Firsts
The first year of Louisette’s life has been VERY exciting, and as I tried to think of new and interesting photos for each day I took a lot of photos of significant moments. Suddenly her babyhood is over and I want to make sure I remember every second. A photo a day wasn’t enough, but it’s a start.
In Jan/Feb, she was born:
She took several days to open her eyes for more than an instant:
Another day or two to look at me for the first time:
And another day or two before she was genuinely awake for the first time:
She had her first hundred or so stories:
She noticed her own limbs, and was Deeply Concerned:
In Feb/March, she grew interested in looking at things:
Discovered the joy of dummies:
Would sometimes accept tummy time without complaint (it’s very good for young babies – to develop skills for crawling, and to keep the back of their heads from becoming too flat):
Began baby push-ups:
And learned to smile:
In March/April she began flailing in the direction of dangling toys:
Laughed (complete with joyful flailing):
Visited Hong Kong and Beijing:
Deliberately grabbed a toy for the first time:
Began playing simple games:
Learned the joy of “Ooh, shiny!”
Could sleep anywhere, anytime (including in a freezing Mongolian wind):
And discovered that her hands were both portable and useful:
In April/May she loved to fly:
Loved to sit up:
Realised tummy time meant, someday crawling – and tried SO hard to make it work:
Decided water, her screamworthy enemy, was actually kind of cool:
Impressed everyone with her ability to stand:
Held hands with A Boy:
And plunged headlong into the world of toys:
In May/June she began eating solid food:
Was fascinated by the pretty girl in the mirror:
Began using fine motor skills (I said BEGAN…):
Loved being upside down:
Attempted to interact with the cats:
And found her feet:
In June/July she began saying “Mum” when she wanted me to come, and was suddenly able to push herself up on hands and knees:
Could stand up with only a Jolly Jumper, a hand on her back, or something to hold on to herself:
Could turn the pages of her board books:
And had her official dedication at church:
In July/August, now six months old, she learned the joy of not sharing:
Learned crawling in stages – first she would go up on hands and knees and faceplant herself forward, then she began pawing the ground like a horse – and then BOOM! She could crawl.
This meant that when she saw a toy truck for the first time, she could race across a room and play with THAT:
Meanwhile, walking!
. . . drumming. . .
. . . and drinking from a sippy cup (which took a few days to learn).
In August/September she was suddenly much harder to photograph (too darn quick – but she now threw up only about once a week, down from a six-week peak during which she threw up a dozen times every day):
She also learned to take her books (and Mummy and Daddy’s CDs) off bookshelves:
Visited Questacon and Cockington Green:
Could pull herself up from the floor and cruise (walk along furniture):
She had her skin tag removed (from her face; all this is just to check all’s well – which it was):
Grew her first teeth (that’s a special finger-toothbrush daddy’s using):
Attempted self-feeding:
and taught herself to flip paper pages:
In September/October she couldn’t play outside for thirty seconds without choking on something:
Established herself as a climber:
LOVED water:
Went to Floriade:
Turned out to be surprisingly good at catching a rolled ball (it was another month or two before she was good at passing it back and forth):
Developed anticipation (of falling) for the first time (but could stand up herself by leaning against something):
and could climb stairs:
In October/November she usually (but not always) slept on her tummy with her bum in the air:
Looked awesome in pigtails – but continued to have plenty of bad hair days:
Loved to stick her tongue out:
Was fascinated by her tiny cousin:
Was very comfortable in the water, but continued to try and drink it – all of it – whenever we encouraged her to try holding her breath and putting her head under:
Learned to drink her own bottle (finally – although it took a while for her to have the strength to drink the whole bottle without someone else taking over):
Heartily enjoyed Nanny’s swing:
And made significant progress towards consistently getting down from the couch safely (mastered it a month later, with rare exceptions):
In October/November she grew to loathe bibs (and insisted on finger-feeding herself as much as possible):
Could suddenly clap and wave:
LOVED the beach:
And was reasonably gentle with Ana most of the time:
In December/January she babbled constantly (featuring much “Mum/Mummy”, “Dad/Daddy”, “gat/dat/cat”, and the so-called Indian war cry – then she added “duck” and the occasional “dog”, and then became obsessed with saying “dat” – that – and pointing at things):
She went to her first Carols night:
Where she saw her dad play bass for the first time:
And instantly and obsessively grasped the allure of the stage:
She also began standing independently for the first time:
Could ride on her dad’s back:
On December 24th she suddenly realised she could walk across a room pushing her beloved car:
And then she had her first Christmas (and her first taste of ice cream):
On New Years’ Eve she put her face fully underwater and blew bubbles for the first time. Meanwhile, her top two teeth were coming through (and then another pair on the bottom, too):
At age one she could amuse herself very well for long periods of time as long as someone was in the room admiring her (being on the computer doesn’t cut it), and could last about two minutes properly alone before getting annoyed. She could identify photos and certain animal pictures correctly more often than not, and would usually self-settle. When she wanted a story, she would bring a book to us and attempt to climb into our laps – sometimes grabbing our hand and forcibly placing the book in it. She could climb onto some couches without assistance or props (yikes). She still drooled a fair bit, and loved to put everything (including her youngest cousin) in her mouth.
On 2 January she attempted her first solo step. On January 11, she took her first solo step. This video was taken the day before her birthday (that is, January 14). And that’s that: Goodbye, baby: Hello toddler. A whole new adventure begins now.
Happy birthday, Louisette.
Felicity Banks 
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