some videos for Sunday

Found these lying around down the back of the sofa whilst I was thinking about that eagerly awaited 3,000 hits post....These are a couple of weeks old, so she is now too long for the first outfit, unfortunately.

An Experiment

Every evening between eating at 17:00 and eating again at 19:00 there is a period where Bluet doesn't want to sleep or play or really do any behaving, unless she is taken in her pram to the park. There she can look at the trees above, and slowly fall asleep as we trundle around. Today was no exception, despite the threat of rain. So off to the park we went, but for a change Emily decided to see if Bluet was old enough to enjoy the swings. Fortunately I was prepared with my camera to capture this momentous, nay historic event. So here you can see for yourself whether or not Bluet enjoyed the swings. Captured in full technicolour glory, Bluet's first two rides on the Central Park Swings!

As you can see, she had rather a good time. Indeed, it seemed that the faster she swung, the more fun she was having, suggesting she may develop a future love of speed and buy a fancy sports car sometime down the line. Incidentally, we discovered a few days ago that if you swing her through the air in your hands, like some kind of superbaby, zooming in and stopping abruptly in front of your face, she enjoys that too.

3,000 Hits, and, Grabbing Stuff

Ah, I see we have reached 3,000 hits, and I may have (rashly) promised some pictures from a recently discovered treasure trove. Well, they are coming, hopefully over the weekend, when Bluet is asleep.

In the meantime, some development updates.

This week, the laughing has continued (although we keep needing new jokes; now, a fake laugh or some heavy breathing makes her laugh). Also (top tip) blowing raspberries on her tummy is hilarious for both Dad and baby. Talking of tummies, it seems all the food she has been consuming the last few weeks is being converted to making her long rather than wide, which is a relief to everyone.

She has started to grab stuff - e.g. the ear of Uncle Nick's Tiger, Great Auntie Linda's rabbit (pictured below), clothes (in the video below), a plastic ball frame thing (you'll understand once you see a pic), hair and most excitingly of all, the plastic packet her baby wipes come in - it makes a great noise - you may have heard her kicking it in some previous vids. I figure we can save a lot of money on toys if she will play with her baby supplies.

She is still not ticklish. This is fascinating to me. After all, if at some stage in life we are immune to being tickled (and believe me, I've tried the soles of the feet, the armpits etc etc - maybe I need to buy a tickling stick?), then why on earth would you develop ticklishness? Seems ridiculous.

She also likes to wrap herself entirely in her knitted blanket (below). Now, my brother (I won't tell you which one to preserve his dignity) had a blanket he acquired whilst we lived in Denver. He named that blanket 'Raa' and kept it for many years until it fell apart. She loves her blanket. Could history repeat? Will she still have her blanket in 20 years time? Only time will tell.

She sucks her left thumb (although often she actually sucks her whole hand, which is less satisfying). Does this mean she is left handed? I hope not as we have only right handed scissors.

That Joke isn't Funny Anymore

It turns out that old maxim, 'repeat until funny' works in reverse with Bluet. We told you that she used to laugh hysterically at the 'Gee' joke (for a day), but no more. We've been trying in vain to capture her laughing for you all to watch for about a week, to no avail. Then we discovered if you pick her up and bounce her on her feet, as if she were trampolining, it made her giggle and smile. We soon realised this was the ideal opportunity to capture her laugh on video - surely bouncing up and down could never lose its appeal?

So we waited for the ideal lighting conditions, whipped out the iPhone, and, well, here it is, Bluet laughing whilst bouncing. But before you all get too overexcited, as you'll see in the film, bouncing is funny at first, but soon the joke wears thin (in less than 26 seconds!). What we have here is probably the final piece of film in which Bluet laughs whilst bouncing (unless we buy her a trampoline), and probably the only footage in human history of a joke in the process of ceasing to be funny.

Apropos of Nothing

It's been a busy morning. Bluet spent half an hour talking to her Gran in the UK on skype - this is the longest she's managed so far (and probably about 6 times the previous record). Now she's sleeping, and as we gear up for some more activities (because she enjoys a lot of stimulation these days), we can take a moment to reflect on recent developments in her development. 

So, as illustration, some pictures of Bluet in the park from earlier this week. In the last few days, Bluet has started to realise she can change the world around her (at least if that aspect of the world involves a blanket). This can be seen in figure 1. If there was sound and movement, you'd be able to hear some talking in figure 2.

Figure 1 - Bluet learns to change the world around her

Figure 2: Bluet does some talking

PS don't forget, at 3,000 visitors there will be a special surprise. Probably something like this:

Afternoon Activities

Every afternoon, once Emily gets home, Bluet takes a minute or two to play on her changing mat. This is a special time of day for everyone. First, she looks at the book of faces hanging above her bed, then, with a smile she....well, I don't want to spoil the rest of the film for you (in case there is a twist at the end). Then., it's off to the park (not included in video). Enjoy.

Mornin'

Bluet, this morning, just before the Nanny arrived to feed and look after her, sitting upright on the sofa, then falling over. There are some cheeky smiles along the way.