Alina loves Buffy

Alina loves Buffy, our cat, her first word was "Bu" for Buffy. Alina likes to cuddle & stroke Buffy, she gets very excited & talks to the cat, sometimes very loudly. She also tries to put her ears in her mouth when she can :)

Buffy is surprisingly tolerant of Alina, she doesnt run away & lets Alina come close & play.

Sometimes Buffy goes to sleep very high on top of sofa, so Alina cant reach her, or even hides in Alina's room under the sofa as it's normally the quietest room in the house.

Presents

Alina got loads of presens for her first Christmas... from granny she got baby straller so she can push the doll around the house. She enjoyes it very much! Here on the picture she is also showing how she can stand without holding much to something.

From Russian granny she got a rocking horse, it' still a bit too big, but we hope she grows into it one day :)

There were also plenty of toys from cousins, nanny, untie, and even great uncle. We are running out of space, hoping to move to a bigger place soon!

Alina likes to read

Alina & Xmas tree

Alina likes our Christmas tree decorations, she pickes them up very gently or pushes them to swing. Once she accidently removed the ball from the tree, and looked very guilty as couldnt put it back.

Alina chatting to dad

This weekend Alina was talking non-stop. Somehow she & John can make an intelligent conversation between them. She sais something like: "ble-ble-blaaa", and John with a serious face replies "bla-bla". Alina then continues to make even longer speach.
I've tried to do the same, but apparently its only daddy who can speak proper baby language in our family. With me she does not reply....

Alina likes to pose for the camera

Alina now likes to pose for the camera. She smiles when she is asked to, and likes the pictures being taken.

The first snow

It was snowing heavily last night, and the snow stayed till the morning. I took Alina our for a short walk, so she can see her first snow. Her cheeks went all red as it's cold outside, but think she enjoyed it. Dont think she realises what the snow is yet.

Alina is standing confidently

Alina is practicing her standing all the time now, she loves to stand, and shake her bum, and try to let go with the hands as well. She sometimes gets frustrated bacause she cant walk yet, she doesnt know how to step. Also she can't yet get up to standing herself, although she tries all the time.

She particularly likes to stand in her cot, she loves seeing what is going on in the room. It's also much softer compared to the carpet, so nicer to practice "let go with the hands" :)

We went to the 40th birthday party of my friend from NCT classes on Sunday. It was a dress up party, so everyone had some funny constumes on. The Birthday girl picked up Alina & put her in front of her little boy. Alina made a face and started crying... so from then onwards every time someone would come towards her at the party, or holds her hand she would start screaming. Not sure who was more scared Alina or the unfortunate guys who didnt expect her to burst in tears :)

Alina in the swimming pool

My s John'om is Alinkoy opyat hodili v basseyn. Alinke ochen nravitsya plavat na zhivote. My yeye pod grud' podderzhivayem, a ona rukami i nogami boltayet. Ona dazhe bryzg uzhe ne boitsya, tolko inogda vodu hlebayet.

V kontse my yeye dazhe pod vodu oputili, ona vyplylai dazhe ne zaplakala, hotya nadulas' konechno.

Alina learned to stand!

Alina is now confidently standing when she is holding to something. She has made such a good progress! She doesn't know what to do with this yet, so after about 5min she gets bored & sits down. She can even shake her bum pretending she is dancing.

Alinka nauchilas stoyat sama, yesli derzhitsya za chto-nibud'. Yey nravitsya, i dazhe popoy ona vertit vo vse storony. Pravda minut cherez 5 yey nadoyedayet, i togda ona soditsyana popu.

Update: nanny, new toys, eating, standing & swimming progress

Last week so many new events have happened:
Last Sunday we took Alina for a swim at the local swimming pool. As it was early morning (8:15) there wasn't many people at the swimming pool. Alina really enjoyed watching other babies swim!

We let her sit in the inflatable safety bubble, and then hold her in water so she could try to swim herself. She liked the experience, we will do it again! Just shame that forgot the camera.

Our new nanny started officially this week. She is great with Alina, they play & laugh together.

Nanny taught Alina how to drink on her own from the beaker, and how to stand by the sofa trying to reach Buffy.

Also Alina enjoys her new toy boat, she likes finding new things in it. She also likes all toys that make noises, or sounds when you press on them.

We started giving her food to hold & eat: carrots, cucumber, biscuits, cheese sticks. She doesnt particularly like it, but still east it after she had her main pure at lunch.

Alina is trying out her new push chair

We have bought a pushchair which is suitable for off-road for Alina. It's a bit too big for her, but it's very good for going for walks as it's got massive wheels!

My Alinke kupili kolyasku spetsialno dlya bezdorozhya. Ona na treh kolyesah i s ruchnym i nozhnim tormozom. Klass! Tolko ona Aline yesche nemnogo velika...

Babushka

Alina's grandmother came to see us from Russia. It was love at first sight, Alina accepted her granny the first day. They became good friends, and Alina's every wish was sutidried immidiately.

Alina is sitting up!

Alina likes to sit in her bed and hold on to the rails...

And she learned to sit up herself! She was doing it beautifully, and we even managed to get the camera to capture it :)

Alina goes for a walk in London

We went to London for a walk last weekend.

Alina was excited being carried around face forward in carrier. She thought she was flying, she was kicking her legs and hands. She didn't even want to hold anyones hand, just be on her own. She was singing and smiling, such a hapy girl!

We stopped at the pub, and Alina loved the beer. She saw the little bubbles in the pint, and wanted to catch them with her hand. She would have happily drunk it if we allowed her :)

It was a nice day, and amazingly it went smoothly, Alina slept in her pram & ate milk & meals at right times. We'll do it again!!!

Alina is driving a car

Alina has discovered yet another interactive toy - a car. At the moment she can only sit on it, and rock a bit. Also there is a wheel, of course, and some buttons that make noise.

Alina loves it! She loughs, and blows raspberries imitating car sounds.

John usually puts her for a ride before or after breakfast, I took this video when she was already there for a while - a bit tired.

Half-Birthday

On Saturday Alina was 6 months, wow! How quickly time goes, but on the other hand feels like she has been with us forever! She is developing every day, it's nice to discover the World again through her...
Alina got really interested in touching things: she finally touched Buffy for the first time, and got excited pulling cats hair. Buffy was very calm and patient, didnt complain at all :)

After Buffy she also got interested in buttons on my jacket, she could almost pick them up!

Also we tried her in the "jumper" again, she has grown so much since last time, she can reach the floor now! She is almost 2 inches longer!

Picnic in Richmond

Today we went to Richmond to celebrate Nastya's birthday. It was a picnic in the garden under trees. There were many other families with children, all a bit older than Alina. There was even a bouncy castle for them to jump on.
Alina was shy at first, and even cried a bit, so many strange people came over to say hello. But then she started enjoying it, smiled to everyone. She loved watching other kids playing and jumping on the castle.
The main news was closer to the end when we put her on tummy on the towel. It was on a small slope, and she started slowly crawling backwards. So then John put her facing the other way around, and she really tried hard to crawl. John was slightly pushing her feet, and she would put her bum up, and then move all body forwards. She even learned to put the arms into front again.
Alo this morning she was pushing the toy forwards with one hand, and then moved forwards a bit trying to reach it all by herself.

Alinka segodnya pytalas polzat'. U neye uzhe namnogo luchshe poluchayetsya. John yey chut-chut podtalkival pod nogi, a ona sama dvigalas vpered golovoy vniz, i dazhe ruki mogla perestavlyat' vpered. Molodets devochka!

Alina is trying to seat up

Alina is getting better at seating up, she now can seat with hands resting on her legs.

Alina uchitsya sidet', ona teper mozhet rukami v nogi uperetsya i tak derzhtsya.

New playmat from Ikea

We have been to Ikea with Alina last Monday, and she behaved really well all the way. So I bought her a new bigger playmat. It's got a mirror, couple of squeecky places and flufy cloud.

Outside without the nappie

My segodnya opyat v sadu gulyali, na etot raz bez podguznika. Ya Alinku na polotentse bolshoye polozhila, ona tolko odin raz za chas popisala, a tak byla prosto umnitsya! Ona umudrilas dobratsya do kra polotentsa i travu nachala rvat' rukami. Vot video gde ona yesche i povorachivayetsya na zhivot.

Today we spent some time in garden again, this time I removed the nappie, so Alina can move freely. We played games, she rolled a couple of times, ended at the edge of the towel and started picking up grass.

picnic in the garden

It is very hot outside, +25 and the temperature is rising every day. We went outside in the garden to play on the new playmat from Ikea.

Alinke nravitsya na ulitse, ona derevya lyubi rassmatrivat'. U nas ochen zharko, i v tenechke ocehn zamechatelno.

New bath mat

John have bought a new bath mat for Alina. It's non-slip surfice, and she can sit in the bath now/ She really likes it because she can play with ducks.

John kupil Alinke novoye sidenye v vannu, a sverhu yesche rezinoviy kovrik chtoby ne skolsko bylo.

Alina is sleeping on her tummy

Alina now learned how to turn on her belly in bed. She even fall asleep on her front at 9 a.m. sleep, and was very happy :)
We have also had a first dinner today - just baby porridge, a table spoon diluted with 50ml of milk & water. She ate almost all of it. I will be changing the timetable as per Gina Ford (a bit adjusted):
7:30 am - breakfast (milk for now)
11:15 am - lunch (milk + puree)
2:45 - 3:00 pm - milk
5 pm - dinner
6:30pm - milk

Alina segodnya utrom posle zavtraka usnula na zhivote. Ya yeye v krovat kak obychno polozhila, a ona perevernulas na zhivot, sosku v rot zasunula i usnula. Voobsche yey chego-to segosnya tseliy den soska nravitsya, ona s ney spit i s udovolstviyem soset.
Yesche my segodnya v perviy raz pouzhinali kashkoy s molokom (stolovaya lozhka poroshka na 50ml moloka i vody). Ya teper budu raspisaniye novoye menyat: uzhin v 5, potom kupatsya i molko v 6:30.

Alina is turning in bed

Alinka segodnya prosnulas na zhivote i poperek krovati. Razvernulas, a obratno ne mozhet... potom v 9 ya yeye opyat spat polozhila, ta zhe istoriya, prosnulas poperek krovati.

Alina woke up earlier today, she managed to turn on her belly & also rotate perpendicular to the bed, and she couldn't turn back... at 9 o'clock there was same story, she woke up the wrong way around.

Alina's menu & bottle holding

Alina had a sweet potato and carrot today; apple and banana yesterday. I have also roasted butternut squash for her, we will try it sometime this week.

Morkovka i yabloko s bananom poshli na ura, segodnya poprobovali sladkuyu kartoshku (ya yeye v duhovke zapekla) s morkovkoy. Yesche ya patison yey v duhovke zapekla, budem probovat'.

Also John taught Alina how to hold her milk bottle - here is the video.

John Alinku nauchiul kak butylku derzhat':

Almost 8kg - big baby!

My Alinu vzvesili v sredu - ona uzhe 7.98kg vesit! Teper ona bolshe chem 90% devochek yeyo vozrasta. Alinka u nas samaya bolshaya devochka iz gruppy NCT. My uzhe dazhe nachali nosit nekotorye veschi na 6-9 mesyatsev. Ya dazhe u detskoy medsestry sprosila, ne tolstaya li Alinka, ona skazala chto vse normalno.
A yesche my v chetverg vstrechalis s devchonkami iz moyey NCT grupy, vot fotki:
1. Summer - devochka v kolyaske, ona Alinu mladshe na paru nedel'

2. Abi - ona u nas samaya starshaya, rodilas v dekabre, no ranshe sroka na mesyats

3. Lukas - on s ALinoy v odni den rodilsya, samiy schekastiy v grupe
4. Hugo - rodilsya s Alinoy v odin den', no ona yego uzhe pererosla na 1kg!

Eating on the new high chair

Yesterday Alina had her lunch in the new high chair yesterday. It's still a bit too big, but this way she can seat by the table like an adult. The chair can recline in several positions, and therefore she can seat comfortably even now.

We has carrot & babana, with a bit fo baby rice, and Alina ate quite a lot! no complains this time!

Also a video:

Today - trip to Ikea

Today we went to Ikea to plan the kitchen. I timed it so we drive when it's Alina's sleeping time. She managed the hour in the car really well. When we arrived she was in her push chair, very cheerful and behaved all the time when we were planning the kitchen. Then we ate Apple & Banana from Ella's kitchen range, Alina really liked it and ate quite a lot. We got her a new playmat from Ikea, much bigger than her current one, hopefully she'll enjoy crawling on it.

On way back she slept most of the time again, so overall our first independent trip far away went well!

News - can turn finally!

Alina has finally managed to turn herself from her back to her front! The first time she did it on her playmat, and I missed it! I put her on the playmat on her back, and sat down to look through brochure, when I looked up she was on her front already! Then we went upstairs, and she rolled over again a couple of times on the bed.

Alinka nauchilas' perevorachivatsya so spiny na zhivot. Snachala ona vnizu perevernulas na svoyem matrasike, no ya propustila, a potom naverhu na krovatke.

Trying an apple

Today Alina tried her first apple today. I have steamed it for 10min first, then wizzed in food processor. But because it was only a small amount it didnt mash it well. So I had to mash it manually through the sif. Lots of dirty dishes! Anyway, I first tried giving her apple straight after her feed at 3 o'clock, but she didnt like it at all, would not swallow even a small amount, cried and demanded more milk. Then she had a short nap, and I tried giving her apple again. This time it was much more successful, she swallowed a couple of teaspoons alltogether.

Segodnya Alinke dala yablochko. Ya yego poparila 10minut, potom popytalas prokrutit v miksere, no yabloka bylo sovsem malo i mikser nichego ne promyal. Tak chto prishlops vruchnuyu cherez sitechko... ponachalu Aline yabloko ne ponravilos, posle moloka naverno bylo kislovato. Ona rasplakalas i glotat otkazalas. Ya yey opyat poprobovala dat' cherez chas, i yey ponravilos namnogo bolshe. Naverno s molokom meshat ne stoit...

First real food with the spoon

On Saturday we gave Alina her first real food - baby rice mixed with milk. She have managed to swallow some, but most of it came out... I gave her some rice again today, same result.

Tomorrow might start with apple or carrot

V subbotu kormili Alinu detskim risom, vse proshlo uspesho, yey ponravilos, tolko mnogo prolilos mimo. My yego razbavlyali detskim molokom, ochen zhidko. Zavtra ili morkovku ili yabloko sdelayu

Alina nauchilas nogi v rot sovat'!

Alina vchera posle vanny zanimalas gimnastikoy i obeimi rukami tyanula nogu v rot. Vot mozhno na video posmotret':

Novaya kolyaska

Vchera vyvela Alinu pogulyat v novoy kolyaske. Snachala ona ochen s podozreniyem k ney otneslas, no cherez neskolko minut uzhe uspokoilas. U kolyaski mozhno spinku opuskat i podnimat, tak chto mozhno i spat i na ptichek smotret'.

Alina v krasivom plat'ye

Vchera nadeli krasivoye platye i Alina pozirovala :)

It's very hot! @zhara!@

It was +25 degrees outside today, really hot! Alina enjoys wearing her summer outfits, and is not too bothered with heat. We went to California country park today - it's a bit cooler by the lake. Alina slept most of the way, and even didnt woke up when I moved her from pram to her car seat.
We continue practicing with the spoon, I seat by her and eat my lunch while she can copy me with her little spoon. She is doing really well, with the right hand, can put the spoon straight into the mouth. Daddy bought us the little tray for Bumbo seat, soon will be practicing eating in it. Alina is getting too big now for her green seat, it bends down when she is seating on it!

Alina was singing songs today. I put on some Russian children songs, and she was trying to sing lauder than the CD player.


Segodnya na ulitse bylo leto, i my poyehali gulyat k ozeru. Alina ochen bystro zasnula i pochti chas prospala poka ya vokrug ozera yeye katala. Dazhe kogda iz kolyaski v sidenye perekladyvala ona ne prosnulas.
Opyat segodnya praktikovalis s lozhkoy. U Aliny uzhe ochen horosho poluchayetsya, my s ney sidim ryadom i ona smotrit kak ya yem i svoyey lozhkoy menya kopiruyet.
Yesche polozhila Alinku na kovrik i vklyuchila yey CD s detskimi pesenkami, tak ona raspelas', vse staralas pleyer perekrichat'.

Friday - first spoon in the mouth!

Lots of things happened today!

We had lunch together, I sat next to Alina on the floor so she could see me eating with the spoon. I also gave her a spoon to practice. She has enjoyed it! The only thing is because I was sitting to the left of her, she moved the spoon into the left hand to copy me easier.

There is also a video on youtube

Then I put her on her belly in front of the mirror and she was seriously looking at herself for the first time! She was touching herself and the reflection.

Alina also practiced to turn from her belly onto her back, and enjoyed it! She was signing along with the radio as well

Click here for video

Latest update

Busy day today... first went to post-natal classes, where the subject was weaning (or introducing normal food). It's all a bit vague, basically they say WHO recommends to star giving solids from 6 months but it's up to you to follow this or not. They also introduced a concept "baby lead weaning" when you give baby finger food on a plate (cut fruits, boiled vegetable sticks) and let baby choose what to pick up.
After the class we went to weigh Alina, she is now 7.34kg which is more than double her birth weight of 3.56kg! She is doing so well, and still holds on 75th percentile. The weight gaining is slowing down now as she becomes more active during the day, which is normal.
Then we went to see grandparents. At first Alina was in a bit grumpy mood, didn't want to smile to granny. But then she cheered up, was smiling, talking and demonstrating how she can roll over from tummy to back. She can support herself so well on the front, putting all the chest up with arms straight!

Novosti vkradtse: hodili na klassy, segodnya obyasnyali kak i kogda nachinat davat normalnuyu pischu rebenku. Vse neopredelenno, skazali chto voobsche-to nado zhdat do 6i mesyatsev, no reshat vam. Davat mozhno s 6i mesyatsev vse, a do etogo tolko ovoschi i frukty. Yesche rasskazyvali o metode prikarmlivaniya kogda malysh sam reshayet chto i kogda yest', kormish ne s lozhki a kladesh na tarelku.
Vzvesilis, uzhe 7.34kg! rodovoy ves udvoili, idem strogo po krivoy.
Babushke i dedushke demonstrirovali kak mozhem perevorachivatsya i gromko pet'.

Turning around

Alina nauchilas povorachivatsya po krugu. Kak-to ona nogami i popoy dvigayetsya i krutitsya.. ya yeye polozhila na kovrik kak vsegda, golovoy okolo kamina, prihozhu, a u neye uzhe nogi okolo kamina.
A yesche Alina teper gromko poyet... my paru raz dumali chto ona krichit, no net, eto ona tak radostno igrushkam poyet.

Alina can now turn around in circle. She moves her bum & legs, and can end up with head where legs used to be. She also started singing very loudly to her toys, "squealing in delight" as the book puts it.

Jump!

We have also tried to put Alina in her new jump seat. She liked it, but it's still too big for her as her feet are not reaching the floor yet. We've put it away for another couple of weeks.

Nice weekend

The weather was so nice this weekend! Sunshine, blue sky, and the temperature was higher than in Barcelona according to the radio! It was a bit too hot for Alina in the evening, +24, she struggled to fall asleep the first night.
We went to Blenheim palace on Sunday, it's the home of Winston Churchill. They had food and art festival in the grounds of palace. Basically a lot of local artists and food producers had small stands in big tents. We tested some samples, and then settled for ice-cream & tea outside.
Then we went for a long walk around the gardens of the palace. I tried to show the fountains to Alina, but she was more interested in the toys.

Alina was very well behaved, and slept most way there & back in the car, and also in the pram... she also kept pulling her dress up, so everyone can see her bright tights.

butylka

Segodnya dali Aline pervuyu butylku s ruchkami, kak perehodnuyu k chashke. Ona ochen horosho za neye derzhitsya, tolko bulylka slishkom bolshaya, ALina bolshe v nos i v glaz chem v rot popadala. Ya yey snachala na kolenyah dala, a potom v yeye Bumbo siden'ye posadila i yesche chut'-chut' dala poigrat. A yesche my segodnya kupili pervuyu zubnuyu schetku, tozhe skoro prigoditsya.

Alina was trying on her first self-feeding bottle today. I gave her some water, and she enjoyed holding it, however it's still too big & uncomfortable to drink for her. She was trying to grab my cup yesterday and today, so I think she is more or less ready. We bought also a smaller cup on the web, it might be more comfortable.

Weekly girls meeting

Today we were meeting with girls & babies from NCT class. Alina does pay attention to other babies, and of course their mothers. She studies everyone so carefully. We went to Jenny's and after playing for a while she fall asleep in her pram. When she woke up I tickled her, and she laughed ever so sweetly. She is now enjoying sitting in her Bumbo sit for a bit longer, which is good.

Busy day!

Today was quite a busy day... first I have made the special cards for Alina as recommended in Miriam Stoppard baby games book. Basically it's 4 big cards, one has 1 big & 1 small triangle, 1big & 1 small circle, and 1 big & 1 small romb; all of these has small above the big. The 4th card has big triangle above the small. You show 3 cards & explain small vs. big, on the 4th card the child would pay extra attention. Alina did not pay much attention at all!
Then we went to the weekly postnatal class, they taught us how what type of illnesses there are and what to do. Especially it was useful for teething, as they showed some useful gels, and granules. Alina really likes looking at other babies, she studies them closely. She also paid some attention to Buffy, shenormally ignores the cat, but today followed her with eyes when Buffy walked in.
We also went to see granny & grandad for a cup of tea. We first played inside for a bit, and then went for a walk. Alina behaved ever so well, she now has a new habit of touching someone's face, studying it... here is the picture of her studying grannie's face :)

66cm long! tall girl

completely forgotten, i measured Alina yesterday, she is already 65-66cm long!

Vaccinations & cuddly toy video

Well, we just had our 3rd vaccinations, there were 3 injections in total. John came with us, and was holding Alina while the nurce did injections. Alina was very good, only cried a little bit. John comforted her, and even dressed her up afterwards - great dad!

Alina likes to hide her nose in the toys, it's really cute the way she puts them over her face... but then sometimes gets scared & starts crying. I've posted a video on youtube... if you click on the title it should take you there.

Segodnya hodili delat Aline privivki, 3 ukola... John byl s nami, Alina u nego na kolenyah sidela. Ona ochen snachala rasplakalas, no potom uspokoilas bystro.

Yesche Aline ochen nravitsya yeye myagkiye igrushki na nos natyagivat' :) yesli kliknut myshkoy na zagolovke Vaccinations & cuddly toy video, to srazu na video pereydet.

update

Well, sleeping continues to be fine... fingers crossed... Alina briefly woke up at 5, then at 5:30. but both times have settled herself.
She also turned from back to front 3 times in a row yesterday (it's all about practice!)
She also was blowing bubbles with her mouth and spitting at birds, really funny, shame I didnt have a camera in time. She now can hold a toy with both hands and likes studying it for a while. She can also hold 2 things with different hands.

Alina opyat' prospala do utra! Pravda prosypalas v 5 i v 5:30, no oba raza sama bystro zasypala. Tak chto poka (tfu-tfu) trenirovka rabotayet. Yesche ona sama 3 raza perevernulas v zhivota na spinu. potom pravda ustala i nachala plakat'... Yesche ona teper igrushki mozhet derzhat obeimi rukami, i po-dolgu ih rassmatrivayet. Ya vsera fotki snyala, vylozhu kak smogu

Alina is learning to laugh

Alina is trying to laungh when she finds something funny. It's usually just a short little giggle.
She likes when someone is making strange noises or blowing ruspberries, when you tickle her.
It's very difficult to cupture these moments on camera, as soon as she sees the camera she starts looking at it & becomes very serious.

Sleeping beauty

Alina slept till 7 a.m.! hey-ho!
Alina prospala do utra, okolo 5i prosnulas povorochalas i opyat usnula

Nogi v ruki (feet in hands)

Ochen Aline nravitsya nogi v ruki brat'. Kazhdoye utro kak prosnyetsya, srazu ih hvatayet. A yesche kogda podguzniki menyayem, tozhe srazu obe hvatayet. Inogda pytayetsya i do rta donesti, no pochemu-to vsegda kulak snachala vo rtu okazyvayetsya. Ya yey pomogayu inogda, no yey samoy interesney.

Stopy u neye uzhe dlinnye 8.5cm!

Alina loves to put her feet into her hands, especially when we change her nappies. Her feet are becoming really long, I measured 8.5cm. Can't measure her heighth as she allways clunches to her feet :)