Baby playing with toys on their own

Here's a secret that I didn't know before I had a baby.

When babies are newborn (about 0-3 months) they don't how to:

• smile
• pick up stuff
• be interested in toys
• see further than a few metres
• or anything really... except eating

It goes against all the baby pics that I ever saw in magazines and photos of babies being exceedingly cute, smiley and playing with toys. 

I was almost embarrassed when one of my husband's cousins asked if we brought some toys over for Lexie to play with. I was like... umm, she's not really interested in toys yet. Guess he had the same idea as me - babies played with toys from day one, right? Nope.

So at almost 5 months baby has finally learnt all of the above. Most importantly she's able to play by herself with her toys. Score one for mum! 

No more holding onto her all the time trying to entertain her. 

Gives me more time to err... 

Conquering aubergine (eggplant)

So yesterday I finally cooked aubergine properly. In a ratatouille recipe no less. The ratatouille itself was not well cooked enough (good thing it's just a whole bunch of veggies stir fried together) but the aubergine was pretty good and didn't leave an itchy feeling in my mouth. Score one!

I learnt the trick on YouTube ;) put salt over slices of aubergine and leave it for 30 minutes or so until the water comes out, then it'll be nice and tender to cook however you want. Brilliant.

Talking to herself

A while ago I noticed that my baby likes to mumble... to herself. I think it started when she was old enough to play on the mat by herself, around 3 months. As soon as I left the room she would start making her baby noises like she was talking. But she wasn't talking to me, she was just talking to herself, happy and content to be alone.

I guess I'm not really exciting to play with. Her dad and granddad are much more fun.

Morphthing: My profile pic

I'm betting with myself to see if the photo I made on Morphthing will turn out to be like my daughter: Lexie. So far so good. She's marginally like that photo. But she's only 4.5 months old and that picture looks like a 3-year old so I've got some more waiting to do.

I'll just use it as my profile picture to remind myself that's what she will look like soon.

Diaper free basics

Here are the basics:

Timing:

• After eating
• Before sleeping (added later)
• After waking up
• After getting out of the baby-carrier

Those are major ones. When she's playing she sometimes goes as well but those are hard to catch. She's just too excited.

Signs:

• Looking around for the potty (she twists her head looking for something)
• Small cry almost like hiccups finished with a whine "eheh eheh eheh ehhhh"

The first is usually after eating and the second after waking up or getting out of carrier.

Position:

• Held over a plastic container
• Sitting on a small potty insert (BabyBjorn removal potty seat)

We used a small plastic container at the beginning about 10cm wide and just held her legs in a sitting position over it. It got pretty tiring after she got heavier. 

Then we bought the BabyBjorn potty seat with a high back and took the insert out and used that instead. The insert (piece that you remove to empty the potty) is perfectly shaped for sitting. I stand behind her and support her, on the changing table, while she sits.

Crying:

For some reason Lexie cries before peeing and sometimes during. I read it's sensitivity to her body's movements. I guess we should think about what it feels like when we go and yeah it's probably a weird feeling for a baby. But she's happy as rain after she's finished.

No crying:

Mum told me she when Lexie goes poo she get's really quiet. And it's true. She's the complete opposite of when she pees. It's usually in the middle of eating, she'll just pull off and look for the potty. When she's on the pot, she'd shrink up a little bit and grunt.

Why go diaper-free, babe?

Lexie is starting to do pipi into her potty quite successfully now. Yesterday we had hardly any misses at all. Was great.

The diaper-free baby (a book) and a way of communicating with baby, has been awesome. Here are some reasons:

• Poop control: she poops into the potty and we don't have to clean a yucky nappy
• Communication: we understand what that type of crying means (is it hunger? is it pain? no, it's just pee!)
• Happiness: babies are trying to communicate to us all the time and when we get it right, yatta! She seems to have a big smile on her face

And last, but not least, it's great for the environment if we use fewer nappies/diapers. That's the bobo in me talking.

Now that I know what my baby's cries are about, I can't ignore it and let her wet her nappy anymore. She waits for me to pick her up and carry her to the potty before she lets it out. Or she starts looking for the potty right after she's finished breastfeeding.

She's 4.5 months old and we've been doing it since she was 3 weeks old.

Sometimes when we're out I don't worry about it but it's just too tempting to whip off that diaper and hold her over a pot.