Upset at missing kiddush

HG seemed to be in the mood to play, so Abba and Ima left her to play on her play mat while they sang Shalom Aleikhem and then began to make kiddush. As she heard "Yom Hashishi" HG began to screech and make her protest noises, looking up from her playmat towards the table with an expression of reproach. When Abba picked her up and held her through the rest of kiddush she smiled. She was upset that she had been left out of the family kiddush. Perhaps she was worried that Abba would forget to give her her weekly drop of wine which she always avidly sucks from his or Ima's little finger.

HG has developed quite a fascination with shoes and feet, be they her own (feet, no shoes yet), or anyone elses. If someone sits on the sofa or chair near her playmat she will crawl over to investigate, examining the texture of the footwear or sock, playing with any laces, buckles or velcro fastenings and try if she can to taste the foot. So far her parents have succeeded in preventing her from tasting any shoes or feet, but she keeps trying...

HG's attempts at walking continue. She likes holding onto Ima, Abba's or one of her "aunties'" hands and walking towards them, rather shakily, but sometimes very fluently.

She now routinely shows that she is finished eating from Ima by sliding of Ima's lap and into a stand. She then leans against Ima and gradually pushes away, trying to stand on her own, but falling. Fortunately she has only been trying this when Ima is nursing her in bed or on the sofa - ie where there is room for HG's new antics.

When practicing standing she now often deliberately sits down and then scrambles to her feet - while holding on to a grown-up's fingers of course. Sometimes she can go for half an hour or more, just practicing sitting down and getting to her feet again.

In general, she spends a lot of time in a sit, trying to work out how to stand up.

While holding on to Ima's fingers she gets from a sit to a stand via kneeling. Practicing on her own she gets from lying down and crawling to sitting and once even kneeling by pulling herself up against the arches on her playmat.

At the Mum and Tots group this week she became fascinated by red bumpy "sensory development" ball and held her own against an 18 month old who kept trying to grab and play with the same ball. HG was having such a good time with the ball that Ima decided to get her one too. HG's is pink - like most of HG's things.

At the same meeting she came face to face with Shira, a baby who is only a week older than HG. HG started touching her face(almost poking her eyes...), patting her head and studying the new baby, while Shira stared back as if to ask what on earth HG wanted with her. Eventually the two seemed to smile at each other and have some kind of mutual interaction.

This Shabbat Shira's parents hosted HG and parents for lunch. HG's Abba and Shira's Abba sat the girls together on the big sofa. This time Shira put our her hands to HG and HG took them and put them into her mouth, and then reciprocated by reaching out to Shira's face. Then she sort of shuffled into a sitting position and grabbed Shira's outstretched hand so that they were sitting side by side, hand in hand. Very cute. Of course it was Shabbat so no photos. Seems to be when HG often does her cutest things.