Dadadadadadada

First off, the wee one is making a variety of sounds. One of her recent masteries is saying Dada, which I think it utterly brilliant that that is her first real word, even if she extends it too far most of the time, Dadadadadadadada.... I'm sure she does not actually know what it means yet, but I always turn my head to her and answer yes? when she says it, in hopes she'll get it in time. I always said I did not know what I would be called, and, conveniently, she seems to have decided that for me.

I'm pretty sure she is actually trying to talk, in general, but just does not have the muscle control to make actual words. When she says something short and a seemingly random combination of syllables, I do try really hard to figure what word she's trying to mimic.

In related news, the internet brought this article to my attention recently: At 6–9 months, human infants know the meanings of many common nouns.

I have to say, yeah. True. Clearly. The little one knows her own name. Has for a while. At least she looks at me when I say it. When I say her mother's name in the exact same tone, she does not look at me.

Another case I discovered recently, to my shock, is how well the EC cue for urination works. She was fussing while I was trying to get her to sit on the toilet. I my frustration, I decided it might help to make sure she understood why she was there and what I expected of her by sounding the urination cue.

Turns out, she clearly knows what the cue means. She stood on the seat of the loo and promptly started peeing on my leg and the floor.

So… that article... obviously, and definitely spot on. Babies know more than they let on.

I'm sure if I paid really close attention could point out lots more cases where she knows what I'm saying. She knows that it's me on the other side of the little box when I do video calls on Skype. She is sentient, to a degree, even if she doesn't have the ability to clearly communicate it.

EC going well

The EC seems to be going rather well. I'm impressed how little effort and how much easier it makes life. The little one has taken to it like a duck to… well… not water, but perhaps the grass near a pond. It's not its favourite place to be, but it's content to spend some time there despite being a little awkward.

Anyway, it is a bit of a relief for us. While she still pees in her nappies more often than not, she generally only dirties her nappy on average once every two days. And considering that cleaning her bum after pooing in the loo is so much easier than after defecating in a nappy, I can definitely live with this.

It's not all smooth sailing. She's really good about the loo first thing in the morning, since she's been holding it in all night. That alone would make EC worth it. It's during the day we really have to guess when she needs to go. If she doesn't need to go she'll fidget and cry and generally try to escape – not the safest thing to do when sitting on the loo, even with the baby seat. She also tends to prefer when I'm holding her on the loo. I don't mind that at all, except for the fact that I'm not there during working hours, and disappear for a few days at a time at irregular intervals. I don't know if the relative infrequency is why she prefers me, or maybe I just have an easier time squatting in front of her on the floor (L's hips are still recovering from the pregnancy).

So… EC – definitely a success. I'll certainly be keeping this up.

Turning into my father

Somehow I've managed to find myself on a plane, for work, 3 of the past 4 weeks. I had in mind, when the child came, I would work from home a day or so a week. Rarely travel. How did I find myself working from Europe far more often than I was expecting to work from home?

I'm travelling more often than I was 10 years ago, when I thought I was travelling loads – once week out of every 8 on average. And back then L was fully self-suffcient. And by that I mean I have made commitments by being a parent that she now has to pick up the shortfall for. Back then the only comittments were household chores and pleasant company – something that she could safely do on her own or live without.

My father spent a fair chunk of my very early years working from another city. I just remember him leaving for the week and coming back... on weekends maybe – it's hard to remember. I don't resent him for it, and I didn't resent him for it. I just did not want that for myself.

These things just sneak up on you.

It irks me that somehow I ended up on a path I did not want.

I came home last night after a 3 day trip and the wee one smiled and slowly crawled to me across the floor.

She wasn't doing that when I left.

Teeth and guilt

The nightmare in Germany of the incoming top teeth fever seems to be the worst of it. She's up to 5 teeth now, with a 6^th coming in any moment. These don't seem to be causing as much pain – she's clearly using them to chomp on fingers, and the occasional nipple. There's not as much fever, though she has been warm, and is the snotliest I've seen her. She's getting used to having her nose wiped without crying, though I have to say the snotsucker tube makes me sick just thinking about it. I've yet to come close to trying it. Or even watching while L uses it. I know I'm being a big baby and just need to get over it. But there's just this big squick factor I can't get over.

Speaking of big baby things... I had another business trip last week. Three days away this time, with a flight out at 7am monday morning.

I'm still sick from my trip last month (the one where the wee one got the fever). I felt utterly awful at 430 when I got up. I very nearly cancelled, but I went because I knew my only chance to get enough rest to beat the cold was being alone in a hotel. I still feel really guilty for leaving the wife alone to care for the child for 3 days alone. The 11 hours sleep I got Monday night alleviated the guilt a little, but I still feel wrong. Even worse is the fact that now that I'm back, the cold which was getting better is now getting worse. I can't blame the family. I mean, it's work's fault I have this bloody thing in the first place. And their new accidental policy of no working from home is certainly not helping (oops, we broke the VPN. We'll have it working for you again in at probably a fortnight). But, to be honest, I don't want to blame anyone. I just want to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without needing to cough out my lungs.