Age: 15 months

It has been a long time. Months. How things have changed. Phoebe is now officially a toddler. She started walking unaided a week before her first birthday. It was a moment of great significance, and how she has grown from those first tottering steps, taken between Dan and I, with both of us arms outstretched ready to catch her. These days she can negotiate small steps and ramps with ease (thanks to Fantasia) and runs and jumps around the place as though being vertical were the most natural thing in the world.

The top left photo is Kathy with Phoebe. Kathy runs the NYU breastfeeding support group that we have been to almost every Wednesday since Phoebe was 12 days old. I still remember so clearly the first time that we went - it was the first time that I had been out on my own with Phoebe and was full of fear and trepidation. It turned out to be a place that saved me in the first few months. I have made many of my best "mommy" friends through the group, and we have enjoyed every moment of our time there. At the beginning it was a safe haven, and sometimes I would count the days until Wednesday. Going there just for an hour or so and sitting breastfeeding whilst talking to all the other moms, was such a source of comfort and support. I would leave every Wednesday afternoon feeling more confident and more able, however tired and challenged I might have felt that morning. I am sad to be leaving, but Phoebe's nap schedule and the growing numbers of newborns (and lack of older babies) makes it seem the right thing to do. I wish that there were more moms who were still breastfeeding their toddlers and not going back to work - but in the city, to be honest, I don't think there are many of us.

The second photo is Phoebe with her baby. She loves dolls and her stroller. She spends hours pushing it around the apartment and the park. She quickly learnt how to negotiate steps and handles it now like a pro.

Toddlerhood. So many thoughts. So much to say.

All in good time.

Age: nearly 9 months!

How has the time flown by? And why have I been so bad at updating the blog?

I'm not sure why it's been so long. Partly, I blame it on the fact that Phoebe is so active these days, and sleeps so little during the day that I no longer have lots of time to devote to the blog. But actually that's not it, because she never really slept for hours at a time, and she goes to bed really consistently and with minimal protest these days at 6.30PM. So who knows?

Well, anyway, I'm back at it. As the photo demonstrates Phoebe is desperate to walk. She started crawling last Wednesday and constantly wants to walk around the apartment holding onto my fingers - which means I have to bend forwards as I walk  - it's a back killer! She is very demanding at the moment, only because her mission to walk requires me to supervise her constantly. Gone are the days when she would sit and play happily on the play mat for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. I'm not meaning to complain. I do want her to be motivated to move. It's just exhausting. Two lower teeth broke through in January and now the top two are breaking through. In the last couple of months we have been battling bouts of eczema and she was finally diagnosed as showing signs of allergy to cow's milk protein and peanuts. So I have given up both in my diet (this leaves me a vegan who eats fish and eggs - what fun!) and her skin has cleared considerably.

She chants mostly two sounds - ma and ba. She sometimes very clearly says "mama" and we think she relates this to me, or to milk, which are one the same, so it works either way!

It is amazing how in the last couple of weeks she seems to be transforming clearly into an older baby  - obviously that is happening constantly, but at times spurts are really obvious. She is much more aware of object permanence and sometimes shows real signs of stranger anxiety. Despite her recent obsession with physical goals, she still loves books and enjoys exploring every aspect of her toys and what they can do. She has a real sense of humor already, and is generally very good natured. Really, we couldn't have asked for a sweeter or more rewarding little girl.