Irene

When Irene first came home I didn't think much of her, she was just a crying-sleeping doll that took a lot of attention from me, and I wouldn't have minded that she'd gone back to where she'd come from! But the Irene of today is quite different and I've grown to love her very much. The turning point for me, when I started really liking her, was when she started smiling. Her smile is so warm and sincere and she smiles not only with her mouth but with her whole face and even her eyes can start laughing. She always has a smile ready for me: in the morning when I wake up, when she comes to pick me up at kindergarten (she actually jumps up and down in her kangaroo-bag (sic!) of joy when she sees me), even when I'm grumpy or crying she tries to cheer me up with her smile. She's also funny and laughes a lot, especially when I talk to her in her own language mamammabababadadada or when I tickle her or when I imitate her screams. Sometimes at dinnertime, when we are sitting at the opposite ends of the table, the devil goes loose in the two of us and we wind each other up in screaming and laughing. Mum just watches and smiles and her face tells me that she is living a moment of real happiness.
Since it is some time since we've updated you on Irene, here are some of the most important facts:

• After being a dark-haired Rockabilly girl for 8 months, with a curly fringe that took on crazy shapes after she'd taken a bath or when the wind had put it's touch on her hairstyle, Irene has now settled on a more simple and BLOND hairstyle! Mum finally decided to cut Irene's hair (which was so long that it had started to go in her eyes), and as she had conserved the first hair cut off my head, she had to do the same for Irene, and therefore she couldn't just cut away a couple of cm -and what do you know, under the dark curly fringe there was blond wool! We are still trying to adjust to her new look!
• Irene's gearbox has been fixed. For some times Irene has been able to move about, but for a long time she had no forward gear and would only go backwards or turn around. This made her very frustrated and she would scream when she tried to move towards e.g. a toy, but would go further away with every movement. About a week ago she got her gearbox fixed and started to scoot about on her stomach backwards, forward and turning around, much to her own delight. Then, a couple of days ago she started crawling. She's still a slow crawler, but she is perfectioning the technique, and I know that before long she will be racing around the house!
• More than a month ago, Irene stood up by herself for the first time. Combined with her newly acquired ability to move about and her endless curiosity, our flat has become an adventure park for her -and, in more practical terms, mum and dad have had to make the flat baby-proof -again! If Irene is not under constant surveillance she can be found chewing on mum's shoes, standing by the bathtub watching the water flow, or playing with my cars in my room! Read: DANGER!
• When I was little I started crawling and got the first tooth on the same day, a couple of days after I turned 7 months old. A few days later I stood up by myself for the first time. Irene stood up by herself for the first time when she was 7 months old, but she waited quite a while before starting to crawl -in line with the fact that she has (so far) been less interested than me in moving about (maybe because she was happy just sitting and watching me...!!!). But just like me she started crawling and got her first tooth on the same day, which gives rise to an hypothesis about the coinciding of the two events! Actually she added to the list of achievements in one day, by starting also to bat her hands together (she already did that weeks ago when holding two objects, but now she does it also with her hands only) -as if she realized that there was a good reason for applauding!
• Irene loves eating, and just like me she becomes very impatient when mum is preparing her pappa. She eats her food very quickly, and seldom leaves something (..but if she does I get to finish it, yummie!!). Lately she has started to show great interest also in what me and mum and dad are eating, and will scream and shout until mum gives her a piece to try -then her face becomes a big victorious smile, and she seems to love just about anything we let her try!,
  
• Irene is very expressive, and passes her day babbling. Her favourite sounds are mama-baba-dadadada, she also makes a clicking-noises with her tongue and says brrrrrrrrrr and much more! I don't understand a word of what she is saying, but she seems to understand everything. She starts looking for me when mum asks her where Oscar is, she gets happy and agitated when mum says that they are going to pick me up from kindergarten. She let's mum know when she wants to drink water during the meal, and understands when mum asks her if she wants water...and so on. Mum says she can't remember me understanding everything at such a young age, but then again, mum can't remember at all that I was that little once...
• Irene is a cuddling girl. She loves crawling into mum's arms and her favourite place is mum's neck (halsakot) where she buries her face and then hold around her so that she wont let her go for a while! No wonder I sometimes feel the urge to give her a BIG hug!
  
• Irene is just about to finish passing the separation anxiety phase. It was quite tense at it's peak: she wanted to be fed only by mum, only mum could hold her, or if she was fooled into staying with dad only she would start screaming as soon as she saw mum's shadow or heard her voice -only to calm down in mum's arms. She is now getting to terms with this phase, much to everyones relief, and loves to play hide and seek. She will pull her bib over her eyes making herself invisible and then laugh when she pulls it down again and becomes visible, and mum wil say CuCu!
• Irene is passing many other phases: e.g. the throw-everything-on-the-floor-phase, the destroying-towers-phase, the don't-stay-still-on-the-changing-board-phase, the love-to-put-my-hands-in-my-food-phase, love-to-play-with-the-swing-phase (see photo above) etc etc.

I'm probably forgetting something very important, but the conclusion is clear to everyone: Irene is simply wonderful and it's impossible to resist from loving her!