We went to Baby Bunting this morning to buy Jack more of his Brainy Baby DVDs. He keeps asking to watch Wiggly Gremlins over and over, so we were hoping to distract him with something new and more educational. We didn’t bother to take the stroller, instead deciding to allow Jack to walk in and out with us. As we approached the store- which is large and warehouse looking, Jack got excited.

“Pay centre”

“No, we are going into a shop”

“Pay centre”

“No, Shop”

“Pay centre”

“Shop”

“Pay centre”

The first thing Jack noticed upon entering the shop was a little fenced off area with toys – which he made a beeline for. I guess he got his Play Centre. I left Al there, picked up a few DVDs and an assortment of extra items (that shopping at Baby Bunting always seems to result in), paid, and collected them again.

As we headed for the Door Jack realised what was happening, and did not appreciate it. Play Centre visits always lasted much longer than that. So right at the front of the shop, Jack threw himself prostrate on the ground and cried. An obvious, very loud, toddler tantrum.

I gallantly left him there and kept walking. Al, embarrassed sufferance on her face, stopped, scooped him up off the floor, and carried him out of the shop.

That was awkward and embarrassing. We are obviously going to have to get used to it. Or maybe insist Jack stays in a pram until he is 12.

Posted by Doug at 9:48 PM

Jack has continued to have his lingering cough and teething pains. His 4 eye teeth are all partly visible but not through yet, so we are likely to have a few more weeks of this. It has been another week of increased tantrums and him not feeling 100%. Thankfully he has been happier in the past 3 days, although still certainly has testing moments.

He enjoyed another outing to a play centre with Damon, Dominic and Isabel on Friday. Damon makes a point of talking to him, and Jack made a point of talking back, saying 'hello Damon' and 'bye bye Damon'. It will be nice if they continue to develop a bond, and it is nice for Jack to have an older kid willing to look out a bit for him. You also hope your kids will get along with your friends kids, so hopefully this will continue to be the case. He also enjoyed a visit to a park yesterday.

After a few weeks of wearing his softer slippers, we tried his new proper shoes on this weekend. I think they may take a little while for him to get comfortable in, but he happily walked and ran around in them for short periods. After letting him walk outside with them on Saturday, he asked to put them on yesterday and promptly ran to the front door and said 'outside'. So he seems to have happily picked up on us making a big mention of these being his outside shoes, and is likely to think this will increase his chances of getting outside when he wants. Given the ground was a little wet, I did allow him out in these shoes, but wouldn't have previously.

We also thought it was a good opportunity to allow him to walk into some shops with us, rather than be in his pram or pusher. I quickly discovered it is much harder work, making sure he doesn't touch anything he shouldn't, having to follow him around to where he wants to go, and putting up with his first 'throw himself on the ground' tantrum in a shop when we left before he was ready. It doesn't exactly encourage us to keep giving him this opportunity.

We had a particularly testing Tuesday night where Jack smashed 2 of his bowls by throwing them down hard from his high chair. Doug and I were feeling very frazzled, and I took Jack off to bed early. I then had a very first special experience. I normally say 'mummy loves Jack' when we lay down at night together. He has never responded back to this. On Tuesday night, I decided to try saying 'I love you Jack' instead, and asking if he could say 'I love you mummy'. He then repeated it and said 'I love you mummy' a couple of times. It's amazing how such special moments can turn around your day. The next day at playgroup I was getting something out of the shed, when Jack called out 'I love you mummy' much to the amazement of one of the other mothers.

Jack is now 22 months. Soon we will have to stop counting in months! Latest summary of where Jack is at:

. Jack is using more and more 4 word sentences. As above, his most special words for this month are 'I love you mummy'. He has also started saying 'thank you mummy' and yesterday even came out with 'thank you much mummy'. He has also started understanding and saying 'play' (e.g. when I ask whether he wants a bath and bed, he will say, 'no bath, more play') and 'fun'.

. A month ago Jack had worn his dog shoes and alligator shoes once, but otherwise mainly let us put them on his feet while he was sitting, so he could tap his feet on the ground with them on. With the help of childcare he progressed to being able to walk around in these confidently. We then purchased slippers and again with the help of childcare he quickly gained confidence in wearing these for long periods. When he wants them off he will say 'shoes off'. He seems to find them difficult to ride his bikes with, so that often prompts him to ask to have them off. He has just progressed to wearing proper shoes in the last couple of days for short periods. It has been a relief to finally get over this hurdle – as we were getting worried with winter approaching. I am sure we will look back and find it amusing in time.

. Jack really loves his DVD and TV watching. He now often requests which DVD he wants to watch. He can get quite repetitive for awhile. His current favourite to request over and over is 'Wiggly Gremlins'. He has also enjoyed watching bits of some movies, such as Cars and Shrek. He sometimes requests TV shows such as ‘Pinky Doo' as well - which of course is more difficult since he often requests them when they are not on, and doesn't really understand why I can't put them on for him.

. Jack continues to enjoy drawing. He often tells us what he is drawing, and we can sometimes see resemblances (such as fish, elephant, circle, oval, wheels). He also requests things for us to draw (which really test our abilities – me in particular). Childcare commented again this week that he is good at painting.

. Jack had his 'first kiss' with Kiara this month. Who would have thought such a milestone would be reached at this age!

. Jack seems to be picking up on people's names more. He now not only talks about his friend Ellie, but regularly talks about grandma, pa, pop, Auntie Lis, Lachie, Nana (Liana) and Tiara (Kiara). He also seems to remember things he has done that day, and even in the past few weeks. He regularly talks about grandma's house, and even 'bath grandma's house', even a few weeks after visiting. At night when we lie down, sometimes he will chat for awhile before going to sleep, and often talks about things he has seen that day, such as diggers, planes, play centre, Gymbaroo, slides, etc.

. He seems to be starting to understand consequences (at times). Doug took his digger toy off him. He gets frustrated with it and throws it in a tantrum (and Doug is afraid he will break it). So Doug said 'digger gone', 'no throwing digger'. Jack now sometimes asks for it and says 'no throw digger', so he seems to understand why it has been taken away.

. Unfortunately most of the time Jack knows he is doing something wrong, but defiantly does it anyway. This includes throwing his bowls and food off his high chair, attempting to turn the taps in the bath, touching buttons on the video, and climbing on the coffee table. He seems to be engaging in more of this 'testing' behaviour in past month - attempting to push his boundaries. It may relate to the fact he has again been teething and out of sorts for most of the month.

. Jack is still very much attached to his dummy. I try telling him he isn't a baby anymore, but a big boy, and that big boys don't need dummies. He just gives me a cheeky grin and says 'baby' when I tell him this. Instead of wanting to be a big boy, he wants to hold onto his baby benefits.

. At times Jack is better in his social behaviour with other kids. On Days when he is tired and not feeling well however he still gets very upset with other kids being in his personal space. I am trying to talk to him more about this behaviour, rather than just distracting him, moving him away, or fending off the other kids. It is early days yet, but at times it seems to work. Jack is also getting a little more independent when at Play Centres or playgrounds - wandering around by himself without needing us to be one step behind. He still likes to know we are close by however, so keeps a watchful eye on us.

Posted by Al at 10:51 AM

Jack generally hates getting his nappy changed. When he realises we are doing a sniff test he will quickly say “No Poos”, to suggest that he does not need his nappy changed. Lately he has taken to running away while shouting “No Poos” over his shoulder. This morning, possibly realizing the smell was obvious, he added “Mummy Poo”, then picking up a teddy bear, said “Bear Poo”. So far we have found this dishonesty amusing.

Posted by Doug at 6:39 PM

 

These were taken during our last visit to my parents. The socks were brand new - and after a run through the washing machine, soaking for 24 hours, and a further two runs through the washing machine, they were thrown away. Still Blue.

Posted by Doug at 9:47 PM

 

Jack looking at old slides with his Pop

Posted by Doug at 4:59 PM

We have just made it through another sick period for Jack. During last Wednesday Jack was out of sorts and cried furiously, clinging to me for most of his swimming class. I took him home to bed after this rather than taking him onto playgroup. We then noticed over the next few days that he was banging his head against objects, and scratching his ears - so we thought it may be an ear infection (on top of his teething antsiness).

He appeared to be ok on Saturday, so we headed off to my step-sister's wedding in Macedon. Jack enjoyed himself in the lovely garden setting where the wedding took place, walking around and looking at the ducks and geese. His Grandma Q gave him a little plane and helicopter at the reception, which kept him entertained (along with the helium balloons). He also enjoyed doing a little bit of dancing with his parents, Auntie Sarah and Auntie Lis. Auntie Lis gave him some great early Birthday presents there – a range of shoes including his first pair of boots, and a 9 cube puzzle that was a big hit.

He then vomited on the Saturday night, and had diarrhea on the Sunday. As such my second Mother's day was overshadowed by illness. I did however appreciate the paintings Jack had done for me at his Childcare Centres (one of a flower, one a picture he drew of his Mummy, and the last a handprint). We had already planned to have a quiet day after the wedding, so other than a short walk around a local park (where Jack enjoyed collecting stones) we just took it easy at home.

Feeling it was better to be safe than sorry, I took Jack to the doctors on Monday. He was diagnosed with a viral infection that would still be infectious, so we had to keep him at home. Grandma Q dropped in with Auntie Lis for a few hours on the Monday (while Auntie Lis' flight home to US was delayed), and she came back again to mind him on the Tuesday. As such I managed to only miss half a day’s work.

I lost my keys on Tuesday morning, and not feeling particularly well, ended up working from home. (That was frustrating as I had many meetings to attend.) By Wednesday he was still out of sorts, so kept him home from his activities.

He seemed ok on Thursday morning so I thought I would test him out with music class (since he usually loves it). He was ok for parts of it, but wanted to cling to me continually, and didn't want to participate in anything that involved bouncing up and down or moving too much. So we ended up keeping him home again on Thursday and Friday just to be on the safe side.

By this stage I was feeling worse, and Doug also had come down with the viral illness. Jack slept a lot more than usual all week - around 3 - 3.5 hours during his mid-day sleep, so being at home was giving him more of a chance to recover.

Doug's parents arrived late Friday night, and saw him looking relatively normal on Saturday morning. We notice he brightens up and shows off a bit when any of his grandparents come to visit. He seemed a bit better over the weekend but still not fully back to his normal self. He seemed ok enough to go to childcare yesterday so finally made it back there. When I dropped him off they asked me if he had been away due to a throat infection, so it appears as the source of the bug was childcare (as usual).

He was very tired by the time I got home (late after work issues) last night. When I asked him if he wanted to have a bath, he said 'no bath, tired, sleep, bed' and put his head on my shoulder. He finally seemed back to his normal self this morning, so here's hoping.

After such a bad run last winter - with continuous bugs passed between us for 3 months, we can only hope we have a better run this year.

During last week when we came to get Jack out of his cot, we noticed he had almost got his leg up over the side. This worried us, so we decided it was time to convert the cot into the kid's bed (one of the features of this particular cot). We took Jack up to see it and made a big fuss about it being 'Jack's bed'. At first he was hesitant to go near it, but when we pointed out he could get up and down from it, he got excited and climbed in and out a few times, and clapped and 'hoorayed' with us.

Since then I have been going with him to the nursery with him to go down at night (rather than starting the night in our room, and then transferring him to cot). I have asked each day if he wants to sleep in Jack's bed, but he firmly says no, then points to the single bed (where he normally sleeps with me) and says 'Jack's bed'.

I have gotten Jack to lie in the single bed by himself for awhile, and said 'Mummy sleep on floor, Jack's a big boy and can sleep by himself'. He then orders me to put the bears to sleep in the 'cot', turn music on and off, lights on and off, door open and closed, asks for water a number of times, then finally lays quietly for awhile, loudly sucking on his dummy. The first night I actually thought he had put himself to sleep, but after 20 minutes he suddenly cried and climbed out of bed to lie on me. I tried transferring him back to the bed a couple times, but he continued to climb back out and lie on top of me. So seems he would rather sleep on the floor with his human mattress than in the bed by himself.

I have then got into bed with him and he has gone to sleep quickly. I have managed to then transfer him to the cot. Sometimes he wakes up and tries to get up saying mummy. A benefit of the cot-bed is that I can now kneel down beside it, with my head on his pillow and arms around him, so I have managed to get him to sleep in the cot bed in that way. As usual he still wakes up some time later, and I have then let him sleep the rest of night against me. So the whole bed-time routine is taking longer than usual, but at least he is learning to go to sleep in his room, and at least is considering lying in bed for awhile without me. I think it will continue to be a slow process to wean him off his 'human mattress' and remains to be seen if he ever embraces his 'cot bed'.

I was informed by the childcare centre this morning that there are now places available in the next room. They commented that they believe Jack was ready for the move, and felt he would gain more stimulation there. Seven kids are going up at the same time, so at least there will be plenty of kids that he is familiar with. He will start doing orientation a couple hours in the morning and afternoon from today, building up to full days from about mid-June. I think it is timed well for Jack. He has gained extra confidence by being one of the older kids for awhile, but I think is now a good time for him be around kids his age and older who are talking and interacting more. Hopefully it will help his social skills, although it may take him a little while to get comfortable in his new surrounds and with new carers.

Posted by Al at 11:54 AM

Jack after his bath tonight.

 

Posted by Doug at 10:15 PM

Jack had another visit to his Grandparents C’s house last weekend. He slept through until the last hour of the trip there. Thankfully chatting to him, reading books, and a short break to stretch his legs and eat at a roadside stop allowed him to get the rest of the way without too much fuss.

He enjoyed playing with his cousins Hayley and Larissa on the Friday afternoon - he even allowed Hayley to hold his hand and walk him around, and tried jumping with them (even if it was just rocking from his heels onto his tippy toes). Later he had a short visit to the local park with his Pop and mum, and was able to climb up a ladder and go down a high slide (backwards) by himself.

The next morning he had some one on one time with Grandma C - while we took the opportunity to slip out for a coffee (after realising we had forgotten our 11 year wedding anniversary the previous day!) In the afternoon he played outside riding bikes with his cousin Jackson - although he did go very quiet once Jackson arrived. On Saturday night he made it through his Auntie Jade's 30th dinner celebrations at a Chinese restaurant, enthusiastically eating his fried rice. Then, fully tired out, he slept the whole way for the drive home.

We all enjoyed a quiet day on Sunday. Jack did get a short outing to a local park that he had yet to visit, having fun climbing through a tunnel, and back and forth across bridges and up and down slides.

Unfortunately he has had a bit of a cough and runny nose since the weekend, but has been happy enough so still made it along to childcare. He spent a couple more hours in the bigger kid's room (the Duck room) at his Monday/Tuesday childcare. They said he is doing really well there so far. He came home with some pasting artwork he had created (a bird with pink feathers and a decorated ice cream container drum). I am sure it is the start of many weird and wonderful creations that will accompany him home. To my surprise at music today one of the mothers told me she had been hanging out with Jack at the childcare centre – so I guess she must work in the Duck Room.

He has been more clingy than usual with swimming and music in past couple weeks. At swimming he has fun doing the 'twist and slide' into the pool and climbing out again. However he hasn't wanted to swim up and down the pool much and wanted to cling to me instead. So I am not sure if it is due to not feeling 100%, or if he has lost a bit of confidence after being sick and missing a week. At Gymbaroo however he had a first. It was the first time he managed to climb across a high ladder, holding onto the side bars for aid – without any extra help from me. He was excited by his achievement and wanted to do it over and over.

Posted by Al at 2:07 PM