It seems that I wrote J’s last update forever ago – maybe because I’ve only been doing it 2 monthly, and N’s updates monthly. Since then, he has developed a lot – he is learning so much.

His independence is growing more & more. He now asks to wash his hands when playing outside and before he eats. He asks to brush his teeth – he used to hate it – though sometimes he does suck the toothpaste off rather than brushing!

He is still a great big brother and becoming closer to N every day. He has started showing him his toys and reading to him. When we are playing, and N is asleep in the bedroom, when N wakes, he will hear him over the monitor and say, “Oh, N, wake!” and go running to the door to be the first person he sees. He cleans him up when he has been sick. (Even writing this makes my eyes leak, realising how much he has come to love his brother).

He comes out with new words daily, some that I’ve never told him! One thing, though: I may despise a certain cartoon pig, but he learns a lot of his words from there, unbelievably! (As well as a certain elf & fairy…). My favourite of his new words is “love you” – I’ve been trying to get him to say it to me for ages now, but he finally said it a few weeks ago! My heart melts. He’s not one to express his love for me vocally. He would much rather shower me with kisses (aww).

He has become a bit of a fussy eater – the only meat he will eat is ham, chicken if it has a coating on it (!), or sausages. Vegetables: he will only really eat peas or sweetcorn. He will gladly eat most other things, but he used to eat such a variety of these things. He has become more adventurous with fruit, though, so he still gets his 5 a day, even if it is from sweet things! His favourite fruits at the minute are grapes and oranges.

His favourite words at the minute are “No thankyou cancoo” – ask him to do something, no cancoo; ask him if he loves you, no cancoo; ask him if he wants to go somewhere, no cancoo. Though ask him if he wants food – “Yes please pease”! He also likes to tell people they have a big bum – Daddy has the biggest, apparently (yay, not me!). He has learned lots of new animals and can now count to 5 – he is behind some of his peers with numbers, but his other vocabulary does astound me every day. He loves pointing at the pictures in his books and telling me everything.

He recently moved into a full-size single bed. He kept falling out of his cot bed with the sides off – mainly because he likes to stretch out, and it wasn’t wide enough for him! He hasn’t fallen out of this one yet, but we have found him hanging off the edge several times! The bonus with this bed is that if he wakes in the night, one of us can go and sleep in his bed with him as we fit – and it’s comfier than ours!

Potty training has progressed a little since the last update. He will now sit on the potty for 10 minutes, though he still hasn’t done anything on it. He can tell me when he has done a poo and a wee in his nappy, though. We have been participating in Potty Training Live! I will write a post on that soon.

I mentioned a couple of months ago that we had been to his first parents’ evening, and his key worker was a little concerned about his behaviour, so they would introduce a reward chart & stickers. I’m pleased to report that it seems to be going well, and he is getting at least one sticker weekly. He does tend to lash out when he is tired, though. It’s not that I am excusing his behaviour, but pinpointing it helps greatly. He also no longer gives me a second glance when I drop him off; he heads straight in and doesn’t even say goodbye!