Em learns to clap!

Em learnt how to clap today! She had been swinging one arm left to right for a couple of days and I just thought it was her new thing. Turns out, she had been doing a one-handed clap! She finally worked out how to put both hands together as she swung her arms and ta-da! *clap*!

She's got this proud, ecstatic look where she scrunches up her face in glee when she does it too. Priceless! I managed to catch this video while we were travelling in the car. A pretty good first attempt at recording her clap! :)

Almost one!

Em is now 11.5 months old... Where has the time gone?!?! It's been a while since my last update so this could be a lengthy one.

First of all, I'm so glad to say that Em has finally dropped her last nap! We're down to 2 consistent naps a day - the morning 9-ish till 10-ish one and an afternoon 2-ish to 3-ish one. They are still short by far, but Em has never been a good sleeper from day one so I'm really happy when she does just one cycle each nap at least. Usually we get about an hours worth and I've also progressed from having to carry her the whole naptime, to being able to put her down on the bed again. Yippee! 

Her night sleep is a different story though, or the same, depending which way you look at it. Basically, still terrible to say the least. We have say about 3-4 wakings per night? She will fall asleep consistently by 8.20pm every night, but wake at least once between 11-12, another between 1-2 and again between 4-5. If we're lucky, she'll sleep till 7 then, otherwise we have another waking around 6... I've started bringing Em into bed for a nurse lying down in the mornings while I catch a couple more winks since she has been waking so early. We'll see if this changes anytime soon... I'm definitely looking forward to her sleeping through the night!

At the same time, she's lasting really well through the day now, being able to stay awake for 3-4 hours at a stretch before getting cranky. It really allows us to get a lot more done during the day, plus we get to go out and explore more since she's awake for longer. 

Em's still not walking yet... Doesn't look too far away though. She cruises really well along the furniture and crawls really fast, especially when she's trying to get to something she really wants, like an open drawer :) Today was the first time she stood quite steadily on her own without leaning on anything, while we were in the pool. So I think it won't be long now!

Oh! And her latest face is the awesomest  expression ever! It's one that goes "oooooooh" and she does it whenever she uncovers something new, it's hilarious! I love it!

Em has also gotten really good at feeding herself lately. Her favourite is currently bread, she doesn't like her pumpkin so much anymore... plenty of food going to waste lately :( but here she is feeding herself:

We've also recently discovered some little snacks for her so she's been having fun exploring the whole self-feeding process. Her little fingers are really good at the pincer grip these days!

So my little baby turns one in a couple of weeks... What a milestone! Love her to bits as she surprises me each and every day with new discoveries. ❤