Once again another couple of months have flown
past since I last made an entry. Thankfully we are now starting to
enjoy the occasional sunny weekend after what has felt like an endless
winter with the rainy weekends still continuing most weeks in past 5
months (and ongoing colds and bugs from all of us as a result).
Last school holidays Jack was excited to attend
the Ben 10 show with me, followed by going to the wave pool. We also
enjoyed a show at Rippon Lea and a picnic and playing in the gardens
afterwards with his friends Damon, Max, Dominic and Bella. We also had
a few play visits to Kiara, 'little Lachie' and Jaime's house in
Geelong.
We recently celebrated Doug's parent’s 40th
wedding anniversary with the extended family all staying at a farmhouse
near Lorne. Jack enjoyed the opportunity to play with his cousins as
always. It was extra special for Doug's parents to be the first time
that all 8 of their grandchildren were together. We visited with my
family on the way down and Jack has been excited to see the progress of
Auntie Lis' new pool.
Doug and I enjoyed attending Crowded House show
last weekend. Although it wasn't quite as good as the 'Finn Brothers'
concert we saw a few years back it was still a very enjoyable show. We
have also attended another gymnastics party for Max's 4th birthday and a
play centre party for Rebecca. I enjoyed a lunch and afternoon tea with
Uni friends last week also. Jack has been enjoying visiting the market
held outside his childcare on Sundays, particularly getting his face
painted. We have also been getting out more to parks with the improving
weather.
School transition visits have also been keeping us
extra busy of late. We continue to have a good impression of our chosen
school and are impressed by the focus not only on academic achievement
but also student welfare and their social and emotional wellbeing.
With all the busyness of late I haven't made it
playgroup much this term, but have delighted in meeting the 2 newest
additions - new babies Lauren Ella and Bianca Monet.
Summary of Grace at 20 months:
. Particularly enjoys swinging on swings at park
visits
. Is not wandering around the room nearly as much
now at Gymbaroo and music class, although still occasionally tries to
move off by herself
. Has had her 4 eye teeth coming through in past
month or so. This has meant she has been more out of sorts than normal
and is back to biting, scratching, hitting and head-butting behaviour
whenever we try to stop her from something.
. Is hard work now with nappy changes, constantly
trying to get up and throwing tantrums.
. Is getting more and more words. Recent words
include a lot of 'b' words such as book, bag, boat, bike, bird and
's/sh' words such as socks, shoes, shower, stairs. She now says 'more'
whenever she wants more food or drink. She enthusiastically says
'cheese' when I feed her cheese, one of her favourite foods. For quite
a while she was saying 'bye dad' to everyone (not just her dad) but
seems to now just be saying 'bye'. She now also has more animal noises
including roar, baa, moo, 'hoot' (for owls), elephant trumpet noise, and
my favourite 'miaow' (which she also tends to think is for dogs when she
sees dogs outside!) Unfortunately I haven't kept a close list of her
words as I did with Jack but I would guess she has around 50 words or so
currently. She is now more interested in trying to repeat words I say
to her and gives many words a go.
. Has started wanting to walk downstairs without
holding our hands (only holding the side rails)
. Now insists on feeding herself out of a bowl
(and throws tantrums if I try to feed her or put food on her high chair
tray rather than in a bowl). She does a very good job of it generally.
-. Seems to have had a growth spurt recently as
even clothes we bought her a month ago seem to be getting too small for
her already. I really need to sort through her wardrobe to take out all
the 'too small' clothes and find some time to buy her new clothes!
. Still gets a report of 'had a great day' almost
every single day at childcare. She really has settled in well this year
after the first month or so.
. Didn't cry at all for her 18 month injections -
what a brave little girl!
. Is now down to one breastfeed at night. Once
her eye teeth are fully through I intend to finish this up.
. Since daylight savings started wakes between
5-6:30am so I have been trying to get myself to bed earlier where
possible. She still wakes anywhere from 1-4 times a night most nights
(and more so when she has colds with snuffly nose).
. Just tried her orange push-along tricycle on the
weekend for the first time. She left her feet mainly hanging (and
occasionally on the foot step - not yet ready to tricycle her legs) but
was enthusiastic to ride it up and down the court and around the house
. Is enjoying getting outside on sunny days. She
enjoys playing in the sandpit, pushing the mower and riding her outside
bike in the backyard, and walking along the front fence and playing
fetch with the soccer ball out the front, and going for little walks up
and down the court
- Is rather insistent in pulling me by the finger
to where she wants to go. She now recognises food comes from the
cupboard and takes me there hopefully for lollies and snacks. Upstairs
she will walk me to the book case which her drink is on top of when she
is thirsty. Downstairs she often walks me to the front and back doors
(and is delighted when she can go out and upset when she is not
allowed).
. Is really enjoying her books now and spends time
each day looking at her them by herself.
. Sings ‘shake shake shake, shake shake, shake
shake shake, stop’ song with her rattle toys (and puts it on his
shoulder at stop –as she has learnt in music class).
Summary of Jack at 5 years 4 months:
. Jack has now had 3 transition visits to school.
It struck me on the first visit that it was one of the most important
days in Jack's life as his first impression of the school would
influence his ongoing reaction to the environment. He had appeared
terrified outside when we first arrived and literally froze on the spot
when he saw all the preps, buddies and parents milling around in the
courtyard. Sadly his buddy was away but he was led away by another of
his friend's buddies. It was with huge relief that we saw him come out
smiling, and he quickly informed us he loved it. He had his first
classroom visit on the day and seemed very taken by the whole
experience. On the second visit he similarly looked scared outside and
held my hand (a rare event these days). He did his first PMP visit and
again came out saying how much he loved it. He looked a bit less scared
on his most recent visit and thankfully his buddy was finally there to
participate in the session with him. He still enjoyed it but being
music and dancing wasn't quite as enthused about it afterwards as his
previous visit. So all up, it will still obviously take a while for
Jack to transition to his new environment, particularly outside the
classroom, but shows signs that he will settle in to the classroom
routine and enjoy himself.
. Jack started milo cricket this past weekend.
His ready, steady, go has put him in good stead for now moving onto
specific sports.
. Just had his first visit to a friend’s house
without his parents last week (to his best friend Brayden's house). She
reported back that they had a great time and couldn't stop laughing for
the first hour of the visit.
. Now mostly knows the 'first 100 words', and is
doing really well when reading books to me. He is enjoying the 'magic
100 words' card games that Brayden's mum has lent to us. On his first
transition visit to school they did a copy and paste exercise and he was
able to read the words, much to his temporary buddy's surprise. So
hopefully it gives him a confidence burst when he starts school.
. Is doing really well with his swimming. His
swimming is now in the evenings and he has adjusted to the change of
schedule (and being around older rather than younger kids) well. He got
another certificate during the last school holidays and we have been
told he is close to the next one.
Posted by Al at 4:04 PM
Went to the Lilydale Show today with Jack, and caught up with a couple
of friends with their wives and children. Jack rode on the Tea Cups,
House of mirrors, Clowns, Airplanes, Jumping Castle, Train, Fun House,
Face painting and got a show bag.
I don't ever remember getting to do so much at a show when I was Jack's
age. Add in food, Ice cream, a go in the shooting gallery and a couple
ride tickes for me (like the house of mirrors so Jack wouldn't panic),
and there was no change from $100.
Posted by Doug at 7:52 PM
