Runaround

500 Days

Sweetie

Wordy

Your vocabulary is improving surely. Your favourite word for a while now has been "down". I taught you it so you could vocalise your desire to be lowered from my embrace (I was saying "up" too, when I lifted you, but you have trouble with words that begin with certain vowels). You use "down" now to indicate pretty much every desire. If you've had enough to eat and want to get down out of the high chair, it's "down". If you are trying to climb into your cot to play (a recent preference), it's also "down". Lying flat on your back when I change your nappy, "down" means "let me get up".
Your Mandarin vocabulary is also coming on. You have been drawn by barely visible planes from the window for several weeks and now have an approximation of the word. We got a new washing machine yesterday and that having been one of your favourite pictures for a short while in the Picthall and Gunzi's "first Chinese words" book I bought for you last Xmas, you have been excitedly pointing and saying "xiyiji" eveery minute or so at times.
Since we employed Alicia as your first Spanish friend/tutor, you also like saying "si" and you understand and attempt "dame manos". 
Obviously your passive vocabulary is far greater than your active one, and those words you say don't always sound like the word you're expressing but we know what you are saying, son.
Some English words you know:
baby, cat, rainbow, bunny, daddy, mummy, ball, pepper, potato, down, tea

Protestor

You enjoyed most of your first demo, though slept through part of it despite the noise, which I'd worried would upset you.

Your first scrape

You fall over several times daily, it's natural of course and you pick yourself up and get on with it. Today we bought you your second pair of shoes. They were one whole size bigger than the 4.5 you had, so we'd left it too long. The new ones came off more than once in the buggy home. I began to think we should have got a G not a H (a measure of width). Your mum took you up Barnard Park while I did some reading for my DELTM. While you were there you fell over on your beautiful face and cut and bruised your nose and bruised your cheek below your eye. I worry that it may have been the new shoes. It's just a scrape and you were fine but it is your first one, son.

Steps

You like steps and climbed some alone today. Fell off the third one though (daddy was there to catch you).

Londoner

This is your city. You're gradually seeing more of it.

Pointing & biting

You, my beauty, are pointing at stuff and grunting to show what you want to see or touch. You are getting better at copying sounds and understand more and more. You have been shaking your head about a lot, even as you walk, for a few weeks, but may have just learnt that it means no. On that note, I should mention your biting. Your mum has bruises all along her arms and when I first said "Rock, no" in a stern voice you stopped and cried (and came to me for a cuddle to make it better) but you seem to have gone through that stage and now seem unworried by the rebuke. You will have to be taught, though.

Birthday boy

You are a year old, my beautiful son. You circled your presents yesterday before choosing to play with the (unwrapped) teddy from uncle Trevor and cousin Kasey. You got a boat from your nan, clothes and a phone from auntie Kerry, and cards and cash too. Cousin Tiantian sent an English message, which was lovely. Next year, there may be a party.

Driving

Lip-smacking good

Your kisses are wet and open-mouthed but your mum and I love them. As well as us, you kiss your panda, koala and other fluffy toys plus a woman in a flowery dress in your book "Tickle Tickle" and some of the writing in "One Bear".

Today I kissed your mum on the forehead and then blew a kiss to you and you copied the sound. You had learnt to pucker. Now your mum and I are looking forward to puckered kisses. xxx

First Father's Day

We went to Regent's Park on Father's Day. Your walking is getting better. Your mum and I held a hand each and walked alongside you as a family trio for the first time on Monday. You are so happy and bonny and so, so loved.

Big boy

Steps

Independence

I moved you into your own room today. You don't sleep through yet but we want to "train" you this week and I thought it'd be a good idea to do that in a separate room. Your mum wasn't as keen on the move as I was and is spending the night on the floor next to your cot.
You are becoming more independent in another way. You are standing for longer - you get your balance and then let go of me - and today you took a step without falling straight over. I foresee you walking in a matter of weeks but I'm hardly experienced on these things.

Locomotion

You have become more mobile - the changes at the nine-month mark feel almost as dramatic as at the six-month mark - and can crawl along on your tummy. You can stand up from a seated position (on my chest) and also from a kneeling one (using my chest to push yourself up).

Swing

Clapping

As your manual dexterity improves, you seem to enjoy clapping. It is almost a default action for you, cutie.

Flirty

Your mum says today you met your first love. You were rubbing your hand over Veronika's face at Finley's first birthday party. It's not the first time you've shown good taste.

Multilingual

Your mum and I had a chat about languages tonight. We've both heard that if one person does not consistently speak a single language (ie if I speak to you in English, Spanish and Japanese) you will confuse them all. I've always thought this was a myth and that's exactly what multilingualchildren.org says. As long as you get enough language input, you should be able to pick up 3 or 4 languages and it is better to teach them all together rather than wait and do one after the other.

We agreed we would make sure there were enough books in Spanish and Japanese for you and also that we would only let you watch certain films (animation for kids) in languages other than English (Mandarin, too, of course). In the meantime, I decided I need to step up my own language study as both need polishing up. We'll encourage you to learn other languages at school, too.

200

My son, you are 200 days old today. Your two little front teeth, which caused you a little discomfort but not as much as some babies experience, seem more prominent today - I guess that'll be the case every time we get a good look. You are on three "solid" meals a day; natural yoghurt in the morning and then two others that your mum prepares. Today I fed you a butternut squash & carrot mixture that you enjoyed a lot.

Today you've been "speaking" a lot. "Abba", "Baba" and "Awa" seem to be the extent of your repertoire. Since "baba" means "daddy" in Mandarin and this is how your mum refers to me, I can kid myself that your first word is a reference to me. There's a little more time to go before that happens for real. You seem a little more co-ordinated; you're passing stuff between your hands and getting stuff into your mouth first go more often. Also, your poo is solid now - little nuggets - and smellier. You're 200 days old and we love you so much.

Reading List

You had some books with different languages for Xmas (from us) but to date your reading list is as follows:
"Caminando por la jungla" by Debbie Harter
"Tickle, Tickle" by Helen Oxbury
"That's not my baby", "That's not my puppy" and "That's not my monkey" all by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
"My duckling book", "Peek a jungle" and "My mouse book" by Jellycat
"The Wheels on the Bus (simplified Chinese & English)" by Annie Kubler

Beautiful

Rolling

Firsts are rolling in and so are you. While I was cutting aubergine and your mum was out at the local supermarket, you rolled from your front to your back when only Auntie Julie was watching. And then did it again.

Splashing

You had your second solid meal today - avocado (and it looks  like it will be your third tomorrow too). Your mum said you couldn't have opened your mouth wider in anticipation and wanted more. I guess it is that time of development: we stopped supporting you from below in the bath so you were pretty  much sitting up by yourself and as a consequence had your hands free to splash. You got me and your mum wet. We played afterwards and then you were pretty hungry, biting mum with your gums.

Solids

You're growing, a happy, chubby little giggler. We've been talking about weening but when I got home today your mum said you had had your first proper solids; you were looking interested in a banana she was eating so she mashed some up with milk and fed you with a little plastic spoon we (literally) picked up at my birthday party 2 months ago. It's another new stage. You are five and a half months old.

Happy New Year!

We expect so much of you this year, Rock, and your first tooth has made an appearance. You've had upsetting moments during teething periods (I noticed on NYE that your first one had cut through) but not as bad as some babies get it. Big kisses for 2012 and your progress.