juniorette at eleven months

It was a big month for Juniorette.

At the beginning of February, she took her first steps. By March, she was walking independently and getting faster and more confident/competent with every step.

in the garden

National Portrait Gallery

playing football with Junior and friends on Clapham Common

at the playground

Sadly, Juniorette also suffered her first bad cold during the week of my birthday. Boo :(

And the biggest change was starting at nursery when I went back to work.

She had a few settling in days and seemed to be mostly fine - in fact, she slept through half the sessions. The full days and on/off schedule going three days a week have been an adjustment for all of us, including Junior. She had a harder time getting used to the new environment than Junior ever did. She seemed to feel the effects of separation anxiety more acutely. But she is also teething, which makes it difficult to tell when she is uncomfortable or uncomfortable. Still, she has her big brother nearby during the day and she follows him around like a puppy. He read a book to her one day, and gives her frequent pats on the head. She came home smiling and covered in paint on her first day. We took that as a good sign. And after a few weeks, she stopped crying on drop-off and pick-up. She will be just fine.

Juniorette at 10 Months

Our smiley girl is now ten months old and is >this< close to walking. So we went to Clarks for her first shoes.





And started brushing her teeth with her first toothbrush.





We have been spending cold winter days visiting London's museums. Junior and Juniorette enjoyed learning about hexagons at the Science Museum.





We also saw the walrus at the Horniman in Dulwich.



Photo by S


Juniorette is not afraid to assert herself with the bigger girls:



"Yeah, I'm the Captain of the ship. No big deal."



"Ummm, Captain, I don't think you should push that button..."



"Ack! Mayday! SOS! Bail out!"


And she is teaching herself the colours in Japanese.





But one of the funniest things is watching her do things that Junior did at the same age.



Same basket, many of the same toys, same self-satisfied smile.


And waking up to snow was a thrill for all of us. She's too small to play in the snow this year, but it won't be long before she follows in her brother's footsteps. He's her favourite role model.

Happy holidays

Juniorette's ninth month was mostly spent celebrating: Junior's birthday, S's birthday, xmas, New Year's. Junior was old enough to get excited about presents, and also old enough to get presents with small parts.





He was elated with his LEGO Juniors construction set. As was Juniorette. So we spent much of xmas day trying to keep Junior engaged with his gifts, while stopping Juniorette from eating bits of plastic and chewing on wrapping paper.





Fortunately she was happy to help fix the broken dishwasher - did I mention she started pulling up on furniture almost as soon as she figured out how to crawl?


We spent much of the time over xmas and New Year's with local friends. It was so nice to have playdates and good company.



South Bank Jubilee Playground









Wandle Park



Riding bicycles in Colliers Wood Rec Grounds






Museum of London, Docklands



Teaming up at softplay





We had a lovely, mellow, family-oriented holiday season. 2014 was a great year. 2015 is shaping up to be memorable and fun as well.

8 months

The big excitement this past month was having Grandma come visit.








It was all so ...normal... having my mother around for three weeks. She has spent enough time with us over the past few years that she knows our routines, our neighbourhood, our supermarket, the local buses and tube stations - and probably more back streets than I do. She has the energy to play with the children (though no one is fast enough to keep up with Junior), and she spends the rest of her time Making Things. She knit a sweater for Junior while she was here and finished the incredible robot curtains she made for the kids' room. While regular talks on the webcam are nice for keeping in touch, it is still that much more special to spend time together.



Wimbledon Library


Meanwhile, Juniorette just keeps getting more and more agile. She mastered crawling, and started to enjoy herself at the local softplay centres.











She still has a knack for sleeping in unexpected positions, as well.



Not exactly how her sleepsack was intended. Don't worry, I didn't leave her like this.


We celebrated Grandma's last day with a dance party before bedtime. Juniorette finds her big brother hilarious! Actually, we all do...

7 months

Food, glorious food!

Juniorette was so excited to start eating solids at 26 weeks. Given my sweet tooth during pregnancy, I had convinced myself that she would be a picky eater. As it turns out, she'll eat pretty much anything we give her.

We started with purées and smooth foods like baby rice and bananas, the same things we had given Junior at the beginning. But we soon moved to a more baby-led-weaning approach of finger foods and small tastes of whatever we are eating. She has a healthy appetite, and gets quite jealous if you don't offer her anything while you're eating.

She also spends much of her day playing. With her increased mobility, Junior's toys (and our laptops) are that much more accessible...

It was unseasonably warm on Halloween, so I let her roll around on a picnic blanket in the park. She was absolutely delighted.

Sitting up, mostly unaided

Sitting up, fully unaided!

Her ability to fall asleep anywhere and in any position convinced us that she was ready to move out of the travel cot in our room, and into Junior's room.

Searching for toys under the coffee table? No, napping.

Outgrowing the travel cot

While she was perfectly happy with Junior's hand-me-down cot and the robot bumpers that my mother made for him, Grandma outdid herself with a new set of bumpers personalised with Juniorette's name.

Sweet dreams, smiley girl!

Six Months

This past month, Juniorette became mobile.

Her biggest feat was learning how to roll over. Once she mastered it, she spent most of her waking hours rolling all over the floors.

Her cradle cap - which had mostly gone away - came back, and she used her razor-sharp nails to scratch her head until it bled.

Your mat cannot contain me!

She made efforts to sit up, though she still needed support.

And she became fascinated by food, though we are waiting until 26 weeks to start feeding her solids.

I've got a highchair and a spoon - I'm ready!

But Dad, I really want your penne!

Fine, I'll just sleep here until you feed me.

Hard work for an infant!