Santa Train Ride

We went on a steam train ride last weekend. We all really enjoyed it so much. It was an hour trip, the adults got wine and mince pies and the kids got a juice and a present from Father Christmas. Was really worth it, Isabella was happy and relaxed the whole time, enjoyed some strawberries and didn't cry at Father Christmas although he didn't quite get a smile from her.

Isabella signing

Here's a quick follow on from the previous post about Isabella signing. She is learning new signs and sounds every day. We were looking through a book this evening before bedtime and I just casually showed her the sign for baby. She watched me carefully, then tried to copy me, watching and trying until she got it pretty much right. You can't see me signing in the video but the sign for baby is as though you're pretending to cradle a baby in your arms. She was so impressed with herself, she kept doing it over and over each time she saw a picture of a baby.

Isabella signs baby from Anneliese Mostert on Vimeo.

*Ongeveer 50 sekondes die video in (wanneer ons al drie lag) het Isabella 'n wind gelos! Ons het begin lag as sy dit doen en nou lag sy vir haarself wanneer dit uit glip! Een of ander tyd gaan ons moet ophou lag en haar leer dit word eintlik nie gedoen nie!

Isabella's communication skills at 1 year old

Isabella is communicating SO much with us now and by spending some time teaching her and learning from her we manage to understand most of what she 'says'.

She uses a combination of sounds (animal sounds like moo for cow and sounds she hears in words we say like 'ca' for cat) and baby sign language. The sign language is a combination of signs from a book we got from her favourite and only aunt ;-) signs she makes up and signs I make up as we go along. So it's really a 'secret' language only we can understand! 

It's amazing how quickly she learns. Earlier this week I made up a sign for fish, I don't know what the real sign is, I didn't have the book with me at the time when we saw a fish in one of her books, so just made up a logical and easy one to show fish movement, and she got it right away. I asked her later when her dad came home what a fish does, not expecting her to have remembered, and she did. Clever girl! Of course we do repeat sounds and signs over and over and over- for her to learn but also for her to feel she's really clever by showing us what she knows.

Some signs, like the sign for 'more' I used to use a lot when she was eating, but it was when she was much younger. At that time she didn't use any signs yet and I kind of gave up on it and stopped using it and one day she just started signing 'more' correctly and using it at appropriate times when she wanted more food, or wanted me to read more of a book, or her program on tv finished and she wanted it again. So either she really did take in what I signed long ago when she was not yet able to use her hands that way or she read the book when I wasn't looking! 'More' is now her most used sign!

Isabelle says/ signs:	Meaning:
mama	mummy
papa	daddy
rubs nose/ mouth + sound	looking for muslin
hand to mouth	eat/ hungry
hand to mouth and sniffs	flower	should sign hand to nose
fingers of both hands together in front of her	more
hand on head	wants or sees a hat
fingers of one hand around opposite wrist	wants bracelet
opens and shuts hand	milk
sucks hand	water
t-t	tissue
tutu	tutu (pink tulle skirt)
thumb and forefinger together open/ shut	bird
wiggles hand	fish
Isabella can touch these body parts when asked in Afrikaans Not tested in English :-)	Working on:
head, hair, eyes (blinks), nose (sniffs), cheeks, tummy, feet, toes, clap hands	knees, bottom ;-) back, mouth/ lips
Animals
‘mmmm’ / ‘moo’	cow
‘qua-qua’ (quack)	duck
snorts	pig
blows raspberries	horse
ffff’ or ‘wwww’ (woof)	dog
ca	cat
a-a-a	monkey
claps hands together (snap-snap)	crocodile
opens mouth wide	hippo (yawning)
roars	lion/ tiger
raises one arm in air	elephant	should be arm to front as trunk
raises one arm in air	giraffe

We have since for fun tested her a little bit in English and she will touch her head, nose, toes and feet correctly when asked in English. We have't tested her English comprehension really with any other words, but I will try some more out of interest. We try not to speak any English to her so she learns to only speak Afrikaans to us. She will soon hear and speak English everywhere else in her life. Now that she spends time with her nanny (who is English) three mornings a week I'm sure she's picking up so much more. She even started saying 'moo' instead of 'mmm' for cow sometimes and it sounds much more 'English' than when we say 'moo'!!

I will try and catch her signing on camera.

Pasta Sensory Play

I don't like using food for art or play, but at the moment Isabella will put everything in her mouth. Repeatedly. So it needs to be safe in that way. I bought the cheapest pasta I could find and let her explore.

Things she (hopefully) got from this:
- texture
- capacity (filling and emptying containers) She loved tipping the bowl over and I'm hoping she learnt that she shouldn't do this when she's eating her food!
- the sound it made on the tray which she really enjoyed too and
- properties of the shape such as rolling.

What I got from this: something different to entertain her with minimal mess and a few minutes to sit back and watch her! Although she still plays best when I play with her demonstrating what she can do with various things. Occasionally she will come up with her own ideas ;-)
And I got that I need to get Andre's camera out more to get better pictures!!

A Portrait a Week: 46/52 - Ballerina

I already posted quite a few of these photos I took this week on facebook, but it was definitely my favourites of the week. Isabella loves her tutu and already knows where to find the mirror when I tell her to go look in the mirror. She hardly ever keeps any hair accessories in her hair for longer than two seconds, but this headband won her over after I pointed out the flower it has. She's loved flowers since spring when she watched Andre plant flowers in our garden and I showed her the sign for flower. It was probably one of her first signs she learnt. 'Tutu' is also one of the few words she actually uses.

Last week's portrait: 45/52 - Windsor

We had a lovely day out in Windsor last Sunday. We got there fairly early in the morning and it was quite cold. Isabella was so bundled up against the cold she didn't move. But it was a lovely sunny day which defrosted us all and Isabella was her busy self again soon.

We had lunch at an Asian restaurant and Isabella got her first meal ordered from the kiddies menu. I knew there wouldn't be much on our plates for her to eat with it being noodles or rice with often spicy sauces. And I didn't pack her a lunch. So we ordered her a lovely grilled chicken breast which was even cut up in perfect strips for her to hold and was so soft. It came with corn and shredded cucumber with a sauce on the side. Isabella ate the corn. Only the corn. It is still quite a struggle to get her to eat meat.

"Yes it looks lovely, but I'm telling you now I'm only eating the corn, daddy."

A Portrait a Week: 44/52 -Enjoying Autumn

It always takes me about a week to settle back into life at home after any family visit. Isabella and I tried to keep busy, but it often happens that our friends are busy or ill and can't visit when we return from a holiday. Even our Baby Sensory class had the week off due to half term. Luckily we had some lovely Autumn days, cool but sunny. This photo was taken on our way back from a visit to the Children's Centre. We stopped to look at different autumn leaves.

We do have a busy week planned this week. I have started work which I'm very excited about and Isabella had a great time with her new nanny and her little boy today. I'm so proud of her for being such a good girl without me. We made up with friends' visits today having three friends over for tea and a play with all the little ones. Baby Sensory is back on again this week -yay! We also have a play date with another little friend we haven't seen in a while. And we might go for another play at the Children's Centre again too. Isabella always enjoys playing there. So lots of exciting things happening this week.

A Portrait a Week: 43/52 -First Birthday!

Isabella celebrated her first birthday in Germany with one of her Ouma's and Opa. She had a lovely time,  got spoilt with lots of presents* and was treated with a visit to the zoo which she still 'talks' about! We have to look at the zoo pictures every day with her favourite being the lion. She also discovered she really likes cake (she had a few small tastes) and that she would like to either become a ballerina or a princess so she can prance around in a pink tutu every day.

*Isabella enjoyed birthday presents nearly every day for more than a week! Parcels arrived for her in the post from before her birthday until just after with more on her actual birthday too. She quickly got the hang of opening presents and learnt she needs to bring it to us to help her get started on opening it to see what's inside. This weekend we ordered a few bits off amazon which arrived today, nothing exciting for her, but she now gets very very excited each time a box arrives and will bring it to me to help her open it. 

Isabella discovers she likes ice-cream

A couple weeks ago we went for a walk and there happened to be an ice-cream truck! We've been really good about not giving Isabella any sugary treats before she turns one, but she's so close now, we let her have a little taste.

At first she wasn't much impressed, but after the second lick of ice-cream she realised that this is actually really good and then really got her mouth around that ice-cream!

A bonus portrait this week: Milk Moustache

After already posting this week's portrait, Andre took this cute photo of Isabella this afternoon. She didn't have a lunch time milk bottle so I just gave her a little sip of milk in a cup. It was also to see what she thinks about drinking cow's milk. She's still on formula but will be switching soon. She pulled a face at first, probably because she was expecting water as that's all she ever gets in her open cup. But then she smiled and had quite a few more sips. She is used to either cow's milk or soy with her cereal, and now recognises and signs for milk in any form -her bottle, the milk jug or sometimes we have it in a carton and will 'mmm' (moo) as there is a cow on the container. Disappointingly there is no cow on the soy milk carton... she checked.

She wasn't bothered to finish it though and toddled off to go and explore something. Probably to have another go at opening the kitchen bin before we tell her off again...

A Portrait a Week: 42/52

A windy Autumn day at the park yesterday. Look at all that hair!

Last week's portrait: 41/52 -first ponytail

For a while now Isabella would remove my headband from my head when I'm wearing one and wear it around her neck. Last week that wasn't enough and she asked to have my hair tie too. I gave it to her and she kept putting it on her head. She allowed me to put it in her hair and I only just managed to snap this quick picture before she pulled it out again.

A Portrait a Week: 40/52 -Autumn

I love Autumn over here, it's as though the Autumn colours are so much more noticeable. I've been showing Isabella the different coloured leaves when we're outside. This week she's also discovered that she can pull them apart. The weather has still been really nice, warm and sunny t-shirt weather just about every day. We had rain today for the first time in quite a while and it seems as though tonight will be getting a bit colder as it's already only 7C outside now at 9pm. I plan to fill a big tub with leaves for Isabella to play in soon.

Last week's portrait of the week: 39/52 -Bubba and her hats

I struggled to decide on a photo for last week which is part of the reason I never got around to posting it sooner. The other reason is that Isabella absolutely won't sleep in her cot in the daytime anymore. She also won't sleep anywhere else in the house so it means I've been out driving or walking her to sleep. Which means no me-time during the day.

So here she is last week, 11 months and 3 days old. It's now the countdown to her first birthday and our first full year as parents! I think we've done a pretty good job so far, besides not getting her to sleep during the day.

She's had a thing about hats for a while now. Until now it's just been her two sun hats which are always lying around the house ready to grab whenever we go outside. Recently she's started wearing Andre's hats too. She now knows where he keeps them hanging on a hook by the garage door and she will ask for them pointing to the hats and then touching her head. Also don't come near her wearing a hat if you're not going to let her try it on! There was a boy at the children's centre this week wearing a cap and she desperately wanted to get a hold of it. She gave up and instead took another baby's muslin cloth, another one of her favourites. She believes every single muslin in sight belongs to her and there's no convincing her to give it back. Twice this week I've had to ask the mummy of the muslin cloth if they minded that Isabella held onto their muslin for a while. Once she lets go I give it back and they hide it. At least we don't run the risk of loosing a favourite comforter! And if a musy isn't available as a comforter a hat will do as well.

I don't want her to grow up!

Isabella is 11 months old today and sometimes I feel a little like this about her growing up so fast:



She gets cuter in different ways and some things a lot of things get easier with her. But sometimes I miss that teeny tiny baby. She'll never stay lying still in one place ever again. Or have several naps during the day (all of a sudden she's down to one nap a day and sometimes not even a very long one). But she does sleep ALL night now and that's better than day time naps.

11 months ago

today!

So I don't have a small cuddly baby but I do have a big cuddly baby with a first birthday coming up soon!

Just for fun I put her under her play gym yesterday. Above she was 1 month old and below a day short of 11 months. She wasn't really interested in playing with it!

A Portrait a Week: 38/52 -Sunday walk at Dinton Pastures

This past weeks' portrait: Loving life!

We went for a walk on Sunday. Andre wanted to go check out some bird hides for a possible photography morning. Isabella hadn't been in the back carrier for quite a while and she was very very excited to be so high on her daddy's back for a walk outside. She was laughing and shrieking at everyone and everything we passed! She excitedly pointed out dogs and observed the ducks, geese and swans seriously with a "quack quack" to also let us know what they are.

We stopped  at this jetty for some photos and Isabella headed straight to the water. She would have waded in knee deep if we let her!

A lovely afternoon out in the fresh air.

Inside the bird hide.

Enjoying the ride.

The photo right at the top reminds me - I keep forgetting to tell the grandparents - Isabella has another two teeth! Her top right is quite a clear little white bit of tooth and if you look carefully the top left is also on its way out. Probably neither of them visible on the photo though.

Portrait of the week: 37/52 - A Poorly Baby

This picture sums up our week.

Isabella had a high fever all day Tuesday and ended up with tonsillitis. It seems the high temperature led to her eczema getting much much worse than it's ever been and even worse than I ever thought eczema could get. Her arms and legs got covered in blisters which are now peeling leaving her with new red/pink skin underneath so doesn't look too good.  But at least it doesn't seem to bother her. She's on two antibiotics and a cream for her skin and is back to her usual happy self now with a few whinges when I'm not giving her all my attention of course. She sat on my lap in front of the tv all day tuesday sleeping on and off. I enjoyed the cuddles and quiet time!

Now it's Andre's turn it seems... He had a fever yesterday and today is still sleepy with a sore throat. Too many kisses from Isabella!

A Portrait a Week: 36/52 -Afternoon at the park

A little late with last week's portrait again but here it is now and I'll make up for it with some extra photos. (Most photos taken by Andre.)

Isabella has been a bit demanding lately, sleeping very little during the day and then wanting all my attention all the time when she's awake. If I only try to move slightly she scrambles to get on my lap in case I was trying to leave the room. When I do manage to escape she'll come whining after me so at the moment I'm not doing anything but playing with her for which I'm also grateful. I know how fortunate I am to be able to be at home with her.

But today I get some computer time! Poor Isabella is not feeling well at all. She's had a temperature all day and just wants to sit on my lap either sleeping or staring at the tv. She's not even interested in my cellphone or laptop. Not herself at all but I'm enjoying the cuddles.

These photos were taken on Saturday when we took her to the park behind our house.

Still loves swinging!

Love those little feet!

Daddy helped her down the slide.

Back up again!

Cute wobbly steps.

And after we tried out just about everything in the park we had a picnic on the field.