Blog-iversary!

I've been posting regularly to this blog for one whole year! Originally inspired by a need to record some details about my second pregnancy, it has turned out to be a useful tool for capturing all those funny moments in life that don't really have anywhere else to go. Admittedly, BallFiend has dominated, presumably because, being a little kid, he says the funniest things which make good blogging fodder.

Unfortunately Thumper has been quite under-represented. She does a lot of amazing things, as she grows before my eyes. But I just don't get the time I need to write everything down. I hereby resolve to do better. Starting now.

Thumper had her first experience with food (of the non-breast milk variety) today... we let her play with a stick of steamed carrot while everyone else ate their dinner. She licked it, chewed a tiny chunk off it, dropped it and caught it on her foot. What a clever bub! And don't fret, she didn't choke. I am attempting the baby-led weaning method with her. Tried it with BallFiend too, but he insisted on being spoon-fed mush, much to my annoyance. (Actually he still likes being spoonfed now, at three and a half!)

She is also an increasingly messy eater, even though the only thing she eats is breast milk. When she feeds, milk pours out of her nose (actually same thing used to happen with BallFiend, but not such a big volume), very conveniently clearing her sinuses at the same time. Convenient yes, tasteful no. And she hates it when I wipe her nose, screams the house down!

This is Thumper immediately after a breast-feed.
It's a little hard to see in this picture,
but she has a layer of milky snot,
extending from her nose to her chin.

She also suffers from reflux, has done since birth (we had diagnosed it by the time she was 3 weeks old). She 'possets' (ie. spews up) milk all day long. So I am never seen without that must-have fashion item, the 'spitty nappy' draped over my shoulder. She is still taking her daily dose of Losec to help with the pain caused by the stomach acid when she refluxes. Apparently she will grow out of it sooner or later. Some babies do so by 6 months and a few still have severe reflux at 12 months. I hope she grows an oesophogeal sphincter soon, as her medicine is not cheap - $40.00 a bottle, which lasts about 3 - 4 weeks. But I'm not holding my breath. BallFiend was a spewy baby too, but he was a 'happy chucker' - never screamed with pain like Thumper does - and I can remember him still occasionally spewing up milk when he was 12 months old.

Thumper had been enjoying some 'tummy time',

then she spewed, then she laid her face in it.

Ah well, good preparation for all those

teenage binge drinking session we have to look forward to.

Apart from the milk spewing and spraying, Thumper is a wonderful baby - very placid, easy going. Put her in her cot, she goes to sleep. Pick her up, she smiles. When she's hungry, she fusses about to let me know, but she will wait for ages before cries for a feed (not that I make a habit of making her wait, but sometimes BallFiend's demands take precedence over Thumper getting her feed).

Thumper is five months old in a few days, and she is growing up way too quickly. I am doing my best to make the most of having a baby, my last baby, while I have the chance. At the same time, I am really looking forward to watching her develop new skills and seeing her personality develop.

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