Jam Jam Boomerang and walking

At the Box of Delights course we were talking about birthday parties and things to do with our little ones. Nicole recommended Funky Monkeys or Jam Jam Boomerang, I was quite surprised, I didn't think that they'd take children as young as Tilly but apparently they do and the adults get to play in there with them - bonus. So today, we went to find Jam Jam Boomerang. It is a large warehouse on the outskirts of Coventry and as we approached the door we could hear the children screaming inside. Adults are free, so it only cost us £2.00 to get in which we thought was a bargain. You get 2 hours of fun in a soft play area. Tilly had fallen asleep in the car was wasn't best pleased when we woke her up to get her out, so she was still a bit groggy when we got in. We took her into the PVC clad foam climbing frame, all caged in with netting. Tilly seemed totally bemused and a little uncertain. Richard went up with her and I stood looking through the net to encourage her to move around it a lot more. After two trips round the lumps, ramps, through tunnels, down slides etc she was fine and you could see her really start to enjoy it and more importantly to get better at her agility with the strange obstacles. It reminded me a lot of the children's TV show 'Funhouse'. We spent nearly the full 2 hours there, mainly crawling around on all fours and squeezing through the obstacles that had been designed for small children. It was a great and cheap day out and I'd certainly do it again.

Tilly has been practising walking a lot more today. Before we went to Jam Jam, we took this video footage of her walking. She tends to have a problem when she gets excited about what she's doing, she giggles, her knees go and she launches forwards towards us.



Later this afternoon I took her out into the garden to practice. They say that children start to walk better in open spaces as they feel less likely to knock into something and feel free to move. She did really well and probably took about 16 steps. I can't believe how fast she is learning, it was only Friday that she took her first steps and she's grasping it quickly, with much better standing balance too.
I'm so proud of her. It is so amazing to think that not even a year ago she was still inside me and already she is out, crawling, walking, babbling and understanding what I say.
Her understanding is growing so fast. Yesterday we were reading books, she kept going to her bookcase, picking out a new book and coming back to the sofa to read it. After flicking through all the pages, she'd turn around go over to the bookcase and point at the next book and back. This continued for about six books. A while later I asked if she wanted to read a book and she turned to look at the bookcase.
Today we were standing by the light switch and she was trying to turn it on and off. I was telling her it changed the light but with the bright daylight the difference could hardly be seen. Richard said she didn't understand and I almost agreed until she pushed it and then turned and pointed at the light.
Earlier today she came to see me in the kitchen, she'd just been playing with a ball that she no longer had. I asked her where the ball was and she turned around to look where she'd left it. I told her to go and get it and off she went, crawling purposefully towards it. I am totally amazed by how much she can do and understand now, literally every day is new. Although they say you learn something new everyday, it is strange to think how profound these new skills that you can see her learning are to the rest of her life.



In a week's time we'll be holding a small gathering for Tilly's birthday. I thought I'd practice the recipe for the cakes. I plan to make little fairy cakes, small ones and very small toddler ones. Of course the best way to test them is to test them on Tilly. I didn't expect her to fit the whole thing in her mouth but she did. (Apologies for the noise in the background, Richard was shredding).

Mummy bad . . Daddy good

Matilda is at a lovely age at the moment, she is confident, able to entertain herself, understand certain words and meanings and is really fun to be with. For quite some time if I've asked 'Where's Shoomi' she'll immediately look down to the floor and around, as soon as she catches a glimpse of her she beams from ear to ear. Along with this she can understand Daddy and is just starting to look for me when we say Mummy.  

For some reason she finds it totally hilarious when I put my glasses on.  Yesterday she looked at my glasses on the side of the sofa and then looked up at my face and on top of my head to check if they were there.  I was amazed - she is really starting to understand life in her own small way. 

Later in the same afternoon, she had been standing up against the sofa and she dropped her plastic ring, it made a noise as it bounced on the hardwood floor and then wobbled like a spinning top.  Tilly picked up the ring again and, on purpose dropped the ring to make it do the same.  I find these moments of realisation so exciting.  I sat and watched her continue to repeat it again and again for the next 15 minutes. 

She watches everything so intently, so desperate to understand more.  She makes me giggle when I brush my teeth and she smiles at me, fascinated by what is going on, checking it out in the mirror and up close in my face.  I know she is learning as only a few minutes later she opens her mouth and smiles when her own tiny white teeth make the same noise against her toothbrush.

Tilly has been babbling away for quite some time, she is often making noises and everyone says it won't be long before she is talking. Her most lovely and most recent noises have been 'burbbbburrbbbbbburrrbbb' with her mouth (like a raspberry but much cuter) and a very knowing and confident 'da, da, da' .  The latter is said almost as if is 'that' or her own way of naming something, she is usually bashing the item at the time.   With this new babbling also has come a few occasions of 'mum', 'mama', muuummmm' and of course 'dada' and 'daadddi'.  These have always been just babblings and sadly not a way of calling us, which of course is very frustrating as we know she is capable of saying them she is just not able to say them at the right time.   This weekend her 'words' have become more defined, still not totally recognisable and definite to us but I have noticed a very obvious 'Muummmmmmaaa' when she is sad and a 'DaDa' when she is content and jabbering away.  

Tonight we made Tilly cry screams of fear, the only time I've heard her like that before was the first pooing incident.  We were watching the final race of the Formula 1 season, it was down to the wire, the final laps.  We were desperate for Massa to win the championship, but it was Hamilton's to lose, he only had to finish in 5th place. With only one lap to go, Vettel overtook Hamilton putting him in 6th and both Richard and I yelped with excitement, taking to our feet. Tilly looked shocked and horrified and immediately screamed, it took me ages to console her. And after all that Hamilton won anyway. Arse.