Toddlers and Waddlers

At the weekend I took Ellie and Ben to Edinburgh Zoo. The king penguins were all gathered near the edge of their enclosure, taking a look at Exhibit 1, Homo sapiens.

Trip to Edinburgh

We went to Edinburgh last weekend. It was a lovely warm day (last of this summer?)

Ellie insisted on drinking Jana's hot chocolate. Ben insisted on chewing the lid of my coffee.

Landmarks

It's been a busy time recently. Kids' illnesses and plenty of visitors are guaranteed to throw any routine out of line.

But it's settled down a bit now and given me a chance to reflect on a couple of important milestones.

On 22 August it was Ben's first birthday. His grandparents were up for the occasion. Ben himself was a little overwhelmed by all the attention and the new toys. Like most one year olds he was more interested in exploring the wrapping paper and boxes that things came in.

But that's him firmly set on the path from babyhood to toddlerhood. It can't be long now until he starts walking.

The other recent milestone was that Ellie has started at nursery. She attends the nursery attached to the local primary school and goes every afternoon. She loves it. I was quite prepared for tantrums and/or clinginess when we first took her there but quite the opposite - she didn't want to leave! It did feel a little odd leaving her in the care of other adults but we're getting used to it now too.

Teething

Ben now has his first tooth! It's one of his bottom front teeth and it's clearly showing. The tooth next to it is starting to poke through as well.

It's almost impossible to get a picture but I'll post one if I do.

The teething pains are bothering him constantly and I can see this going on for some time. It wakes him up several times most nights.

We've tried a few things, like Calpol obviously and teething gel. But the product I'd have to recommend is Teetha Teething Powder. It's basically a small sachet of powder that you just pour into your baby's mouth and he grimaces a little bit but it seems to give him almost instant relief. The only problem as with everything is you can't use this constantly.

Edit 12th April:

Finally got a (slightly blurry) picture of Ben's teeth. So tiny!

Ben's First Teeth
[April 2013]

First Meal

Today we started weaning Ben. Here he is having his first ever meal.

Ben's First Meal
[10 February 2013]

He had about 10 small spoonfuls of mashed carrot. About half an hour later he had a full bottle of formula milk.

Ben is definitely teething. We can't feel a tooth poking through but he's taken to chewing anything within reach and his cheeks regularly glow bright red. Poor thing!