EV is not happy about having her face wiped

In fact she hates it. Face wiping of any kind is met with disapproval, swiping away of your hands and a disgusted facial expression.

EV doesn't like having sun cream rubbed on her cheeks, she despises having food cleaned from around her mouth with a muslin, she disapproves of having her face cleaned at bedtime or bath time with cotton wool and she detests having her runny nose wiped with a tissue.

The latest form of protest is to blow a big raspberry at you, sticking her tongue out and wrinkling up her nose. In one of my more generous moments, I wondered if she is mimicking the noise we make when we blow our noses with tissues?

EV is copying!

I was telling EV's dad this morning, while EV was playing on the floor in our room, about one of EV's friends. EV's friends favourite babbling noise is clicking his tongue against the roof of is mouth to make a king of clip-clop or ticking noise. I then demonstrated. EV looked up at us and morphing her mouth, as though she wasn't quite sure how to use her facial muscles to produce such a noise, she produced a very good imitation of the tongue clicking sound. This is definitely the first time EV has spontaneously copied back something new that she has seen or heard but hasn't been able to do before. We were very impressed. EV will often mirror back her favourite sounds now, especially raspberries and "pffff" (like you're blowing your fringe out of your eyes) sounds.

EV is picking up finger foods

All shapes and sizes, from off her tray or off a plate.

EV is glad to be home

We had a weekend away with friends over the Bank Holiday. It was great and EV loved all of the extra attention. However, EV isn't so oblivious to her surroundings as she once was and wasn't entirely convinced by the idea of sleeping somewhere that isn't home. She was reluctant to go for a nap in the room in her travel cot the during the day, she cried for almost half an hour when we put her down for bed the first night and she was awake by 5am every morning.

It's nice to know EV appreciates home though. She looked around the house with an expression of sheer awe and wonder when we first got home. "Wow! It's this place, no, it really is.... awesome! I thought I'd never see it again. And, look, there's the ceiling...the stairs. Wow!!!!"

EV is toppling backwards

on purpose

and finding it hilarious

The game of the day with EV is to lie on the bed, putting her hands up to be lifted to sitting. Once she is sat upright and unsupported she, grinning to herself in anticipation, throws her head and her entire weight back, hard, to crash back onto the soft, bouncy mattress! Then she laughs and puts her hands up for help sitting back up again.

I really hope she doesn't fancy experimenting with this one on the hardwood floors downstairs.

EV is putting one object inside another

Thanks to La Troll for teaching that skill, during our weekend away. EV can, just about, drop a small object intentionally inside a beaker.

It seems funny now that it never occured to me to teach her this, or even to persist to see if she could do it. I think sometimes a new face is much more interesting to her so that she wants to see what they can do and is much more open to their praise and new ways of playing.

She is still quite clumsy with this skill but has taken a keen interest in seeing where she can drop things and the effects of different movements (throwing, waving, wrist, fingers, dropping etc.) on the tragectory an item takes and where it lands.

EV is rolling over

At last!

She knows she can do it and actively rolls on purpose to get off her tummy. She still isn't rolling consistently and independently from back to front though. Well, only about 2-4 months late on achieving that one! I've been worrying needlessly about turning my back on the changing table for months!