Hiya

Today, had she arrived on time, would've been Tilly's first birthday. Since this was last updated, she's added a lot to her repertoire. She happily commando-crawled her way around for months, pulling herself along with her leading arm with the other tucked beneath her like an extra in a B-movie dragging themselves away from an explosion. Then, only a month ago, the joy of crawling dawned on her and she now zooms around the room at a fierce rate. She tends to aim not for objects (though she's not above a good bout of scragging) as the exits: leave a door open for a moment and she's off exploring. Tilly's long been able to bear her own weight and loves her occasional forays in the baby-bouncer, but now she's able to pull herself up to standing against the sofa or our legs (especially if Dom is being read to). She can't as yet cruise along the furniture - the top half of her body seems keen to make her way towards the toys but her legs aren't interested in coming along.

Tilly's communication skills are also coming on well. Her first word was 'Hiya!' which makes her sound like a chav 20 year old on a hen night who's half-cut on bacardi breezers. She then added 'da-da' and 'yeah' plus the occasional 'mum-um'. She waves at anyone and everyone and will put up a hand to demand a high five or even a big ten (though this tends to be reserved for Aunty Jobley). She likes clapping and will add some stylish swaying if she likes whatever music we have on. Her lovely smile could melt stone and it is used to excellent effect when she knows that whatever she's about to grab (eg plugs) is not allowed.

Some of you may remember how we stressed with Dom about his eating, or rather his frequent refusals to do so. We have rarely had this problem with Tilly who puts herself outside as much as Dom does now! She likes to feed herself as much as possible which is great but chilli con carne and rice is out til she learns how to use a spoon. If we fall behind in giving her pieces of food to eat, she shoots out her hand palm up and says 'mmmph!' That's my girl. She likes to have a piece in her mouth and a piece in her hand to ensure uninterrupted nomming.