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