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Dear Frankie, Year 1
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Dear Frankie,
So that was a year in the life of Frankie Spratt then. So much fun. We’ve loved every single second getting to know you so far. At this stage I’m very much a believer that nature far outweighs nurture with your character. You started off being cool as a cuke, now you’re even cooler and so happy and easy going. Apart from those little spaz-attacks you’re prone to have in the middle of the night. Or when something gets taken away from you. Or when you don’t want to sit in your pushchair. Other than those, you’re cooler than Elvis.
Birthday morning
For the record
- Sat 27th September could be deemed as the date of your first word. The day we moved into Maidenhead you pointed at a picture of a duck and said “Duck”. You then spoiled it by pointing to picture of a frog and saying…”Duck”. Muppetry. Since then though you’ve continued speaking gobbledeegook (racist).
- Since moving into Maidenhead, we took the opportunity to make the move to real cow’s milk and mostly you’re eating real food, with those jars now really only being used as a back up.
- On 14th October I’ve been reliably informed you took 2 steps. Please try and wait until I get home for monumental things like that in future. The day after though I saw you take 5 paces myself, so you’re currently known as Frankie Five Steps.
- You’re now in the more than capable hands of Wendy during the daytime. You seem very happy with her and the other children she looks after.
- Stats: Remember this Frankie: No matter what they tell you, you are not in any way a project.
Phot
Exactly a year before you were born, i.e. the 18th October 2006, the day that Mummy and I met for our ‘first date’, I took her to see an ex-colleague play in the Kensington Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican. Yes I know, suave move. She then took me for a romantic dinner for two. At McDonald’s. No shame. Still, it clearly worked a treat on me and now there’s a two year tradition already installed that we go to McDonald’s on the 18th October. Last year we went to the one on Tottenham Court Road/ Oxford St whilst killing time waiting for you to pack your gestation bags and come join us. Did I mention it took your 4 days from Mummy’s waters breaking until you turned up? In your own good time my girl. So for your first birthday Emmah, Neil, Bonnie, Don, Helene, Emma, Ed, Paul, Treena, Mick, Amber and us lot piled into the McDonald’s Maidenhead. Getting Auntie Em in there is kudos indeed as she hadn’t entered a McDonalds in over 15 years.
Cousins at your 1st Birthday Party, McDonald's Maidenhead
And that’s a year’s worth these monthly letters. I’m gonna spread them out now and write quarterly. I will however take phot forever more and keep posting monthly pictures. I plan to keep videoing and post more of that up too. I’ll keep documenting as much as I can and I’ll keep publicising and promoting your loveliness, making sure as many people as possible are graced with your images and get to know more about the angel that you are.
Roll on year two.
Love,
Daddy x
Dear Frankie, Month 11
Dear Frankie,
I know, I know, late again, but…
Daddy got a new job. This does mean that I’ll be away for weeks on end though which quite frankly “quite Frankie”, is not so cool. I would love to put you in my hand luggage with your head poking out the top and take you away with me to these places, but alas – I am not looking forward to leaving you behind one jot.
Stats
Height: 76.5cms
Weight: 10.1kg – avid readers will notice a dent that this month’s stats have put in your growth graph. You actually lost 0.4kg this month. Careless. More food heading around your chops than in them?
Snippets
The injuries continue – scratches on the back, bruise on the cheek, cut on the finger, grazes on the foot. Keep it together girl!
We’ve both noticed that when we’re holding you, walking or just standing, you seem to adopt this additional chunk of confidence, even an air of authority about you. You’re confident as it is, but there’s a recognisable extra bit of ‘king of the castle’ about you when you’re being held and surveying all around you.
Ed and Amber got engaged. Woohoo, well done them. Wrong order of doing these things surely but hey-ho, each to their own.
A great game you’ve come up with is to sit precariously on the step that leads outside to the terrace, and then throw your body on to the bean bag next to you. You’ll land then look around for Mummy or me to enjoy the moment with. We’ll smile and clap, encouraging any type of derring-do and tomfoolery. This needs to develop into a desire to skydive.
Month 11 Phot
Sounds
The most common sound you make is a bit weird. It sounds something like an impression of a coffee percolator from that TV advert a la 1987, only as a one or two second burst and it’s normally accompanied by the pointing finger(s). Do explain this to us one day.
My favourite vocal that you perform goes something like: “ahuahahuah”. This could well be a result of spending your first year in east London as it’s fairly siren-like. For entertainment value, I’ll go “ahuahahuah” to which you’ll reply “ahuahahuah”, then you look at me, I clap and you casually return to whatever it is I disturbed you from doing. In a similar way, sometimes when you snuggling down in a semi-comatose state, you’ll go “mmmm”, I’ll reply “mmmm”, you’ll reply “mmmm” etc. This can go on for about 20 replies back and forth. You will always be the one to finish it though.
You’ve also taken to saying “ahhh” at the same time as flapping your tongue back and forth, giving that rather infantile “blah blah blah” sound. I mostly try and grab your tongue as you do it.
Movements
There’s this thing you do which Nana first noticed when holding you and counting out your formula milk scoops. I’ll go “1,2,3,4,5…” and roughly by the time I get to 6, you’ve cocked your head round as much as possible so that you’re looking me, about four inches away from my face. It’s hilarious. So now we come up with various things that happen to need counting in order for you to perform this trick again for us. Yes, you are our toy.
You know what “No” means but very independently choose when to actually pay attention to its meaning. You’ll normally acknowledge our saying “No” with a vigorous head shaking action, then mostly carry on as you were. Still working on the nodding “Yes”.
It’s now become quite a regular gig of yours to wake briefly in the wee small hours. I’ll come and grab you, inhale a lungful or two of your sleepiness and bring you into bed with us. You’ll quickly and very easily return to the strangest version of slumber I’ve seen: It’s sleep, only you feel the need to align your body horizontally on the bed pushing us to each edge. Whoever is the lucky recipient of the feet (the FTSE 100s) will for a short while be repeatedly pushed against and if lucky, kick off one of your minor body convulsing tantrums. Quite often Mummy and I will look at each other in what little light there is and again try to stifle our laughing AT YOU. Crikey me, even when you’re being an arse you’re cute.
We’re about to move out of our first home and over to Maidenhead, we’re not particularly looking forward to leaving our home but it’s an opportunity we’d be silly not to take up. Granny and Grandpa will soon be heading south to their African winter retreat and the flat in Bow is being let out. All change please, all change.
Loving you,
Daddy x
Dear Frankie, Month 10
Yo Frankie,
You are the loon. You are the complete nut job. You have become not only the mover but you are also the shaker. You are one mental asylum seeking little lady. The other night we continued our new game of you violently shoving ‘little ducky’ in my mouth, I close my mouth for a while trying to hide him behind my tongue, you double check that you definitely put it in there by looking around where we’re sitting before spotting it again gripped between my teeth, then dive straight in mouth first to extract it from me. Then the game starts over again.
Stats
Teeth #: 7
Height: 76cms
Weight: 10.5kg – I’ve just compared you to this chart (btw, I don’t normally hang around lactationconnection.com, honest) and you’re on the very upper guide line for both height and weight. This obviously means you’re better than all of the other 10 month olds. VG, A+, keep this up.
Nicknames
Frankielicious, Prankster, Prookle, Monkeyheadery, Frankie, Frankie, Frankie, Frankie, Frankie (yep, 5x Frankie)
Nappy changing has become a bit of a joke recently as you simply will not keep still. Picture yourself, stripped naked, chubby little leggies, bottom and nethers on display, if both of my hands are occupied for more than 2 seconds you will roll over and you’re off, making a bid for freedom once again, THE BOTTOM a-wriggling away into the near distance until I grab your ankles and pull you back on to the new nappy. You will then create for a short while whilst I fasten the nappy up and then you’re off to the next nearest object that you might find entertaining, normally the wipe box. Do you really have to make such a simple task so difficult?
Month 10 Phot
We’ve had quite a bit of traffic through the flat throughout your 10th month, Nana, Pops, Roques but now we’re back to just the 3 of us, although Mummy keeps going on about creating a sibling for you. What you reckon monkeyhead? Oh go on then.
I have no idea how we started to do this but I’m guessing about a good 20% of the time we spend talking to you (in-house, obviously) occurs in a questionably melodic way. Yep, we sing our sentences to you. Full on if-we-knew-anyone-else-was-watching-we’d-stop-in-our-tracks type singing. I think ‘Hallelujah’ is a common tune we use (for dramatic effect) e.g. “Frankielicious, Frankielicous, Frankielicious our daughterrrrrrrrr, Oh you’re so lovely, you’re so lovely, you’re so lovely, yes you arrrrrrrrrrrre.” !
Snippets
You’re looking more like a beautiful little girl than a generic baby and it’s quite a change to observe. To be honest, when you (babies, collectively) start out, there really is no definite differentiation between the looks of the baby boys and baby girls. But now, with your growing locks, your sapphire eyes and long eyelashes you are absolutely a girl, the girl, our girl. You go girl.
Love,
Daddy x
