today, my stunning, wonderful and incredibly fabulous son is eleven months old!!! I think I have been in shock all day - it just doesn't seem possible at all. But, possible and literal it is and thinking about the next month makes the mind boggle further. Of course, I still woke up at the usual 2.01am, but at that time of the morning, I never quite remember why I have woken up, so the toad 'helped mummy out' by waking her at 5.20am to think about what she'd done!

the eleventh month has had Many A Change Indeed. Gone are the days of placid, helpless baby and here are the days of a-wriggling, a-squiggling and general determination-related activities, so much so that mummy now has a pain in her back from restraining said toad after he had finished his bedtime minski this evening (he was trying to get to mummy's - sorry, HIS - laptop on the floor and crawled across her at great speed). She is also covered in bruises from the Toady Toes and scratches from the nails he refuses to have cut (but which mummy manages to do, several at a time and when he least expects it).

over the last month, mummy's bestest boy has changed in the following ways:-

* eating - food continues to be of great interest to the toad. However, the tastes seem to have developed further and now we definitely know what we like and what we don't. No longer tolerating of the lentil and vegetable mixes, are we so mummy has added a dash of Lea and Perrin's which seems to make it a tad more edible. Chilli Doritos (which he sampled after stealing one out of mummy's hand), anything tomato-ey, garlic, ginger and other strong tastes are ones that we love, as well as the increasing desire for bread (preferably in toasted form), cereal (and cereal bars), nabanas, fromage frais (which, when the pot is finished, makes us cry a lot), muffins and chocolatl still. But mummy has stopped giving him everything to try as he now thinks any food is fair game and she does not want him pilfering everything from her plate!

yesterday, I decided to make him scrambled egg, tinned (holy in mummy's eyes) plum tomatoes and toast for lunch. And yes, I know they say no eggs until babies are twelve months' old but one wonders, how, suddenly, does a child go from not being able to being able to eat something, just because it is then his birthday? Piffle. So yesterday it was. And we rather loved it, eating it from a fork (no longer do we use baby spoons; we have plastic spoons and forks for slightly larger english toads now), then deciding that we would only eat it if we could pick it up out of the bowl with our fingers and then put it in our mouth, then deciding that gravity's effect on it is far more interesting that chomping it so plummet to its doom it did!

minski is still loved but the mooseling seems to have decided that we only need three bottles per day and not four, most of the time. I think it's the habit of it that keeps it in the forefront of his mind. However, this recently changed as Harrington had his first nasty bug - a sickness and diarrhoea one in fact - which lasted just over a week and involved even throwing up water for the first day and a half and then the rest of the yuckiness for the duration. We would not eat anything at all for the first couple of days, preferring only to drink much water. Mummy was so desperate to get some food inside him, she even bought/made him rusks and juice (organic, no added sugar ones of course!) and anything else she could think of (mashed potato, several different types of bread products, ginger biscuits and plain tortilla chips). But, the worst thing was that the doctor said not to give him minski - I have never seen a child so distraught and genuinely so, when he was not given any at bedtime - it was so unbelievably horrible and Harry and mummy cried together. So she gave in and gave him watered down minski twice a day as nothing is worth making him that sad and upset for. And now he's completely better and fighting fit again. The whole experience seems to have changed his tastes slightly - maybe because he was without proper meals for quite some time - and he'd chomp away happily all day if I let him! The playing off against his carers continues though when it comes to food...he knows mummy takes no prisoners but still tries it on with others. Tsk.

* sleeping - just as mummy thought the two naps a day were the way forward, the toad decided otherwise and now sometimes misses either the morning or afternoon one which is NOT a good thing. I think it's to do with the tegglepegs as he is a red-cheeked beast again :(

* appearance - Harrington's hair has been on a major growth spurt recently and how his fringe (if brushed forward) is below his eyes with two kiss curls at the back - stunning :). His two bottom centre teeth are well on show although they have not grown as fully as they should just yet, but they are still partly functional and can often be heard being used on something that shouldn't necessarily be chomped (mummy's Benefit highlighter glass bottle, for one). The toadling has now been bought a pair of proper shoes made of brown suede with a giraffe on (obviously) and mummy is putting them on him every so often. Strangely, we don't hate them as much as the other things she has tried to put on his feet!

* moving - we're still almost at the same stage as last month with regards to movement. However, Sir Moose-a-lot can now get into the crawling position rather well, although is still not completely sure what to do with it when he is there. We're still flinging ourself around at a rate of knots and propelling ourself off things, into things and anywhere else the mood takes us!

standing up is still great fun and often results in squawking and laughing, bouncing on our legs and strange foot positions. He can take his own weight but requires the support of someone else otherwise he'd fall over immediately...and that would NOT be good.

sitting up is the most preferred position but can not be done at all times. Mummy and her supporters have been trying to help this along by allowing him to sit upright in the bath, unsupported (although, she is always right next to him in case there is an incident) and to play in a ball pool. These two activities have helped tremendously and today he fell over whilst sitting and didn't even cry, just got on with rolling around and causing mayhem!

* playing - well, apart from chomping, playing is the Best Thing Ever. The boy is ridiculously insatiable for books and will happily play with them for a long time. But, he knows exactly what book he wants and will go to great lengths to get them, often chuntering to them, pulling at them and getting over-excited.

balls are loved too...the best game is when he is sitting in an armchair with an adult-type device on the floor. He then takes the ball and pushes it off the end of the chair, to the tune of laughing and screeching, for the other person to throw it back. To say he loves this game is an understatement. And to be honest, anything that can be turned into a game is a major hit at the moment. Especially when it comes to throwing things on the floor. And I mean throwing - our new 'skill' which we simply love to practise. All the time. And with anything and everything, regardless of location.

playing in the bath is something guaranteed to make even the grouchiest toad happy. This seems to be one of his favourite times of day and he smiles away to himself, playing with cups, balls, rubber toads and chomping the sponge (will he ever grow out of that, mummy wonders...?). Last week, Harrington put one of the toads in a cup, bottom side up, and then couldn't get it out as it was rather a tight fit. The fingers and tegglepegs went in there to try and help but the toad stayed in there. Granddad and I thought that he would pick up the cup and shake it out, but the toadling had another idea in mind and kicked the cup until it came out. And, watching him do it, he knew exactly what he was doing and had worked it out. Watching him play is a truly remarkable and wonderful thing. The way in which he grabs items, transfers them from one hand or one location to another, puts it inside something and bangs it against something is amazing.

mummy is still insisting on using the playpen and encouraging the Harryphant to spend longer and longer in there without getting upset. If he forgets she is there, he is fine, but often decides to get grouchy and ask to come out. Of course, mummy doesn't always oblige, especially if he is crying to get attention and he now knows to stop doing it for effect. Although, he still tries it on, of course. But, I fear that that's something that's never going to change!

apart from the stacking cups, balls, noisy things and books, Harrington now pulls along toys on strings, puts things inside things, plays percussion instruments, knocks down stacks and goes on his rockingbug (on which he learned to make it rock, just today - which explains the bouncing motion he has been making whilst sitting down for the last few days).

* communication - for some months, Harry has been very good at communicating his needs/desires. He now understands several words including minski, nabanas, toast, water, penguins, mummy, granddad, kisses for mummy (at which point he blows her kisses which is truly the most stunning thing in the world :) and pussycats.

if he wants his nappy changed, he'll tap it (and undo it on the left side if it is a clean one that's just been put on - but that's another story!) and will either move towards what he wants (you have to hide the day's food now as he knows where to look and makes noises to demand it) or the hands will start going at a rather excited pace. In fact, the hands are going a lot of the time, for there appears to be so much that is worthy of such a thing!

we are still chuntering away to ourself but not so much with syllables at the moment, much rather preferring to see how far our voice can carry and to laugh. The toadling now has several different laughs; one for when he is being tickled, one for seeing ourself in the mirror and being generally excited and one for the pussycats.

it goes without saying that he gets more incredible by the day and that mummy loves him a little bit more every day. She feels like the luckiest person in the world to have such a fine and stunning boy. He's such a happy and clever child whose determination knows no bounds (the biggest understatement, I feel) and whose smile and gestures could and indeed does charm everyone around him (the amount of wonderful comments he gets from strangers is astounding!). I know I am biased - not that I care a jot - but he is the most wonderful child and I love him more than anything else at all...just one word - stunning :)

(once again, mummy has been ridiculously busy and exhausted so has not had the chance to write this sooner :( )

the tenth month has seen many changes and the eleventh month even more so (but more of that in a couple of weeks!!). I know I've said it before, but my darling boy is a fully-fledged boy now and not a baby at all (apart from when mummy puts him in sleepsuits sometimes :). He really is going through a growth-spurt in all meanings of the phrase and changes both physically and mentally every day.

so, the tenth month has contained the following New Things:-

* eating - Harrington still loves eating. Muchly. And trying new things. However, he seems to have definitely developed tastes and much prefers some things to others. Bread is the main source of yumminess, in any form (toast, sandwich, breadstick) as well as cake, chocolatl (as mummy calls it but that she tries to give it to him as little as possible - thanks Easter!), nabanas, muesli (proper stuff now, with real 'bits' in and not all mushy), Dairylea (the squishy one) but no other cheese, fromage frais and the vegetable concoctions (and now proper meals) that mummy makes. Minski is no longer loved as much (apart from at the moment - but that will be a separate post) and the teatime bottle is almost obsolete (mummy sneaks it into the muesli - ha!). Water is getting increasingly popular but only if it is drunk out of the Doidy Cup or the squidgy Evian bottle (what can I say? The boy has taste ;) and he can often be found trying to drink out of any cup that is about, regardless of what is or was in it (although he still can't figure out how to suck through a straw.

* sleeping - The Toadmeister has now got himself to two snoozes per day as well as the long one overnight. In fact, they are even almost timed to perfection (from about 8am to 10am and then from about 12pm to 2pm) which is a good thing in some ways as mummy can plan things, but also means she has to stay in the house until at least 2pm which can be frustrating. For if he is taken out in the ToadMobile before the second snooze happens, it puts him all out of kilter and will then snooze on the return home which tends to be rather near his bedtime. But, we can't worry about such things for he is getting the sleep he needs and he did it all on his own - mummy's cleverest boy.

* moving - gone are the days when Sir Moose-a-lot would happily lay on the floor and biff the creatures hanging overhead. The boy seriously NEVER stays still anymore and scoots himself around by either rolling, pulling himself along on something or propelling himself with his Toady Toes. So, this means that mummy can no longer leave him for even a second or take her eye off him for the same amount of time. He can move in the blink of an eye and has fallen off the bed several times since he started this.

crawling is something we're still not sure how to do although he can sometimes get himself into the correct position but finds that he is not sure what to do next, freaking out if you try and show him (for he is an independent toad!). He can take pretty much all of his weight on his legs now when standing but will not stand on his own and certainly can't push himself up from sitting down unless he is sitting with his legs dangling off a table and pushes up on mummy's knees. In which case, he can! Very occasionally, he will sit up from laying down but normally only when he is laying on mummy's bed - he has tried it on the changing table - which is petrifying - but can't quite figure it out.

* playing - certain Old Favourites are still at large, such as the stacking cups and keys, but the musical ball is not played with nearly as much anymore. Books are the most favourite thing although he prefers to take control of turning the pages, feeling the textures and lifting the flaps. In fact, a book is the only thing that he will play with when he's not happy. As well as look in a mirror and talk to his reflection, or rather shriek at it! The pussycats are still loved by him and he is very intrigued by the Roomba (hoover-type device). In fact, when he is sitting on his changing table and looking out of the window, he can spy the pussycats from very far away and chunters to them. They still only tolerate him and tend to flee the room if he enters but occasionally let him stroke them. Only occasionally, mind.

anything that can be grabbed is fair game to play with, it would seem. And if it can plummet to the floor, so much the better, apparently. Mummy can assure you, she NEVER tires of this. In opposite world. Remote controls and mummy's phones are still the best and the toadling can now turn the freeview box off in mere seconds. Bless.

Harry and mummy continue to get closer and closer whilst learning lots about eachother. If mummy cries, he wipes her tears away, if he is eating, offers her food and also his dummy. He is learning more and more sounds and tries to imitate both speech/sounds and actions. The Best Thing is that he now blows kisses which is stunning :)

I very much cannot believe that he is nearly a Whole Year Old. I have been reminiscing a lot recently as this time last year, maternity leave had just begun as well as the nesting and the serious waiting for The Arrival! Life has changed greatly but definitely and completely in a fabulous way and for the better and mummy certainly would NOT change it for the world. Love him muchly :)

just to let everyone know, I have now changed the settings on our flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/kalunina) account so that only family and friends can see photos of His Royal Mooseness.

so, if you wish to view them (and I hope that you do!!), you will have to join up...thanks.

this week, mummy's darling toadling has finally grown some teeth.

on Monday, whilst getting him ready, I noticed that one had protruded through the skin (the bottom left middle one, if that makes any sense!) and when I put my finger in there it was Very Sharp Indeed. By the time I returned from work in the evening, another one could be seen at the top!

since then, another three have shown themselves by poking out through the gum but have not got any further. This has resulted in a Very Nasty Cold, much coughing, fussing and requiring of cuddles :( And now the Harrymeister won't even let mummy put her finger in his mouth to check the progress of said teethles.

poor little, ever-growing mite (who has now been purchased a plush toad called 'Teggle' to celebrate the arrival. It gets thrown around the cot and chomped, of course)...

and so, the marvellous Harrington has reached his ninth month and gone beyond (yes, mummy knows that she is ridiculously tardy but there has been so much going on!), which means he has now been outside mummy's belly longer than he was in it. A strange thought...

...anyway, I digress. Several friends have mentioned to me that the ninth month contains more changes and milestones when it comes to children and they are definitely right. My small, English toad is changing daily at the moment and is showing many signs of how he is going to be as a toddler and beyond...an even more scary thought!

this month's fabulous new things from the House of Moose are:-

* food - the mooseling continues to develop his tastes by the day and seems to like some really strong flavours such as wholegrain mustard, ginger and several other things that he probably shouldn't like if you read books about such things. Not sure whether it's to do with the tegglepegs or not, but there are now days of fussiness when it comes to filling the toady tum. On these such occasions, mummy brings out the steamed mixed vegetables that she prepares and stores in the freezer until a certain someone realises that they rather love solids afterall. Bread is still ranking up there with minski as a Favourite Foodstuff and the toasted version with marmite is even better! The Harrington now takes it upon himself to stare at anyone who is eating whilst trying to charm the food away from them. He also reaches to other people's plates to steal food and much prefers a selection of things to limiting one's palate. Cheese is now something we are considering but are not entirely sure, thank you very much, but fromage frais is now considered as angel food and one has been found crying when the pot is finished. Fruit, nabanas and pears in particular, is still loved but not stoned fruit such as plums and nectarines. Small ricecakes are also good, especially when used as ammunition, and breadsticks are pure heaven! All of this teaches mummy not to be complacent as a toad's tastes change on a daily basis and she therefore has to keep many types of everything in the house, just in case

* snoozing - the toad's sleeping patterns have changed drastically over the last month or so, another thing I think has a lot to do with tegglepegs and the constant bugs that seem to be around over the Winter period. The poor boy is exhausted about half an hour after he has got up and so goes back to bed for a wee while, which seems to work really well and he doesn't really fight it at all. However, subsequent sleeps throughout the day are fought ridiculously by either talking to oneself or kicking so much that we end up being at complete opposite ends of the cot to where we first started. This has now got to such a ridiculous point that mummy went out and purchased another sleeping bag today so that it can be worn for daytime naps and shall hopefully stop all this nonsense!

* playing - Harrington continues to play with many things but in a different way to the way he used to. He still loves his cups, things that rattle, shine and make noise, but has also discovered that he can pick up a separate toy in each hand and bang them together. He also loves to pick up toys and put them inside objects, especially mummy's make-up bag which we will travel great distances to get! All of the items are taken out and then either strewn across the bed or put back in the bag. Genius, but not terribly helpful when mummy is desperately trying not to be late in the mornings...books are still loved but the toad seems to prefer playing with them on his own at the moment and loves to turn the pages and chew them, of course

* moving - the toad continues to moooooooooooooooooove muchly and all the time! He has now learned to roll over from front to back and back again and to perform some sort of crawl. His determination knows no bounds and, if he spies something that he absolutely must make the acquaintance of, he will stop at nothing to reach it, however he has to move to get there. The mooseling can also support his weight on his legs now but still requires the support of someone else for balancing. It very seriously will not be long until mummy has to make the house safe and purchase stairgates, etc. Especially as, this evening, he was found trying to get off the changing table which is a first for him. Cannot be left for even a second, that one...arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh

so, there were the main things...apart from that, my darling boy continues to change in pretty much every way from day-to-day, and becomes more of a little boy and far less of a baby by the second. He continues to become more gorgeous, stunning, charming, funny (his laugh is tremendous and pure bliss :) and cheeky by the day, as well as increasing his fan-base!

love him to Reece's Pieces :)

We had Harry's Naming day last Saturday, 23rd Feb.

I hope his mother will write something about it here, but in the meantime here is the Order of Service, and I've put some photographs on Flickr

mummy has FINALLY finished the invitations to the moose ceremony on 23rd February, 2008.

just thought I had better remind people as they will be receiving them a little close to the date. Too much to do!

look forward to seeing everyone :)

the Harrington has developed another new skill to add to his ever-growing collection...

...as some may already know, the toad loves his socks, particularly taking them off with his mouth and chomping them, whilst making a noise that sounds like a dog growling. So, of course mummy has also done this (and you wonder where he gets it from!). When she was doing it the other evening, as granddad was holding the mooselet, Harrington took the sock out of her mouth and put it in his own. He then picked it up and tried to put it in mummy's mouth, with much success. This to-ing and fro-ing happened several times and he looked so pleased with himself. Stunning!

oh, and here is a picture I took of us yesterday. Couldn't seem to get one with more of him in as he likes to try and snatch my phone from me. Tea leaf, that's all I'm saying...

...my boy is just b-e-a-utiful :)

another month passes and the HarryMoose continues to grow and change with it. He gets more and more like a little boy every day, and, apart from his size, it's hard to believe he was ever a baby...more like a toad :)

over the last month, my darling boy:-

* continues to eat his way through everything in his path - there doesn't seem to be much that he doesn't like but favourites are bread, porridge, marmite, nabanas, stem ginger cake (what's that I've read about babies not liking strong flavours??), vegetable lasagne, roast parsnips and toady toes. He tried chicken yesterday, much to mummy's dismay (especially this morning)

* has now made feeding him so very difficult as the mooseling likes to 'help' his mother. This consists of grabbing the spoon in either hand, resulting in the contents going absolutely EVERYWHERE (particularly if mummy tries to stop one hand from getting it) and also biffing the bottle out of the way whilst turning over to look at anything and anyone. Incredibly frustrating and time consuming

* looks like he is playing air guitar when he is eating solids as he is so impatient to get the next mouthful

* goes from the sublime to the ridiculous when it comes to snoozing, either sleeping through the night or keeping mummy awake for several hours at a time. This she does NOT enjoy one jot, even though she remembers it's part of motherhood. Hmmm...

* has learned that his cot is a toad-haven and therefore naps in there during the day, normally following much flailing, bashing of windchimes and the throwing of Mr Bear and Woolly Moose around

* now enjoys books far more than he ever used to. Mummy now reads to him every night before he goes to sleep (currently reading the entire Winnie the Pooh collection, created long before all the naffness of commercialism - sorry, one of mummy's pet hates) and the Harrington can often be found playing with cloth books and sitting on mummy's knee looking at board books and turning the pages all by himself

* has now completely moved on to the next stage when it comes to toys. When one could once be satisfied with cuddly, rattly things, now the demands are for more complicated things such as stacking cups, wooden blocks, toad washboard (genius Christmas present), labels, the ball of many tunes (and how many times a day does mummy find herself singing all the fabulous songs?), cuddly toys controlled by mummy so that they bounce around and kiss him on the nose and wooden spoons (courtesy of Granny who informed me that her esteemed grandson had refused to give it back when they were out shopping. A likely story.). The toad likes nothing better than to be sitting up (!), surrounded by toys so that he can play with different ones and have one in each hand if he so desires. T'is fabulous to watch

* loves to drop things repeatedly to hear the noise they make on the woooden floors. Not mummy's favourite as she is constantly picking things up

* can now travel ridiculously huge distances by doing his infamous pelvic thrust whilst laying on his back. That, combined with his skill of being able to rotate like the hands of a clock, means that he can no longer safely be left alone as he changes positions in the blink of an eye

* has the strength of an ox, I kid you not. It's now becoming almost impossible at times to hold him. His determination knows no bounds and if he wants something, he will try his very best to get it. And on the occasions that he is not successful in his plight, he will remember what he wants and goes for it later in the day when mummy's guard is down

* is in the process of learning about tantrums and how to undertake them, especially when he wants something that is not entirely appropriate

* has learned that smiles make everything better and that they can be used to his advantage. After a particularly difficult time with him, he will throw several grins in mummy's direction and then it all changes. Minx

* loves playing peek-a-boo with the muslin and chuckles fantastically when doing so. Mummy's favourite

* has remembered that cuddles with mummy are Very Good Things, especially first thing in the morning and when one is snoozy or ill

* now loves having "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "John Jacob Jingelheimer Smith" sung to him, preferring songs with perfect fifths in. Who would have thought it

* now co-owns two pussy-kittens with mummy. Although they are not at all sure of him at the moment (what with all the flailing and squawking), he rather loves them and can often be found grinning at them

* vocalises at every available opportunity. His new favourite thing is saying "aaaaaahhh" Very Loudly Indeed and for as long as possible, taking his time before a breath is drawn. And there's also copying mummy with sounds of blowing raspberries. "Mama" can still sometimes be heard but not sure if it counts as he doesn't seem to realise what he's said. Mummy is also seriously thinking of starting the baby sign language thing

* has developed extreme magpie-like qualities and goes after as many shiny things as possible, especially mummy and granddad's watch after piddlepanting prior to his bath

* continues to grow like a weed but weigh more like a heffalump so it is even harder to carry him around for more than a few seconds at a time. It's a good job mummy has bought the wonderful Kari-me to carry him around in when out, as well as the toad-mobile which he can now sit up in the highest position on and gawp at everyone and everything

* hates the tegglepegs and what they do to him. Are they ever going to come out??? They should have done by now, especially after all the chomping that goes on. Horrible things

* continues to grow his hair muchly and it is hair that seems to change colour on a daily basis

* encourages exploitation and the releasing of the toady toes. His very favourite thing. Such a Sock removal Operative with a cheeky grin at that

there are so many more little things that happen from day to day and what really fascinates me is watching him start to do something sporadically one day and have it completely sussed only a couple of days later. It really makes me wonder what exactly goes on in his brain and how the thought processes work. No wonder the toad needs his snoozes (but tends to refuse nonetheless).

and, of course, he continues to get more and more gorgeous by the day with mummy thinking that she may become a pageant mom to exploit his stunningness whilst also wondering how the hell she managed to create such a beautiful creature who still looks very much like her and every other member of his family on both sides.

I loves my boy. Quite a lot, actually :)

it's very early in the morning that I write this but I am so flabbergasted, I had to put pen to paper, so to speak...

...last night was the second night in a row that the wonderful HarryMoose has slept THROUGH THE NIGHT, without demanding me or food!! Yesterday, he woke up at 5.30am and this morning, 6.00am, which is Very Bizarre Indeed. I had heard him moving around and chuntering a bit but thought I would leave him and see what happened.

goodness knows why he has now decided that this is the time...maybe it was all the excitement of the weekend. And, of course, I am not expecting this to be the case every night, but even so...it does upset me a wee bit though. I love waking up with him next to me but, as per usual, he dictates the next stage and I think he has done just that.

fabulous child.

I wonder if he is going to want food now or if he will wait...who knows with a toad?

I might have bought this from eBay ...