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.

Age: 5 months, 2 weeks

"I love my book of baby faces."

Age: 5 Months, 7 days

"Just practising for going onto solids." (Mummy Sam has a new MinoHD which makes video blogging so much easier).

Age: 4 months, 2 weeks and 3 days

It has been a while - several weeks in fact. We have been enjoying visits from Aunty Caroline and Daddy Brett and somehow with one thing and another I haven't managed to update.

Phoebe is sitting up unaided! She really is in her sociable phase now, she loves playing with people and smiles and gurgles at almost anyone who will give her the time of day. She has been desperately trying to sit on her own for a while, and although she is a little wobbly still sometimes, she often manages to sit for a good few minutes without her hands on the ground. She is noticeably more content these days. She barely cries now, except when she is tired. Feeding takes little more than 10 or 15 minutes  - the days of her hanging out for 45 mins to an hour for a feed are over. She is very interested in food and watches intently when we eat. Little more than a month to go before we can start her on solids, and I think she is really getting ready for it.

My main objective remains to try and regulate her sleep patterns. She is now getting much better and winding down in the evenings and often goes to sleep with little or almost no crying. Going back to sleep in the nighttime after feeds is also no problem at all.

So, we are working on day time naps, and I am trying to get her to take them in the crib rather than the stroller. I have been reading an excellent book on sleep habits and training, which is helping me better anticipate her tiredness and therefore be more effective in working out the time to let her wind down and put her in the crib. We still have some way to go with this, but I feel as though things are improving significantly.

Now I just need to sleep train myself - despite needing every bit of sleep I can get I woke this morning at 5.30am and couldn't get back to sleep - hence why I am writing this at 6.30am!

Age: 17 weeks, 5 days

At the weekend we went upstate to Dressel Farms to pick a pumpkin. We ended up apple picking also. It was a beautiful, clear day and the setting was just idyllic.

This past week we have had our friend, Caroline, staying and on Tuesday Brett (Phoebe's dad) also flew in from the UK. Both had not seen Phoebe since our visit to England when she was not even yet 2 months old. It has been wonderful to see their surprise and joy at the changes in her, and also to see how much delight she takes in hanging out and playing with them. She is really becoming a happy and sociable little one who increasingly enjoys the company of others.

Age: 16 weeks, 4 days

I have been a bad blogger...

The reality is that by the time I get Phoebe in bed and asleep, I am ready to drop - often without even eating dinner, which I know is very bad because I need to keep eating a healthy and nutritious diet for breast feeding.

It's not that things aren't happening. It's just that it's so hard to find time to myself to write. Phoebe is napping less and less in the daytime now and when she is awake I need to take advantage of the times when she will play on her own to get basic household tasks done.

Clearly this isn't going to be a daily account. Instead I will write whenever I can.

In the last few days Phoebe has developed a few new tricks. When she is feeding sometimes she pulls away from the breast and looks sideways at me until I look at her - then she makes a big grin, but when I smile back she quickly turns her head back to the breast. It's like a formative version of hide and seek, without any actual hiding. It's very funny, and it's difficult for me not to laugh and play along with the game - which sometimes means that feeding is compromised, but I figure we can afford a bit of that.

She has a rash on her leg, so when I change her I have to put a mit on her right hand to stop her from scratching - she waits til I am watching then whips it off with the other hand. Once she even threw it over her head!

I'm sure all of this is only a hint of things to come.