A quiet week back in the bosom of the family home, following our return from Blighty. Quiet, at least, for the two of us lucky enough not to have to go out to work. The past few days have, however, been notable for a couple of 'firsts' in the life story of the youngest member of the family:
First tooth finally broke through a few days ago - age 7 and a half months.
First aquatic stool evacuation - in the bath a few nights ago. Hope that one isn't repeated too often…
This week also saw the second occasion I almost killed our daughter. Leaving the apartment building for our habitual afternoon promenade, I carelessly knocked the lens cap off the camera slung over my back. Ducking back inside to pick it up, and finding it just out of reach, I momentarily let go of the pushchair. Oops. The steep pavement camber sent it careering towards the road. Normally it wouldn't have come to much harm as cars are normally parked bumper to bumper along the side of the road. However, this was one occasion when there was a gap just outside the building. Fortunately a passer-by happened along at the right time and stopped the pram's precious bundle being pitched headfirst into the road. I console myself by thinking I might have caught it myself. Perhaps. Must remember to use the brakes in future...
You'd have thought I'd learned my lesson from the the previous heart stopping moment, which occurred a couple of months earlier on the nappy-changing table. The little dear had recently acquired the knack of scooting backwards by vigorously pumping her feet. A moment's inattention taught me just how fast she could propel herself - one moment she was safely in the middle of the table, the next her head was hanging over the edge as she teetered above a sheer head-first drop into the bath. Can't take my eyes off you… On the other hand, she seems to have inherited her father's thick skull, so perhaps no damage would have been done.
A few other milestones in the development of notre petite puce adorée (purely for future reference, not for my-baby-is-more-advanced-than-yours purposes you understand):
5 weeks: first genuine smile
7 weeks: first sleep through the night (8 hours, 11pm - 7am)
4 months: first roll, front to back
5 months: first full night sleep (12 hours, 7pm - 7am give or take)
5 and a bit months: first back to front roll, mastered sufficiently in a week to be able to roll across the room at remarkable speed until an immovable obstacle is encountered. Only in one direction though, over her left side. She's only just figured out rolling in the other direction. Also recently mastered - the tummy swivel, which gives her complete movement in 2 dimensions. Crawling is only a matter of time, once she realises she needs to get up on hands and knees at the same time. And the apartment is far from baby-proof at the moment...
6 and a bit months: able to maintain sitting position unaided for several minutes. Until she gazes up at the ceiling and falls backwards. Fortunately she has that thick skull…
7 months: able to demonstrate that she wants something by grunting repeatedly and gazing expectantly at her parents. We assume she'll find some way of telling us exactly what she wants soon…
There was another first in France over the weekend. The first time the French rugby team deserved to win a match in this year's World Cup. Rather ironic that it was the final. They've just returned and are being fêted as heroes, which is a bit odd considering the team was universally slated for its performances up to the final, apart perhaps from when they disposed of the English. Egg-chasers this side of La Manche even have the gall to be complaining about an allegedly biased referee…
