Robin's Page

 

Robin Barker's  regular granddaughter diary, and baby care column. Granddaughter Sage also joins us with a baby persepective on life.

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Diary - May

I have been very derelict in my diary duties over the last few months, it now being August. What’s my excuse? Well I have been redoing all three books for new editions due out in January so I would advise anyone who’s having a baby after January 2004 to wait until then to buy Baby Love and ideally, Baby and Toddler Meals and The Mighty Toddler. The changes have all been lots of small things, nothing major, but when added up came to fifty pages of changes in the two major tomes, mostly arising out of new information related to research findings – it never stops really.

In the meantime the delicious Sage turned one in May and grandma hijacked Sage’s birthday for her 60th birthday party which was a bit mean but I don’t think Sage noticed and Grandma had a ball.

At twelve months Sage is crawling so efficiently she’s not interested in walking. She loves books, especially Matilda and Spot. I don’t mind Matilda but I do have trouble with Spot, all the characters seem so characterless and flat, nevertheless Sage and I get engrossed in Spot’s adventures at parties, school and staying overnight with the Monkey friend who’s name I can’t remember. Sage loves lifting the flaps.

She has a few words, bird, ball and keys (off the top of my head), loves her bath, hates having the hair washed and needs two of us to hold her down when getting the nappy changed and the clothes put on. She’s very strong (must be all that wonderful breastmilk)

Growth and Development at Twelve Months
A twelve month old baby girl weighs anywhere between 7.8k and 11.2k
A twelve month old baby boy weighs anywhere between 8.2k and 12k

After the first year the weight slows right down and you are likely to only see modest gains every three months or so.

Increases in height continue so many babies now start to look longish and thinnish. The rounded baby look starts to disappear And until some muscle tone develops, most have funny little pot bellies. It is the start of the toddler years.

Length
A twelve month old baby girl measures anywhere between 70cm and 80cm
A twelve month old baby boy measures anywhere between 72cm and 82cm

Twelve months marks the start of the toddler years.

The toddler years are a time in life when babies not only become physically mobile but also start to separate from their parents and find their own identities emotionally and socially.

Toddlerhood does not just refer to the ability to crawl and walk and run. It encompasses the whole range of development that takes place as babies become children.

Some babies don’t get into the full swing of self-assertiveness and start testing the adults they love until fourteen or fifteen months, others start to show signs of asserting themselves as early as nine months.

The toddler years are said to end at age three but many parents find that by age two this interesting but testing time is on the wane. They discover that suddenly, instead of a baby they have a small child.

Robin Barker 20©04

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