There are few things more exciting than having your first baby. Sentinel journalist Catherine Ball, aged 29, who lives in Newcastle, gave birth to Sophie, at 3.35pm on Friday, March 27. She is sharing her experiences in a weekly blog... Sophie is now 22 weeks old.

Sophie has an obsession with biting things. She's been teething for a few weeks now although no teeth have actually appeared yet. But it means there's a new risk to looking after her. When she was first born the main dangers came from baby sick and dirty nappies but now it's all about avoiding getting bitten.

It's probably the only time in your life you can get away with literally biting the hand that feeds you. And I never realised until having a baby how hard their gums are with all the little teeth just lurking beneath the surface.

We went to a wedding at the weekend and Sophie practised looking all sweet and innocent so people would hold her hand. Then as soon as she had their fingers in her grasp she would stuff them into her mouth and grind her gums on them.

Biting is obviously a big thing though. The other week we saw a children's television programme with an entire song about not biting your friends. Luckily, it's Sophie's toys that bear the brunt of her biting habit most of the time.

At her most recent session at The Little Gym she stood up by herself holding a bar. But as soon as she had made sure she was steady she had clamped her gums round the bar and stood biting it. She looked a little bit like a wild animal trying to escape from a cage.

She's also very interested in people's faces. It's like she's just discovered people have noses and mouths she can grab. Sophie particularly enjoys grabbing my lips while I'm talking to her or pulling my hair while I feed her.

Sadly in the last few days she's caught her first ever cold. We've been extremely lucky so far as we've gone five months without her getting ill. The only time she's felt a bit under the weather is in the immediate aftermath of her injections.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when she started snuffling. We had one really bad night where she just couldn't get herself back to sleep for several hours. It's safe to say babies don't make the best patients. And when she finally got settled it sounded a bit like sleeping next to a tiny Darth Vader. But things have improved a little bit now after a trip to the chemists to get some saline drops to clear her blocked nose.

She must have perked up a little as today she's back to biting everything within her grasp.