And this time forwards

Thumper just took her first steps in the traditional forwards manner. DeepSpice was opening up one of those infernal hard plastic packages containing some little people (a chrissie pressie from the aunties and uncles), and Thumper looked up from her playdough creation on the coffee table, then stepped across for a closer look.

I was in the room, but wasn't watching her at the time, so didn't actually see it. And DeepSpice only looked up from his plastic packaging wrestling in time to see the end of her walk.

The funny thing is she didn't even seem to realise what she had done; and she certainly wasn't going to repeat her new party trick for a quick video recording. So it could be a while before we can offer concrete evidence.
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The universal question

"Mum, does space ever end?"
- BallFiend

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Side-stepping the matter

Another first in baby-land today for Thumper, although she has left it so long that it's actually ended up being in toddler-land (she is now 15.5 months old). Anyway, she took her first steps.

She has been standing on her own for up to about 20 seconds at a time quite a lot recently. The strange thing is she doesn't do this the way most toddlers to (ie. by holding onto a piece of furniture until they have their balance then letting go). Thumper's method is to balance herself into a squat then with great control, slowly stand up, look around the room grinning proudly, then slowly lower herself back down into a squat. I've never seen any other toddlers learn to stand in this way - it's quite strange.

Anyway, her first steps today happened while we were visiting VolubleK, PetitAmi and her two older siblings for lunch. I was sitting next to a recently-vacated dining chair which Thumper was happily cruising around when she decided to make the move across the gap to hang onto my legs. It was just a large enough gap that she couldn't cruise from the chair to my legs. But without even seeming to think about it, she made it across the gap by side-stepping about 3 steps. I guess making her first steps sideways (rather than the traditional forwards) is in keeping with her unique way of learning to stand.

So, sadly the sight of her little crawling bottom racing away from me will soon be a distant memory. Especially since she is starting at creche in about 4 weeks. She will definitely want to walk once she gets there - too many other kids to keep up with.
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Changing dogs mid-stream

A long time ago, when BallFiend was about as mobile as a rock, but much more cute, he was showered in gifts, most of the soft toys - teddies, cows, dogs, dolls, elephants, orang-utans, lions, etc. Dunno what it is about babies makes people want to bestow stuffed toys on them. Anyway, one of specimens from this plush menagerie, which arrived after following CutLuce home from an op-shop, was a little tan dog. According to the tag on its rear-end, its name was 'Dolly'.

For a long time, Dolly sat on the shelf with all the other soft toys and generally stayed out of trouble. Then there was a phase when BallFiend was somewhere around 2 years old when he nominated several of the smaller soft toys to be his 'friends'. The 'friends' consisted of Moo-Moo (the cow), Ava-lant (the elephant), blue teddy (a blue teddy) and white teddy (a white teddy). Dolly was not one of this in-crowd. They got to sleep in his bed overnight but were usually ignored during the day time when balls are the companion of choice.

Then came a night when we had a grown-ups party to attend - specifically Gran's 60th birthday. And because Gran had most inconsiderately decided to invite all our usual babysitters (ie. CutLuce/DesignerMonkey and DesignerSis/Wigward), we had to look for other options. Luckily for us Wigward's parents love little kids and were more than happy to have our nearly-two-year-old BallFiend stay the night with them and their other family member Delphi the dog.

Whilst BallFiend liked the idea of a dog, he didn't like the actuality - Delphi unlike her owners was not  particularly enamoured with little kids. And in truth I don't even think BallFiend really liked the idea of a dog... he was just using the dog for her toys - namely various balls of interesting shape, texture and degree of chewed-ness. So to help him get used to the idea of spending around 36 hours in the presence of a dog, I dragged Dolly off the shelf and re-branded her 'Delphi' (OK, the real Delphi is black and Dolly is tan, but this didn't seem matter to BallFiend). Immediately after his stay with Wigward's parents, BallFiend showed little more than a mild interest in the toy dog, but it has continued to be known as Delphi ever since.

Jump forward 2 years and suddenly Delphi (formerly Dolly) is now the hottest soft toy on the scene. The toy has undergone a sex change (even though the original Delphi dog is female) and his namesake is completely forgotten. But BallFiend does not go anywhere with out him. Delphi has attained a status equal to BallFiend's balls (ie. he always walks around with a ball in hand or under his arm and now Delphi occupies the other hand or arm!) As a result, the toy dog that was once tan-coloured has quickly become a colour much closer to that of the real Delphi.

Before now, BallFiend displayed none of the traditional trappings of childhood: no imaginary friends, no special teddy. He was just content with balls, balls, balls as his companion. Easy to wash, easy to replace. In bed he does have two comfort items: a dummy (recently re-titled 'dumby') and a blankie (of which there are three cut from the same fabric so there is always a spare when one is in the wash).

But now that Delphi is on the scene, I have to do those things that I thought only 'other parents' have to do:

• talk to the toy dog, 
• offer the toy dog food,
• find the toy dog when it is missing,
• train the toy dog not to climb up on the table ("BallFiend, for the thousandth time, dogs eat on the floor!"), and most arduous of all,
• wash the one and only beloved toy dog and deal with the pining pre-schooler while they wait for said toy dog to dry. 

So when DeepSpice and BallFiend returned from a walk to the local supermarket, having been caught in a sudden downpour of rain, I was very surprised to hear of BallFiend's comment:

"I think I will have to change dogs - this one is all wet!"

And now, if you will excuse me, I have to go and wring out a wet dog and peg him out on the line.

BallFiend and Delphi, 18 December 2010,
at the train station on our way to the Zoo.

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