thirty-seven weeks new

You were getting more and more mobile all the time.

Your backwards crawling continued,

and you were even beginning to get properly up on to all fours now.

You would balance on your hands and knees rocking backwards and forwards

with your eyes focused on something ahead of you,

you would stare so intently while you worked out how to get to it,

and then your would just flop forward onto your tummy.

It definitely seemed like the beginnings of proper crawling,

and it was lovely seeing you interact more with the world around you

now that you could get at things more easily.

You would throw your arms up high when you wanted to be picked up,

and would practically dive at us when we came close enough to touch.

And when we picked you up

you would lean in close for cuddles,

which was the nicest thing ever.

Mummy felt like you and her just sort of fitted together,

as you would nuzzle your head into the space under her chin

and curl your body around hers.

We had some hot weather

and with it came your first taste of a mini milk ice cream.

It was hilarious watching you

as you tried to understand the sensation of the cold 

followed by the melting,

followed by the tasty sweet icecream.

You would flinch and pull a face with each mouthful

before greedily licking your lips and saying "Mmmmm"

before leaning forward for some more.

You had worked out how to clap

and watching you clap your hands together was the sweetest thing.

You clapped along with music and singing,

you clapped when your brother was making lots of noise,

you clapped when you were excited,

you clapped when we clapped.

You simply loved it and looked so happy and proud of yourself.

We couldn't get enough of seeing your chubby little arms clapping at things,

and the look of surprise on your face when you managed to make a really loud clap was priceless.

You had also started to suck your thumb,

which we found equally puzzling and adorable.

We had really felt that at eight months old 

you had missed the boat on thumb sucking

and that it would have been something you would have started as a younger baby.

But apparently not,

because you had found your thumb and fallen in love.

You didn't use it to go to sleep,

but it definitely seemed to be a comfort to you when you were tired.

Mostly you just seemed to like doing it

just for the sake of doing it.
And you looked so incredibly adorable
that it made us melt.