Comfort

Wriggles has never been a massively cuddly girl. She has never particularly had a "favourite thing" either above anything else. The plus side of this is that that is one less panic when out and about (HELP I've lost so and so...and they've stopped making it!) but it does make me a little sad. I had a menagerie of stuffed animals when younger and always had one that trailed around with me. Even as a baby, I had favourites whose noses I chewed until they fell off (sorry Piglet).

My favourite of Wriggles' toys is Mouse. Mouse came on day 3 of Wriggles' little life and came as our guardian rodent that sat by her incubator day in, day out when I couldn't be there every waking or sleeping minute. When she moved into a heated cot, Mouse seized the chance and jumped in to, and has also slept in her bed since. She would have moved into the incubator had infection control not frowned on it! Mouse means such a lot to me, having "seen" with her stitched eyes everything I did and more. To me, she is part of the Beginning, which to look at Wriggles now can be easily forgotten about. Partly, I cannot forget it and partly I am desperate not to, as those early days shaped so much and when I brush the tears aside of the grief, trauma and unfairness of it all, I am so proud of how strong and brave my little girl is.

As well as Mouse, Christmas Hedgehog and Eloise-the-Rabbit also still sleep in her cot with her. These have both enjoyed brief dalliances with as being The Chewed Toy of the moment that would get flung about and piqued more interest than anything else. I suspect in time, they will be favourited again. I love the idea of having bedtime friends that are special to fall asleep and wake up with; a little separate world different from the frantic pace of the daytime.

I still have my own comforter; the filthy cat in the picture is mine that sleeps in by my bed. When Wriggles comes in to sleep with me or when she is poorly she often has the cat to chew or wallop. As it is quite old, it's limbs are a bit all over the place so perfect for "flying lessons" or holding onto tightly. It really needs a wash, and has lost all but one whiskers but neither of us seem to care. I love seeing Wriggles with my old toy-it is like it has come full circle in a way. 

Highchair

A year ago we got our highchair. Like much else about Wriggles, prematurely! She was being weaned (if you can call it that, not actually eating any solid food) but even with the insert, was very small and her chin was practically resting on the table. She also couldn't sit up by herself and wouldn't for around 6 months more. The only reason I bought it then was that it was reduced at the time and my parents were up visiting to help carry it back from the shop. We duly placed Wriggles in it for a photo opportunity and after that, it stayed rather unused taking up a corner of the kitchen for months to come. She wasn't very impressed at all and it seldom got used as anything further than somewhere for dumping things organising post.

Wriggles was still being (attempted) fed in the bouncy chair and Bumbo, which I cannot praise enough. We were kindly loaned it by the physiotherapy team to help Wriggles' core muscles, but it really came into it's own for so much more. She seemed frightened of the highchair for a very long time, but trusted the Bumbo which she was always more than happy to sit in. I think it made her feel more independent and like she could achieve more. It also freed up her hands rather than trying to balance on the floor trying to support her weight sitting. I did try to use the highchair briefly, not for food but to play in. Partly it was useful if I needed to have both hands free for a short period, and partly I wanted her to relax in it and learn to trust it. She was so swamped in it, there were often about three separate rolled up towels supporting her as well as a booster insert. Slowly, she began to hate it a bit less and discovered the fantastic game of "chuck it over the sides/Mummy pick it up". She was definitely at least one before it got used even semi-regularly for meal times, as other times she was far happier sat in the Bumbo or on my lap. Given that meal times were not her favourite bit of the day, the last thing I wanted to do was make her more fraught by the choice of seat.  


Although progress isn't fast, Wriggles really is making strides with feeding and also accepting more textures and touch. The highchair has now come into it's own, especially as the Bumbo is no longer safe now she is mobile, and the tray is ideal for presenting a buffet of leftovers and finger foods, and if she wants to really get involved and explore the food, then it is wipe-clean (as is she!). Now, we have lunch and dinner in the highchair and she happily will pick through a selection of things like cheese biscuits and Cheerios as well as being spoon-fed. It also makes a good hiding place, standing aide and toy basket when not in use. She still is rather swamped by it...

Happy birthday, highchair.

6/52

Too much fun

Watch out, there's on one year old about!

I think it is time to admit to myself my scrap of a baby is growing up. I'm not going as far to call her a toddler (there is a distinct lack of toddling for a start) but she is definitely full of mischief and intent to cause said mischief, is hell-bent on trying to find some method of mobility and is learning new things all the time. In the last few weeks she has (I'm so proud, can you tell?):

• bang two objects together
• splash in the bath when she means to, not just accidentally
• splash me when she is in the bath
• today she deliberately dropped an item into a tin (the baking kind, not an empty baked beans one, I do have some standards) and thought the noise was hilarious
• become incredibly keen on finding out what is underneath the rugs

She also has the attention span of a diminutive gnat. Toys get roughly 30 seconds each unless it is the remote control, the wooden spoon (allowed) or my mug of coffee (definitely not allowed) or anything I thought I had successfully hidden. I'm delighted after her prematurity and stints on oxygen that her eyesight is brilliant-but slightly too brilliant for me!

 We did though receive this frankly amazing belated-Christmas present in the post though from my sister, her aunty. It is a cheese-and-mouse puppet. Of COURSE. What else?! There are five finger puppet mice who live in the hollow textiles wedge of cheese. Well, I had barely got it out the package before Wriggles was in peals of laughter. For that afternoon, all I had to do was just show it to her before she was honking away. Then came the miraculous discovery that the mice come out if you pull their tails. She was entranced. I must confess that I am also, and long after she went to bed was rearranging the mice inside...

 Other recent hits include this push along Brio hedgehog. Due to the infamous premature-baby-snorty-snuffle (think small animal waffling in the hedgerows) she had for months after coming home, she has become besieged with all manner of hedgehog items. This one has a wobbly head that bobs up and down and whooshes along the floor which means that it is great from her point of view. The other favourite is a wind-up mouse. It was claiming to be a Christmas decoration from M&S but is far too sinister to adorn a tree-think lonely mouse head in Santa hat. 

Hit number-I've-lost-count are some RSPB Birds that sing genuine birdsong if you press their tummy/go within a foot of them. Wriggles received three (robin has gone AWOL already) and they are excellent, especially at diffusing the beginnings of tantrums, a welcome teething distraction and also for pacifying nappy-changes or coat-putting-on episodes.

I have also dug out my double-sided sticky tape (I was an addict all the way through my fine art degree; there is no way I'd have passed without it) and tried to 'make' some toys as she gets through everything at a frightening ruthless speed and does not have the motor skills or strength to be mobile to explore. So far I have stuck sparkly paper inside a cardboard box and attached rubber bands to make a twanging sound when strictly supervised to avoid surprised baby and THIS (left) is my attempt at what I shall coin 'A rattle-y photo box'. Namely a cardboard box filled with lentils, meticulously masking taped shut as shut can be and covered in photographs. She is very keen on looking at herself (well she is pretty beautiful) and also making a Very Big Noise so this buys me at least two minutes of peace. Maybe I will get to drink that mug of coffee after all......