My lovely little Imogen is now seven months old. Let that sink in a bit. Seven months. That went a bit fast for my liking, but when it comes to my girls, time always travels faster than it should.
Imogen, like her sister, started sitting independently soon after turning six months and now does it very well, except when her sister pushes her over; then she goes down like one of those round bottomed dolls and can't always decide whether to cry or not.
She loves to play with her crinkly toys, her play mat toys and her musical walker. Her plushy little fox is also a firm favourite (that one was love at first sight. I gave it to her, she stared at it for a bit and then brought it in close for a giant baby bear hug. Just too cute). She loves to smile and giggle and is oh so close to crawling it's quite remarkable. She's been rolling over both ways for ages and is quite the little babbler too so we like to pop her in her high chair to play safely while we do stuff (she has become a little too big to wear all the time).
Many of Imogen's toys are hand-me-downs from her sister so we are still trying to figure out this toy sharing business with Liora, who occasionally has these moments where she insists on playing with the toys she has outgrown or claiming them and not wanting to share. These do not last long because her need to play with Imogen is much stronger than her need to assert ownership over the toys. We have also assured her that not all her toys are for sharing and her stethoscope, special fluffy toys and troll toys are just some of the things that are not shared.
The big little grower sprouted her bottom front teeth this week, mere days after having introduced her to solids, mainly porridge and fruit pouches. She is a good eater and we are once again, taking it slow, although I find the daily breakfast with Imogen to be such a sweet moment, also an amusing one because she is always fighting me for the spoon so she can put it in her mouth herself. This is going to be one independent little firecracker. I can tell.
Last night she started doing raspberries which was adorable. It would have been more so if it hadn't been the middle of the night.
Liora, my beautiful, brilliant Liora is now three years and three months old and obsessed with playing her doctor game, and I don't mean obsessed in the casual way the word is being thrown around lately; I mean it's all she wants to play. That and cooking in her play kitchen. The doctor game basically entails one or many toys being diseased or maimed in one form or another and Doctor Liora treating them, while mummy, the additional doctor or helpful nurse must assist her. She also enlists the help of her little paper doctor toys for which I must provide the voices, or 'use my mouth so they can talk' as she so beautifully explains. (For some unknown reason, the first time I did this with one of the figurines, I used my father's 'voice' and the doll became Doctor Grandpa - I was a bit emotional but Liora loves doctor Grandpa a lot, so he stays.)
She has two stethoscopes which she wears practically all the time - a black one from her late grandfather and a pink one from Wish. At one point she was wearing her pink one everywhere but the bath: to sleep, to school, out and about. Along with that went a little plastic thermometer and whatever other random medical accessory she could muster. She has a transportation schema, so likes to carry things around, mostly spoons (which are therefore everywhere because she has figured out how to extricate them from both cutlery drawer and dish washer). Recently, we have had to place limits on the stethoscope, for a variety of reasons, so no more school or bed. And hopefully one day, I will get my spoons back.
Liora's verbal and social skills are progressing at a pace that fills me with wander and she is now also independent of nappies while awake. It is quite unbelievable that in just on nine months, she will be starting primary school. I am screaming on the inside about this enormous leap but that's a whole other post in itself.
I feel very fortunate to have two such incredibly special, happy little girls in my life and I hope to do them justice as they forge their way in this world. Every day I look forward to see what they will do next and how they will surprise me. Loving them is a rush and I am addicted!