We’re so excited about Christmas this year because Sophie is much more aware of everything that’s going on, and we’re hoping she’ll really enjoy the festivities. With this in mind we decided to get the Christmas tree early so that we could appreciate it for longer. On 1^st December we headed out and managed to get a really lovely one for a tenner – I love a bargain! We then made a detour via the supermarket and spent much more than this on new shatterproof decorations; I was worried that if we used the old glass ones and they broke, Sophie might cut herself. Finally we headed home for the great tree unveiling and decorating.

Although it didn’t take long to decide where to put the tree, we then had to spend the next half an hour putting string on to the new baubles. By this time Sophie had lost what little patience she had, and was throwing baubles all over the room – proof if we needed it that we made the right decision buying the shatterproof ones. Eventually the tree decorating commenced and, once she had got the idea, Sophie really joined in and went round the living room retrieving the baubles she had thrown, and handing them to us to put on to the tree. It looked great when we had finished, but Sophie was having so much fun that she wanted to do it all over again, and started to remove all of the baubles she could reach. It has been like this ever since; a constant cycle of Sophie taking off all of the baubles she can reach, then getting fed up of the tricky string, losing her patience and abandoning the idea of putting them back on the tree. I’m finding baubles in all manner of places, including shoved in to toys and in the rabbit cage. If it keeps her amused I guess I can’t complain.

Sophie by the tree: 

This weekend we went to stay at my parents’ house as it was mum’s 60^th birthday and she was having a big party. I spent more time deciding what Sophie would wear than I did choosing my own outfit. It was worth it though because everyone agreed that she was the belle of the ball, and she looked especially pretty in her pink dress. I think her second cousin Alex thought she was pretty too – they seemed to take a real shine to each other. Alex is two and very cute with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes, in fact, he and Sophie look very similar. They were soon as thick as thieves – if Alex was dancing so was Sophie, and if Sophie was playing with a teddy bear, so was Alex. It was very sweet watching them copy each other, and it was nice that Sophie had a special friend at the party.

She really enjoyed the whole weekend and everyone couldn’t believe how much she had grown. Needless to say, she slept very well on the train on the way back home, it’s exhausting being such a socialite…

Sophie trying on her party frock: 

Sophie’s eating has changed over night. She used to eat anything that was put in front of her – which was great and made life very easy. I always felt quite smug as I listened to other mums tell stories of fussy eating, teatime tantrums and hiding pieces of broccoli in yogurts (not joking – one of my friends really did try this underhand tactic in order to get her little one to eat some veg).

Now I’m the one trying every trick in the book – such as airplane food, hiding and disguising veg and even starvation (OK, not quite, just not giving her a desert or any snacks if she hasn’t eaten her last meal).

Everyone has a different theory on why Sophie has suddenly become fussy and how to get over it. Some have said that her taste buds are developing and she is just deciding what she likes and what she doesn’t; others have said she could be teething, however she is quite happy to feast on rice cakes and biscuits after she has just turned her nose up at my home made pasta, so I don’t think it’s her teeth that are bothering her.

Someone else suggested it’s a power thing and that I need to exert my authority – but that’s easier said than done. When a one year old decides she doesn’t want to eat something, it’s pretty hard to persuade them otherwise.

I am hoping it’s just a phase as it’s a shame to keep throwing away food and I worry she isn’t getting all the nutrition she needs. Although I’m quite sure Sophie would be happy to live on biscuits and milk for the rest of her life, I wouldn’t.

The good old days:

To celebrate Sophie starting to walk my mother in law and I took her along to a well-known shoe shop where you get a commemorative photo with your child’s first pair of proper shoes. It transpired that Sophie has quite small feet and the only shoes they had in her size were purple, since most of her clothes are pink we decided we would look elsewhere. As we were putting the shoes away in their respective boxes we both glanced away for a second… Sophie seized the opportunity to go exploring. As I looked up I spotted her walking very fast towards the stairs (the children’s department was on the first floor and someone had decided to prop the fire doors open). I shouted at her and started to run to grab her. She, thinking that this was a hilarious game of chase, shrieked with delight and began to move even more quickly – much to my dismay. Unfortunately I didn’t get to her in time and she took a nosedive down the stairs.

Luckily there were only four stairs and then a landing area so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but we all went in to shock. My mother in law and I were literally shaking and poor Sophie was crying her eyes out. The staff were about as useful as a chocolate teapot, I acknowledge that she is our responsibility, and that we should have been keeping a closer eye on her, but I still can’t believe that the fire doors had been propped open when there were young children in the shop. We had to fill in an accident form and then left the shop as quickly as we could, still with no shoes.

Even though Sophie seemed to be OK I decided to take her down to A&E for peace of mind – I knew I would worry if I didn’t get her checked over. She thought it was all a great adventure and loved all of the interesting things at the hospital, not to mention all of the fun toys in the kiddie’s corner. We were seen after an hour and a half and the nurses were great. They checked her over thoroughly and concurred that she was fine.

Aside from leaving me a little shaken, the whole experience has made me realise that now that she is walking there is danger around every corner. Much to her disgust we are now using the wrist lead and reins whenever we go out. They are great because I know she is always on the end of them, but she always seems to want to go in the opposite direction to me so on occasion we have ended up in a very tangled mess. I will keep persisting with them though because I don’t ever want to have that feeling again, it’s just a pity that you can’t steer them when they are wearing the reins.

Sophie is walking… at last, and now there’s no stopping her. The word toddler is so accurate as this is exactly what she does: toddles about doing a funny wobbly walk. She occasionally falls over, but gets straight back up again and carries on walking. It melts my heart that she is so determined.
When she was crawling she seemed to permanently want to crawl about in the dirt when we were out and about, which meant she finished most days looking fairly grubby. Now she is upright I can finally dress her in pretty dresses without fear of them being concealed beneath a layer of dirt.
We have to keep our wits about us though as she can be fairly speedy when she wants to be – and as we live near a road it opens up a whole new world of danger. We have invested in some baby reigns and a wrist strap, and even though they limit her freedom it’s better to be safe than sorry.

My little girl walking like a pro: