Letter To Bee

A letter to my 2 year, 9 month old daughter, Bee

Danya Banya June 17, 2015 0

A letter to my youngest daughter Bee, written when she was a 2 year and 9 month old toddler. I hope one day, when Bee is old enough to want to remember, she will enjoy looking back on what she was like as an impossibly cute and cheeky little girl.

Dear Bee,

Oops, almost a year has passed since your last letter. (Naughty Mummy!) But I did write a few posts in between – you might want to check out the 8 battles that I’m letting you win (for now), and this positive technique to stop you touching things. And by the way, I still haven’t found those car keys.

But back to the present day. At 2 years and 9 months, you’re still classified as a toddler, but you haven’t felt very toddler-ish for ages. We’ve been having full conversations for about a year now. Perhaps it’s influence of having an older sister that’s made you such a ‘big girl’.

You could charm the pants off a baboon. Everywhere we go, people gush about how adorable you are. I think it’s the combination of being tiny yet adept and eloquent for your age, whilst still retaining your high pitched toddler voice that makes you super cute. People initially underestimate you, and then they are delighted when a little person can understand, say and do more than they expect.

Some of the things you say are super cute. You wrap your arms around us and say “I love you ALL much”. You wake up in the morning and check that you still have all of your teeth, before declaring, “No fairy came our house last night.”

This photo is from your first ballet concert, just after you had turned two, where you performed alongside 4-5 year olds. Tiny dancer! You’re still into ballet in a big way, and dress up in a tutu at least once a day. You also do a general sports class once a week, which you’re really good at. Actually your gross motor skills in general are super cool. You can dance, climb, balance and scoot. Sometimes when you’re scooting, you let go of the handles, turn sideways, and skateboard on the scooter. It’s awesome. Bike paths are starting to bore you, so now you’re heading ‘off-piste’, scooting down random grassy slopes whenever you can. I can’t help but hold my breath, but somehow you never seem to get hurt. Even when you fall, you fall well. I’m predicting some half-pipe action when you’re older.

Scooting like a girl. #scooter #dandelion #likeagirl #twoandahalfyears

A video posted by Danya Banya (@danyabanya) on Jun 8, 2015 at 9:13pm PDT

But you’re as naughty as you are charming. I remember one time when I caught you finger painting the backyard downpipes with peanut butter. You’d been able to reach the peanut butter on the top shelf of the pantry, by stacking a couple of cushions on a chair and climbing up. The reason why I wasn’t watching you for that split second, was because I was taking a minute to clean the mascara that you’d just smeared over the bathroom floor. You’d gotten to the mascara in the 30 seconds that I took to clean up the wee you’d just done in the corner of the bedroom, which mind you, happened about a minute after I’d asked you if you needed to go to the toilet and you’d said no. Sigh. Disaster roller coasters like this have not been unusual.

Did I mention you’ve dropped your day nap? This has been a gradual process over the past year. Much of the aforementioned disaster behaviour would occur late on no-nap days, where, no matter how hard we tried to put you to sleep, you adamantly refused to, and then couldn’t cope with the exhaustion. Sometimes it felt like we were chasing a tornado around the house. You’re only just now getting to the point where your behaviour has really improved, and you don’t need your nap at all.

Toilet training has been a very rocky ride. You were progressing great guns during the Christmas school holidays, but you regressed terribly when JJ started kindergarten at the end of January. I guess the sudden absence of your big sister really impacted on you. It’s been a trying few months. Slowly (but not so surely) we’re getting back on track, and for the past few weeks you’ve been (mostly) accident free.

You’re also another ‘runner’. On one hand, it’s great that you have the self-confidence to be able to venture off on your own. On the other hand, if I lose sight of you for two seconds, you could be absolutely anywhere. I marvel at some of the other mums, who can walk along having a conversation while their 2-3 year olds wander along behind them. They don’t even look back – they just know their kid is there! If I did that, I’d turn around and you’d be gone: off climbing a random tree, or in a stranger’s yard picking a flower, or more likely, running around the corner, hiding behind a bush, and not answering when I frantically call out. School drop-offs and pick-ups are a nightmare, because there are lots of lovely well-meaning mums everywhere keen for a chat (myself included). But it’s so hard to maintain a conversation and keep an eye on you at the same time. If I lose sight of you for one second, then I end up feeling like a goose, while I wander around the school aimlessly trying to find you. Of course, when I do find you, you’re on top of the huge pile of landscaping mulch that’s behind the demountables, and are about to slide down the other side.

But, knock on wood, it’s all improving these past couple of months, and I think we’re past the worst of ‘the twos’. You’re starting to show more self-awareness and self-control. Fingers and toes crossed.

Mr Banya has taken time off work, so he can spend more time with you while you are in these influential early years. Our family has decided to value time and experience over ‘things’, and so we’ve made this choice to spend time together before you head off to preschool next year (and then school in 2018). You are absolutely loving having so much daddy-daughter time. Having two stay at home parents means that you’re getting lots of positive attention, which is helping with discipline as it means we can head off disasters before (or as) they happen. It also means that we, as parents, are able to get some down time too. And that helps immensely with our frame of mind.

Looking forward, you’re already planning your third birthday party. Apparently it’s going to be a mermaid ballerina party, with fairy wands (of course). There might also be ice skating involved. And maybe pony rides. Wish me luck!

Ah my darling girl. Life with you is never boring. We love you ALL much too.

Mummy & Daddy xx

PS: You can find previous letters that I’ve written to both my daughters JJ and Bee on my parenting page.
PPS: Are you following us on Instagram? I post ‘behind the scenes’ style pics on there quite often.

Categories Parenting, Toddlers Tags Letter To Bee

A Letter to Bee (22 months)

Danya Banya July 30, 2014 0

Dear Bee,

Opps, your last letter was 5 months ago! (Insert cliche about how time disappears…) The idea behind writing these letters, is so that you can read them later and find out what an awesome little girl you were and are! So I guess I better start filling you in on what you are like as an 18-22 month old toddler…

You are non-stop. You are confident. You are messy. You are inquisitive. You are kind. You love to laugh. You are great at sharing.

Your big philosophical question at the moment is why. Why, why, why? Sometimes you ask dozens of times in a row. I (mostly) do my best to answer.

And a lot is going in, apparently. Your comprehension astounds me. You can follow quite complicated adult conversations, and often you’ll provide actions when you hear certain words. I’m hoping you’ll be my charades partner when you are older. Usually you get it right, but sometimes, really cutely, you’ll get things a bit mixed up. You overheard your Daddy saying that he was making homemade icecream the other day. “For me?” you asked. “No, it’s not ready yet”, I explained. “I knee” you pleaded, tapping your right knee to show me just how much. Haha.

You’ve been a bit vehicle obsessed these last few months. On car trips, you call out “Mum!” “Yes?” I reply. “Mum!” you call. “Yes?” I reply. “MUUUM!” you shout. “Yes, Bee, I’m listening” I reply. “BUS! BUS! BUS!” “Yes it’s bus!” I confirm. And then you start moving your hands around and we start singing about the wheels.

My friend Christie from Childhood 101 asked me to take a photo answering the prompt “Motherhood is…” Our answer is in the photos below.

I can’t remember what upset you that day, but I do love the look of concern on my face, that you were randomly holding one of your toy train carriages at the time, and that we were apparently able to work it out together.

JJ is learning to speak Mandarin at the moment, and you’ve adopted one of the counting songs as your new favourite. You play it over and over and over again, dancing along. You’re not singing along yet, but you can say “ni hao” and “xie xie” when prompted.

Mr Banya has also taught you to sing “Purple Rain” as a tribute to his (single) teenage years. You sing it with heart, with passion. Sometimes you break out into song on public transport, and we catch quite a few approving smirks from commuters.

You are joining in at the back of JJ’s ballet class, and it is the cutest thing ever. You can point, twirl, make butterfly movements with your hands, attempt to arabesque and generally do a pretty good job of keeping up with the big girls. You’ve insisted on wearing a tutu, fairy wings, or ballet slippers (or all three) every day for the past fortnight.

Weight wise, you’re back on the charts. We haven’t really done anything differently to get your weight back up. Your appetite must have increased, is all. Whilst I’ve been saying for a while that it doesn’t matter either way, it still does make me feel a bit better for some reason. I guess it means I don’t have to watch it any more. I can relax a little.

You’re breastfeeding on demand – which is usually several times a day, as well as several times through the night. I had in my mind that I’d like to continue to demand feed until you were two years old, before starting to think about reducing the frequency. But I’ll be honest that the night feeds are not the most fun. It’s winter here at the moment, and getting up out of a warm bed in the middle of the night is trying. I reassure myself knowing that your growing brain is appreciating the nourishment, your boosted immunity has helped keep you (mostly) well this winter and your high level of attachment will have psychological benefits both now, and for the rest of your life.

Now that you’re getting bigger, we’re leaving the pram at home and getting out and about on foot more often. We’ve been going on lots of walks, either in the bush, or just around our neighbourhood. You share your sister’s love of nature. You often come home with Camellia flowers for our nature table. You’re great with animals, big and small.

When we pass a neighbour walking their dog, you know to ask permission for a pat, let the dog smell your hand first, and then pat it gently on the back. You’re so good, that we let you and your sister make a wish…

Meet Snowflake, the newest addition to the Banya household! She’s white, she’s fluffy, she’s teeny tiny, and she just arrived on Sunday…. but that’s a another post altogether.

Bee, may your rain always be purple, and your dandelion wishes always come true. Love you to the moon and back again.

xx Mummy

PS: You can find all the letters that I’ve written to my daughters Bee and JJ over on my Parenting page.

Categories Parenting, Toddlers Tags Letter To Bee

A Letter to Bee (my 17 month old toddler)

Danya Banya February 24, 2014 2

Dear Bee,

You are at such a lovely age. You are a whirlwind of squeals and laughs pattering around on chubby little legs.

You are into everything and anything at the moment and won’t sit still for one second. You’re definitely keeping me on my toes. But somehow we managed to make it through Christmas without you eating a single bauble.

Santa gave you gorilla figurines, as you had been a little gorilla obsessed in December. Watching a toddler attempt to beat her chest in a gorilla impersonation has got to be the cutest thing ever.

Here you are on Christmas morning (in your new pyjamas) borrowing JJ’s new magnifying glass to have a closer look (while ignoring the rest of your croissant).

Speaking of croissants, your weight (or lack thereof) has been on our minds lately. You were born at around 50th percentile, then dropped to 25th percentile after six months or so, and now you’ve slipped off the bottom of the charts. Mr Banya, JJ and myself were all very skinny kids, so I guess genes has a lot to do with it. But personally I’d prefer you were on the chart, even if just in single digits.

The thing is that you love food. You’ll happily eat anything and everything – but only one or two bites. As you can see above, you’ve tried and enjoyed some of your croissant, but finishing it is another matter.

I don’t believe in offering you lots of sugary foods, but instead we try to offer a range of healthy-ish foods, including lots that are high fat, high unrefined carbohydrate or high protein. You love olives, wholemeal peanut butter sandwiches, turkey, iceblocks made from coconut milk and wholemeal banana pancakes.

You also love fruit and vegies. If I put some sausage, carrots and beans on your plate, you’ll eat one or two bites of the sausage, but will probably finish all the carrots and the beans (and possibly ask for more). Whilst it’s great that you love your vegetables, it’s not going to help you put on weight!

But I’ve decided to stop being overly concerned. You are the happiest little thing. You have so much energy. You are hardly ever sick (and when you do get sick, you recover quickly). You’re nursing, so that’s like a multi-vitamin & immunity-boost tablet a few times a day. And you are meeting or exceeding all your developmental milestones. So, I’ve decided to stop considering low weight as a problem in itself. (It might be a symptom of a problem for some kids, and is worthwhile keeping an eye on and getting further checks, but I believe you doesn’t require ‘fixing’ or ‘fattening up’ in the absense of other concerns.)

These past few months have been summer school holidays. All your (and your sister’s) usual activities were cancelled, so we did a lot of playing at home. But don’t worry, you weren’t bored….

You played in our wading pool (lots), played ‘beach’ with cloud dough ‘sand’ and made impressions in play dough.

You got messy making (and playing with) edible play dough.

You splashed about in the sensory tub (and later in the bath tub) with these little boats.

You made your own stick person, and held it up proudly for a photo.

And lots more sensory play – this time with moon sand…

And this time with shaving cream…

And this time with foam dough…

You’re also doing lots more arts and crafts. Here is a photo of your first patty pan collage. (I’m so proud!)

You have become so very chatty these last few months. You can say more words than I’ve bothered to count, and are starting to say quite a few sentences. You’re saying things like “up, up, up stairs”, “go there”, “want down” and “want banana”.

Sometimes the pronunciation of your words or sentences isn’t perfect, but usually you’re easy enough to understand by close family or people who are familiar with toddler-speak. But if you wake and cry out “I want my mama”, sometimes you say it so clearly that I get confused as to whether it’s you or JJ calling.

Lately you’ve been saying “thank you” when we give you something, “sorry” after hurting someone (if you’re asked to) and “excuse me” if you fart. You actually get indignant if someone else farts and they don’t excuse themselves!

JJ thinks that your talking is hilarious. She is constantly having little conversations with you in the back seat of the car, like this one.

JJ: “Bee, say poo”

Bee: “Poo”

JJ: “Bee, say wee”

Bee: “Wee”

JJ: “Bee, say car”

Bee: “Vroom”

JJ: “Bee, say Christmas lights”

Bee: “No”

Cracks me up every time!

You can also count, as in you’ve learnt how to say 1,2,3 in order as if it is a song (but you have no concept of quantities just yet).

You can sing a few words of some nursery rhymes and know most of the actions. Your favourites are “Open, Shut Them”, “Dingly Dangly Scarecrow”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, “Happy Birthday”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, “The Black Cat”, “Pussycat Pussycat”, “Row Row Row Your Boat”, “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep”. If I sing a song you don’t like, you’ll shout out to stop, and then sing a word or two, or show me an action, to tell me which one you want instead.

I sing you to sleep every night. I usually wait til you are tired, then start singing “if you’re happy and you know it, lie down” or “if you’re happy and you know it, close your eyes”. You’re drifting off at around 8.15pm most nights, and sleeping though (with a few short wakes to nurse) until 7.30am or so. But the sleep in means that you only nap for 1.5 hours during the day, and we’ve had a few days where you’ve skipped your nap altogether. (PLEASE don’t drop your nap just yet Bee, Mummy needs the break!).

You’re started showing a preference for certain clothes. The above photos might look posed, but actually they were taken after the bath one night when you insisted on putting on this aqua dress (which was hanging in your closet but is still too big for you). Following your lead, JJ wanted to put on one of her dresses. And then then you and JJ sat on the steps out the front waiting for Daddy to come home from work. Of course I couldn’t resist taking a few happy snaps because the two of you are NEVER this clean!

Now that JJ has returned to preschool three days a week, I’m really looking forward to some more Mummy/Bee time. We’ve returned to toddler playgroup, and have also started gym classes and swimming classes. Lots of fun!

Love you lots and lots and lots.

xx Mummy
Previous letters to Bee:
A letter to Bee (1 year, 2 months)
A letter to Bee (1 year)
A letter to Bee (11 months)
A letter to Bee (10 months)
A letter to Bee (9 months)
A letter to Bee (8 months)
A letter to Bee (7 months)
A letter to Bee (6 months)
A letter to Bee (5 months)
A letter to Bee (4 months)
A letter to Bee (3 months)
A letter to Bee (2 months)
A letter to Bee (1 months)
Bee’s Birth Story

Categories Outdoors, Parenting, Sensory Play, Toddlers Tags Letter To Bee

A Letter to Bee (1 year, 2 months)

Danya Banya November 29, 2013 0

A letter to "Toddler" Bee (1 year & 2 months old).

Dear Bee,

It’s official. You are now a toddler. You don’t always toddle in a straight line, but toddle you definitely do.

In fact, you seem to love to toddle just for toddling’s sake. Sometimes you’ll toddle back around the kitchen counter again and again, just for the joy of it. Such fun!

Luckily it is Springtime in Australia, so you’ve been able to practise walking in bare feet, especially while you are still using your toes to grip and balance. Attempts to get you to wear socks on any colder days have proven pointless, as you can desock yourself in milliseconds.

You have discovered a toddler’s love of posting. I’ve come up with a few simple DIY posting toys over the past few months, and they’ll keep you happily entertained for several minutes (which is a long time for a one year old).

You’ve also discovered a love of drawing. I wasn’t expecting you to show an interest in creating art this early, but I guess you’ve seen your sister drawing and want to copy. Putting the marker lid on and off is also an awesome game just in itself!

On one particular occasion, you were drawing with your sister in our play area while I was unpacking the dishwasher. I could hear happy sounds, and JJ was saying “dot, dot, dot”, so I presumed everything was fine. Then I looked up and saw this flash by…

Look how fast you were going! That’s because you knew I was trying to catch you. Your front was just as ‘decorated’ as your back. Lucky they are washable markers. 🙂

For Halloween, I first dressed you in JJ’s old rainbow fairy outfit, but somehow you managed to cover it in food within a few minutes (as you are want to do), so we had a last minute outfit change to JJ’s ballet tutu. I was too busy shepherding a very excited three year old Minnie Mouse to take photos on the actual evening, but you looked so cute that I redressed you for a mini home photo shoot the next day…

Fourteen month old toddler dressed as a ballerina in pink tutu

I tried to narrow it down to just a couple of photos, but it was an impossible task, so I’ll scatter some of these photos through the next paragraphs. 🙂

You’ve added a few new words to your vocabulary. You’re saying MMMMMMUM (Mum), WAR (water), DUH (duck), DAH (Dad), DAY (JJ), NARNAR (banana or sultana – yes this is confusing!), DUDDY (dummy), CA (cat), DOG (dog), RILLA (gorilla), DAR (there) and GO DAR (go there).

You’re also starting to make sounds – you can say a very passable MAO (meow), RAR (roar) and BROOM BROOM (vroom vroom). You also say MMMAH (mwah) before giving or blowing kisses.

More noticeable is your ability to communicate without using actual words. You’ve started to drop your head in a very exaggerated nod when you like or agree with something. You also point, gesture, call out, and speak in full gibberish sentences with correct intonations, all of which are surprisingly easy to understand. For instance, you came downstairs one day, and started telling me (in gibberish sentences) that something was the matter whilst pointing upstairs. You held out your hand to ask me to come with you, and brought me upstairs to show me that JJ had closed the bedroom door and wouldn’t let you inside. You were effectively both dobbing (tattling) on her, and asking me to open the door at the same time. This is just one example – there are dozens of others where you are ‘involved’ in conversations.

Lately you’ve become obsessed with cleaning your teeth. You only have seven teeth (the bottom left one still hasn’t come through), but you want to brush them several times a day, and can often be seen wandering around the house with a toothbrush in hand.

Another obsession is books. I’ve been borrowing books from the library, preferably ones with clear photos of various animals. Your favourite animals are elephant (you lift your hand and make a trumpeting sound) and gorilla (you beat your chest and pant – you can’t tell the difference between a chimpanzee and a gorilla though). One of the best way to distract you from getting into everything is to offer to read a book. And you often carry them over to us (walking backwards so you can sit in our lap) demanding to be read to.

And so ‘Toddler’ Bee, I love you as pink as your tutu. A big MMMAH sloppy kiss back at you.

xxx
Mummy

Previous letters to Bee:
A letter to Bee (1 year)
A letter to Bee (11 months)
A letter to Bee (10 months)
A letter to Bee (9 months)
A letter to Bee (8 months)
A letter to Bee (7 months)
A letter to Bee (6 months)
A letter to Bee (5 months)
A letter to Bee (4 months)
A letter to Bee (3 months)
A letter to Bee (2 months)
A letter to Bee (1 months)
Bee’s Birth Story

Categories Parenting, Toddlers Tags Letter To Bee

A Letter to Bee (1 year)

Danya Banya September 30, 2013 0

Dear Bee,

Congratulations on making it through your first year!

Or maybe the congratulations should go to JJ, Mr Banya and myself.

There were wonderful times, and there were challenging times. But we made it, and to celebrate we’ve been partying (and partying again).

It’s my party, I’ll get grubby if I want to

You are such a big part of our family. JJ doesn’t remember a time when you weren’t here.

Mr Banya went back to work about six weeks ago. He was worried that he would miss out on some of your firsts. But you rewarded him with your first steps on Father’s Day (which falls in early September in Australia).

You’ve taken a few steps on several occasions since, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say you are walking yet. Rather, you are practising walking. Each time, after a few steps, you grin and slowly sit down. We’re up to about four steps in a row.

But you are definitely cruising, and you can stand (a bit wobbly) without holding on. And you can climb. Oh boy, you can climb.

We had your one year check up at the local Early Childhood Clinic. Apparently, although you have put on weight since the last visit, you’re lagging behind your peers having dropped from 25th percentile at six months old to around 5th percentile now. The nurse almost roused on me. I’m surprised – you eat well (and lots), and still have chubby baby thighs. Perhaps it is because you are so active, perhaps its because you do so many poos, or perhaps Mr Banya and I just make skinny kids… Either way, you’re healthy and happy, so I’m not especially worried.

Look at those chubby thighs!

You’re very vocal at the moment. You chat in your baby babble all day long. Goo goo gah gah lah poh tee oo. Sometimes I swear you are saying “Why I eyes ya”. You also shout out to get attention – I guess this is one of the ways you compete with your older sister. You’re adding a few more actual words as well. You’re now saying DIDDY (Dummy), and NANA (Banana).

But the most common word that you’re saying at the moment is NOOOOOOO! When I try to change your nappy, when I try to put you in your car seat, when I try to take you away from the television, you say NOOOOOOOOOO!

When your sister was your age, we tried so hard to minimise the use of the word no in our daily conversations. We would remove temptations, and we would focus on what she can do rather than what she can’t. We believe that the use of positive words is so important while young babies brains are being formed.

Which is why I am so concerned with your learning the word ‘no’ at such a young age. And why it concerns me so much when I hear your sister saying “Naughty Bee!”, or “No Bee, no!” or “Mum, Bee is ruining my game!” I’m trying to teach her to use gentle language with you, and she is trying.

Your orange face

This month, the last of those teeth that have been giving you grief have finally come through. I’d say you’ve been teething for the past six months straight. We’re using this little teething interlude to try to ween you from the dummy.

Next part of the master plan is to try to reduce your night waking. You see, up until now, maintaining breastfeeding has been the number one priority. And since night feeding is a great way to maintain supply, I’ve been happy to nurse you back to sleep whenever you wake. This is often half a dozen times a night – say two or three times before I go to sleep myself, and another two or three times in the wee hours of the morning. You do generally resettle very quickly after only a minute or two of nursing, so it sound worse than what it actually is. But still, now that we’ve made it past the year milestone (halfway to the two year goal), I think it is time to reduce your dependence on night nursing to sleep.

Pyjama fun in our loungeroom ballpit.

But one step at a time, lets get rid of the dummy first. We only started on Friday night, and have already caved last night, so it might be a slow withdrawal rather than cold turkey…

You’re getting so big that I don’t think I’ll be able to call you my baby for very much longer. So, (while I still can), love you baby Bee!

Xxx
Mummy

Previous letters to Bee:
A letter to Bee (11 months)
A letter to Bee (10 months)
A letter to Bee (9 months)
A letter to Bee (8 months)
A letter to Bee (7 months)
A letter to Bee (6 months)
A letter to Bee (5 months)
A letter to Bee (4 months)
A letter to Bee (3 months)
A letter to Bee (2 months)
A letter to Bee (1 months)
Bee’s Birth Story

(I might link this post up with some of these awesome blogs)

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Categories Babies, Parenting Tags Letter To Bee

A Letter to Bee (11 months)

Danya Banya August 20, 2013 0

Dearest Bee,

Eleven months old, and you’re climbing!

Your little knees keep lifting to see if you can get higher, higher, higher.

You’re climbing out of your high chair.

You’re climbing out of the supermarket trolley seat and up onto the conveyor belt.

You’re pushing the little toddler chair around the room like it is a walker, and then climbing up on top and calling out for us to see how clever you are.

And you are climbing up the stairs, over and over and over and over and over again.

Luckily enough you’re also pretty good at sliding on your tummy back down afterwards.

No steps without holding on yet, but you are standing unsupported for a second or two. I don’t think it will be long now…

Your third tooth has arrived, the top front left one. It took a whole month of pushing before it finally cut through. It gave you a quite a rough time, poor little thing.

But now that it’s through, you’re happily chomping away again. You can sit and eat for ages, it’s one of your favourite things to do. I try to give you a variety of things to eat, and if you run out of food on your tray, you squawk for more like a (very noisy) little baby bird.

Here’s a typical lunch at our place – you’re having some mandarin, sliced cheese, grapes, Pad Thai leftovers and frozen peas (straight from the freezer – your new favourite).

I was having Pad Thai for lunch that day too – we usually eat the same things and eat together. Dining is a social occasion. 🙂

You have a bib on in the above photo, but you usually out-mess even the best bibs. I think you see it as a bit of a challenge. 🙂 It’s a rare day that you don’t completely annihilate whatever you are wearing. Our laundry always has something soaking in the tub.

You’ve been playing a lot more this month. You’re both initiating games and reacting. You giggle and laugh, and have the cheekiest grin. It’s hard to resist your charms.

New words this month include KABOO! (peekaboo) and DOH! (doll).

You’ve become quite attached to JJ lately, and have been calling out her name DAY DAY! (JJ) when you’re missing her. You’re both playing well together, which makes me a happy mummy!

Playing in the ‘sand pit’.

Your father went back to work just a couple of weeks ago after almost six months ‘break’ at home as a stay-at-home-dad. I’ve been really worried about how I was going to cope with both of you on my own, but so far it’s going well.

We get a chance to have some Mummy & Bee time when JJ is at preschool two days a week. I’ve found a playgroup in our new suburb that has other children around your age, and I think you will make some friends there. And we’ve been playing together a lot at home as well.

You’re favourite nursery rhyme at the moment is “Five Little Ducks”. You know the one – Five little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away. Sometimes you do the actions (or at least attempt them). It’s very cute! I made you this little finger puppet set. (Tutorial to come.)

You’re growing out of your size 0 baby clothes and are starting to wear your size 1 ‘little girl’ clothes, some of which JJ was still wearing when she was two. You’re growing up!

Sometimes, I lean down and whisper into your perfect tiny little left ear “this is your left ear”.

I love you Bee, all the way from your left ear to your little toe.

Love,
Mummy

Previous letters to Bee:
A letter to Bee (10 months)
A letter to Bee (9 months)
A letter to Bee (8 months)
A letter to Bee (7 months)
A letter to Bee (6 months)
A letter to Bee (5 months)
A letter to Bee (4 months)
A letter to Bee (3 months)
A letter to Bee (2 months)
A letter to Bee (1 months)
Bee’s Birth Story

Categories Babies, Parenting Tags Letter To Bee

A Letter to Bee (10 months)

Danya Banya July 23, 2013 0

Dear Bee,

Perhaps it is a bit of attachment. Perhaps it is because we’ve all been a bit sick this month. Perhaps it is because one of your front teeth is sitting just below the gum, causing you lots of pain. But whatever the reason, you just love to be held, all the bloody time. And not by just the one person. You hold your hands out asking to be passed to whoever isn’t holding you. Sometimes feels like we are playing pass the parcel.

You’ve also started to clap. It’s adorable. But even more adorable is watching how easily you can get random strangers to clap along with you. I guess mimicking a baby delightfully clapping is hard to resist.

You are pulling yourself up, and cruising around the furniture with such confidence. The speed that you can cross a room, part crawling and part cruising, is astounding. Especially when there is an unguarded bowl of cat food or an open dish washer as an incentive.

Look Mum, I can pull myself up (in two seconds flat)!

You’re also waving goodbye and saying BAH (bye) – but only afterwards, so that you are more waving to the void than to the actual person leaving.

You are such a part of our family now. You play with your sister. And she delights in entertaining you. I don’t think JJ really remembers what her life was like before you came along.

Being an audience for one of JJ’s many performances.

Another adorable addition this month is your love of jumping. But your feet don’t leave the ground, so perhaps it’s more like an enthusiastic series of squats. It makes you laugh and laugh and laugh. You’ve also become very ticklish.

On the rare occasions when you do fall, you fall harmlessly onto your bum. (This is something that I’m so grateful for, as opposed to your sister who used to hit her head every time she fell).

Watching the front loader is another of your favourite activities.

Lots of new words this month – BAH (balloon), BOH (ball), CH (cheese), CHGH (chicken), POOH DAH (pussy cat) – and you are starting to initiate speaking rather than simply repeating after us. Mr Banya is trying to teach you to say “I love you”, and you think it is such a fun game. You watch his mouth really closely, reaching out to try to grab his tongue, and then you say AH LAH . . . OO, with your tongue flapping about. Not quite right, but very very cute!

Trampoline static

You’ve started to reject breast milk, which is a bit of a shock to us as we’d like for you to continue breastfeeding for at least another year. Don’t get me wrong, you’re still drinking lots of it, but more often in the wee hours of the morning, rather than in the daylight hours. It seems that during the day you prefer food, or water, or cows milk from a bottle. (Your sister drinks bottles of milk at night and you are obsessed with trying to get your little mitts on them). So when it’s milk time, we’ve been giving you a small taste of food – just enough to tempt your taste buds and convince your tummy that you are hungry – and then taking it away and offering you milk. It feels a bit mean, but I know that it is best for you in the long run.

All smiles during the day…

Speaking of wee hours of the morning, we’ve had a few shockers this month. One night I was up 13 times before I got fed up and stopped counting. It’s hard to be upset with you though – you were all snotty and coughy, poor little thing. It’s especially hard to be upset when, while half sleeping on us and half cuddling us, you’d gaze into our eyes and say AH LAH . . . OO.

Luckily you are better now and back to your usual 3-4 wakes per night otherwise I might have murdered someone by now.

xxx
Danya

Previous letters to Bee:
A letter to Bee (9 months)
A letter to Bee (8 months)
A letter to Bee (7 months)
A letter to Bee (6 months)
A letter to Bee (5 months)
A letter to Bee (4 months)
A letter to Bee (3 months)
A letter to Bee (2 months)
A letter to Bee (1 months)
Bee’s Birth Story

Categories Babies, Parenting Tags Letter To Bee

A Letter to Bee (9 months)

Danya Banya June 26, 2013 0

Dear Butterball Bee,

I worked out why you were such a grumpy-bum towards the end of last month, waking for what felt like dozens of times a night. You have two new little chompers! They’ve been helping you munch away.

Eating is your favourite thing to do, or more specifically, tasting. You get bored of the one flavour very quickly and are not happy until you’ve tasted everything on our plates. You’ve tried lots of new foods this month, such as pork belly, braised duck, roast turnip, beetroot, kalamata olives, pineapple, star fruit, swiss cheese, goats cheese, brie and, unfortunately, JJ’s birthday cake. It seems your granny took baby-led weaning a bit too far! In her defence though, you did pry her mouth open while she was eating and try to take some cake for yourself, so she didn’t have a lot of choice. I had hoped to keep you relatively sugar-free for your first few years, but I guess a small amount of cake won’t kill you.

Here with your other Nanna, wishing JJ a very happy birthday!
Photo by Megan Webb Photography

So far, you love to eat anything and everything, except for babyfood. I opened one of those pureed organic vegie pouches and you turned your nose up. Perhaps you were put off by the unfamiliar packaging, or perhaps because I wasn’t eating it too, or perhaps because it tasted pretty awful.

This month has been all about gross motor skills. Every couple of days you seem to be ticking off another new achievement. You can now crawl ‘properly’ (as opposed to crawling commando-style). You can move from crawling to sitting and back to crawling again. You can pull yourself up to standing. You can sit yourself back down again. You are starting to hesitantly cruise.

You look a lot older now that you’re vertical!

It’s becoming harder to take a non-blurry photo of you because you do not stop moving, ever. Getting you dressed is a struggle. You are such a squirmy determined little thing! I’m constantly watching you crawl, half dressed, out of your bedroom door and into the bathroom next door, only to find you standing up at the edge of the bath. You have become obsessed with the bath, it’s your other favourite thing to do. You sit next to your sister, splashing and giggling. So much so that I’m planning swimming lessons for you this Spring.