Arrived Dec/jan 23/24 Part 1

[Nclktnntt]

New thread following our Due December 2023 Part 6 thread. I've tagged everyone I can think of, feel free to tag others ☺️

@99SR @Avie29 @beans @Beans1982 @FirstMondayInMay @Flowers90 @FlyingHighFlyingLow @Flower35214 @Mushroo

Any of you use Twinkl or have used it? I came across it last night and there's lots of stuff on there but it is a paid thing (after the trial) so wondered if anyone had tried it and if it's any good.

Hi everyone how are we all. I feel we have a flurry of words about to drop soon, I'm so excited 😂, I feel like our LO has come on leaps and bounds this past week. And the speed he moves now is nuts 😂😂

We’ve got a speedy Gonzales on our hands as well! He was running in the park today😂 it’s crazy how quickly they come on isn’t it

My LG seems so close to speaking too! It’s mental. Her understanding is crazy. Earlier on I said “youve got a full tummy” and she just started slapping her tummy 🤣 I was thinking hmm I don’t ever remember showing you your tummy. Mad.

cute your little ones are running. We’re walking and just gaining confidence outdoors. She’s quick inside though lol!

Oh the level of comprehension is crazy! I have these tea tins (whittards tea caddies) that have an inner lid with the lid ontop and he loves to play with them, just taking the lids off and putting them on, and banging them as they're metal, but I saw one on the floor and said 'oh, where's the lid for this' off he goes and returns with the outer lid and hands it me, goes back to get the inner lid and returns to out them both on.

He opened one of his books that has the word for baby/young boy (not English) and he pointed to himself. My husband was so surprised and I'd literally read it a couple days back with him and pointed at all the items in the house that each thing is... and the little boy of course being him 🥹

Due to his eczema he has to have his cream on, and he now helps and puts it on his belly 😂. He's started to become fascinated by body parts, so I think I'm going to start actively teaching him feet, legs, hands etc etc.

Have any of you started with colours and colour sorting yet , I can't find reference as to what ages are good to start introducing these things to our little ones. Obviously we say it but I would be more intentional when it's necessary.

It's lovely to hear how everyone's LO's are coming along 😊
Got a lot more independence and testing boundaries over here. He loves putting things into boxes/containers and taking them out, carrying bottles around and grabbing items to bring to me.

He knows quite a few words now. Somedays he surprises me by saying them pretty clearly, like one morning I said banana and he repeated it clearly instead of his usual 'nana' sound. But other times he whines and reaches out with his hand instead of saying the word when he knows the word for the thing he's reaching.
He really likes animals and vehicles at the moment, he'll spot next door's cat and he'll imitate its sound with a big grin on his little face😄

What's really annoying though is the food and drink throwing, and then laughing at it. I read somewhere that a good way to solve this is to offer a discard bowl to put food he doesn't want into - anyone tried this or any other approach that's worked for you?
@99SR how's your LO's eating recently, any improvements?

@Beans1982 your little one sounds like they are thriving! Especially with the words, that’s fab.

hmm a little better. Still absolutely won’t go near fruit. Will eat veg if I hide it into a pasta sauce. I have no idea how to get her to eat fruit again? She has things I know she’ll eat but she can’t live off that forever lol does yours eat well but just throw? Or a picky eater too?

I worry that we may be confusing him a bit as I speak Welsh to him, my husband speaks Russian, and between us, we speak English as well. So I'm not sure how my LO will cope with three languages...🤔
Eating-wise, he's pickier some days, others he'll eat like a horse! I struggle a bit with breakfast as he's gone off egg but seems to eat toast with a bit of honey and peanut butter on it, and I give him a side of fruit with that. Porridge is also hit and miss but eats it better if I mix fruit into it...he's a fan of pear, or 'pe' as he says it, at the moment but then I get more dirty nappies 😆Haven't figured out yet if he throws food because he doesn't like it, has had enough, or he's doing it for a reaction. He does laugh a lot after throwing so I'm leaning towards him wanting a reaction (I try to stay calm and tell him food is for the table or mouth, not the floor).
You may have already tried this but when my boy didn't want to drink milk I mashed a banana to make milkshake and he loved it - might be a way to sneak in some fruit for your LO @99SR?

@Beans1982 I wouldn't worry too much, you may find he's a little later speaking possibly or he'll most likely mix the languages up but it's better for him to learn them at this age than try when he's older. My LO is exposed to his second language but not enough for my liking, my husband defaults to English rather than his language apart from when we're reading his books that we have in that language. But everyday conversations that LO understands in English really well now, I'm not sure he'd understand in his dads language, maybe he will 🤷‍♀️ but we have nephews where their mom spoke English and dad spoke Italian and both children and completely fluent in both, they both mainly speak Italian as they love there and the only English they hear is their mom and when we visit but the youngest (now 4) has been speaking in both languages - mixed together - from the get go and wasn't much later speaking than the average if at all to be honest.

But if you think about it, there's multiple ways to say or call the same thing in English itself and they get that, to them it's just another word for the same thing, if that makes sense.

We brought our little one a tower who can push it and move it around the kitchen to where he wants it, he loves playing in the sink with running water 🙈😂. He absolutely loves helping around the house cleaning, putting clothes away, emptying the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher... seems to be understanding that we have to first load and turn on the dishwasher before we can empty it again lol. He also loves mopping, I highly recommend buying a flash speed mop or something like it and having it on the smallest setting for them to play with, he's becoming a pro now!

How are we all doing, how are our littles ones coming on. We've been in teething hell for the last month with one after the other and the big ones coming through, the bottom big ones are still to make an appearance so I know it's not over yet 🙈.

@Nclktnntt we are teething too, got 2 top molars and a bottom one on the way, we have both been ill with a nasty cold last 2 weeks too 😔, she will now let us know when she is tired and wants to go to bed by waving at daddy and saying “night night”, if we sing her bath song she will run over to the stairs and wait for me to open the gate for her lol her big brother in now called Bob lol we go in to wake him up for school and i will say ‘David wake up’ and she will go ‘Bob bah bah’ lol she shouts everyone for dinner when she sees me serving dinner now too lol she stands at the bottom of the stairs and shouts in baby language “guys dinner” lol she can climb off the sofa, its too high for her to climb up just yet though lol we have been spending time in the garden now the weather is better and she loves ants -gets all squeaky excited when she sees one lol but apparently woodlice are food, i caught her putting something in her mouth yesterday and told her to spit it out n she spat half a woodlouse out into my hand and chucked the other half into her ball pit 🤢 lol, her favourite activity at the moment is drawing, we have just bought her some chalks to draw outside on the patio which she is loving xx

Oh my @Avie29 thats just the cutest! And woodlice 🤢. We've been spending a lot more time outside too. Thankfully he's not spotted any ants yet - we did disturb a nest earlier by pulling up a weed but I moved him before they all came up .. I cannot stand them - they give me the heebie jeebies 😂

Our LOs character is really coming through now, he still loves cleaning up, putting the washing on , the tumble dryer and his favourite job is emptying the dishwasher and he gets really squeaky excited when he spots it open 😂. He's gotten really good at it now too. Ours can get up on the sofa and today he managed to climb up the bed. He's a climber, he has a tower but spends most his time ontop of it rather than in it lol. He's been nicknamed Spider-Man by a family relative who says he's never on the floor in his pics 😂. His favourite this to eat just now ... sponges 🤷‍♀️, bites them, chews them then spits them out. It was a sensory thing I'd seen and thought that's safe, he'll not wanna eat those, I thought.

Oh his absolute favourite activity is playing in the sink, we have a large sink so I fill it up a little, have the tap running and various different containers/measuring cups and easily 45 minutes he'll just play, filling and emptying, drinking and transferring the water. Eventually though him and the kitchen is completely covered in water but that's because the tap is one of those that you can pull off and he's gotten really good at using and aiming it but then he wonders what happens if I point it over there 😂😂 you can see his little brain thinking lol.

It’s quite strange because we haven’t seen any ants in our garden for years but now there are quite a few roaming around the patio, she probably likes them because of ben and holly’s little kingdom lol my little one is the same, loves playing in water, any chance she gets to make a puddle and splash around she will, generally by tipping her sippy cup upside down and shaking it lol we have baths every night, i can’t use baths for calming down before bedtime it generally hypes her up lol her favourite thing at the moment is these whistle toys where you lower them into the water and it pushes the air out and whistles, i can’t wait till summer and she can have a little paddling pool she is going to love it 🥰, although i suspect the pool will end up with chalks in it, she will be coming out all rainbow coloured haha still loves dancing, any singing n music and she will start boogieing and twirling its so funny, we were all watching mufasa yesterday and they start singing and she comes running over and starts to dance in the middle of the living room, none of us were watching the film anymore lol its so cute how they try to copy and help with household chores isn’t it, i was changing the bin bag the other day and was putting a new bin in when she grabbed to old bin and starts to drag it towards the door to take it out haha, she also likes to help load the washing machine and pushing the button to start it, hoovering is another favourite (after the initial scare of it being turned on lol) i can only mop while she is asleep else she keeps trying to climb into the bucket haha she definitely keeps us on our toes any chance she gets she will get upstairs if one of the kids leaves the gate open, she will see one of them has come down and will run n check the gate lol, thankfully they are getting pretty good at remembering to close it now lol xx

Also teething here! Still sleeping really well, back to two naps tho. She’s shattered with all the walking haha. Eating more (yaay!)
also likes playing in the garden so currently looking for some garden toys to buy. Likes emptying the washing machine. LOVES reading books. Listening to music (now knows all the actions to incy wincy, wind the bobbin up & if you’re happy and you know it which is just the cutest).
I like the sound of the toddler tower, my step mum has one for my LG at her house so I’m going to buy one for here.
my LG is fiercely independent lol I’m told it’s a girl thing.
phoning the dr again this week but for me. My mental health has taken a dip again (always beeen quite bad but my partner has noticed again). I’m just constantly overthinking and over analysing every little thing my daughter does. I’m sure you’ll remember me writing a few months ago. But yeah I know myself she’s developing well & toddlers are just weird haha! But my anxiety doesn’t cope with that… anyhoo!
sounds like everyone’s babies are doing fab! Can’t believe they are 15 months now!!

@99SR how did you get on at the doctors? I'm sorry to hear your anxiety is heightened just now!

I'm glad to hear your little one is eating more 😀

@Avie29 your little one sounds like she's really coming into her own!

Have we all had a lovely Mother's Day?

We're visiting family just now and there are things everywhere, on every surface, at baby head height and within reach that are not suitable for little people to be getting ahold of ... he walked up to us yesterday with a box of matches. He broke something within 2 hours of being here 🙈 I spend all day moving things out of reach, but to put things out of reach I then have to move other things but as soon as my husbands nan notices said thing has moved, she'll put it back - not wait until he's in bed, or just leave it until after we're leaving so we don't have to constantly move things. I mean she has a pin board with pins in it and never ever uses it, it's hanging off a shelf that's at knee height 🤯 so perfect baby height! Anyway, makes me realise how safe our home is 😂😂

@Nclktnntt thank you! Can’t phone the drs until Wednesday as that’s my first day off work. I’m my own worst enemy I keep googling stuff. Why is every single toddler behaviour a ‘red flag’ for a developmental delay etc!? I’m so fixated on it. I must stay off my phone!!

@99SR yea google can be your worst enemy at times it's best to avoid negative searching because it also learns that's what you're looking for /interested in and shows more of those results, the same on social media. I'm not sure if this'll help, I hope it does , but the best thing Ive read was that all babies do learn the 'skills' so to speak, during their developmental leaps, however they express or 'use' those skills at different times.

I do hope your doctors can help though, it's so difficult when your mind just runs away with you and you can't stop it because it happens so quickly and you're trying to balance work and home life and dealing with a tantrumming little person. If you can, maybe try to get outside each day for some sun and fresh air and if you enjoy it maybe do some gardening ... hands in mud type, or just play in the mud with your little one (apparently it releases the happy hormone in your brain which helps regulate it). I don't know but it's worth a shot I guess. I really want to start growing some of our own foods. I keep seeing loads of people doing it in small spaces so can't see why we can't do it 😂🙈. I'm sure the little guy will enjoy helping out 😂.

My little one has been intense today, I don't think he's feeling 100% and he's got another tooth coming through I think but ontop of that he's constantly being told he can't play with pretty much everything because it's either breakable or a chocking hazard so no wonder he's having meltdowns, I put him in the car and drop to the seafront today and we went to the park for an hour, he loved it and it did me wonders too.

@Nclktnntt thanks for your message. I really appreciate it. We do get out every day as it helps both my daughter and I. I’m trying not to google. I had a meeting with a mental health nurse and she strongly suspects I have PMDD. Quite shocked but once she told me the symptoms I thought wow that’s me to a T. I’m hoping that I can manage the symptoms of this better with professional help! I look at my daughter and think you are absolutely perfect. I need to stop these thoughts etc to be the best mum I can be!

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather

Had a lovely relaxing mothers day thanks @Nclktnntt you?
@99SR the mum anxiety is so easy to fall prey to so don’t be too hard on yourself, im on number 5 and still question myself/ over analyse everything sometimes and i do give myself a telling off here n there lol, your little one sounds like they are doing great 👍🏻 so you’re doing great 😊.
oh i am definitely getting a toddler tower, i didn’t know these things existed, used to just pull a chair over for my older 4, but toddler towers look much safer and taller, my lo loves watching me peel and chop veg/salad etc so this would be great for that, at the moment im doing everything one handed with her on my hip which is not easy haha xx

I had a lovely day thank you, was also my husbands birthday and we were up visiting his nan so everyone was celebrated for something lol.

The tower my LO absolutely loves, he has fell out of it a few times whilst learning to get up and down and gaining confidence and I had to help and guide him up and down a few times, now he drags it across the kitchen and climbs in... he's a climber though and on Friday was actually completely on top and about to climb into the sink 🙈😂, and I was stood next to him haha!

@99SR I'd never heard of PMDD, (just had to google) im glad you've gotten support and you sound like you have a supportive partner too. As @Avie29 has said, it sounds like you're doing an amazing job with your LO and because of how much you care you will continue to do so.

My hormones have been all over the place on the run up to my period starting and whilst it's probably normal for most I don't normally have a notable change in my behaviour, anger, sadness etc I'm normally the same and to be having this the last few cycles I've been considering speaking with the doctor to get my levels checked because I feel somethings not quite right.

😥 i still have the return of the hormone cycles to come, because lo still wakes frequently in the night for breast my periods haven’t started again yet, but as soon as she is feeling better we are weaning her off breast, looking forward to having my body back but not looking forward to that first period 😬 xx

Ever since my periods returned they have been so much more intense! So makes sense that they think I have PMDD.

we went to a baby class today, my LG is on the cusp of moving up a class. Oh man my anxiety took a hit lol. She was up running about, not interested in the things we were doing. Came back every 5 mins or so to check in with me and a quick sit on my knee then she was off again!! Haha I think it’s time to move up so she’s got other toddlers to run about with.

Theres a few in our group , mine included, that are ready to move up to the toddler group. My LO has really come out of his shell the past couple weeks and he was probably ready this term but he was quite reserved and really enjoys this class so we stayed one more term but as he's started to gain his confidence I think he's ready to move up now.

@Nclktnntt yeah that’s exactly like my LG. She’s exploring more but always looks back to see im there lol.

we have bottom molars coming in! Wow very grumpy gal today! Also a 4.45am wake up to boot!