Dear Frankie Mabel
You’re hurtling towards your half birthday now and despite you only being five months old, it seems impossible already to remember life without your cheerful, happy little face waking me up (far too early) every morning.
I think the overriding impression of you for everyone who meets you, is just how happy and smiley you are. You wake up smiling, you grin at everyone you see and it really doesn’t take much to get you to beam from ear to ear. Not much phases you to be honest and even when it does, your cries are very short lived.
You are also a very active, determined little thing and while still spending most of the time on your tummy, you’re now able to move around in a full circle, grab toys from in front of you, and generally be a complete wriggle pants. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are crawling by the time I write to you again.
You’re really suffering with your reflux again this month. It had subsided (although you have always been a sicky baby), but the sickness is getting worse and you are starting to show signs of pain. You also have pretty bad excema, your breathing is terrible – you’re always bunged up, you struggle to nap for longer than 20-30 minutes, and your eyes are constantly streaming, so we’re taking you back to the doctors to try and get you sorted. Despite all this adversity though, you never really complain. It’s heartbreaking to see you suffering and not being able to take your pain away, so we will get to the bottom of this and get you better as soon as we possibly can.
You’ve had a few milestones this month. You’re now in a big girl’s cot. You have your very own new one, which I’m pleased about, as, being the second girl in our family, most of your things are hand me downs. We tried to take the sides of Lottie’s cotbed so that she could move into a bed and you could have her cot, but she turned into an escape artist, so we scrapped that idea. As expected, you took the change in your stride, never faltering with your amazing night-time sleeping.
You had completely outgrown your Moses basket and are determined to sleep on your tummy, so kept getting yourself stuck in the corner of your Snuzpod and waking yourself up. You are much more comfy in your big girl’s cot, but it really emphasises just how tiny you still are. You’re still in our room at the moment though, as I’m not quite ready for you to be on your own yet.
You’ve also moved into the big girl’s seat in your pram. Again, you were trying to roll over in that, and getting stuck and you were also too long for it.
This month, you’ve been loving:
The big girl’s pram – You’re loving sitting up and being able to see what is going on. If you’re getting tired I have to put the Snoozeshade over you, as you’re too nosy to go to sleep if you can see what’s going on.
Your sister – I’ll probably say this every month, but as soon as she is anywhere near you, you just grin in delight. She’s warming to you too and will come and peer over your cot when she hears you.
Daddy – You are a total daddy’s girl. As soon as you hear his voice, you look everywhere for him. When he comes in from work and says hello to you, you squirm around with excitement.
The jumperoo – It took you a while to get used to the jumperoo, but now you’ve got the idea of bouncing, there is no stopping you. You love playing with all the little toys and you’ve got a good vantage point to see what’s going on from there too.
Books – You love sitting and reading with us and study all the pictures intently.
Cuddles – You’re most happy in someone’s lap, having a snuggle. And you love kisses on your cheeks too.
Soft play – I’m afraid you are the typical second child and you get hauled to all of Lottie’s activities, but you never moan. And when we went to a soft play with a baby room recently, you had the time of your life.
Being outside – You’re following in mine and Lottie’s footsteps and when the sun’s shining, you love being outside with us.
You really complete our little family. You are the sunshine that greets us every morning. You are gentle, yet determined. Calm, but fiery. Smiley while also serious. Happy despite adversity. I could not be more proud of the beautiful little girl you are growing into, and in fact, have always been.
I love you to the moon and back.
Mama xxx
