Femke is now almost 14 months and I thought it is interesting to write about her development/achievements so far.
* Well last night was the first night that she slept in her own room! I was hesistant to do this BUT she didn't even notice that we were not in the room anymore. She still woke up 3 times in the night, at 12, at 4 and 5, and at 5 I breastfed her and then she slept till 6.45. But more importantly is that this is a very big change for her and us!
* She walks most of the time now and really enjoys that ! So we bought shoes for the first time, for 2 reasons; firstly it is mid October and although it is still 25 degrees, it is much colder in the morning and shoes protect against cold and rain. Secondly, I let her free to walk in parks, malls, pavement, shops, museums etc... Till now she did that barefoot, but comments from Turkish people AND dirty floors made me decide that it is better to have her wearing shoes. She likes the shoes! She is aware she is wearing 'adult things' and can play with her new and old small sized shoes (which she never wore).
* When she is hungry she ofcourse cried when she was smaller... a few months ago she pointed with her finger that she wanted something to eat, now she makes a noice with her lips which indicates she wants something to eat. She is more and more copying sounds animals make, although they are far from similar to the sounds we make.
* She now understands simple sentences as "get the ball" "bring the book" or 'sit down' or 'give this to daddy'.
* She is humming songs and making gestures to go along with it.
* When I change her diaper, she tries to grab the diaper and smell it saying 'bah'. She now knows that she is doing something in/t0/with the diaper, and that it smells bad.. but she is still laughing everytime I hold the dirty diaper in front of her.
* She can walk backwards and doing that with a big smile.
* She can fool you! We found that out while feeding her grapes; she likes to feed you as well BUT that time she brought the grape close to my mouth and suddenly took her hand back and ate the grape herself.
* And for me (Meryem) a very important point: I can leave her alone with someone else than her father for a few hours! Next Monday I will try for the first time to stay away for a whole morning. I am still breastfeeding so every 4-5 hours she wants me for that reason, but when I am not around she will need to be satisfied with alternative food/drinks.
And for the rest what is so lovable about her: she is not afraid of animals, she likes other children and walks up to them, she is very social and not afraid of strangers, for example in a restaurant the other day, one of the waiters (male!) entertained her for 2 hours and she had a good time, she gives you hugs and kisses, she bites with her 4 teeth in my belly and when I say 'AUW' she laughs, she plays hide and seek, she can play alone for at least half an hour, she comes and sit on your lap with her back to you, she wants to sit on my lap when I feed her..........
* Well last night was the first night that she slept in her own room! I was hesistant to do this BUT she didn't even notice that we were not in the room anymore. She still woke up 3 times in the night, at 12, at 4 and 5, and at 5 I breastfed her and then she slept till 6.45. But more importantly is that this is a very big change for her and us!
* She walks most of the time now and really enjoys that ! So we bought shoes for the first time, for 2 reasons; firstly it is mid October and although it is still 25 degrees, it is much colder in the morning and shoes protect against cold and rain. Secondly, I let her free to walk in parks, malls, pavement, shops, museums etc... Till now she did that barefoot, but comments from Turkish people AND dirty floors made me decide that it is better to have her wearing shoes. She likes the shoes! She is aware she is wearing 'adult things' and can play with her new and old small sized shoes (which she never wore).
* When she is hungry she ofcourse cried when she was smaller... a few months ago she pointed with her finger that she wanted something to eat, now she makes a noice with her lips which indicates she wants something to eat. She is more and more copying sounds animals make, although they are far from similar to the sounds we make.
* She now understands simple sentences as "get the ball" "bring the book" or 'sit down' or 'give this to daddy'.
* She is humming songs and making gestures to go along with it.
* When I change her diaper, she tries to grab the diaper and smell it saying 'bah'. She now knows that she is doing something in/t0/with the diaper, and that it smells bad.. but she is still laughing everytime I hold the dirty diaper in front of her.
* She can walk backwards and doing that with a big smile.
* She can fool you! We found that out while feeding her grapes; she likes to feed you as well BUT that time she brought the grape close to my mouth and suddenly took her hand back and ate the grape herself.
* And for me (Meryem) a very important point: I can leave her alone with someone else than her father for a few hours! Next Monday I will try for the first time to stay away for a whole morning. I am still breastfeeding so every 4-5 hours she wants me for that reason, but when I am not around she will need to be satisfied with alternative food/drinks.
And for the rest what is so lovable about her: she is not afraid of animals, she likes other children and walks up to them, she is very social and not afraid of strangers, for example in a restaurant the other day, one of the waiters (male!) entertained her for 2 hours and she had a good time, she gives you hugs and kisses, she bites with her 4 teeth in my belly and when I say 'AUW' she laughs, she plays hide and seek, she can play alone for at least half an hour, she comes and sit on your lap with her back to you, she wants to sit on my lap when I feed her..........
