These days

• 5:30am Bootcamp. 
• 7:30am Watching diggers, watching Milla eat leftover split olive pizza for breakfast. 
• 8:30am Drive to swimming lesson. 
• Grocery shop, visit to park with Paddy and co. I heard Milla say "My name is Milla, what's your name?" to some big girls. I made a show of throwing mandarin segments into her mouth when she was on swing. 
• Home to cook pumpkin pie, bolognese, roast veges, frittata, call Heath, life admin. Milla watching Play School, eating almonds, taking herself to potty. 
• "I not tired" is the dead giveaway that she's ready for a sleep. 
• 3:00pm quiet, dishwasher, diggers, sore foot, work emails, life admin.  

Weekend morning making pancakes. 

Milla is a cousin and I'm an aunty. Thinking back to those early days of milk-filled boobs and general haze. 

Milla's been in a study about sedentary behaviour and has been wearing 'computer pants' for a week. She's a pretty active kid! 

Thinking about how busy work is and that I should go to five days but Mondays are just the best. GAH. 

5/52

Blue suits you like me. Yesterday you tried sipping through a straw for the first time. You were a quick learner. You also learnt to drum, following your father's instruction. We had a great day, swimming in the pool, you kicked and kicked and followed the bubbles, fighting the urge to drink the water. I ran three 3kms along the Darebin Creek. You ate almost a whole kiwi and seemed to hate every mouthful... Why did you keep coming back for more? Right now you've been asleep for 18 minutes with your arms out. Sun is shining and we're having a quiet day.

Figs are a new friend. Pre-loved and much loved dress. 

Maybe girls camping tomorrow, weather's hot, water keeps beckoning. Charlie is riding all weekend at You Yangs. Can I do it solo?

Seven Months

Milla at seven months.

Wild Child

Milla. Tries to peak at the next page of the book. Giggles hysterically at Charlie's peak-a-boo. Can glug from her sipper cup: loves loves loves drinking water. Sits. Tries to crawl. Is still swaddled, though I'm trying to break it. Feeds from the boob so well. Chats "ne ne ne ne" and "da da da da". Can sit outside by herself for ages and watch ants and butterflies and listen to motorcycles. Occasionally will fall asleep in our arms, particularly in the evening when Charlie watches mountain biking vids on YouTube...  Can feed herself toast fingers and big chunks of dried fruit. Always loves yoghurt. Is amazed by clapping, baffled by my dancing. Wants to play with the back door chain. Very strong tummy muscles and will stay in a v-sit-up for ages. Cries getting nappy changed when tired.

Love love love this kid.

Routines and meals

Well it must be three weeks of the new routine, one dropped breastfeed and a big move towards food. Yesterday I almost forgot to include a breastfeed at lunch, so I think that will be the next to go. Physically, it's not been too tricky for me to do the 9-hours overnight and then 6-hours from sleepy feed to lunchtime.

Milla suddenly started eating a whole lot more food, I go scrambling in the fridge as she finishes apple porridge, then avocado, then yoghurt. Loves yoghurt. She's now had two Charlie-cooked meals with meat: chicken and peach, lamb and carrot. Meat takes her wayyyy longer to eat, she uses those gums to chew chew chew.

Hot and thirsty work, eating baby bolognese. 

Growing lots of hair. Can recognise me in a photo in the hallway. Pulls back the blanket in the backyard to grab handfuls of grass. Can hold a v-situp for ages. Getting very good at stepping. I'm going to miss the breastfeeding cuddle.

Crying and Crawling

Hard night. Milla took two short naps during the day, one in the stroller. And then at bedtime, howled when I put her down. Howled. Hysterically. Panting and screeching with out-of-control upset. We had agreed she wouldn't get a boob. We consulted Baby Love and read about... 'controlled crying' and the method of returning to Milla with reassurance and then leaving again. I got up three times. I sat her up and she took big gulps of cold water from her sip cup. She was wet with sweat from the exertion of crying. Ninety minutes. We all fell asleep. Slept in.

Clean baby, after her bath. 

Started a new routine based on the changes to her feeding and sleeping. Dropping one boob feed. No sleep ins. More water, more solids. So the idea is to start each day around 6am with a quiet feed in her room, returning Milla to bed immediately. Then a solid grown up breakfast at 10am. A lunch of real food and boob at 1pm, and her usual dinner extravaganza at 5pm with boob, solids and a half formula bottle. She tried yoghurt today for the first time - first dairy food.

A few of my favourite things.

While I was out riding yesterday, Charlie witnessed the first crawling forward motion! Eep!

Doughnuts and Avocado

Feeding is exciting. Milla's faces and watching her understanding grow. It's really delightful. And I just started to feel nostalgic about breastfeeding. No sooner does it start to feel right, than it's the beginning of the end. It was so hard, miserable, painful and frustrating. So loaded. And now it's warm and easy and lovely.

Feeding herself strawberry. 

Milla is still quite round, with doughnuts threaded up her thighs. But her limbs are getting longer. She feels damn heavy to pick up. I still get asked 'how old is he?' by idiots in the street.

After a feed at the Big Design Market, out the back.

Charlie and I looked through family albums and to our surprise, Milla looks more like me as a babe, but she looks more like Charlie in daily life. It's weird.

Trying avocado for the first time.

Nectarine and Peter and the Wolf

Giving Milla various bit of fruit to chew on after her daytime meals. She pulverised a slice of nectarine on her tiny hard gums.

Feeding herself. 

After dicey milk supply following Bikram, I started mat pilates nearby, will give that a go. These days I have long productive mornings after Milla goes back to bed, housework, bike ride of 40 minutes, then reading, gardening and after that the day can meander in a number of different ways. Today I found Peter and the Wolf on YouTube and played that to Milla while I read about the rules of war.

If I have nothing booked, I feel at a complete loss. If I have more than two things to do in one day, I get anxious. Weird pace of life.

Nearly Five Months

Nearly five months! Charlie is wondering what Milla's Christmas food will be. She's been having sweet potato dinner every night, such an enthusiastic eater. We've padded out the seat of her chair so she can sit up with us at the bench. Look at her feet! So cute. 

Working on her glares. 

Eating and Drinking

I read a comment on a blog regarding 'baby lead weaning', with a mother wondering how you would know a baby is 'interested' in food. Ha, Milla is so interested, it's unmistakable. She may have swallowed her first sweet potato on Saturday, and we've been practicing 'sipping'.

Sipping. 

Watching Charlie eat.

Four months

We went to the nurse yesterday for Milla's 'four month checkup'. These appointments were at least weekly when she first arrived, and we'd be a little nervous as she wasn't putting weight on quickly. Now it's something to look forward to - and the measurements yesterday confirmed she is well and thriving. Statistically, she is short and fat with a big head. Ha!

Milla weighed almost double her birth weight - so, 6.3kg yesterday. She's grown about 300 grams a week the past 5 weeks and is 3 centimetres longer. She gets a feed upon waking, usually about 6am, then around 10am, 2pm and supplemented feeds at 5:30pm and 8:30pm.

Milla at four months.

The nurse said that we could start feeding her some food now, which I was really excited about. She's had some licks of food and sits with us when we eat quite often, so it will be quite natural to give her a piece of sweet potato of her very own.

40 plus dancing

• Wednesday due date and Thai dinner. 
• Thursday pregnancy massage (with thanks to my team for the voucher!) and two km walk to-from massage. 
• Friday manicure, pedicure and eyelash tint (in case that's what she was waiting for). 
• Saturday a visit to the nut shop for more supplies (they were shocked-shocked!- to see me again) more Thai. 

Middle Fish long lunch with chili sauces, weird service and sweet roti dessert. 

Been cooking and making in the kitchen, tried out two recipes for date energy/protein treats for Charlie, had success with a chia and pomegranate pudding (one in the freezer earmarked for hospital bag).

Last night I got worried about her lack of movement. She's never been a kicker; more of a squirmer with occasional hiccups. We monitored, she eventually complied. This afternoon Charlie pulled out his guitar and we were treated to thirty minutes of dancing from the lil grub. It was amazing.

Mountain Goats home concert