Firsts

F has a tooth now.

We know this because she uses it to savage any hands that are left within range. She's good at luring you in, as well. If you touch her, she does a cute grabby-cuddly thing that makes you go 'awww ook at da riddoo baby'. That lasts just long enough for her to bend over your hand as though she's going to kiss it, but don't be fooled. She's actually going to clamp her 90% gums on your knuckle, then shear the 10% tooth backwards and forwards as though she's sharpening it on a strop. No idea why, it really doesn't need it.

This is a big first for her. She's actually been pretty reasonable, considering razor-sharp nuggins of enamelled bone are breaking out inside her mouth. Not too grumpy, not too sleepless, not too much indigestion. Lots of drool, but not so that I could really tell the difference.

We're starting her on solid food. Well, solider food. It's all paste or goo, the kind of stuff I used to serve to elderly people on nursing wards. Most of it looks and smells pretty unappetising. V says the pureed fruit tastes good, I'll take her word for it. The salmon and stew things I tried this week (to check if they were hot enough, I hasten to add, I'm not one to steal my daughter's food without a good reason) were blobby, bland things.

I guess that's appropriate, though, babies aren't allowed most of the best foods when they're starting out. No green leafy salad, no honey, no salt, no sugar, no chocolate, no pulses, no dairy. It's a miserable list, and one I seem to have an unerring ability to forget.

After the midwife told us that letting her lick a finger's worth of whatever we're eating is fine, it gets her interested in food, I keep thinking 'oh, a tiny bit of this won't matter'. Then V vociferously points out that I'm about to feed her, oh, I don't know, bloody steak with a honey soy glaze, served with a cheesy puy lentil bake and a mound of raw spinach. With twixes stuck in it. You know, something really appropriate.

I'm just keen to let her try things, I guess, it's very exciting watching her eat something for the first time. I can't read her reactions, though. She always looks as though you've shoved an old sock under her nose on spoon one. By the last spoon, she'll be crying if you don't feed her fast enough. We haven't found anything she doesn't seem to like yet. I guess she takes after me, and will happily eat old tyres so long as there's bread or pickles to go with. Or peanut butter. Which she also isn't allowed, that reminds me.

So feeding is going well. Like a fish to water, I'd say, if that didn't imply a degree of smooth and liquid grace that's not quite there yet. She also takes after me (and farfar) in her ability to get food in her eyebrows whilst eating. Like a hog in muck, that's probably nearer the mark. Very happy, anyway.

The other first for this week was yesterday. I had a voice audition to go and prep for, a computer game thing where they wanted samples of me screaming. So I did a vocal warm-up before I went out, something I've not got round to doing for several months. Lots of vocal swooping up and down scales, saying 'ma-may-mee-moo-more', blowing your lips out - all that stuff that actors do with total po-faced seriousness before a show, something that usually makes it look even more idiotic.

F sat on V's lap throughout, staring at me in puzzled disbelief. 'Is that something people do?' she seemed to be thinking. 'Will I have to learn that? I'm really not sure about growing up any more. I think I'll just stay like I am now.'

For me, this was my first thrilling taste of how she'll react to everything I ever say or do while she's a teenager.