My baby turns seven months old today!
Sorry for the crappy lighting… this dismal gray fall light is not the best for photos!
This month, Tala started going to a gastouder twice a week. A gastouder (the direct translation is guest parent, but loosely it means a childminder) runs a mini-daycare in their home, with a maximum of three or four children. When I was learning about childcare options in Holland, I wasn’t ready to put Tala in daycare with its bigger groups of up to nine kids and more institutional system.
Then I discovered the gastouder option, which seemed like a good middle ground. The idea of fewer kids and a cozier setting in a home environment was really appealing to me; the Dutch ideal of coziness has really sunk in after nearly three years of living here!
From other mamas’ recommendations, I found a wonderful gastouder nearby who made the decision easy—it was one of those rare moments where you just walk in and have a really good feeling about the person and place. Better yet, this gastouder was registered with a childcare agency that ensures certain standards of quality are met. Some red tape and a monthly service fee was a small price to pay for that extra peace of mind.
Dressed up and ready to go to the gastouder’s
I was nervous on Tala’s first gastouder day, but my girl did me proud. She took to the gastouder extremely well, taking long naps (as long as two hours at a time!), drinking her milk on time and playing happily from the start. Now, when I bring her there in the morning, she starts bouncing and smiling with excitement when she sees her gastouder and the other babies. Seeing her gain that little measure of independence with such enthusiasm gives me a really good feeling inside.
There’s much to write about this new thing in our lives, so I think I’ll do a separate blog post on it. But after a month, I can say that we definitely made the right decision for Tala and myself. I’ve started to enjoy our walks to and from the gastouder, seeing other parents doing pickups and drop-offs with their little ones on their bikes. It makes me feel like I’m truly a part of this city and its rhythm—like this is really home.
Daddy does drop-off, Dutch style
Daddy does his share of pick-ups and drop-offs too, which is how Tala went on her first bike ride! We have a front bike seat (which will be mounted on the handlebars) ready for when she’s able to sit up by herself, but for now she gets to snuggle close to Daddy in her carrier.
Tala now gets to interact with other babies on a regular basis, and it seems to have opened up an appetite for interaction. She’s a charmer who almost always smiles and bounces when she sees people looking at her. She’s started doing the same with Rogue, too, which means she now classifies the cat as a living creature worthy of interaction. When Tala gets a little too bouncy for comfort, for the most part Rogue just runs away.
Aside from interacting with older babies at the gastouder’s, Tala’s been observing them walk and crawl. This month, we’ve seen a lot more movement from her. She’s learned how to push herself around sideways… and backwards! Which is how we’ve found her underneath the couch several times.
She’s practicing all the time, this strong girl. She’ll wake up and immediately do pushups on her tippy toes…
try to get one leg under her to sit up…
… or rock back and forth on her knees vigorously. She did a kind of swimming motion forward once, but she hasn’t quite figured it out yet. Forget toys: she’s too focused on learning how to move forward. Unless, of course, the toy is Sophie, the French giraffe, whom we acquired to help with the once-in-a-while teething pains that have begun. Tala just loves Sophie!
Separation anxiety arrived this week, as it’s dawned on her that Marlon and I still exist outside her line of sight, which means we can *gasp* leave her. Her don’t leave me cry is only subtly different from I’m hungry or I’m tired; I can’t really explain the difference, but I can recognize it. Still, her cries are far from major separation anxiety meltdowns, and it’s easy to make her happy with a squishy hug or belly kiss.
It’s hit me that at seven months, Tala’s more than halfway done with being a baby—and isn’t a baby what I wanted so very badly? So when she cries for me, I put aside whatever it is I’m doing, come back to my girl, and let myself get lost in the moment. Which, thankfully, with a baby like this, is a very easy (and happy) thing to do.
*GIGIL* I can’t wait to meet her! Lovely pics as always, Deepsy! <3
Sayang di tayo mag-aabot sa Pinas! Haay!
Her photos wearing the purple onesies – she looks like she’s stretching and preparing for some rigorous exercising hehehe. Your Tala is so adorable!!!
Stretching stretching pag may time!
Oh so cute, and what beautiful hair! Her physicality reminds me of how likot Elise was at that age. Elise though started walking at 8 months — sobrang aga, unprepared kami! We felt she was too unsteady to do that yet and worried about her leg bones, pero gusto niya talaga maglakad e, wala na kaming nagawa
And hi Rogue, I’ve missed you around here
Apparently Dutch children walk later because the GGD (a government health clinic/bureau that monitors children’s growth and development) discourages the use of walkers, or anything that helps them walk. Weird no?
Looking at my Instagram, I had so many pictures of Rogue before I gave birth. After Tala came out, wala na. Poor kitty!
oh yeah we didn’t use walkers either because the pedia also discouraged it. Elise would “cruise” on the furniture: she’d pull herself up on the couch and move forward, grab on to the other couch, etc. Before we knew it wala nang hawak, naglalakad na. ganyang-ganyan din, yung parang nagda-downward dog, tapos umaangat na. Haha!
The picture of her snuggled close to her Daddy is adorable.
That’s also how we walk to her gastouder—in the carrier, with her snuggled close to me. Love it.
Happy seventh month birthday
Thank you Stu!
Deeps she’s growing even more cute each time I see photos. Future heartbreaker! Marlon has to practice his strikto face for future suitors. I know I am getting ahead of myself but she is just so cute. I love how you are capturing all these moments in the background of your beautiful European home. <3 Besos!
Strikto face? Hah! Marlon has started going to a mixed martial arts gym so he can be the terrifyingly buff dad who will intimidate all her suitors. I figure he has about 15 years to do it!
Haha 15 years. You always make me laugh Deeps. Go Marlon!