9.5 month old baby crawling up to stand by herself

Week 160 motherhood with 3-year-old and 10.5 month old: 

• October 7, 2023:  We got to go to Brooks Farms as part of the EarlyON “Wonders of Nature” event this past Thursday!  What a great event.  We had full access to the grounds.  We rode on a tractor wagon, picked our own small pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, walked the grounds, jumped on the bouncy pillows, played on the playgrounds and private ships, and watched the animals in the farm.  There were swings made of car tires and assorted toy cars and wagons in the sandpit too.
• It was grandma’s first time picking pumpkins straight from the vine (mine as well).  Such a cool experience.  The toddler held her own picked pumpkin firmly in her two little hands.
• The toddler loved jumping on the bouncy pillows.  It reminded me of when DH and I visited a farm up north too and we jumped on fun bouncy pillows too.  It wasn’t the same farm.  The toddler enjoyed sitting on the pillow on my lap and feeling the ripples from when the other kids jumped on the pillows too.  She was curious and wondered what a little boy’s name was and how old he was.  I said that she could ask him but she said “next time” (ha chee).
• We brought snacks for the toddler to eat.  She sat on a log and watched the goats and sheep in the fenced area as she nibbled on her snacks.  One of the goats erupted with a “baaaa” so loudly it made us jump.  It alarmed the baby too.  It was the first time that the toddler heard a goat “speak”.  It was really neat, haha.
• The toddler is sometimes fearful on the playgrounds the moment she sees other kids.  She was about to go up the playground to the slide but froze and came back to me when another toddler girl was starting to go up too.
• Really thankful that EarlyON has these valuable experiences for us to enjoy.  We spent the whole morning and early afternoon outdoors at the farm.  We were there from 10:20 a.m. to 1:50 p.m.  The toddler didn’t want to leave actually, but it was past lunch and we had to go eat.  Next time, we’ll pack a full lunch for us adults so we can actually spend the entire day there.  Next year, if we get to come to this outing again, the baby will be older and can play too!
• The baby’s expression was priceless when we rode on the tractor wagon as it was her first time.  The vehicle was shaking and rumbling and she didn’t know what was happening lol.
• The baby is really clingy to me.  She needs to be at my side a minimum of every 2 to 3 hours.  She needs a drink lol.
• She prefers to hold her food rather than us feeding it to her.  She stays longer in the high chair too when she is holding and playing with her own food.
• This past week was my birthday.  And when I told the toddler, she knew to tell me “happy birthday”.
• I attended the last Infant Massage class at the Thornhill EarlyON this week.  It was the last class of 5 and the baby didn’t cooperate this time.  She wanted to crawl and explore and wouldn’t sit still after 5 minutes.  She wouldn’t lay on her back to be massaged.  It was really tough.  I held her for a few minutes while the other parents and babies did their thing in the class.  It’s a great class, in my opinion, for babies who are 6 months and younger and who aren’t crawling yet.
• That said, the baby loves to stand these days with assistance.  She can’t do it without our help but she definitely is on the move and wants to explore everything.
• Been wanting to write this down but kept forgetting.  It’s so interesting that with the first child, when I pumped milk, I had the DMER effect (feelings of dread and despair a few moments into pumping).  And now with breast-feeding this second child, I feel the oxytocin rush in a few moments into nursing (almost euphoric and orgasmic).  It’s total opposites.  How interesting.
• October 11:  For my birthday dinner this year, we went to have a lobster mountain feast (8.8 pounds of it).  It was difficult to jostle both kids at the dinner table because the baby doesn’t sit for long in her booster and needs to have someone hold her.  It’s much easier when she falls asleep because then we only need to tend to the toddler.  I’m still trying to savour and enjoy all and any meals outside of the home because it’s getting more difficult to do them now that the baby likes to be more mobile.  And who knows how the future will be.
• The baby knows how to wave whenever we wave to her or say “hi” and “bye”.  It’s so cute.  She will bring up one arm and open and close her hands too.  She waves bye to DH when it’s bedtime or naptime.  The baby has the brightest smile too with her two little bottom teeth sticking out of her pink gums.
• She still claps when she hears us say “ho yea” (yay).
• When she’s not ready to sleep yet, she will crawl around in the bed and hold on to the bed rails and the bed posts.  She likes to take her hand and put it on my face.  I despise anyone touching my face, but with this innocent cutie, I can’t get mad at her so I let her do it before I tell her “no”.  She shakes her head from side to side when we tell her “no”.  DH said he taught her it.  There were a few times this week when the baby accidentally kissed me when she brought her face too close.  She giggles when she does it and it’s the cutest thing.
• The baby loves taking apart her sister’s magnetic tile creations.  She is just drawn to it lol.
• We got a Bellababy carrier this week from the Amazon warehouse and it works so well.  The baby sits very comfortably in it.  Such a great deal.  It sells for $50 online and we got it for $25.
• The baby has been eating so much food these days.  She loves eating and holding the food.  She eats a lot of bread and vegetables (broccoli, eggplant, gai lan — anything that is easy for her to hold on to).
• While at our niece’s 2nd birthday celebration lunch this week, the toddler found a doctor’s play kit and started playing with it.  We don’t have anything like this at home (I’ve considered getting one for her but didn’t).  She really enjoyed this new play activity.  She gave me the stethoscope and I “listened” to her heart and then with the Pooh stuffed bear too.  I “inspected” her ears with the tool, used a scalpel to “do surgery” on the bear, give the bear a needle, inspect his teeth and tongue.  She loved it.  It was all she talked about when we got home.  She kept asking me to talk about what we did to the bear.  If I forgot any of the tasks, she reminded me.  She remembers everything!
• For the first time in her aunt and uncle’s house, she was super comfortable and vocal.  She didn’t feel shy about speaking up or voicing herself.  She talked so much more than usual!  Yay, good for her.
• She also gave a toy to her younger female cousin, one of the first signs of generous gestures.
• She likes to read and pulled me to read with her.
• The baby is on the move and crawls super fast now.  She seeks out the toys that make noise.
• I’ve been reading more to the baby and she tolerates books a little more than before now.  She likes to yank and pull on things and doesn’t sit still.
• The baby plays in a new configuration put together by DH.  I had asked him to divide the toddler and the baby’s play area so the toddler wouldn’t always get her creations destroyed by the baby.  The baby’s play space is smaller now and we’ve put in a diaper box for her to hold and practice standing onto.  She can pull herself up and stand and even did it BY HERSELF.  I was amazed.  She fell down afterwards and cried but was fine after I picked her up.  I can’t believe how fast she can do this.  It was only a month ago that she started to crawl!
• My scalp has been so dry the last few weeks and I notice it’s been getting worse.  I read online it could be due to my postpartum hormones or not drinking enough water since I’m breastfeeding still.  I need to up my water intake.  I drink less water when nursing the baby in the bed these days.. I just turn to nurse her directly in bed throughout the night and don’t get up to pee or drink water as I used to..
• Also earlier this year when I went to get a haircut at a salon for the first time since the pandemic, the lady who washed my hair also noticed the extra dandruff.  She said it’s due to me not getting a full night’s sleep and waking up to feed the baby still.  She recommended some type of Chinese herb called “aiiin” which she said would help my condition, but I haven’t tried it yet.
• I brought the baby myself to another EarlyON program meant for 0 to 12 month olds called “Mother Goose“, intended for parents and babies to learn songs and nursery rhymes.  It was the first that time grandma and the toddler didn’t accompany me (staying at an adjoining library) because this one was located inside of an elementary school.  I was already 30 minutes late but shocked that I was the first one there.  There were 2 other families who showed up, but ultimately I didn’t think the Mother Goose class lived up to its hype.  I don’t think the facilitators at this location were very engaging or well-tuned..  The location is a 30-minute drive during the morning traffic and there were so few participants!  I might not show up for the next week’s class…
• In the same vein, I decided not to continue with the Infant Massage class in Stouffville and gave up my spot for another parent in the waitlist.  The baby is moving and crawling and doesn’t want to lie still for the massage, so it is fruitless for her and I to force it.  I wish I had done the classes with her when she was still an immobile potato lol.  Oh well.
• We caught a rat in the mouse trap this week.  DH had smelled something like pee behind the stove and pulled it out to find mouse droppings..  I also saw them when vacuuming near the sofa where the toddler’s play kitchen is.  The clear indication was when the toddler had placed some peanut butter cups in her backpack without us realizing and the rat had bit through the PB package.  Ekk.  So glad we caught the culprit now…  (DH also found a beaver in the garage a week ago.  He successfully shooed it out.)  What’s with these unwelcome guests lately?
• Today, we attended a Family Stay and Play EarlyON — back to the basics.  It was held at the local library, which was different.  It was small, just one room where the EarlyON facilitators had packed various toys and learning stations in for the two-hour session.  The toddler gravitated towards an activity where she stuck plastic “pellets” into foam, the light table, the toy cars and parking garage, the sensory table with kernels in it where she used tweezers successfully for the first time.  So proud of her for honing this skill.  The toddler liked to read too.
• The baby was crawling around all over the table and making herself at home with the play things that other kids were using.  She isn’t shy at all.
• A librarian visited during the halfway point of the session to read 3 books to the kids and sing 3 songs.  It was a nice thoughtful activity.
• We haven’t heard the typical songs in an EarlyON circle in a while (since we had been attending lots of creative chefs or other activities) that it was nice for the toddler to hear them again today.
• She played with the toy kitchen in the library before we left.