Babbling Barnaby

So much has happened to dear Barney since my last post, I hope I can remember his changes.

Barnaby started walking (tottering) about a week before his birthday and I date his very first steps ie. two in a row, from 15th August at Playgroup. My mum witnessed the best of his walking the following weeks when he seemed to manage ten or more steps in a row under her gaze. Tom's main question was whether Barnaby was walking towards her or away from her! Two months on and Barnaby is quite speedy, very steady and even managing to negotiate slopes/ramps without falling over. He has also mastered climbing up and down stairs; starting from just before our trip to the uk in July and not needing any help to go up or down the stairs by his 1st birthday at the end of August.

Just like Beth, Barnaby's first recognisable interest in living things (other than humans) has been the birds in our backyard. We have a great view of them from our kitchen and he can become transfixed watching them during breakfast or free play. A bird was the first thing I noticed Barney point to and make an "ooh" sound about. But he's moved on and likes to point at most things and "ooh" about it now. He also likes to share his experiences and chuckles away happily when another person, but especially Beth, validates what he is doing or meaning by his grunts and babbling. Just this week he has started to offer things to me - food, spades, toys, scraps of stuff that he finds on the floor. Barney will toddle over to me, hand outstretched, place the item in my hand, coo happily, then take it back and toddle off again. It's lovely.

Our bubba is quite adventurous and he's got the bumps, cuts and bruises to show for it. He likes to climb up, down, over, under things, squeeze into tight spots that he can't get out of (then he cries for me to rescue him), he loves to rumble and loves being upside down. His worst accident that was self-inflicted happened last weekend when we were at Mum and Dad's. Barnaby was on the outside brick steps and over-balanced. He only went down one stair but he had an egg on his forehead and a graze down his face as a result. Bless. About an hour later he rolled off a couch inside the house. At least he had a soft landing on the carpet but my poor Mum was beside herself.

Barney's dimples and smile are a real winner when we're out and about. I am sure he gets even more attention than gorgeous Beth did at the same age (and that's saying something). Supermarkets, when he's in the trolley with me, attract the most people saying hello to him. And Barney rewards all well-wishers with a huge grin, a bit of dribble, and a little "gah". Perhaps he's saying hello, but at best it comes out as "aho".

The only words we really know Barney is saying is "Maman" which can mean me or food (usually food) and just recently, Dada, which has pleased Tom no end. He sort of says "Uh-oh" when he drops something but often he only manages the "oh" part of it. But his pre-verbal sounds are really starting to take off and I am expecting over the next few months that his language skills will start to take-off. Today he was trying out a lot of "gggg" and "zzzz" sounds. 6 weeks ago he was great with "ffff". "Mmmm" has been around a while and "Dadada" comes up a lot now. So once he puts a few of these together, we may have more of an idea what is going on in his gorgeous little head.

Health wise, Barnaby is really well. We're getting over the winter ezcema that was quite bad a few months ago. His burn is healing really well. He doesn't have to wear a splint at night anymore. And in a few more months we may be able to stop using pressure suits to treat his burn scars and just use localised patches over the remaining scarred areas. He now has five teeth. And he's quite small, with a little head, compared to other boys his age. This, and his pre-verbal-talk, makes it easier for me to pretend that he's still my little baby and I intend to enjoy these final months before I have to adjust to Barnaby being a toddler. I'm sure I'll love every stage of his life, but Barney as a baby has been truly wonderful and I will be sad to leave this stage behind.