I made it a long to a playgroup working bee on Sunday. I found myself allocated to cleaning the outdoor bikes, tables, chairs, etc. We were horrified to find Redback spiders (along with other types and their eggs) underneath the kids outside tables. Considering kids play on these every day, it was a scary find! Grandma and Grandpa Q helped mind Jack while I was out.

Summary of where Jack is at for 20 months

. Jack now has over 200 words. He has so many that I struggle to remember which words are new and what he has been using for a while. Latest words include throw, catch, see-saw, tractor, sheep, sleep and bear. He is also working at refining his words. He now says bird (instead of 'b'), circle (instead of 'circ'), and water (instead of 'wa'). I am sure we will miss some of these early cute efforts. He is also getting closer to speaking in sentences. He will say things like 'Daddy. Throw. Ball. Mummy. Please.' and 'Catch Ball Mummy'. We estimate that we understand around 80% of what he says these days, with the remaining 20% being baby speak or words we are yet to interpret. We have noticed when he is teething or tired that he is harder to understand.

. Jack has teeth 10, 11, and 12 partly through. We look forward to the latest round of teething to be over. Jack throws more tantrums and is generally out of sorts each time he goes through it.

. Jack seems to be enjoying his childcare and activities more this year. We think this is a combination of walking, being one of the older kids, and being more confident to talk in front of others. The childcare workers have been amazed by how much he is talking, and at his vocabulary and counting abilities. He also sings with them and demands songs he likes during singing sessions (such as baa baa black sheep, twinkle twinkle little star, row row row your boat, and old McDonald). He is enthusiastically joining in all the songs and actions at music class. He has progressed markedly at swimming this term, kicking and 'swimming' by himself for a few seconds at a time. At Gymbaroo he is now walking across ladders and balance beams up off the ground (with help from Mum). He is also less bothered by the other kids at playgroup – probably because he is better able to escape them when they approach.

. Jack can now not only walk upstairs while holding our hands, he is also starting to walk downstairs with our help.

. Jack is playing more with his soft toys, such as cuddling them, rocking them, and putting them to sleep. He still likes to throw them about as well though.

. Jack almost always only has one sleep during the day now. He is settling into a more consistent night-time routine, although it doesn't always work. The amount he sleeps during the day certainly impacts on this. He seems to use Wednesday afternoon as a recovery day from childcare and activities, and sleeps for 2.5 - 3.5 hours, and then goes to bed later Wednesday evening. He still often has little or no sleep at childcare on Thursdays, and thus is ready for bed much earlier. In general however I am finding it easier to get him down to sleep. Only having to cater for one daytime sleep also makes it easier to get out and about with activities, shopping trips or just generally in planning the day.

Posted by Al at 3:09 PM

Jack’s first ever scrapped knee – the first of many I would imagine.

 

Posted by Doug at 8:35 PM

Jack threw over 25 tantrums today. I counted. At one point he cried so furiously that tears shot straight out of his eyes – just like a cartoon character. I didn’t know that was possible. His teeth are driving him mad. He has his fingers in his mouth constantly, and is chewing so hard on them at times that he has actually cut the skin.

Posted by Doug at 10:41 PM

Jack's latest teething continues to stretch on. He has also been a bit snuffly over the long weekend and obviously not fully happy. Friday was the worst day for tantrums. Doug counted around 25 tantrums for the day - around 15 by the time his morning routine of breakfast, play outside and have a shower were completed. Thankfully he seemed to improve from there.

Jack had a now regular visit to the park on Saturday. On Sunday I took him to a playschool concert (by the presenters of the TV show). It was the first live concert I have taken him to, so I wasn't sure how he would go. It was a small venue (with approximately 200 kids present). Most of the kids were seated with their parents on the ground in front of the stage, and I was lucky enough to get a front seat to the side. Jack looked with wide-eyed wonder throughout. He enthusiastically clapped after each song, and clapped along to 'if you're happy and you know it'. When the presenters kept disappearing through the door on the stage, Jack kept saying 'knock knock' waiting for them to reappear. It was a positive first experience, and therefore leaves me open to trying it again as other opportunities present themselves.

We took Jack along to Dominic's 4 year old birthday party yesterday (being a long weekend). The theme was a fire engine party, and Jack was intrigued to look at the fire engine and fireman who turned up to take the kids for rides. He definitely did not want to go on for a ride so we didn't push the issue. He happily played on all the toys on offer and wasn't bothered by the older kids. He is a lot quieter in a new environment but had a happy smile on his face throughout. He enjoyed his first try of fairy bread and covered himself in sprinkles. He still likes to stay close to his mum in social situations. A few times I went out of his sight to get some food or talk to friends, and within a couple minutes he asked dad where I was, and came looking for me. He let us know that he was ready to leave by saying 'bye bye party'.

In the last few weeks Jack has cried a lot on drop off at childcare. At his Monday and Tuesday childcare, he now recognises where we are as soon as I turn the car into the driveway. This means he starts crying before I even park the car, escalates as I carry him in, and increases in volume again as I hand him over to a carer. (Whereas in the past he would only start crying when I entered the room or upon handing him over.) It is difficult to see him getting so distressed, and it of course leaves me worrying throughout the day. Both places continue to assure us that Jack only cries for a few minutes after I leave, and then is happy for the rest of the day. They repeatedly say he has had a great day and he always looks happy when we pick him up, busily chatting and pointing at everything, so this further assures us that he is enjoying his time there. I believe it is more the moment of separation from his mum that he is protesting, rather than the childcare places themselves. He also cries more on drop offs when he is not feeling 100%. Hopefully once the latest round of teething finally finishes, he may not be quite so upset, and will go back to waving 'bye bye' to me once again.

Posted by Al at 7:14 PM

The TV was on while Jack was eating a meal today. I heard the presenter saying “Hi, my name is…”. Jack then put up his hand and said “Hi” back to the TV.

He regularly asked to watch "TB" or "DBDs" today, insisting his Mum watch with him. A sure sign he isn’t feeling 100%.

Posted by Doug at 9:54 PM

Jack and Al had haircuts this morning. Jack gets his done first while sitting on my lap. We then go spend a couple hours together while Al gets her hair cut. Jack seems rather underwhelmed with getting his haircut – more interested in what else is going on in the saloon, sparing only the occasional frown towards the hairdresser.

As we left Jack started to cry for his Mum. He wasn’t putting his heart into it, but it seemed every woman in the saloon turned and looked our way. Some gave me absolutely filthy looks – with accusing expressions that spoke “what did you do” and “what are you doing”.

Jack of course stopped the moment his Mum was out of sight, but I was reminded how socially unacceptable it has become for a male to be accompanying a crying child.

Posted by Doug at 11:24 PM

After weeks of crying at drop off at both childcare centres, Jack didn't cry at last Thursday's drop off. This was due only to good distraction techniques used by the carer - asking him if he wanted to help feed the fish which captured his interest.

Jack has had a cough that seems to be lingering for awhile. It is only really noticeable when he first gets up in the morning. This morning after coughing he said 'ow' to indicate it was hurting him. He has also had a dripping nose in last few days and still seems out of sorts and not his normal self.

Jack has been constantly talking about 'fire truck' and 'fireman' since seeing the fire truck at the birthday party the previous weekend. I took him to a festival at our local shopping centre where he had the opportunity to see a real fire truck and fireman up close, along with a police car and police woman. He also enjoyed seeing the animal nursery display, excitedly exclaiming 'baby cow' when he saw the calf. He patted the lambs, but didn't want to touch any other animal. He also saw kid goats, piglets, ducks, roosters, guinea pigs and rabbits.

Jack has now extended putting his “teddies to sleep” routine by putting them in our bed to go to sleep. He then pats down the blanket and says 'night night' to them and then asks me to turn off the light and shut the door. We then turn the light back on and he excitedly runs to them saying 'wake up, wake up'. We sing '3 in the bed' and roll the teddies out of bed to which he proclaims 'oh no'. We then repeat the same process over and over again. Sometimes he likes to be 'put to sleep' in the bed with the teddies, and have me run back and tickle him for the 'wake up' part. I am hoping such roleplays encourage his understanding of the going to bed process - for whenever I start putting him into the cot by himself without lying down with him to get him to sleep first.

Posted by Al at 8:20 PM

Jack’s teeth are still bothering him – he had another mild teething fever again this afternoon, and is often rubbing his gums and head. It goes on and on, and is quite incredible. Jack has also had a cold for several weeks (something he shared with me two weeks ago – and which is still lingering). No wonder he has been so irritable.

Some of Jack’s favorite foods at the moment are Porridge, Broccoli, Hot Chips and Sliced Ham (thankfully not mixed in together). He often snacks on Grapes, Soy Cheese, Apple, Pear, or small dry biscuits. As an occasional treat he might get a snake or a banana Lolly. Overall I think he is a pretty good eater, and has a reasonable diet.

Jack also samples various foods that we eat. Occasionally we have noticed a definite reaction and change to his behavior – generally becoming a touch hyper / maniacal. We strongly suspect he is reacting to some coloring or preservatives in the food. We are going to have to take careful note of the ingredients to try and work out what exactly is triggering the behavior changes.

Speaking of food reactions – Jack is very clearly still reacting to Diary Products. After a bit of a search Al managed to find some non dairy Easter Eggs today, which was a relief.

Posted by Doug at 9:52 PM

Jack seems to have picked up my habit for getting up early in the morning, and Al’s predisposition to bad moods early in the morning. It is an unfortunate mix. Things are a little worse at the moment as Jack hasn’t adjusted to the end of Daylight Savings yet.

Posted by Doug at 6:48 AM

Al headed off to watch some Water Polo at the World Swimming Championships this morning. When she said goodbye to Jack he got most upset and cried furiously. The moment she was out of earshot however Jack took a couple big gulps of air, let out a sigh, and turned off the tears. Just like that. Communication, manipulation, or a mix of both?

This was in contrast to when I dropped him off at Childcare 45 minutes later. I could tell he was happy enough to be there – but was just finding the hand over a little tough. As I looked at his face, I could see him fighting not to cry. I know that once I was out of sight he would just sit back, relax, and enjoy his day there.

Something else of interest happened as I was taking Jack out of the car. He unattached his dummy and handed it to me to put in his bag. He knows he doesn’t have his dummy at Childcare. When we pick him up, one of the first things he will ask for as we strap him back into his seat will be his dummy. It is a reminder that Al and I have been slipping over the last few months – not working on addressing some of these behavior changes like we should have been.

Posted by Doug at 9:14 AM