For the last five days Jack has been in a particularly good mood. This has been in stark contrast to the previous month, where he has been more commonly out of sorts, full of complaining, and permanently attached to his mum.

In part he may have been picking up on the stress of his Mum – who has had a hard month at work, but more generally he seems to have been effected by a mix of several partial sickness, changes in his routine (different room at childcare, and not being able to get outside as much), and the start of his last round of teething (for his age anyway).

I am mindful of how negative I can come across. Taken in isolation Jack’s behaviour isn’t so bad most of the time – and I could never imagine a more rewarding thing in life than watching own your child grow and develop. It has just been more exhausting than expected over this last year.

I was looking at photos taken just before Jack’s first birthday. Everything in the house seemed neat, clean, and sorted. Now, just before Jack’s second birthday – the house seems scuffed, worn, and frayed around the edges. The house’s older occupants are much the same.

Posted by Doug at 10:29 PM

The Baby room staff at Jack's childcare centre were excellent. As such we have been surprised to find some of the staff in the toddler room are lackluster. Over the first 6 occasions when I picked Jack up from the new room, he was very obviously in need of a nappy change three times, in wet clothes once, and was covered in dried food five times. On one of those nappy changes he had the worst case of nappy rash he has ever had, suggesting he was in the nappy for a long time.

Al remarked on it - and things have improved. Observing the people in the room upon each pickup, how they interact with the children, and how they interact with each other, it is apparent there are two very good staff members, and several not so good. One of the good careers seems to have taken a shine to Jack, and remarked today that he has really opened up and started to talk all the time - so he is obviously settling in well.

It has been a bit of a reminder that we are entrusting Jack into the care of relative strangers. If we don't see any real and sustained improvement, we will raise our concerns with the centre director.

For the last two nights Jack started off with 5 hour stretches in his bed. This gave Al some very rare personal time. Tonight I found Al trapped under Jack. She had tried to transfer him several times, but had to give up when Jack said “No, no, no, enough small bed”.

Posted by Doug at 10:42 PM

Jack is now 2! It is amazing that so much time has passed. Individual days or weeks can feel very long - but the months and years have flown by. Our little baby has now disappeared and an active, talking little boy has taken his place.

The past year has certainly been full of challenges between teething and tantrums, chiropractor visits, a range of illnesses, and his need for personal space around other kids. It has also been incredibly rewarding to see Jack finally take his first steps, to now walking and running everywhere, and going from a handful of words and animal sounds a year ago to talking in sentences with hundreds of words in his vocabulary. He has also gone from having a fussy appetite a year ago to being the biggest eater at his childcare, and happy to eat most things put in front of him. It has been beautiful to watch his bonds with both of us grow even stronger over time. He has recently started giving proper hugs and kisses to us which is very special. A year ago he had just increased to 3 days at childcare, and now he almost always has a great time there (although still can get upset at handover). He continues to love his activities and gets excited by new toys. He has built up special relationships with his grandparents, and some of his carers and activity instructors (although of course they change over time), and has plenty of kids to interact with on a weekly basis. This age is one of rapid change, high highs and low lows, and a great deal of intensity. I look forward to seeing Jack continue to develop into his own little person in the year ahead.

Jack had another play centre visit last Wednesday. It was very crowded (being school holidays in winter) so he wanted to stick closely to me (which made it difficult to catch up with Kiara's mum) but otherwise he enjoyed the visit. On Thursday we were told he has now moved to the next room up, which was a big relief for me. The carer reported that while all the other kids are all over the place during the group activities of stories and singing, Jack sits still and pays full attention, and sings along to all the songs. He told us excitedly it was 'lots of fun' in the 'duck room'. Friday was a nice quiet day at home in preparation for the birthday weekend. As we went to bed Friday night, Jack said 'Friday gymbaroo?' I was amazed he realised it was Friday and he normally goes to Gymbaroo, and wanted to know why he hadn't gone this week. He certainly understands more than we realise at times! I tried to explain to him about it being a holiday and having a break, but I'm not sure he fully comprehended. He then asked about his music class, so I further explained this was also on holidays.

After attending parties the past few weeks, Jack was excited by the concept of his birthday this year. When we produced his presents in the morning he instantly started talking about 'birthday' along with us, and ripped into the presents with excitement. His main present from us was a tricycle with a long handle to allow us to push it. He also received lots of matchbox cars, a Bob the builder night lamp, a Shrek Donkey, a musical dump truck, car carrier, playdough, pencils, and lots of clothes from his friends and family. He managed to have a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day - which bode well for his afternoon tea with his grandparents. He quickly got excited by his 'party' - playing with balloons, and being overwhelmed with his many new toys and clothes. He showed interest in each and every toy given to him. He is certainly one lucky little boy!

He attempted to blow out his 2 candles (with mum's help) and enjoyed eating some cake and party foods. Although he wasn't feeling 100% on the day - so a little out of sorts at times, he handled the big occasion very well with those closest to him. Jack talks to me about his day when he goes to sleep. He reported it was a 'good happy birthday', 'fun party' and 'lots of presents' that night, which made everything worthwhile. He enjoyed further interactions with his grandma C on the Sunday. She even managed to teach him to ride his tricycle in a short space of time! He looked very cute going for a walk in his new outdoor coat and hat. Although he was tired from his big weekend, he did seem to appreciate the special occasion.

Summary of Jack at 24 months / 2 years (will have to get used to not talking about Jack in months anymore!):

. Jack is now in the toddler rooms at both childcare places. He is enjoying the group activities, crafts, and experiences aimed at this age group. Although he has been extra clingy during the transition, he seems to be handling it well overall.

. Jack is now walking down the stairs at home while holding the banister on one side, and me on the other. He is very proud of this achievement and proudly showed off to his Grandma C this past weekend.

. As he goes up the stairs to bed each night he demands a 'kiss' from his dad, then demands mummy kisses daddy! He is now able to give us sloppy kisses back, and great hugs - which is special.

. He regularly puts 5 to 6 words together in sentences, continues to expand his vocabulary, and is improving his pronunciations (like du-ee is now dummy). One of his cute sayings is 'my goodness' when he makes a mess. If one of us, or a toy falls to the ground he will come up and ask “are you ok, you alright?”. On a not so positive note, he repeated his first swear word this month (bugger - out of his mother's mouth - how terrible!). We hope he doesn't remember that word!

. Jack has learnt to ride his first tricycle within 24 hours of receiving it (courtesy of Grandma C!) He is still rather tentative, but I'm sure will be whizzing about on it in no time.

. Jack's kicking skills have improved markedly in the past month. He is really loving playing with balls - throwing ('up high' is his call as he attempts to throw upwards), catching (sometimes), and kicking, and is excited by anyone who will come and play ball with him.

. Jack is rather bossy with his playing. He likes us to be involved in anything he is playing with, and demands 'daddy stand over there', 'mummy throw daddy', etc. He has just started trying to drag me to go to where he wants (by grabbing onto my clothes and pulling me towards him - he is remarkably strong and forceful) which is rather trying.

. Jack likes pretending to read his books, and chatters away to himself as he does so, with some real words, numbers and letters mixed in with baby babble. He also likes pretending to read the paper and magazines I read, and after 'reading' away for awhile, looks up to pronounce them 'great books'.

Posted by Al at 5:36 PM

For the final week of school holidays Jack and I enjoyed a nice lunch at Kiara's house, and another at Damon's house. However Jack then came down with a bad cold and cough last Saturday. Since he sounded like he was wheezing overnight I took him to the Doctors on Monday morning, but he assured me it was just a cold.

We kept Jack at home from childcare on Monday and Tuesday and away from his activities on Wednesday. His grandma Q came down to mind him on that Tuesday to allow me to make it into the office. When I arrived home he told me it was a 'good day with Grandma Q'. He seemed ok enough to go to childcare on Thursday so we sent him along. When we picked him up he sounded a little worse for wear. However he was in good spirits, and said he had 'yummy food' (a quick check showed he had 3 serves of chicken pasta that day), and he pointed out 'lots of kids' now that school holidays were over.

We met up with some friends at Melbourne Museum on Saturday morning. Jack enjoyed looking and touching all the displays in the kid’s interactive area, and was fascinated at looking at the huge dinosaur skeletons. He continued to be out of sorts yesterday, but we believe is mostly over his cold now, and more teething issues.

Posted by Al at 5:25 PM

We have been saying Jack is in his final round of teething for a while now. He has the red cheeks, his fingers in his mouth, the very strong smelling teething wee, and the over the top antsy behaviour. The only problem is that he has no new teeth – not even a sign of them.

We will continue however to excuse his behaviour as teething – as it gives us an explanation we can understand and accept, and an expectation of it finishing some time soon. For their own sanity, sometimes parents need to embrace ignorance.

Jack impressed me during our visit to the Museum on the weekend. He pointed at a large dinosaur skeleton and said “Looook, Dinosaur.” I bent down next to him and said “Yes, a very big Dinosaur.” Looking wide eyed he replied, “A big, big, big, big, BIG Dinosaur.” Without pause, Jack related the skeleton to the Dinosaur’s he sees in pictures and on TV.

Jack had one of his worst days for angst and tantrum behaviour on Sunday. It was seriously bad. Al also had a particularly bad mood day. It was not a good mix. After a very long night sleep, Jack has been really great today. Al was also in a good mood. It was a good mix.

Posted by Doug at 10:56 PM

After Sunday’s horror, we had a pretty good day with Jack on Monday. On Tuesday he woke up antsy again - getting himself upset and into inconsolable crying fits several times an hour, interlaced with tantrums and lots of “Mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy” chants. Even a dose of medicine didn’t seem to make much difference.

As we mulled over the logistics of who would care for him at home we decided to take a punt and drop him off at childcare anyway. We suspected the best medicine for him would be distraction. We warned his carers – who would call us if needed, but he ended up having a great day. They were watching him, but said he had been happy within himself the entire time.

As we headed out the door of his centre room, he said loudly over his shoulder, “Bye bye, good day, lots of fun”, then looked at me and said “Jack through door, home now, mummy work?” That is one of the first days he has said bye to the room – even though many of the kids and all the carers normally say goodbye to him. It was nice to see.

He came home happy, had a good afternoon with his Dad, played for an hour straight with his birthday balloons (now that they had finally dropped from the ceiling), had a good early evening with his Mum, and then went to bed totally exhausted.

Such a contrast – and a reminder of the power of distraction over growing pains.

I got home late tonight – having to stay back for one of my company’s semi regular information sessions. As I put my keys into the door I got to experience what Al does on Monday and Tuesday evenings. There were excited calls from Jack saying “Daddy”, the sound of stamping feet, and then as I stepped into the house, Jack came running around the corner and down the hall calling “Daddy”, throwing his arms around me and giving me a great hug.

He had had another good day – but slept late into the afternoon. At 9:15pm he was still up and Al was trying to herd him upstairs. He was insisting he wanted to play, and at one point he gave a half hearted tantrum. Al popped his dummy in, and as I watched, his eyes instantly rolled, and his head dropped onto his Mum’s shoulder. He was almost instantly asleep.

And so it came that the batteries were totally recharged...

Posted by Doug at 10:01 PM

It is an oxymoron, but in as much as every child is an extraordinary individual, they also all tend to be the same.

Jack has gone through several changes of late – all of which our various friends, family and colleagues have warned us about in conversations that start with “Just wait until…”

After a couple weeks of warnings, Jack now flat out refuses to go into his Pram or Stroller – and throws such a tantrum once strapped in that you cannot take him anywhere in public. He will now only be going on the shortest of shopping trips.

Jack now refuses to sit in his high chair – and insists on sitting at the table with us. He is also refusing to wear his bib (unless you come from behind and have it over his head before he realises), and refuses to have us feed him until his bowl is almost empty. Needless to say his clothes, the kitchen table, and the kitchen floor all requiring more cleaning.

He insists on using a spoon to spread the Jam on his own Sandwiches – and is currently insisting on Jam sandwiches a dozen times a day. He wants to put toothpaste on his own toothbrush, climb into his own car seat, and put on and take off his own clothes.

It should be to no one’s surprise that Jack’s latest catch cry is “all by self”.

It is a good thing, and part of normal development. It does however create more work for the parents, and is the source of many tantrums for Jack.

Posted by Doug at 10:41 AM