toddler development

Noah at 1 year 10 months old

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So a new year and it’s time for another Noah update; I suppose this year I should try and make a blogging resolution to actually keep up with them for both boys! I cannot believe he will be two this year; very soon, in fact!

He is really growing up into a proper little boy now and is becoming more and more like his brother every day, though I’m not sure if that’s a totally good thing or a totally bad thing; maybe just a mixture of the two. He definitely has an ultra fiery personality though, much worse than Jacob’s was at his age so I dread to think what the future will bring. I have no idea where he gets it from though… *Ahem*.

Though he is still chunky, he has ‘grown out’ a little now as clothes that were tight a few months ago are not so much now, though I have had to start digging out the next size up. Whenever I get weighed at home the boys have to do it too, so at his most recent weigh in he was almost 2.5 stone – monster! He is growing quick in height too, he is almost at J’s shoulder height – they both get that from Daddy.

He is at that really cheeky stage at the moment. You know, the one where they run away grinning when you are just about change their nappy; when you catch them in the act doing something they shouldn’t, complete with a cheeky grin; finding it funny to walk around with his hand down his nappy (he gets that one from his big brother!)…

He has started to really listen to instructions now too and knows where things are, where things go, what he should be doing. For example, when it’s bath time he runs into the living room and points up the stairs; when he is allowed a biscuit he runs to the fridge and points to the biscuit tub on top of it, and then when you tell him “Just one” he does just that; he knows he needs to brush his teeth after breakfast and at bed time… Just a shame he doesn’t understand “Tidy your toys up please.” 😉

Current favourites
Food – Biscuits (oops)
Drink – Weak squash
Toys – Toot-toot road
Books – The Gruffalo’s Child
TV – Surprise egg unboxing on YouTube…
New words
Done
Sock
Ba (bath)
Dink (drink)

Little man N at 1 year 8 months old

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It’s been so long since I’ve posted an update for N – 3 months in fact! What with my impromptu blog break, then trying to catch up, then having to take another impromptu break when we moved and were without Internet… But hopefully I am finally getting back on track now!
So N hasn’t been officially weighed for a long time but both boys like getting on the scales at home when I do, and it seems N is just over 2 stone heavy – only a stone lighter than his brother, yikes! He is a proper gannet though, but I think his weight has leveled out a lot since he has been on the move.
Speaking of which, he follows his brother absolutely everywhere and he is a proper little stunt man, even braver than J in fact! He is always getting bumps & bruises as he can’t tell danger quite the same as J yet. He really does look up to J though and wants to be just like him with everything, including the toilet!
He is quite the monkey and is obsessed with hitting the tv – I forgot how annoying that stage was! He is still into everything else too – everywhere he shouldn’t be. He is becoming a proper little helper though and helps to fetch wood for the boiler, cleans up (after he’s made a huge mess!), helps with the shopping… Sometimes it can be more hindrance than help though!

He is a really quick learner and has started putting his shoes on by himself, getting himself dressed (or at least attempting to), eating with cutlery, and he has learned so many new words recently and follows instructions really well – when he wants to, anyway! He had his very first hair cut a few weeks ago. I hated getting rid of his curls, but I know they will grow back quickly as J still has some.
Current favourites
Food – Banana
Drink – Weak squash
Toys – Hobby horse
Books – Octopus Socktopus
TV – Mr Tumble
New words
Diddle (willy!)
Purple
Bot bot (milk)
Bin
Minion
Bum
Bin
Stick (bread stick)

Potty training and growing up with Thomas | Giveaway (CLOSED)

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Regular readers of the blog will know that J started potty training early last year and since then we have been up & down like a yo-yo, going totally off track at points too and right back to the beginning with him wearing nappies full time. Though deep down it was frustrating for me, I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t force it as he obviously wasn’t ready and I know from other people that it could have set him back even more rather than encourage it.
Still, it’s taken a long time and we have introduced Thomas & Friends previously with a Railroad Rewards Potty. This did spur him on a little with him learning that doing his ‘business’ on the potty reaped rewards, but over the last couple of months we have almost cracked it completely – we can almost see a light at the end of the tunnel! 
The beginning of our journey was quite stressful as he tried to get the hang of it, but after introducing a Thomas & Friends My Thomas Potty book (though we used it for the toilet instead) and Thomas & Friends Well Done Thomas, Activity Book (both published by Egmont), he was determined to get all of his stickers each day and he has been managing with almost no accidents! I think the fact that there are pictures of real children in the potty book really encouraged him, as did the reward chart and activities.
I think just like situations in Thomas & Friends, potty & toilet training involves lots of team work and using these books it can be made fun for the child rather than stressful! With gentle reminders and lots of praise – you could include the poo & wee song in this, or even make up your own song to the Thomas & Friends theme tune! – it can be encouraging rather than stressful for both parties.
This experience with Thomas & Friends has even made me more positive that when it comes around to the time for N to start potty training, it will be a much smoother ride and J can also give him encouragement. After all, I’ve also learned from this journey, and that’s what Thomas & Friends is all about!
If you feel like your child may need some gentle encouragement from Thomas & Friends, I am able to offer you the opportunity to win a set of these books – just complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Terms & conditions
Open to UK residents 18 & over.
Entries must be received by 11.59 pm on 29/10/2015.
The winner will be drawn randomly via Rafflecopter/random.org when the giveaway has ended and will be sent an email informing them they have won.
The winner has 24 hours to respond to the email or a new winner will be drawn.
I will send the winner’s details on and the prize will be sent directly from the PR.


*PR collaboration

Little man N at 1 year 5 months old

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So, as it was with J’s last update, it’s been a while since I last posted one for N too – which was his 1 year 3 month old one so a couple of months ago now. Since then he has really transformed into a proper little toddler and forever left babyhood behind! Though J still calls him his little baby N, bless him 🙂

He’s slowly growing out of his bed time milk too; he often doesn’t finish the bottle and instead just fights sleep, he’s just like his big brother in that respect. He loves his milk on his cereal in the morning though! He is still an absolute gannet and stuffs his face all day long, constantly making a mess…though he is starting to level out a bit now and is losing his baby fat. I love him chubby though! He definitely knows what he wants these days as he’s started pointing and saying ‘that’ – now just to practice please and thank you! One thing he does love to do is pick blackberries at Grandad’s (soon to be our home too), and he is so clever as he knows which colour to pick.

He has really found his feet now and can just about grasp running, though it is usually after his brother when he’s taken something he wants! Speaking of wanting what J has, he really does want to be just like him too. He even gets J’s pants from his drawer and tries putting them on which is quite funny to watch! He helps when getting him dressed now, with lifting his arms, legs, and feet up, and he fetches his shoes too when he knows we are going out; that is as well as climbing in the pushchair himself, he’s certainly an eager beaver!

Also on the animal theme… He is also a proper cheeky little monkey. He is obsessed with climbing – whether it be on the windowsill, the table, the back of the sofa, the TV unit, the tumble dryer door, attempting the side of his cot – he just will not stop! He is a little tease too, he will fetch something for you, hold it out, then snatch it away again with a grin and a chuckle when you go to get it. But it is so flaming adorable!

Current favourites
Food – Babybel cheese
Drink – Weak squash
Toys – Bouncy rabbit
Books – Any he can get his hands on

New words
Door
That
Mummy

Jacob at 3 years 5 months old

- Stacey 2 Comments
Jacob 3y5m featured

So I seem to be on time with this update – though I did miss his last one due to my blogging break but I thought I’d just skip straight to this one!

His behaviour has improved so much in the last couple of months. We do still have our moments but nothing like it was before. I no longer go to collect him from nursery dreading what they are going to feed back to me that he has done this time. It feels a bit strange saying it as I obviously didn’t condone it before, but I’m glad he has had no reports of hitting for such a long time; I’m very proud of him! He has learned now to tell somebody what is wrong instead of just lashing out straight away, though he does get incredibly upset and a couple of times he has hit himself instead (though now I have that to worry about). His behaviour at home has improved significantly too. He does still have his moments with N, but now N has started giving as good as he gets (argh!). He knows straight away now when he has done wrong and will say sorry, and give a kiss and a cuddle. In fact, he loves giving kisses and cuddles these days and is always showering his brother with them!

We are almost there with toilet training. He has gone through a phase recently where he won’t go into the toilet as apparently there is a monster in there…no idea where he has got that idea from! I think we’re getting over that now though. At nursery he spends all day in big boy pants but when at home he often wants a pull up on; we’re trying to deal with this at the minute as he is doing so well now and I don’t want him to have a huge regression. Plus, his Uncle says that when J can go to the toilet by himself he can stay overnight! 😉

He is memorising and learning so much these days. He can now almost count to twenty; he knows the alphabet; he knows so many rhymes and lullabies and often sings them to N; and we now have proper conversations, I love my mini adult! Some of the things he comes out with are hilarious and he often has us in fits of laughter! Though everybody at the minute is Mr Tumble, or Mrs Tumble, or Baby Tumble… He also calls me ‘Mrs’ at the minute, cheeky monkey! Compared to this time last year when he was only just learning how to say his name, he has come on in leaps & bounds.

Current favourites
Food – Kinder eggs…
Drink – Scary purple minion juice (squash!)
TV – Mr Tumble…
Toys – His cars which he lines up in a traffic jam
Books – I like to squeak, how do you speak?, The Wheels on the Bus
 
Linking to Magic Moments with The Oliver’s Madhouse.