Cast & Crew: The New Team

This post was written in February 2012, but for some reason, never published. I suspect it is unfinished, but I have just written a Cast & Crew post about Adam's 13-month favourites and it seems a pity to waste this. So here is Emily's. Tomorrow, Adam's.


Some of you may remember my original Cast & Crew post back in September. I really enjoyed putting that together and recently enjoyed reading through it (and it seemed to be enjoyed by a few of you too!). Six months later, now aged 13 months, Emily has changed a lot. Even looking at that picture of her in September's post feels like I'm looking at an entirely different child! Time for an update!


Fisher Price Activity Table
All I knew when we decided to buy an activity table was that I didn't want to get the Leapfrog one. Nothing against Leapfrog in the least - we own a good amount of their 0-24 months range! - but I've had enough of Leapfrog tunes. We needed fresh sounds. If not for Emily, then for me. So we found this one, it's very colourful and a little bit different from all the others and we went for it. No regrets: Emily loves having something she can play with while standing up, as well as another thing to use to pull herself up with. And best of all, she loves the songs (or so her swaying bottom tells me)!



Megabloks
She has two bags of these, one large, one small. When she wants to play, she'll hand me the small bag to unzip. And then it begins. She'll sit there taking each piece out and flinging it somewhere around her. If two blocks are joined, she will take them apart and fling separately. The extent to which these blocks are used for building things at this point is this: I build, she destroys. However I have noticed that over the last couple of days she has taken a certain interest in the way I build things, just this morning she was even handing me blocks to add on to my towers. Either way, she spends ages happily entertained by these blocks, and I have no doubt that they will continue to entertain for months to come once she finally works out what they're actually for.




Bop and Go Alien
Oh this alien! Both Emily and Gabriella own one and he is loved equally by them both. You press his head down and off he goes, sliding around, making alien noises and lighting up. He is meant to encourage babies to crawl and move after him. Emily loves hitting his head to get him to make his funny sounds over and over. She has now even realised that he doesn't work on carpet as well as on the floor. Fantastic fun.




Baby Picture Books!
They tell us that babies love looking at pictures of other babies and that's all well and good, but just watching her scan her bookshelf specifically for these three books is amazing. They are almost always the first she'll choose, she recognises them by their (well-creased) spines. Then she'll sit herself down and smile at the babies and talk to them. I'd recommend these - or any books with big, clear pictures of babies' faces - to anyone.




Happyland Family
They get chewed, poked and investigated, banged against each other and hidden under the sofa (of course). But they'll go far together!
(Note from 2014: Her love for her "people" is s till going strong!)

Again, the list could go on and on really. Those stacking cups are certainly moving up in her list of favourites!

Choose a Book...

When Emily was younger, I wondered whether we read to her enough. I needn't have worried. She has become the biggest bookworm I've ever encountered in a child her age. Granted, I haven't encountered a vast amount of children her age, but it's still quite impressive.

Her books are all over the house. A full bookshelf in the living room. Some more books on two small shelves by her new wardrobe. More in a basket in her room. Two hidden away in my dresser for when I desperately need to keep her entertained while I'm dressing up. Two more in her changing bag and one hanging off the side of the buggy. Oh and four bath books in the bathroom.

I'm not sure how many books they all amount to, but it's a large amount. A very large amount. I seem unable to walk into a bookshop or browse Amazon without buying yet another book for her. It's good for her, I argue.

Lately she's worked out that she can specifically ask us to read to her.

"Bk," she'll say and sign book.

"Would you like me to read to you?"

She'll nod, carefully. "Yish."

"Choose a book."

She'll scan her bookshelf (we're usually in the living room, which is where her largest book collection lives), while tapping her fingers on the shelf (I kid you not!), and she'll soon pick out her favourites having recognised their spines.

She'll look over to me or her dad and pat her thigh a few times. "Ca, ca!" (Come)

This is what we do to signal to her that she should come over to us and therefore it has become necessary for her to pat her thigh whenever she wants to come to us.

"Come and sit here," I'll tell her, patting my thigh.

She'll eagerly come and sit down beside me or on my lap. "The-tew!" (Thank you)

And we'll read while she follows attentively and lifts the flaps or feels the touchy-feely bits. Once the book is finished, she'll sign finished and the entire process begins again.





Some days, we can go through the entire bookshelf in a day, sometimes twice. And then we'll read more books in her room before she sleeps. I won't pretend I always have the huge amount of patience necessary. Some days are easier than others but since she's started pointing at pictures in books and saying the correct words, I'll admit I'm finding more patience for the whole thing. Seeing the fruit of my labour makes it much easier to appreciate the good it's doing.

This is her living room bookshelf:



My sister couldn't help herself, apparently, and had to organise it in her OCD way a few weeks ago. It lasted all of three minutes.

Emily's current favourites are:
* Baby Faces (Look Baby Books)
* Big Book of Beautiful Babies Board Book
* Moo, Baa, La La La (Boynton)
* Where Is Baby's Belly Button? (Karen Katz Lift-the-Flap Books)
* My First Gruffalo: Colours
* My First Gruffalo: Touch-and-Feel
* Goodnight Moon (thanks to Maureen of Island Fairy for recommending this one!)
* Dear Zoo
* Where's Spot?

(PS: And if anyone is going to buy any of these books, it would be really really nice if you bought them via the links above as I will get commission. Cheeky? Quite.)

The Beautiful World of Baby Signing

When Emily was born, there weren't too many baby classes I was interested in. I wanted to enjoy quality time with her, focus on her and really take everything in. I didn't want to be rushing to and from a dozen different classes, feeling like a maniac. But one of the classes I always knew I'd sign up for was Baby Signing. I'd heard about it years ago and instinctively knew it would work for me. So when Emily was about to turn 9 months, I signed up.

The class I chose was Sing and Sign. There are other programmes out there, but this one came recommended so I gladly went with it. The concept behind baby signing is to be able to communicate with your baby before they are able to speak. One of the rules is to never sign without saying the word. The aim isn't to replace speech but to complement it.

Classes were great fun and our tutor, Lorraine, was fantastic. We sang songs and signed along and when we went home we tried to remember to sign along with certain words that we'd learnt. I was lucky in that David was extremely supportive and asked me to teach him the signs too, so he'd also be signing with Emily.

For ages our main sign was "milk". It was obvious that Emily knew what this meant, she reacted appropriately whenever we made the sign/said the word. But for a while, there was not much more communication on her part other than the widening of her eyes in eagerness when we mentioned something she wanted.

And then one day, she signed "milk". It was a beautiful moment: our daughter was finally able to communicate with us. We'd been attending baby signing classes for just a few weeks.

Slowly but surely, her "vocabulary" increased. We'd sing songs and sign along at home as well as in class and you could actually see her taking in new signs, and then trying them out. She doesn't always get them right but they're always similar enough to know what she means to say. She also usually tries to say the word along with her sign.

Emily began talking quite early. By just over 10 months old, she was calling things "pretty" and by 11 months she could tell us when she was "happy". My personal theory is that her early speech is at least partially due to the fact that communication channels, so to speak, were opened so early. She felt that she could communicate with us and therefore she tried to do so all the more.

At this point, I have lost track of the signs she knows. There was a time where I kept a mental list, but there are far too many signs that she uses now to be able to remember them all. By way of some examples, she will sign "carefully" when she knows she was close to losing her balance. She will sign "nappy" when I ask her if she needs changing. She will tell me she's hungry and when she's ready for bed. She can ask for more of whatever she wants more of. She will sign "naughty" and "sorry" when she's done something she knows is naughty. If she sees a picture of a cat or a duck, she can tell me what they are, and she can also make the sound they make (although her "meow" sounds more like "waaa" at the moment...!). She will sign "home" when we are out and she wants to go home (she did this in Paris, oops!)

Her most recent sign is "love you". My heart melts a little bit each time she signs that one.



Now I didn't take it as seriously as I could have done. I missed several classes and never ended up attending the second term, which I was very disappointed about. But in my eyes, the outcome has been hugely successful anyway. I can communicate with my daughter in ways I know I otherwise would never have been able to. It's a beautiful feeling to be able to know what a child this young wants, to know I am helping her sort through her thoughts and therefore helping her understand herself better.

I couldn't recommend Sing and Sign enough.

This is not a sponsored post. It's simply been a very positive experience which I couldn't help but share with you all.

Cast & Crew

I thought, perhaps, you'd like to be introduced to Emily's team... get to know her very favourite toys - the ones that, no matter what, will get a smile out of her. Very often even a chuckle. More than anything, hours of entertainment. So I cheekily borrowed said toys from her and - under her hawk-eyed scrutiny - photographed each one (while feeling like a total dork).

To begin, let me make one thing clear: there is no distinction between a teething toy and anything else. In Emily's eyes, they are all teething toys. They all get gummed and drenched in drool until they're silently begging to be tossed aside in exchange for something - anything!! - else. So I will not bother to mention this fact in my introductions lest I end up repeating myself.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great amusement that I introduce you to... Emily's Cast & Crew.


McBoingBoing
This bunny was a sale purchase, £2.50 (if not less) from ELC. She's one of the Blossom Farm animals, probably last season. She's called McBoingBoing because when you press her tummy, she makes a Boing Boing sound. Emily loved this from day one, and McBoingBoing (a combination of an old cartoon and too many episodes of Grey's Anatomy under our belt, she was given this name by David) has somehow become a "highchair in the morning" toy. I guess it's because we know that no matter what mood Moody McMooderson (Emily) has woken up in, McBoingBoing will always lure a smile out.



Mr Happy
...is an old toy, a long-suffering survivor from my childhood (!). He squeaks and Emily has taken a huge fancy to him. He is almost always the first toy she reaches out for when she's on her playmat. He frustrates her no end because he keeps rolling away and she can only stop him from doing this if she manages to wrap her fingers around one of his little arms - not always easy when your fingers are teeny and those yellow arms are even teenier. I guess it's a love-hate relationship that she has with Mr Happy but I do think they will go far.



Violet and Baby Tad
Both are LeapFrog educational toys. They both play songs, Baby Tad teaches colours and shapes, while Violet is more your playful companion. She comes with a USB connection which allows you to input your baby's name, favourite colour, food and animal and then uses the information in little phrases and songs. It was thanks to Violet that we confirmed when Emily knew her own name. It was a magical moment: Violet sang out Emily's name and Emily spun round to look at her in a mixture of surprise and shock. Violet quickly became a firm favourite as did Baby Tad (when we showed him to her at Toys'R'Us, she didn't take her eyes off him until he was safely in a carrier bag with us as new owners). Personally I prefer Violet (can you tell?) but both are great to have around.



Er... Ball?
Yeah, let's just call this one Ball. Emily loves this because it's so easy to keep hold of. And it jingles, which is a bonus. Not really much else to say about a ball although if she could speak, Emily would probably be more than willing to sing its' praises! It's by Bright Stars. (Baby Einstein also do a very similar one)



Penguin
We (ok, I) love Lamaze toys and own a number of them - all of which are greatly loved by Emily. This little squeaky penguin, however, takes the biscuit. In fact, he lives in the little bag of toys in the pushchair basket - for those moments when we are out and about and in need of emergency entertainment. I get the feeling that she loves everything about this little guy - the texture, colours, sound, you name it. Poor penguin has seen much better days!



B Block
A very recent addition to the crew, I bought this set of 3 Fisher Price blocks off ebay. She has taken a huge liking to the B block - not A, not C. Just B. She literally looks at it and laughs. I'll try and get a video of it sometime. It's priceless!


So there you have it. Realistically, I could say something about many more of her toys: the plush lion that sleeps beside her at night, the sensory ball she loves to touch, the Nuby bug-a-loop teether she just adores, her Lamaze firefly, her Vtech crawl and learn ball (which she tries to hold down when it moves away)... but let's leave it at that for now!

Ten...

Very exciting week. But it's not that that I'm writing about here. Ten years ago I was also experiencing an exciting week: I was about to start university. There's no denying it - even just the thought of that makes me feel suddenly old. Ten years? How am I even able to say that? It may as well be yesterday!

Fresher's Week was about to start. There were talks and meetings to go to, stands to see, bank accounts to open, and everywhere we turned, people trying to sell or make us join something. Typically, I avoided most of all that although I did open a new bank account simply because of the freebies that came with it. (I've always been a sucker for a good freebie.)

Soon enough, lectures started. I was all geared up with brand new stationery that always makes me feel fresh and studious. It worked for a few weeks. There were certain subjects I loved. Gender in the Media, Socio- and Psycholinguistics, ironically most Sociology subjects despite the fact that I was actually supposedly reading a degree in Communications with Sociology only as a secondary area. I was very confused throughout university... never really sure whether I was happy with what I was studying.

Don't get me wrong - I went into it determined to end up in advertising. It was as clear as day in my mind. I loved and still love the creative aspect of advertising. I hate marketing. Sure, I love the psychology of it, but numbers? No. Eventually it became clear that somewhere along the way, I'd missed the advertising boat and was somehow on a marketing boat, which I really didn't want to be on.

Still, I have no regrets. I made some great friends in those few years. And by hook or by crook, I got that degree and to this day I don't know what other course I might have chosen had it not been Communications, so I can only conclude that it worked for me.

I wouldn't say that university holds my most cherished memories. I know that many people say that it was the best time of their lives - for me that title is proudly held by my 6th Form years. It was 6th Form that was character-forming, for me, not university. But I can't help but smile when I remember how exciting it all was, looking ahead. Now we were adults, the world at our fingertips. No one and nothing was going to get in our way!

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