Matilda Mae is 8 months old.

She is a beautiful baby who most of the time is happy and content with her lot.

Just recently she has started showing signs of separation anxiety and will have periods of the day when she refuses to be put down. This would be lovely if it were just Matilda and I but of course I have Esther and William as well.

She is very cute, even when she cries, and has recently developed a habit where she curls up in a ball like a frightened hedgehog, and cries when she is tired, sad or has been unintentionally hurt by one of her well meaning siblings. She really can pull on our heart strings.

She, together with her brother and sister, can also make us laugh. Really really laugh.

When Matilda’s clinginess is at it’s worst I end up going to the toilet with her in my arms and Esther and William in the loo with me providing a running commentary. Confidently stating that wee is coming out and then bidding an enthusiastic farewell to said wee whilst Matilda Mae is clinging to me and gumming my chin to ensure I know that she is hungry!

In situations like these you have just got to laugh!

At 8 months Matilda is still almost exclusively breastfeeding on demand. She will suck the odd rice cake or gum a toast crust but mostly she just has milk. We started weaning at 6 months and she seemed to be doing really well and enjoying food but then she got ill and I think it may have affected her sense of taste. I still offer her food every day but she does not really take any.

Matilda is not a great sleeper. She generally has two naps a day, one about 9am and another at some point in the afternoon. She has her evening bath and bedtime with Esther and William. They love sharing their bath with her, most of the time! After the bath we read stories and watch something on TV. At the moment it is Percy and the Park Keeper – One Snowy Night. All three children are in bed and asleep by 6.15pm at the latest.

Matilda struggles to sleep for very long. We think that the problem is wind. She is such a farty little thing and David has to bend her in half repeatedly to get anything out. At the moment we are trialling gripe water with her feeds but to be honest it does not seem to be doing much.

On a good night Matilda will sleep til 10pm, have a dreamy-ish feed and then sleep again until 4am when she will mostly come into bed with us. We have not had that many good nights though last night was one so we are hoping for another.

When she is awake Matilda is very smiley. She is a very sociable baby, has to be really in our busy house. She loves watching Esther and William play and is just starting to try to join in.

Esther and William are in return learning to say, ‘Baby, baby, baby no. You can’t eat wipes, play with this instead. Baby Tilda! Don’t eat the book, eat this toy instead.’ They are quite good with her to start with then get fed up with her and just snatch back their things. It is a steep learning curve for all of us, I think.

Matilda comes along to most of Esther and William’s classes and activities so she regularly sees other children and joins in with music and singing and messy play. She also goes to one class of her own, the fabulous Jumping Beans. I keep thinking that I should do more things that are exclusively for her but we have so little time just the two of us that is actually really nice just to spend it quietly, the two of us.

Matilda is not crawling yet but she is definitely on the move. She is always trying to pull herself up and when no one is looking she is shuffling on her bum. She must know that mummy disapproves as she never does it when I can see. She is showing signs of being ready to crawl but I also would not be at all surprised if she just gets up and walks one day. Not any day soon though, I hope, if that is what Miss Mischief has in mind!

Matilda is not a difficult baby. She presents us with challenges as all children do but on the whole she is a delight to be around. Together with Esther and William the lack of sleep and the amount of breastfeeding becomes exhausting and testing but this time goes so fast and we know from experience that we all will survive.

I cannot believe that in less than four months our beautiful newborn will be one!

How is that even possible?

I am so proud of our wonderful daughter and the way we are growing together as a family.

I hope that we continue to build on these foundations as our children continue to grow.