Look, no hands! Baby D shows off some new moves
Last week baby D celebrated her momentous 10-month birthday by clapping her hands.
It was a very exciting week for other reasons, too. Not only has Diana turned double-digits, but there have been lots of new developments that seem to have coincided with her new (advanced) age.
For one, she's mastered the wave, charmingly shaking her hand back and forth whenever she sees someone (including her own reflection in the mirror!)
It's especially cute because her wave is very restrained, in the manner of the Queen (or perhaps, more realistically, a contestant from Toddlers and Tiaras. I need to stop watching that show). I think it's because she's still getting a mastery over her hands and what they're capable of, but whatever the reason, her self-possessed wave never fails to put a smile on anyone's face.
(Side note: It certainly improves a Tube journey at rush hour. Even the most harried-looking people on the train can't resist reaching out to say hello to baby D after she breaks out the wave, especially when she does both hands at once. This is a good thing considering she spends the rest of the ride trying to fling herself into other peoples' laps and pulling off their spectacles while I nervously giggle and hope she doesn't punch another passenger in the face).
Back to some more memorable firsts for baby D. Last week, Diana also learned another trick: She can walk while holding onto furniture and can even let go for a few seconds and balance on her own. It's so strange to think that only a few months ago, baby D was hardly moving at all and now she's a few months (maybe weeks?) away from walking. Walking!
In other exciting news, baby D is also cutting her first top tooth (third tooth total). This should definitely help her with her latest food obsession - raw broccoli. Unfortunately, this means baby has teething symptoms to the extreme.
The poor kid keeps waking up every two hours in the night with diarrhoea and is suffering from terrible nappy rash (not surprising considering she has an average of six or seven dirty nappies a day). I suspect this is because a couple of other teeth are planning on making an appearance within the week, and I really hope they come soon.
Because even though D is doing some amazing 10-month-old tricks, not sleeping through the night, pooing through her clothes and having the most terrifying surprises in her nappy are reminding me of a long-lost era from my child-rearing past.
When baby D was a newborn and I was totally overwhelmed.