Talk. Read. Sing. ® with First 5 California

Today I'm working with First 5 California, a trusted free resource provided to parents and caregivers, to spread the word about the importance of talking, reading and singing to (and with) babies and young children.

Interacting with young children in these ways is so important. It helps them develop an understanding of their world, increases vocabulary and helps their developing communication skills - right from the very start. Did you know that 90% of the brain is formed by the age 5? Or that more than 80% of it is formed by the age 3? These early years are so important when it comes to learning. That may sound a little scary, but helping young children learn important skills can really be as simple as talking, reading and singing to (and with) them.

Reading with my kids is one of my favorite things. It's a great way to spend some quality time together and I love knowing that my kids are learning as we read. Now that Ava and Lola are both at school I have more time to spend one on one with Mathilde. We spend a lot of time both playing and reading, and often these two things go hand in hand.

My Kitchen Flower Garden with Boon

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Boon. All opinions are my own.

Living in an apartment with no outdoor space, I really miss having a garden. To make up for our lack of gardening space I like to keep potted plants dotted around the apartment to add a little touch of greenery. Every room in our apartment features at least one potted plant; an orchid on a shelf, a bromeliad on a bookcase, succulents on a window sill, air plants hanging on a wall... Every room that is, except for our kitchen.

I would love to have a little kitchen garden filled with herbs and edible flowers but alas, our kitchen does not have a window in which to grow them. I've tried growing potted herbs on the divider between the kitchen and the dining area but they just don't want to grow there. But just because I'm not able to grow the kitchen garden I dream of, it doesn't mean that our kitchen has to be completely devoid of "plant life".

In fact, thanks to Boon our little kitchen is full of blooms! These gorgeous flowers may not have any culinary uses but they do come in very handy in the kitchen. You see, these blooms are not just a pretty face. No. While they may be lovely to look at, they're also hard workers.

Eleven Months Old

Eleven months. Crazy, right? I can't believe that this little one with be celebrating her first birthday in just under a month. I am in total denial!

Last month I ended Mathilde's ten month post with "Hopefully next month I'll be sharing my roly-poly walking girl with a few more teeth!". Well, I'm pleased to say that I can tick two of those things of the list. Can you guess which two?

52 Weeks: Week 11

Week 11: Our new walker

This week saw a huge milestone for our family. Our little Mathilde is now walking!

Last Thursday, at ten months and sixteen days old, Mathilde decided she was ready to set off on her own and she has been walking ever since. Crawling is still her chosen mode of movement much of the time as it's faster, but every day she walks a little more, and crawls a little less. Oh, she looks so proud of herself as she toddles along. It's the most adorable thing! Just look how happy she is below. So happy, that little tongue can't stay in her mouth!

Both Ava and Lola started walking properly just after their first birthdays so it feels a little weird seeing Mathilde toddle around while she's still so small. Plus, didn't I just give birth to her yesterday?! I swear I did. She is certainly growing up way too fast.

Nine Months Old

Nine months old!

I know I say it every month, but I really can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. Nine months feels like such a milestone. In just three months time Mathilde will celebrate her first birthday. How is that even possible?

Eight Months Old

Due to our recent family vacation I'm a little late with Mathilde's latest update. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten.

For much of month number eight there wasn't a huge amount to report. Mathilde was growing and learning new things but nothing all that major. More just honing skills she'd already learned. And then about a week before she turned eight months old she pulled herself to standing against me (nothing new) and let go. And guess what? She didn't fall down! She just stood there, sturdy on her own two tiny feet. Since then Mathilde has been doing a lot of standing. Standing and clapping. The clapping is new too. I guess we applauded her standing so many times that she picked up on it. And now she applauds herself with a little clap too! I love how proud of herself she looks when she stands. Like she knows it's a big achievement. 

Mathilde refused to stand for me during her eight month photo shoot (I take the photos on my bed so it's a little squishy for standing) but you can see her here on Instagram. Are you following Little Hiccups on Instagram? If not, make sure to follow me to keep up with what we're doing when I'm too busy to blog.

Ok, back to Mathilde...

Seven Months Old

Guess what? I am now seven months old!

Over the last month I have been learning lots of new things and brushing up on skills I've previously learned. I'm getting super fast at crawling, I can wave, I can feed myself from a squeezy apple sauce pouch, I'm learning to drink out of a sippy cup, I can climb over (and on top of!) all sorts of stuff, I'm good at pulling myself up to standing against furniture and people, I've been practicing lowering myself down from standing, and I can stand on my own for a few seconds. I'm pretty proud of that last one. It always makes me smile.

Six Months Old

Yesterday was my half birthday. Hooray! I'm six months old.

I tried to ask Mummy for a half birthday party and half birthday cake but she didn't seem to understand what I was saying. I guess I'll have to wait until my actual birthday, six months from now. That'll give Mummy plenty of time to plan it!

I've been pretty busy over the last month. Like always I've been learning all sorts of new things.

Big Girl Food

Look what happened today!

My little baby has started eating solids!

Mathilde has seemed ready for solids for a little while now but I hadn't been ready myself. She just seemed too little and with all the other speedy growing up she's been doing (sitting, rolling around, almost crawling, sleeping in her big girl crib...) I was keen for her to stay a little baby just a little longer. But there was no denying that she was ready. So today we decided not to hold off any longer and started Mathilde eating rice cereal (mixed with breast milk). 

Five Months Old

Much like Little Miss Mathilde and her non-stop movement, month number five has zoomed by... 

Can you believe that at only five months old my little baby is almost crawling? Crazy, right? After a few weeks of rolling to get around, then a week of perfecting her plank position, Mathilde has progressed to the pre-crawl "hands and knees belly-flop" technique. Ok, I have no idea what to call her method of movement! It's almost a crawl but not quite as her legs move together. You can see it on Instagram here. I can see that she's trying to work out how to move them individually but she hasn't quite got there. Judging by the way she's zooming through babyhood I imagine that she'll have crawling down pat within a week. And then be walking the next!

Four Months Old

Four months old!

Four months!

How is that possible so soon? I swear she was only born yesterday.

The last month has been a big one for Mathilde with lots of milestones and firsts.

Three Months Old

Hello. 

My name is Mathilde. 

I am three months old and I think my hands are pretty tasty.

Two Months Old

Can you believe it? Our little girl Mathilde is now two months old.

Two Weeks Old

Today my little baby girl Mathilde is two weeks old.

First brunch

It's such a cliche but the time is flying by and she's growing so fast. Of course, she's still such a tiny little thing but I can already see just how much she has changed in only two weeks. She is filling out, she's becoming quite alert, she's getting stronger and those grabby little hands of hers are starting to grab at everything, albeit in a rather uncoordinated fashion!

Welcome Baby Mathilde

You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet here on Little Hiccups for the past week. Well, there has been good reason for my absence...

One week ago today our family of four became a family of five.

The newest addition to the Little Hiccups family, Mathilde Elise, joined us at 9:21am on Thursday April 24th.

She is absolutely perfect and we're all so very happy that she is a part of our family.

I'll write more later but for now here are some photos from Mathilde's first few days...

She's here!

Portraits of a Baby Sister

That big fat belly of mine is the perfect blank canvas for a little artwork and that's exactly what it became yesterday! It's so pasty white a little colour couldn't hurt. Prepare to blinded!

The girls took it in turns drawing pictures of what they think their little sister will look like on my belly. 

Baby belly portraits and my little artists

A Lovely Day for a Baby Shower

Today I was treated to a wonderful baby shower by some of my good friends here in the Bay Area. 

We had a lovely long champagne brunch at the Meritage restaurant at The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa. Nestled high in the Berkeley hills, The Claremont is the perfect place for a girl's day out in style. And as you can see from the photo below, we were pretty stylish! Ok, maybe stylish isn't quite the right word for how we look below, but we sure did have fun!

I love a good photo booth

  

My Baby Must Haves...

With only seven weeks to go before the newest member of our family arrives I've been starting to think about all the things I need to organise. The biggest one being coming up with a name for her. Really must get cracking on that in case she arrives early!

There are lots of other things that need to be organised that are a little easier. Things that I need to buy. We have a few baby items here that Lola was still using when we first arrived int he US (baby bath, cloth diapers, baby carrier...) but most things need to be purchased again as they were either sold before we left Australia or put into storage.

Here's a look at a few of the items on my wish list at the moment. (Family members wondering what we may need take note!)

30 weeks down, 10 to go...

It certainly feels like I've been pregnant forever (and I have, haven't I?) but we're finally approaching the home stretch. Thirty weeks down, just ten more to go!

Half way there...

I am now officially half way through my pregnancy!

I'm pleased to say that so far it's been pretty smooth sailing and that our little baby is doing well. My belly is rapidly growing and is much bigger than it was at 20 weeks in my last pregnancy. I'm feeling little kicks and those pesky (but not painful) braxton hicks contractions have started. I've had those from about 5 months on wards with each pregnancy so that's pretty normal for me.