Easter and Chocolate = Maniacal edge

Posted by Doug at 7:33 PM

The Easter bunny arrived this morning. Mindful of Jack’s dairy allergy it brought along some milk free eggs. They are rather rich, but Jack still seemed to enjoy then in small doses. Tonight Jack did one of the most horrendous smelling nappies he has ever done – and I mean utterly disgusting, fill the whole house, noxiously gagging.

The remaining eggs have strangely disappeared.

Posted by Doug at 11:26 PM

On Tuesday last week while picking up Jack from Childcare I noticed that he had slept for two and a half hours. I asked them how they manage to get him down to sleep for so long. “Jack? Oh he’s our little angel. We just lay him down and he quietly puts himself to sleep. At most we sometimes might have to just quietly pat him.”

Mumble, grumble, mumble…

Noticing that they always put Jack down to sleep at 12, Al has been trying to incorporate that time into his normal daily naps at home. It seems to have helped.

Posted by Doug at 10:50 AM

It has been awhile between posts for me after a busy few weeks. I had a week off while my sister was in town. We managed to squeeze in 3 events at the world swimming championships (diving, swimming and water polo) lunch with my brother, and some shopping (on the days that Jack was at childcare). We also saw the show Miss Saigon (which was excellent) while Doug minded Jack one day. Jack and Doug also came along for a trip down to my sister's house in Geelong on another day. Jack enjoyed the new toys he got from Auntie Lis. My sister and I also took him on the 'walk/run for the kids' (around the Botanical Gardens). Jack managed to excitedly walk and run the first kilometer before going into the pram for the rest of the trip. It was an enjoyable, albeit very busy break. I felt like I was going back to work to recover from my holiday!

I then had a morning tea with the mother's group, followed by a trip down to Geelong to see my high school friends. Unfortunately Jack was overtired and out of sorts on this trip, which left him on edge with the other kids for both visits. He enjoyed an early dinner with his grandparents afterwards. He loves pa doing 'incy wincy spider' for him (generally involving pa putting clothes on his head and making clothes dance). On Easter Thursday Doug and I went to a little afternoon tea at Jacks childcare centre to see the Easter hats the kids had made. When we arrived Jack was looking very cute wearing his bunny ears. Finally we had another catch up with Damon, Dominic and Isabella on Good Friday. Again Jack was a bit out of sorts with the other kids at the start of the visit, but thankfully relaxed and enjoyed playing with the cars, trains and other 'boys toys'.

I was relieved after all this to enjoy a quiet, relaxing Easter break. Jack was also in need of the quiet time, and for the most part was relaxed and happy at home, with one park visit and a couple small shopping trips thrown in. We bought him some little blue chairs to sit at our downstairs coffee table which he was very happy with. He chose the colour blue (we gave him a choice). We hope to continue to give him choices where possible. It was nice to see Jack get excited by his non-dairy Easter eggs (even if the resultant nappy meant he won't be getting any more), and he has asked to put on his bunny ears quite a few times since. We also appreciated the egg painting Jack did at his other childcare.

Summary of Jack at 21 months:

. I stopped keeping track of the individual Words Jack knows after he hit 200. He certainly continues to impress with his ever increasing vocabulary, and puts words together more and more often in phrases or short sentences.

. When Doug picked him up out of cot one day he said 'find mummy now'. He also told me today as we were leaving for childcare 'see Ellie soon' (when I had told him a couple hours earlier he would see his friend Ellie today). So he seems to be starting to understand 'now' and 'soon'. Doug is teaching him to say 'hooray home' each time he arrives home with him. When I bring him home by myself in the car or when we are out for walks, he says 'home daddy' - to indicate he knows we are going home to daddy. He is also starting to use more smaller words in sentences, such as 'the' (eg 'up the stairs', 'through the gate'), and 'on' ('ladder on top' - of firetrucks and the like). Jack also says 'bless you' to us when we sneeze, which is very cute.

. When Jack is eating or drinking, or even with some of his playing, he likes to say 'bit more' to indicate he wants some more. When he is finished he will often say 'all done'. He will also say 'all done' when we have finished doing something like changing his nappy or washing his hands.

. Jack has a few cute word mix-ups at times, even though he generally gets things right. For example he sometimes mixes 'up' and 'down', 'shut the door' and 'open the door'. Sometimes he will repeat 'hello Jack' or 'bye bye Jack' back to us, whereas other times he will say 'hello daddy', 'bye bye mummy'.

. A new toy for the month was a turtle puzzle with the alphabet on it. He can find 'm' for mummy, 'd' for daddy, 'J' for Jack, 'g' for grandma', 'p' for pa/pop, and 'z' for zebra amongst other letters. He also asks me to do the big floor puzzle with him (that his grandparents gave to him a little while back). He loves the new toys from Auntie Lis, which included animal fridge magnets, a world globe with flying plane, a dragon tail (which makes a noise – now that he has got over his initial fright from it), and some new books. He has also enjoyed looking at the new train book his grandparents gave him. He especially loves the new matchbox cars we bought for him - 'silver racing car', 'red car/mummy's car', and 'black car/daddy's car'.

. Jack is now able to climb up onto our dining chairs, and enjoys sitting at one with me sitting on another, tapping on the table. His reach is also increasing so he can grab more things off our kitchen table and benches, meaning we need to be more alert.

. Jack has just learnt to blow a feather across the table, and blow bubbles with a little bubble maker. He was very excited by these little achievements, and we enjoyed sharing his enthusiasm. He also likes to pretend to blow up my Swiss ball by working a little air pump up and down on top of it.

. Jack is getting more into imaginary play. He likes pretending to drink 'cups of tea' from toy cups, and makes big slurpy noises (as I have done when I drink the imaginary teas). In his bath last night he was moving the dinosaurs along the edge of the bath and making them say hello to each other, give each other kisses in greeting, and getting them to drink pretend water and cups of tea. He also had them doing 'peekaboo' to each other, and moving other bath toys along to interact with them.

. Jack still refuses to wear shoes. His Auntie Lis managed to find some great slip on dog and alligator shoes, that he is intrigued with. He allows us to put them on and off his feet, and did do one walk in them for his dad for about 10 steps (but has since refused to stand up in them). We really will have to start forcing the issue soon with the winter weather approaching; otherwise it will really limit his opportunities for being outside.

. Jack's sleep patterns are getting more consistent. After learning that his Monday / Tuesday childcare puts him down at 12, I have started doing the same. He has gone down quickly and easily, so I will try to do that as regularly as possible. He also seems to understand 'bath then bed' at night, and goes down calmly each night. Most of the time he drops off to sleep quickly, although sometimes takes a bit of tossing and turning and the occasional chatting before he goes to sleep. He still goes to sleep on me for each sleep, and then transfers into the cot for awhile, before then coming back onto me for the rest of the night. From that point he generally sleeps through the night, just occasionally waking up or asking for his dummy.

Posted by Al at 11:57 PM

Recently Jack has (on occasion) asked to go to bed. Tonight as Al when to start the normal bath and bed regime Jack stopped her at the top of the stairs, pointed at our bedroom, and said “Bed, Bed, Bed, Sleep”. Al asked if he wanted to have a bath first, but he said “No, Bed, Bed”.

Posted by Doug at 8:58 PM

We visited Jack’s Grandma C and Pop this weekend. The trip takes around two and a half hours, so requires some careful timing and a bit of luck to get up and back without Jack getting antsy in the car. A crying and inconsolable child in the back seat can make for an extremely difficult distraction – something we have experienced a number of times now. Thankfully Jack slept through most of the trip up and again on the way back – with us going up during his Midday sleep on Friday, and coming back after dark on Saturday. It was a particularly good visit, and Jack still seems to be thinking over some of it. This afternoon he was telling me about Buck the Dog at Grandma’s house.

Posted by Doug at 6:24 PM

This week we decided to send Jack's alligator and dog shoes along to childcare with him, to see if they could make any progress. Lo and behold, when Doug picked him up they said he had been happily walking around in them. When Doug got home with him, Jack happily walked around in them again. He has continued doing so for around 20 minutes each day since. Of course they then informed us that the kids aren't allowed to wear slip-on shoes at the centre, so we will now have to go hunting for some more shoes. We can only hope that now we have made this breakthrough, he will be more willing for us to put other types of shoes onto his feet.

This was the first week back to normal activities after the school holiday break. At swimming Jack clung to me tightly for most of the class and didn't want to participate very much, but didn't cry at all. At playgroup Jack is still wary of the other kids if they come into his personal space. I was therefore most surprised when Kiara came up to Jack and asked for a kiss, and put her lips up ready, that Jack gave her a kiss! They then repeated this a couple more times. So Jack has had his first kiss at the tender age of 21 months! It was very cute. As usual, Jack loved his music class, and even sang along to 'twinkle twinkle' little star which was sweet to see.

Jack was a bit confused by the new location for Gymbaroo today, and wasn't sure where he was. He kept saying 'Music? Gymbaroo?' to me while we were waiting for the previous class to finish. He excitedly said 'hello Lachie' though when he spotted his friend from playgroup arriving. (It was Lachie's first time at Gymbaroo). I have opted to try a different timeslot this term, so will see how it goes. It seems to be a much smaller group, which I think will be better for Jack. Of course, it is a little sad to not be in the same group as some of the mothers and kids that we have befriended, although we still had a chance for a quick chat with them since they are in the class before.

After a few months of consistently having 1 sleep a day, Jack seems to have changed back to needing/wanting 2 sleeps a day this week. He has still been getting up very early (between 5am and 6:30am) since daylight savings started, so by around 8am he has been looking to go back to bed. He has slept for anywhere between 20 minutes and 2 hours - and had to be woken up at times to be taken to childcare or classes. He has then still gone down for his normal day sleep, and is going to bed around 6:30-7pm. He has been mostly happy, but a little out of sorts this week, and appears to have a slight cold so that may also be contributing to his need for extra sleep at the moment.

Posted by Al at 2:48 PM

I think we managed half a week of normal Jack, before the angst of teething returned full on. His eyeteeth are now coming through, and he seems particularly unbalanced. I know the books, friends and acquaintances can have a tendency to roll their eyes at teething comments. It is viewed as an overused excuse for everything. If we were not witnessing it first hand, I don’t think we’d believe the process could be so long and have such an impact.

There was a mass shooting at a US University over the week. Thirty two people were murdered, most young adults in the prime of their lives. Even before the horror and grief was fully realised the media was full of questions on why it happened, how it happened, and how it was allowed to have happened. Experts lined up to explain it all - amongst the calls for recriminations, justice, and new laws to protect the community. Those with political agendas are already driving the dead as vehicles for change.

In amongst it all are the families, parents and friends who have lost loved ones in one of the hardest ways possible.

So how do Al and I protect Jack from something like this? Through the hype and hysteria, a daytime TV show host spoke some words of wisdom that struck a chord with me. He said that if we wanted to help protect our children, then we must teach them how they can protect themselves. Instead of wrapping them up in cotton wool, we should help them to be self ware, confident and alert. Of equal importance, and reinforced though this tragic event, we should encourage them to enjoy every day of their existence.

Even as much as teething, over tiredness and a runny nose will allow.

Posted by Doug at 6:04 PM

This morning we went out shopping. Al was tired and grumpy, I was tired and grumpy, and Jack was tired and grumpy. You’d think that after being parents for 21 months we’d have been smarter than to do that.

During the very short visit to the shopping centre we did manage to buy Jack some slippers. His Aunty Melissa gave him some slip on clogs at Easter that had animal faces on them. Jack was quite intrigued with them, and actually started to wear them for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. It was a significant breakthrough! They are a little prone to falling off however, so the slippers are the next step towards Jack wearing proper shoes. These are lighter, more comfortable, and are fastened up with Velcro. Jack actually asked for them to be put on after getting home, and wore them for over 20 minutes straight.

Al and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Posted by Doug at 10:19 PM

Jack enjoyed a visit from his Uncle Mal and Auntie Sarah last weekend. He really seems to enjoy interacting with adults these days, particularly grandparents, aunts and uncles who are paying him their full attention.

We also purchased some new slippers for Jack last weekend. He was happy to wear them for about 20 minutes when we got home. I sent them along to childcare with him, and they reported he wore them for most of the day! So this is a very big step forward for him. He has continued to wear them for periods at home, but then asks for them to be taken off when he no longer wants them. He finds is hard to ride his outdoor bike with them on, so this caused a tantrum, but he happily went for his first walk down the street in them. So it is mainly good progress on the shoe front this week.

Unfortunately a not-so-good development has occurred this week. He has taken to try to intentionally bite me at times. When he was a lot younger we allowed him to bite our nose (pre-teeth days) but now of course him attempting to bite our nose or arms is very painful, and is obviously a behaviour we won't tolerate and are trying to nip in the bud quickly. He has been teething yet again this week, so perhaps he is looking to bite to give some relief to his sore mouth. He has also had a bit of a chesty cough this week so has been a bit out of sorts in general.

When Doug picked Jack up from his Tuesday childcare place this week, his main carer there Rebecca was excited to report a first. She had wet Jack's hair and combed it after his sleep. She then held him up to the mirror and asked who he could see in the mirror. He pointed at himself and said 'Jack' then pointed at her and said 'Becca'. It was the first time he has called her by name, so a special moment for her. He then called her Becca a couple more times during the day, but of course refused to demonstrate it to Doug when he picked Jack up.

Whenever I pick Jack up from his Thursday childcare, his carers comment on how much he talks. We feel a little embarrassed at times to know what to say when people remark on it. This week his primary carer cautiously asked me if he interacted with other kids outside of childcare. I told her that he sees kids nearly every day at his various activities. She asked if I was aware of how he gets upset by other kids coming close to him. Given he wasn't feeling well this week, he must have had a particularly upset day. She commented that the young twins in the room love to sit beside Jack and watch him play, but he gets really upset by them wanting to be near him. She also said that in the morning he was getting upset by another little girl (Bella) but that he was then happy to play with her in the afternoon.

I asked how she dealt with it and she said she just tells him that he is ok, and that they just want to play, and won't give him a hug (as the other kids would perceive this as favoritism). This is a change from the previous main Carer's strategy of moving him away - separating him (which is then how I have approached things, to try to move him away or distract him). So I am going to have to make more concerted efforts with talking through his behaviour with him each time he gets upset by other kids. Doug came along to watch Jack at Gymbaroo today and noticed that some of the other mothers steered their kids away from Jack. While it is nice that they are considerate (since they know he gets upset), it also feels awkward to know people avoid him! It has certainly been one of the most challenging aspects of parenthood with Jack thus far.

Posted by Al at 2:46 PM

Jack has been seesawing the last few days – he seems to be a different boy every time he wakes up. Sometimes he will be happy, other times he is constantly throwing Tantrums. Jackal and Hide.

At the moment my favourite Jack sayings are “BessYou”, “One More Time”, and “Where’sItGone? ThereItIs!”

Posted by Doug at 10:02 PM