This month Ingrid has focused on sticking things in the mouth. Hands, above all, seem to be made just for this. Thumbs are great for sucking, but so are all the other fingers, singly or together. Two hands are better than one hand. She even tries to spice up breastfeeding by adding hands to the concoction, and inevitably ends up frustrated when breast and hands don’t mix.

Hands are also slowly becoming useful for other things. First she started pushing the mirror and the stand-up toys on her play mat towards the mouth (where else?) with her whole hand. Then she discovered the meaning of fingers, and started gripping things and pulling them towards her mouth (of course). Next step: gripping things that do not dangle right in front of her mouth. Next step after that: touch typing.

Still, hands are fun rather than useful right now. Screams, smiles and sucking remain her three main means of survival. And luckily the first one is gradually getting less important. Crying used to be the primary method to make things happen, but now she is also using her irresistible smiles to charm people.

Oh, and of course Ingrid is still growing like a maniac. She has practically outgrown her Moses basket, and her bouncy chair (which is supposed to be suitable until 6 months), and the baby insert of the pram, and her bath support as well. The Moses basket is about to be replaced with a cot very soon, and the bouncy chair is gradually being phased out while she’s getting used to a high chair.

The bath support is still in use, because I haven’t found any alternative… She is definitely too wobbly to sit unsupported in the bath. And the only other bath support I’ve seen was labelled “Up to 8 months / 70 cm / 8 kg”. Well, Ingrid is no more than halfway to 8 months, but she’s about to reach 8 kg any moment now, so her chubby little body is certainly not going to fit in that thing!