Here it is!

First picture of the first tooth! And first time getting her tooth brushed (which didn't happen very easily because that tongue gets in the way!).



Mom couldn't resist putting it on the blog - even though we leave for Oz in two and a half hours and no packing has been done yet! All under control though.

Even more news!

Now, after last Friday morning's events (being the cat bowl and Vaseline incidents), Mom completely forgot to say that last Wednesday night, Michaela said 'cat'. Michaela just loves the cat, but he does not love her, as you can see below. Anyway, Mom and Michaela were sitting on the couch and Mom was petting the cat. Mom kept speaking about the cat and suddenly Michaela said cat, but she has not said it since and nobody was around to hear it! She did try to say it again, but she came out with dat. She also managed to say tea on Tuesday night, just repeating what her Dad said - at least there were witnesses to that one - Mom, Dad and Granny Pat. It is a start to her speaking, which if she's anything like Mom, means she will never shut up!
And other news - Michaela definitely has a tooth now. I think I can hear you all saying 'finally'. Mom and Dad weren't entirely convinced, but there is a white chunk on her gums clear as day and tonight Mom can feel the sharpness of it. So there we go, she beat her dad by a few months (he was about a year old before he got his first tooth)!

Tonight Dad is playing darts in the Bonnie Isle final. Tomorrow is inter-county volleyball for Mom. And the trip to Oz starts on Monday afternoon. So, it's all go at the moment!

This is possibly the last blog until we're back, but if we get a chance, we'll try to update. Although the update may lack pictures, we'll just have to see. Bye bye!

What a scamp!

On Friday morning, Mom was in the sitting room with Michaela when she decided to crawl off. Mom was listening out for her and thought she'd gone into the kitchen. But then she heard banging and realised she couldn't be in the kitchen. So, upon further investigation, Mom came to find Michaela in the utility room playing with the cat's bowl (see pic below)! Luckily there wasn't any food in it, but the water was split everywhere. Michaela was very proud of herself for that one.

Then after breakfast, Mom was on the phone and Michaela crawled off. Now Mom had learned and the utility room door was shut. But her new favourite room is the bathroom. Mom and Dad have made sure most things are out of reach and anything she can get to, should be okay for her at the moment. Well, eventually Mom realised all was silent - never a good sign! So, quickly off the phone and off to investigate, Mom found Michaela had managed to get into a jar of Vaseline (see pic below). It was everywhere - hair, face, mouth (I think), floor, pyjamas, everywhere! But no harm done. Now the bathroom door is shut too.

All Mom can say now is thank goodness the stair gates arrived today!

Only one day late

I know I said the blog would be updated on the 11th, but I did say sometime 'around then' to cover myself for this. Yes, it's one day late! Mom was far too lazy to blog last night, but here it is. And for what you've all been waiting for, yes, Michaela started crawling and pulling herself up to stand the day after Daddy left for his course!

Here's Michaela with her first library books. She seemed really impressed with them.

And here she is crawling! As seen from the back.

And from the front!

Daddy says Michaela has changed way more in this two weeks than in the two weeks to America. He thinks she's gone from a baby to a little girl. And I suppose he's right in loads of ways - her movement (obviously); the way she 'speaks'; Mom finally got her to nearly sleep all night and even if she wakes up, nobody has to go to her, she'll fall asleep again on her own; even just the way she plays now and for how long she'll entertain herself. Mom thinks the reason is because she was too tired and lazy while Dad was away, so Michaela had to grow up a bit!

Here's Michaela 'helping' Mom change the bed sheets. For some reason, she loves playing with this plastic hanger, so Mom lets her go for it!

This is Michaela at exactly 9 months old. Shelby and Dave brought this activity centre over from America for her to play in and it's been a big hit (both with her and Elise!). And the great thing about it is, you can take off the top and bottom, and it turns into a walk behind. Again, Mom is annoyed about the stuff you can get in America and the price you can get it at!

Sorry folks!

Mom's sorry to say that there won't be any blogging for the next two weeks. Dad's had to go away on a course and Mom doesn't know how to upload photos onto our computer (I know, I should learn, but it's too late now). Mom's a bit worried about how the next fortnight will go, but luckily Granny Up-by is around to help out!

Latest news on Michaela is that she's still really enjoying swimming - Mom dunked her twice on Thursday and she wasn't bothered either time. I think that had more to do with the little boy in the pool who she was in awe of, rather than Mom's dunking skills, but that's okay. Michaela's also really, really close to crawling and to pulling herself up to stand. Mom's a bit worried this might all happen while Dad's away, which would be a shame for him to miss out. Here's hoping she'll hold out until he's back!

And yes, the trip to Australia is all booked and sorted! We go March 26th and get back on April 19th. And Shelby arrives today for a week and a half so Mom and Michaela won't be too lonely without Dad.

Anyway, unless something spectacular happens in the next fortnight, the next blog is likely to be around the 11th of March (or sometime around then). Cheers for now!

Swimming and ................ pooping!

Here's another cute photo of Michaela in the bath. Mom just couldn't resist putting it in the blog!

Here's Michaela in one of her usual places - backed against the wall! Since Michaela is nearly crawling, but not quite, this is the usual outcome. She starts off sitting, then gets into a crawling position, maybe crawls backwards for a bit, then flops onto her belly. Sometimes she gets back into her crawling position and it all starts again.

On Monday, we went to Burra to see Auntie Laura and then later on, we went to Cunningsburgh for Grandad's birthday. Both places Michaela got to try out her new booster seat for eating. She seemed to do well in it, so Mom's glad she bought it. She seems to love taking off her socks at the moment and throwing things. Luckily she had her big cousin Eve around to play these games with her, as the games don't last very long when it's just Mom or Dad!

Last Wednesday was Michaela's second swimming lesson. I would say it went better than the first, although there was still a little bit of crying when she had to go on her back. But, horror of horrors, Michaela pooped while we were in the pool! So, we've found out that the swim nappy works - there were no messes in the pool. But, it turns out, the mess comes when you have to take the thing off! Michaela was covered in her poo from waist to feet as the water just helped it to spread. So now Mom is going to buy disposable swim nappies, so it can just be taken off easily, instead of having to get her legs out of the reuseable one.

After the success of the second swimming lesson, Mom and Michaela went with Michelle and Cerys to the Sandwick pool on Thursday afternoon. Well, the girls just loved it! So now we know the temperature of the water doesn't really bother her. And Sandwick was fantastic because it was fairly empty, so we could take our time and try out different things without bothering anyone else. But again, she pooped in the pool (and Mom still didn't have disposable swim nappies). So after that success, Mom and Dad took Michaela to Sandwick on Sunday. She wasn't as happy, but she was still pretty good in the pool - maybe it was too busy for her at the weekend? Anyway, this time Mom was armed with a disposable swim nappy. And guess what? No poops! Of course!