 2 hour nap and a 3 hour nap-although this is most abnormal! When at nursery they like the children to have x2 1 hour naps at her age and she does this sometimes but mostly has 3 or 4 30min naps. I was reading up on this and apparently that length of nap can be quite common due to the stages of sleep and about that time it is common for babies to wake themselves up without meaning to and will still be sleepy. Some people recommended just putting your hand on their chest or stroking their hair until they go back to sleep. Sometimes it can still be difficult putting her down in the cot and she cries (although this hasn't happened for a little while-I don't want to jinx it!) but thanks to twitter we tried a few techniques to avoid her just crying and crying or me picking her up and her getting into a naughty pattern.
Weaning: We started properly weaning her just after she turned 6 months and things seem to be going ok- we got this highchair from Mothercare (thanks G'Ma!) and she gets all excited when I feed her the purees or porridge she has been having. One of her nicknames is the burglar though because I can't even reach for the bowl without her using her go go gadget arms and sticking something in her mouth! Her favourite things to put in her mouth are currently spoons, plates and paper! She does also quite like the food I think, she eats the porridge merrily and definitely seems to prefer the sweet stuff! She has also tried butternut squash with prune, carrot and apple and parsnip, broccoli and something else- she tolerates these! Generally, as is reflective of her personality, she definitely likes to go hands first into the food!
Personality: Her personality just gets bigger and bigger! She spends most days in what I can only describe as a hyperactive state; literally constant leg moving (she especially likes to continuously jiggle or kick her left leg), refusing to sit still and desperately reaching for things out of her reach! It's really evident now when she is especially excited and it's just amazing to watch her when her Dad gets in from work; she goes really hyper, smiling and laughing at him. She also loves to reach for people's faces and has started doing this really cute cuddle and open mouth to kiss you! Makes me melt every time. She as a very mischeveous side and definitely does things to gain a reaction. Ophelia's love for the cat continues and even strokes her gentley now. I love how she interacts with me at every moment; throwing me a loving glance, cuddling into my chest with both hands or giving me an open mouthed close eyed kiss. She's evidently going to be a chatty naughty monkey as she grows up.
Physical development: She can sit independently for short periods but really not very long and much prefers to be on her tummy reaching for things- which is half of why she ends up on her front in the first place! She now plays with a toy on her front whilst reaching for another and even reaches for toys without looking at them; hence the burglar! Looking back on photos over the 6 months it is crazy to think how big she is now and how her facial features have developed; especially her nose and mouth! She still doesn't appear to have any teeth through although they do continue to bother her-just today she decided to stick a whole cold dessert spoon in her mouth to appease the pain. Changing her nappy has become a fun game where she rolls around from her back onto her front holding her torso up then back again and repeat...continuously! Add this to her constant kicking and putting her feet in her mouth and nappy change has never been so fun! Of course whilst doing all of this. Shes also started sticking her bum in the air and lurching forward in a caterpillar fashion on all fours which looks hilarious.
Favourite toys: Currently Ophelia is reallly enjoying shaking and sucking toys, mostly her rattle, keys, my keys, her abacus toy, my phone, and her loud star toy. She still enjoys gnawing her Sophie le giraffe and about a month ago started enjoying sucking a handmade fabric bunny. She has started being able to press more complex things on toys from watching us do it-e.g turning her ladybird on her crawl ball or pressing to make a book make farm noise. She still enjoys sucking on her bath book (and toys) and her other books. We were kindly leant a door bouncer and she finds it quite novel but gets bored of it quite quickly. We've noticed that she does get bored quite quickly but having a variety of style toys for different development definitely seems to reduce that. Sometimes her frustration at not being able to move gets the better of her.
Teething: Seems to have constant red cheeks and constantly trying to alleviate the gums by gnawing things, favourite things include spoons, fingers and her fish which we put in the freezer. She has recently started dribbling lots more but still no sign of actual teeth.
Sleep: Ophelia mostly (!) goes to bed at some point between 7pm and 8pm and once I put her in her cot, she has been generally going to sleep herself without crying. How long she sleeps for still varies but mostly she sleeps through until at least 3ish although recently she has been lasting til about 5ish and last night she just woke up at 6:50am and stayed up. I cannot tell you how massive this is, I mean this is the kid that was not only nocturnal at first but would always cry unless she was fed to sleep. Naps seem to have got slightly better and the other day she had a 2 hour nap and a 3 hour nap-although this is most abnormal! When at nursery they like the children to have x2 1 hour naps at her age and she does this sometimes but mostly has 3 or 4 30min naps. I was reading up on this and apparently that length of nap can be quite common due to the stages of sleep and about that time it is common for babies to wake themselves up without meaning to and will still be sleepy. Some people recommended just putting your hand on their chest or stroking their hair until they go back to sleep. Sometimes it can still be difficult putting her down in the cot and she cries (although this hasn't happened for a little while-I don't want to jinx it!) but thanks to twitter we tried a few techniques to avoid her just crying and crying or me picking her up and her getting into a naughty pattern.
Personality: Her personality just gets bigger and bigger! She spends most days in what I can only describe as a hyperactive state; literally constant leg moving (she especially likes to continuously jiggle or kick her left leg), refusing to sit still and desperately reaching for things out of her reach! It's really evident now when she is especially excited and it's just amazing to watch her when her Dad gets in from work; she goes really hyper, smiling and laughing at him. She also loves to reach for people's faces and has started doing this really cute cuddle and open mouth to kiss you! Makes me melt every time. She as a very mischeveous side and definitely does things to gain a reaction. Ophelia's love for the cat continues and even strokes her gentley now. I love how she interacts with me at every moment; throwing me a loving glance, cuddling into my chest with both hands or giving me an open mouthed close eyed kiss. She's evidently going to be a chatty naughty monkey as she grows up.
Physical development: She can sit independently for short periods but really not very long and much prefers to be on her tummy reaching for things- which is half of why she ends up on her front in the first place! She now plays with a toy on her front whilst reaching for another and even reaches for toys without looking at them; hence the burglar! Looking back on photos over the 6 months it is crazy to think how big she is now and how her facial features have developed; especially her nose and mouth! She still doesn't appear to have any teeth through although they do continue to bother her-just today she decided to stick a whole cold dessert spoon in her mouth to appease the pain. Changing her nappy has become a fun game where she rolls around from her back onto her front holding her torso up then back again and repeat...continuously! Add this to her constant kicking and putting her feet in her mouth and nappy change has never been so fun! Of course whilst doing all of this. Shes also started sticking her bum in the air and lurching forward in a caterpillar fashion on all fours which looks hilarious.
Favourite toys: Currently Ophelia is reallly enjoying shaking and sucking toys, mostly her rattle, keys, my keys, her abacus toy, my phone, and her loud star toy. She still enjoys gnawing her Sophie le giraffe and about a month ago started enjoying sucking a handmade fabric bunny. She has started being able to press more complex things on toys from watching us do it-e.g turning her ladybird on her crawl ball or pressing to make a book make farm noise. She still enjoys sucking on her bath book (and toys) and her other books. We were kindly leant a door bouncer and she finds it quite novel but gets bored of it quite quickly. We've noticed that she does get bored quite quickly but having a variety of style toys for different development definitely seems to reduce that. Sometimes her frustration at not being able to move gets the better of her.
Teething: Seems to have constant red cheeks and constantly trying to alleviate the gums by gnawing things, favourite things include spoons, fingers and her fish which we put in the freezer. She has recently started dribbling lots more but still no sign of actual teeth.
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