I'm 17 months old!

Jeez can you believe it? 17 months old already. It's been a hectic month. Birthday parties, Christmas parties, end-of-term bbqs... I've never eaten as many crackers & dips in me life. I'm sleeping heaps at the mo, maybe because it's so flipping hot and maybe because I spend every waking minute running around. Yesterday arfo I slept for 3 hours, Mum couldn't believe her luck. Speaking of the heat, you might notice that my hair goes extra curly when the thermometer tops 30 degrees. This week I have been in need of Frizz-ease, my bonce looks like a lamb's fleece. To celebrate my 17-month birthday, here are a list of my favourite things at the mo:

Helping mummy and daddy I like to help pack the shopping away and to unload the dishwasher. I understand the difference between being told to open or close doors, put things in the box or in the cupboard, and to put lids on.

Nursery rhymes I love action rhymes and have done for ages now but Mummy keeps forgetting to blog about it! I twinkle my fingers to 'twinkle twinkle'; I stir an imaginary spoon for 'Pease Pudding Hot'; I 'roll it, pat it, and mark it with a B' for 'Pat-a-cake Baker's Man,' and give Mummy / Daddy a big cuddle on the last line ('baby and me'). I hold hands for 'Mulberry Bush' and I also 'brush my teeth' and 'put on a hat.' My favourite is probably 'Humpty Dumpty,' I bounce up and down to the rhythm and do a big bounce for 'fall'. If I'm playing my drum and Mum recites Humpty Dumpty, I am VERY clever and I consistently hold the stick and wait until 'fall' to bang the drum. This is something that I first did at music group a few months ago, and the teacher says it is quite an advanced skill to have the timing and control to do this at my stage. Right back in May/June I pinged the triangle at the right time (when the clock struck one in Hickory Dickory) and Mummy was very impressed. I am a shy little soul when I'm at music group but it just goes to show, while I'm sitting quietly on Mummy's lap watching and listening, I'm taking it all in.

Drum and xylophone in other words, hitting things with sticks to make nice noises. I am very rhythmic and I make lovely tunes on the xylophone.

Open spaces where I can run for miles

Balloons and balls I will chase and bounce balloons for hours. On a couple of occasions this week I have had a balloon forcibly removed from my cot at bedtime. I like to take them into the bath with me too. I love balls and when we go to the park will go and try and join in with big boys football games (by picking up their ball and running away with it - maybe I am destined to play Aussie Rules). My favourite is still my big Tesco's yellow sponge football that my Nana bought me, but I also love my new green rubber ball with a smiley face that was a Christmas present from Jika Jika Childcare staff Sue & Lynda. I go to Jika for a couple of hours every Friday morning, which gives Mummy a chance to do Important Things (like sitting in a cafe reading the newspaper).

Nanas and strawberries I say 'nana' now and point at the fruit bowl, and in fact all food is now called 'nana' in Leoish. I would eat nanas all day if I could. I get very uptight in the greengrocer when Mum is buying fruit, if she won't give me any until it's been weighed and paid for. Yesterday we were getting the Christmas veggies (I had a chew on a sprout but wasn't that bothered) and I ate nearly a whole punnet of strawberries on the way round the shop, my entire t-shirt front was pink and there were 3 left when we got to the checkout.

curly bonce in the heat

Trying a tiara for size at Annika's birthday party

drumming on my brand new Christmas chair (before it went back into Santa's sack for the 25th)

more curls

looking very Wookiee-esque

Hanging with me mates at the Mums' Group Christmas BBQ

Leo update for Dec

A brief update on the whirling twirling fun machine that is Leo Board, as he toddles towards 17 months. What can I say - he is a complete joy, and me and his Daddy are more in love with him every day. He's still a great sleeper and we even have to wake him up in the morning a couple of times a week! He still has 2 naps a day, normally of an hour and a half each, but sometimes up to three. Which gives me the opportunity to recharge my batteries ready to keep up with him when he wakes up! He is full of smiles and giggles, and also getting affectionate - he has discovered cuddling (us and soft toys) and, if feeling particularly generous, will give a kiss on request (leaving a big wet mark on your cheek). Gorgeous!


He babbles and sings in his own funny language, which involves sticking his tongue out quite a lot, and whispers too (so cute). He is starting to sometimes repeat words (well, things that sound
vaguely like what I just said) like today I said "let's go outside" and he said "ou-dii". He also says "uh, ah, aaaaah" for 1,2,3 (putting raisins into a bowl, or wanting to be swung on the threeeee). I think he says "dat" (that) and "dare" (there) (i.e. when you ask him what he wants or where shall we go). His understanding continues to expand apace, and he now shakes his head to give a negative response to questions with no visual prompts whatsoever.

It's fascinating watching him teach himself to walk. He's had phases where he's quite clearly practising a new skill such as kerbs, slopes - he'll just do it over and over again for a couple of days (up the ramp, down the ramp, up the ramp down the ramp) and then move on once he's mastered it. At the moment he's into steep slopes, and stairs (he used to crawl up them automatically but now he holds both hands up wanting to be helped to walk up them). He is a champion toddler now and is starting to run. He can walk as far as he wants to (in the park or on the beach, I mean - he still uses his pushchair of course), but hasn't quite got to coming back when called yet... I'm doing a lot of chasing and I'm a little apprehensive about the coming months as he gets nippier and I turn into a lumbering heffalump!


Today I discovered another 2 teeth - bottom jaw molars - bringing his tally to 10. We now need to work on teeth-cleaning as he is rather resistant to it and I'm not sure that sucking your brush
is an effective plaque-removal method.

Playtime

Where's leo...

...there he is!

Expert one-touch control

Who needs expensive toys? Not this one... give him a plastic takeaway box and he's happy!

Just checking that the tins shelf is all in order

Tea set

Leo has recently acquired a tea set, and he loves it.
He loves filling things up and emptying them again (I caught him dipping a cup in Bonzo's bowl the other day) .
Early indications are that unlike either of his parents, he is a tidy little soul. He put all the toys back into the bowl, and he is never happier than with his head in one of the kitchen cupboards stacking everything neatly.

Walk on the wild side

Spring update

It's been a good while since the last general update on Leo's current favourite things and experiences, and he's recently reached the ripe old age of 15 months so here we go.

Food Feeding Leo is getting easier and easier as he gets more adept at feeding himself, and eats greater amounts of 'normal' food. It's great when we go out to eat now, as we can pretty much always find something on the menu for him to try and so don't have to take a packed meal for him (although of course we never leave the house without the emergency stash of raisins, fruit and crackers in case whinge suppressants are needed). So far, in cafes he has put away poached egg on toast, home-made baked beans on toast, california roll (not bothered about the seaweed but ate the rice and tuna happily enough), a sausage roll... the only thing he's really turned his nose up at so far was cheese omelette. Favourite foods include peaches/nectarines (they've just come into season here, and small ripe ones are perfect for little hands), hummus, tzatziki, falafel, fish fingers, roast chicken, peas, peanut butter sandwiches... he is much happier eating with his fingers, and can use a spoon himself although it's pretty messy and takes ages.

Mobility He can now walk a good few metres when he wants to, with a big grin on his face. Ben thinks he moves like a zombie off House of the Dead! He loves climbing: onto chairs and then lounging on them; onto the coffee table and sitting up there like King Kong. He zips around the house with his trolleys, which he can steer (one of them is pretty heavy too), and also climbs into them wanting to be pushed around. Swings are yesterday's news now, and he is into slides in a big way. He doesn't need / want help but launches himself down on his front, sometimes head first and sometimes feet first.

Expressing himself Main methods of expressing himself are pointing and babbling in a strange elvish-welsh dialect (complete with 'll'). He still uses sounds rather than words but can communicate very effectively and specifically what he wants - a drink, his cloth, his dummy, to go out of the door, more food etc. We are being blown away by just how much speech he understands, he shows us something new pretty much every day at present. He knows and responds appropriately to: Would you like a drink? Bathtime! (toddles off to the bathroom). Where's your head / hair / nose / foot (points, pats or grabs relevant body part), close the door, brush your hair, brush Mummy's hair, get the drum/ ball/ balloon/cloth/bib... He also has started to have the occasional little tanty when he's tired and things aren't going his way... it is all we can do not to laugh as the little drama queen throws himself face-first to the ground and puts his face in his little hands.

Favourite books and toys He chooses his own bedtime story now by pointing at the book he wants - if you try and foist your own choice on him he just turns round and points at the bookcase to get the book he wants, which at the moment is invariably either Dear Zoo or Farm 123. These are both lift-the-flap books by Rod Campbell, and he knows where all the flaps are and goes unerringly straight to them the minute the page is turned. Toywise, he is into stacking in a big way, so is loving his set of nesting cups which he will happily play alone with for ages (but needs someone to hold his tower steady if he wants to build it really high). He likes to hammer things, scarily hard, and as already mentioned he loves pushing his trolley around. He has a good overarm throw which is perfect for throwing not only balls but unwanted food. This weekend he produced his first works of art which I have the pleasure of exhibiting below.

Untitled, Leo Board 2006 (mixed media on paper)


Swirls and dots, Leo Board 2006 (Crayola My First Crayons on paper)

FIRST STEPS!

It is my proud duty to announce that, after teasing us for about a month, this morning at around 0900 hours, Leo Board took his first steps! He walked about a metre from one chair to another, looking very pleased with himself, and then repeated the feat for his Daddy who came rushing in to see what all the yelling was about. He coudn't be persuaded to do it again for the video camera, and instead retired to his cot, exhausted but triumphant, for a celebratory nap. Hopefully he will consent to be filmed soon and we will post some video here. Yay!

Leo & Will’s day out

Karen, to answer your question:

My new paddling pool