My little friend

As the days go by, the times I spend trying to get a nappy of a screaming baby, or trying to prise myself away from her for long enough to go to the toilet are becoming fewer and fewer. Spending time with Elizabeth is fascinating, as each day she is learning more. She said "biiir" yesterday when I was whistling, obviously recognising a sound similar to what birds make. She pointed to a Christmas card with a dog and a cat on and made her generic animal "baaa" sound. She pointed to a small screw in the corner of a light switch the other day, my Mum said "A screw" and she covered her mouth with her hand thinking my Mum had sneezed! When she nears a radiator she can tell if it is on, and make her blowing noise to indicate it is hot. She knows steam indicates that food is hot. She rubs her head if she hurts herself.

She has started eating more of the foods we are eating, so last night for example had fish pie. She has started eating satsumas, and still loves raisins and melon. She loves yoghurt, and bananas. She still has porridge every morning for breakfast. I'm starting to introduce snacks e.g. a banana, or dates/raisins in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and wondering about cutting her morning nap back as she is getting harder and harder to settle, and the later she goes down the later her afternoon nap gets, which gets into dangerous territory with regards bedtime.

A date has come through for her MMR which we're almost certain we're going to go ahead with, despite reservations. I always said I wouldn't do it, but the weight of public opinion, research etc seems to suggest there is no link between the MMR and Autism, and I'm left with the terrifying stories of people who remain convinced that the MMR did lead to their child developing Autism. I've heard the other side of the argument, about the dangers of having single jabs and contracting one of the illnesses while waiting for the next jab, and the outcome of those can be very severe, so I think we will just go ahead. We've taken everything offered thus far and all has been well, which might not be the soundest argument, but I can't really think what else to do.

Sleeping remains an issue although she is now settling herself off to sleep quicker and more efficiently. She tends to wake once or twice a night, and still needs 'starbo' placing into her hands at times. We've experimented this week with more snacks, and an earlier tea, and a vest on under her sleepsuit and sleeping bag... but still she wakes!

Her face still looks red and sore. I've been putting DoubleBase on, and some Sudocrem, and some Vaseline with little noticeable improvement. Husband and I have both been getting very sore hands - we wonder if all three complaints could be being caused by the dehumidifier? Experiment now underway to find out.

Christmas is on the way and we now have Elizabeth's presents sorted and wrapped. She will be getting a doll from ELC, a packet of crayons, the tubs of play dough, a new dress to wear on Christmas day, and Fisher Price Little People farmyard and barn, and nine vehicles. Husband had to drive over to Stourbridge last Friday night to pick up the Fisher Price stuff. Felt terrible about buying her second hand stuff, but then having received it and seen how 'nearly new' it looks don't feel half as bad. In total on the Fisher Price toys we spent about £17 which is a bargain - she will get far more to play with than if we'd spent £25-£30 on one new set. We plan to sell it on and replace it with something else in time as we have no emotional 'attachment' to these particular toys as they weren't chosen by us or friends/family.

Elizabeth loves looking at the Christmas tree lights, but despite my fears is keeping her distance at the moment. We've got the Christmas CD in the CD player, and it is a lovely time - wrapping presents, listening to music - feeling positive about the future. We haven't been able to do this for quite some time because of the never-ending saga about me going back to work, so I'm trying to enjoy every moment. I can vaguely remember this time last year - having Elizabeth in her pram top downstairs on its stand in the living room, watching childrens' tv (Blue Peter and the like) in the early evening waiting for husband to return from work. Things are so much more 'normal' now - I can cook proper meals, we can spend time together in the day-time doing things like swimming or whatever. Those early days were so difficult looking back!

I've just bought a packet of Pregnacare supplements - which I think I did about this time two years ago too. I've still got to 'get fit' before even thinking of trying to conceive again, but I hope it won't be too long now. I was hoping for 'Monky' to be born in January 2009, so that would mean around April time... we'll see.