Eighteen weeks six days

Hello world!

My daddy took me to see my first baseball game and I wore my new Red Sox shirt that my uncle bought for me.

Every Monday my mama and I go to play with the other babies at baby group. I have some friends who are nearly the same age as me: two are younger by a few weeks and one is older by a few weeks. I always watch them when I see them, and they watch me.

I know where my dinner comes from now. When I'm hungry and I see my mama, I just look there, and she knows what I want. I don't even have to say anything (though I like to wiggle and grunt too, just to make sure). But if I'm eating and I hear someone else talking nearby, I have to stop and listen.

The other day my parents dragged me all over and I didn't get much chance to have a sleep. I was really cranky. The next day I needed to have a lot of naps to make up for it. When I'm tired I just want to sleep, but if it's after 5pm, my parents always seem to make a lot of noise and it wakes me up. They stomp around and talk loudly. Don't they know I want to sleep?

Love,

Franklin

Seventeen weeks five days

Hello world!

I've had a busy week, and I don't have much time to spare for naps. When my mama puts me in my big boy bed, I remember I need to yell, but I can't exactly remember why. Then I roll on to my tummy and suck my fingers and get my back rubbed, so I sometimes fall asleep.

We drove to a big field and my mama and daddy took me in my stroller and left me there. Even though I could smell a delicious smell of strawberries, I didn't want to be by myself. After ages and ages my dad finally came and got me and we went and had a picnic. I could still smell them, but I was too busy eating to care. Later that day we had another picnic at home, with more strawberries. But I like my own picnic food.

It's strange, but whenever someone opens the fridge, it smells of strawberries again.

I can completely roll over now. I'm really good at it. I roll onto my tummy and then onto my back. I can also blow a raspberry. Mama and I practice it when it's time to get my bum changed. She's not too bad at it either.

A lady came to our house last week to talk about me eating, and she asked me if I wanted milky moos. I thought it was a funny word, but I did want them. And I got weighed (again) and everybody was really happy when it was done. I think it's the milky moos.

Love,

Franklin

Sixteen weeks four days

Hello world!

I got some new books and toys recently and I love them. I found out I can put stuff in my mouth and everything seems to taste so good. My very favorite book is called Have You Seen My Cat?--mama reads it to me every day and I look at all the pictures. When we were waiting at the doctor's, I saw another baby my age, and even though he was a lot fatter than me, he wasn't as grown-up. I was sat up on mama's knee, listening and watching, adding my own comments here and there; but he was just laid down in his mama's arms staring at the ceiling, sucking on his sucker.

I've been really grumpy the past three days because I lost my sucker. The first day, mama put me in my big boy bed without it and I reminded her that I didn't sleep without it. She said, "I'm not giving it to you," so I said, "Well, I'm not sleeping." Then I said, "We'll see who caves first!" and I kept saying that over and over again until I got so sleepy I needed a little nap to refresh me. When I woke up I couldn't remember why I was yelling, so I didn't bother yelling again. Until next naptime.

Mama took me in to get weighed (I like taking my clothes off) but the nurse said I needed to gain more weight, and they talked about a lot of stuff that wasn't very interesting (I hate getting my clothes back on) about centiles and grams and latching and pacifying; the nurse said mama should feed me more--this sounded great to me, only I didn't realize I would lose my sucker in the process.

This means when I wake up at night or during my nap, wondering where I put my sucker, I get to eat instead. This is a good thing for me, because I love to get up and eat and play. Mama also loves to feed me and play with me at any hour, day or night. But at night she falls asleep during our games a lot. It's ok, though. I just wake her back up.

Love,

Franklin

Fifteen weeks two days

Hello world!

I am such a big boy: I can completely roll over now! I laid on my mat two days ago and really tried hard; I had rolled almost all the way but my arm was still under me, so I was getting a bit frustrated. Then I rocked a little and my arm came out and suddenly I heard all this applause and cheering from the sofa. I looked up and saw my mama so excited, that I forgot my frustration and smilingly acknowledged her praise.

But if I roll over in my sleep I wake up very scared because I'm not sure how to roll back.

My mama made me another hat to keep the sun off my head. It works really good; my baseball cap is good for keeping sun out of my eyes but not off my ears like this hat. I tried it out this morning on our walk. I also got to face forward in my sling. I've always faced mama in my sling but facing forward is actually pretty good.

My dad said England won the football game yesterday because I wore my England shirt. I guess I must have scored the winning goal when I was asleep.

Love,

Franklin

Fourteen weeks two days

Hello world!

I went to the seaside for the very first time in my life this week; it was amazing! I love to listen to the waves and seagulls and the other kids playing. People actually go in the water and play in it like a giant bath, only cold. My mama and my aunt splashed in it and got wet all over, but I prefered to watch from my stroller. I like my bath nice and warm.

I am learning how to go to sleep on my own, but it's hard. Bedtime sleep is pretty easy; my bath and my dinner and cuddle tire me out and I can sleep easily. During the day I sometimes have to whine and cry before I sleep. If I really howl, my mama will come to me, but otherwise I'm on my own. This morning in between my sobs, I thought I could hear a little echo from the next room over, where mama was.

I had another first this week: my mama let me play in my baby gym. Our neighbor gave it to me but I thought it needed to be more stimulating so mama tied some of my bright soft toys to it. I laid underneath it and watched the toys for about twenty minutes--that's how good it was. I think maybe next time I'll try reaching for them.

Love,

Franklin

Thirteen weeks three days

Hello world!

I've had a very busy few weeks recently and it's made me forget my usual routine. I'm not sure at all what to do during the day--we've been going out nearly the whole day, so my naptimes and mealtimes are not regular the way I like it. At least my bedtime routine hasn't changed. I still have my bath, feed, then sleep. My bedtime routine is so easy that when mama puts me in bed, I know exactly what I'm supposed to do, and only fuss and whine for about an hour.

I got a new big boy bed. It's huge! My basket was great but I got too big for it. I can roll around everywhere in my new crib. Last night I did a complete circle overnight, ending up where I started from. I do get a little worried about taking a nap in there because I can't touch the sides like in my basket. I think I might get used to it, though; I like it just fine at night. My bed is still right next to my mama's side, but sometimes my daddy sleeps on that side when mama gets tired of sticking my sucker back in my mouth at night. I don't need to sleep right next to mama now if I don't want to because I don't wake up hungry in the middle of the night any more. I can sleep for ten or twelve hours at night now.

I also grew out of my little boy 0-3 month clothes. Oh yes: I'm in 3-6 months now, and I've got twice the amount of clothing. I don't have my own dresser yet, so all my clothes are stacked on a table in my bedroom.

This is me and mama in the kitchen. Mama looks a lot thinner than the first day I met her. I'm helping by going on a walk with her every day, and by eating plenty.

Love,

Franklin

Twelve weeks four days

Hello world!

This week my mama and I went to London to see my granddad and nanny. Daddy had to stay home; but we had so much fun we didn't miss him. Nanny taught me how to blow a raspberry and I'm really really good at it; that is, I can laugh while someone does it for me. We went to the zoo one day and I didn't really see the animals, but I certainly listened to them. I like birds singing: there were lots of birds at the zoo. But on the way home on the subway I got too hot and cried so my mama took me on her lap while granddad watched my stroller. All the people on the carriage turned their frowns upside down once I was cuddling my mama: I don't know why; all I did was stop crying and start laughing.

I mostly like to sleep all night long now. Sometimes I get very tired at bedtime and go right to sleep, but other times my mama calls me a fussbug; I can't help it if it's hard to go to sleep, though. However, once I do get to sleep, I usually stay asleep about eight or ten hours. For about two weeks now I've slept from about 9pm to 5am. I can't believe I only used to sleep about half an hour at a time.

I was so relaxed in the bath with mama the other night I accidently did a poo. I didn't mind the poo floating around, but my mama didn't seem to like it. This is my happy face in the bath. My dad says I'm not allowed to say who else is in the photo with me.

Love,

Franklin