Crawling is SO last season!

"There's no stopping me now!"

I think I may lose a bit more weight this month, as I’ve spent most of it chasing Laila zooming around the kitchen island! My little devil, I mean angel, has perfected crawling and is now fully able to pull herself up to stand and ‘cruise’ along furniture, walk herself when held in a walking position, and feed herself with a fork. Her heightened confidence means that all she wants to do now is EXPLORE! This, I’m sure, all marks Laila’s magical first steps toward independence…


Laila exploring her room during a weekend in London

Every day, we seem to see a new trick from Laila. Since she’s developed what’s called the "pincer grasp", Laila considers herself a human vacuum cleaner; she picks up the smallest strand of hair, that barely visible crumb, a tiny piece of thread... She’s making connections between words and actions now too. If someone says “clap clap!”, low and behold, she claps her hands together! Say “bye bye” and she waves, when Daddy walks into the room, she’ll say Dadda.

It may be bedtime,
but I want to play Mummy!

Laila's personality is very evident already – she’s a little social butterfly, granting broad smiles to everyone she meets. She certainly knows how to get your attention, as well as let you know if she’s being ignored! She accompanied me to a meeting with my boss this week and managed to sit on my lap for a few minutes, until she realised Mummy was getting more attention that she was; after a few noises to my boss, equilibrium returned when my boss just talked to me via Laila instead! Getting ready for a 09:30 meeting was an experience… “Laila, Mummy’s makeup case is not a toy.” On the plus(?) side, I’ve now confirmed my return to work in April which inevitably means my joyous year of maternity leave is coming to an end – boo!



My Little Miss Sunshine!

I’ve got no doubt that Laila is going to be a strong minded little girl – we’ve seen plenty of signs that she’s developing a mind of her own. Try and strap her into a car seat or restrict her movement and you will be guaranteed a protest… Laila is sure to let you know when she loves something too of course. Last week was her first intermediate Water Babies class after skipping the second half of last term. This was so much better for her as it was much more stimulating, with lots of underwater swims, and it kept Mummy on her toes too!