Three times so far today while Grace was standing, she deliberately let go of whatever support she was using and clapped. She had her legs braced and her bum sticking out, but she stood on her own.

Last night Grace was amusing herself by constantly sticking her tongue out at her Mum and Dad. The mirth increased fivefold when she realised she could use her tongue to pop her dummy out, and then the dummy to push her tongue back in.

Today was a mixed day. Al was once again vomiting and running to the toilets. We are not sure if it is a new stomach bug or a flare up of the old, but she was feeling absolutely horrendous and looking very pale and washed out. With the high winds we had today my allergies were playing up, and I was feeling average. I did help out more than what I would normally do with the kids, which Al appreciated – but it wasn’t as much as she wanted me too, which she did not appreciate.

Grace took a few short, stumbling steps on her own several times today. It was very reminiscent of Jack’s first steps, with Al holding open her arms and saying “Step, Step, Step…”, and Grace stumbling towards her. Her giggling afterwards and Al’s exclamation of “Hooray!!” were exactly the same as occurred with Jack. She is not quite there yet, but the concept is in her mind. She stood unassisted for some 20 seconds at one point, and is now more often deliberately free standing.

This afternoon I overheard a sulking Jack say loudly to himself “I hate him” – in reference to me. While I am sure I’ll be hearing that many more times in my life, it niggled a little. We have reinforced to him for a while now that he shouldn’t use that word lightly, as it was a very strong term.

He had just been sternly told off after deliberately being rough with Grace. Over the last week he has been caught forcefully shoving Grace and hitting her with objects – each time when he thought he wasn’t being watched. Initially I did not think it was malicious – more the stupidity of an “I wonder what happens if I do this…” mindset. After seeing the expression on his face today however I suspect there is some resentment or annoyance there too.

Jack has always had an awkward, in your face way of interacting with Grace. He invades her personal space, tends to be overly loud and a little rough. Mostly Grace just pushes him away, but we are forever telling him to back away and to give Grace some room. He might be getting annoyed with that.

Lately Jack is – well – simply not bothering to listen. It doesn’t matter if we are answering a question from him or telling him off for doing something wrong, he is ignoring what we are saying. His favorite saying is “Oh, I heard, but I just forgot.” This means we find ourselves having to nag at him.

When he is told off for doing something, he throws his usual tantrums but now focuses on how it is unfair on him. He is so focused on himself that he doesn’t learn anything from the situation.

I’m sure the political correct approach here will be to sit down and speak with Jack calmly, explaining why he needs to start listening. I have been trying that, and will continue – but I am also going to have to find some new consequences to his actions. I have added making him go to bed earlier to his list of punishments – but I am thinking of confiscating his Ben 10 clothes and toys for a period of time. That might make him stop and think…

On a more pleasant note I went duck hunting again this weekend, and for the third time in a row Jack came up with me to spend some time with his Grandma C and to play with his cousins. The weekend went reasonably well again.

On a less pleasant note – this week Al was meant to do 20 hours of work (after being sick on Monday), but instead is nearing 60 hours due to an unrealistic task with a ridiculous deadline. We had to have her mum stay here 3 nights / 4 full days, Al worked past midnight most nights, and started again well before the kids woke up in the morning. The situation was simply untenable, and really knocked Al (and the family) around. I was rather impressed that, even though she was under the most stress she has ever been in her working life, it didn’t result in an increase of “bad parenting moments”.

I have a very strong desire to verbally rip the heads off her immediate management – but Allison has taken a different option. I hope the outcome from this week is a more thoughtful management who doesn’t put her in the same situation again. Their history however points at them being annoyed at her complaining and getting upset, and focus only on the fact she in effect did the work, so can do it again next time.

Jack bowled Grace over today. Grace was using her walker and Jack was riding his scooter up and down the passageway together. We had warned him multiple times to be careful, but during a short moment when neither of us was watching he knocked her over. Grace took in a terribly, terribly big breath before screaming, and afterwards sported a big red mark above one eye.

When we both turned around to see what had happened Jack calmly regarded us and said “I won’t do it again.” He wasn’t the slightest bit concerned that Grace was screaming, and kept repeating that he wouldn’t do it again. We knew he had done it deliberately – and he knew we hadn’t seen him. He only lost his composure when I threatened to throw his scooter in the bin because he couldn’t’ be trusted to be careful.

We are going to have to watch him like a hawk. I am really disappointed that he is slyly and deliberately hurting his sister. We have harped on him to be careful around her, and discussed many times how Grace obviously loves him, and likes interacting with him. The next time we catch him in the act we are going to have to come up with a consequence he will not forget or ignore.

Grace is looking rather solid again. Family, friends, childcare and acquaintances have all pointedly gone out of their way to mention that she is looking “solid” at the moment. I wonder if people were so rude a generation or two ago?

While she does seem to have a natural inclination towards that body shape, the blame does rest on our shoulders. While she eats healthily, the volumes need to be cut back a bit. We suspect she isn’t registering when she is full – much like Al, and loudly demands food well past the point she should be.