Eating: Not much has changed here. Weetabix, pasta, omelettes, yoghurt, fromage frais, fruit pouches are all staples. In Thailand he quite liked Fried Rice. He is still determined to feed himself which is usually very messy. Nursery gave him a sippy cup of milk after his nap last week (usually he has a bottle) and he was ok with it. He was less ok when I did it yesterday but drank most of the milk.
Sleeping: Just as we seemed to finally settle into a reasonable routine of sleeping through with 5am wake ups, we go and upset that with holidays in Thailand. So it hasn't been great since our return. Slowly we've pushed back the 1am wake ups to 4.30am, but obviously far from ideal. Work in progress. (He's pretty good at going to sleep though - usually I put him down, he rolls over and goes off to sleep without another sound).
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| Wearing a police officer's hat at playgroup |
Playing: One of his favourite toys is a baby doll. We didn't have one but when Nick took him to a few playgroups he loved to hold the baby dolls and carry them around so we got him one. He also loves baby pushchairs and he seems to be always playing with one when I pick him up from nursery. When we go to playgroups it's always the first toy he goes for (so we may need to get him one of these too). He also loves pushing around his ride-ons (but not riding them). He loves the Octonaut figures and the tea set/toy food. Otherwise he is generally trying to get involved with whatever Milo is doing - superheroes, Transformers, toy cars. He also LOVES the broom and will grab it as soon as he realises I am in the laundry (where it is kept).
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| Second fitting (size 4G). Still terrible selection of shoes for boys... |
Milestones: Nick thinks he is saying 'Mama' but I'm not so sure. When he's upset he does say 'mamamamama' but this might be just a sound he makes rather than actually meaning 'Mama'. He never says it any other time. If it counts, his first words were defintely 'oh ohh' (how do you write that?). Any time he drops something or falls over, it's 'oh ohh!' He's also transitioning from the baby room to the 1-2s room at nursery (they stay in the baby room until they are walking confidently).
Teeth: No more yet, but last week he had a high fever and then vomited which we put down to teething. Also lots of dribbling.
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| On the slide at the playground |
Other: Where to start? He is one wilful, determined, headstrong, contrary little person. If I try to feed him and he doesn't want me to, he will push the whole bowl away (he's thrown things off the table before) and then refuse to eat. Once I finally cajole him to try the food, he will eat everything. If I can't pick him up when he wants me to (if I'm cooking dinner/holding something), he will scream and walk way from me. If I then try and pick him up, he won't let me. I pick him up anyway and he resists for about 10 seconds before he puts his thumb in his mouth and reaches the other hand around my neck to play with my hair (ugh! the hair thing is driving me crazy...) On the upside, he's stopped banging his head on the floor/wall as often as he was.
Despite his lack of speech, he is extremely communicative. He will point at exactly what he wants and squawk/grunt/screech (is there a better word to describe that sound?) until he gets what he wants (I think my mum would say I used to do exactly the same). His comprehension is also amazing. He can take something to Milo if I ask him to, he will go and choose the right shoes on request, today Nick asked him if he needed his 'sunnies' and he pointed to his eyes. I'm sure he's just got the standard 18-month-old level comprehension, but this always blows us away.
To most people, he is an extremely happy, content, charming little boy. He has all of the nursery staff wrapped around his little finger. We try to tell them how wilful he is and no one ever believes us. Fortunately, he is mostly happy, content and charming with us too - his grumpy moods generally pass quickly. Because he is so charming, we can't help but laugh at his contrary nature but it might not be so charming when he's older...
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| Henry likes standing on tables (Thailand) |
Favourite thing: When he sees me at nursery pick up (and often just randomly), he raises both his arms above his head and opens and shuts his hands and then toddles towards me and throws his arms around my neck.
