July 2010: now they're all 1, some me-time has begun [huge feck-off sarcasm emoticon]

[CakeandRoses]

am bf A and telling F off and have still come to the rescue.

OK that's good to hear, It's just that this teacher has suggested an assessment and I really respect this teacher's opinion, she's very good. It's mainly leaving the endings off words but stuff like "s" and "sh" she really can't pronounce very well. I stayed a bit at pre school this am and they were drawing pictures then telling the teacher the story to write down, then they make them into little books - A was saying "Beauty and the beast" but the "beast" was just coming out as "bee" and the teacher didn't understand her at all. Even I was struggling to work out what the "bee" was.

I am fucked off at dh now though, I just phoned him to tell him and I really needed him to be supportive and just say, it's going to be ok, she'll catch up, instead of which he just stuck his head in the sand and said "Well, I can't see any problem with her speech myself" and was a bit off with me about it .

I will not hijack this thread anymore about it though, man I just hate the thought of her wandering round pre-school and no one able to understand her.

Hi just quickly popping on as I should be on my merry way to work.
wss how old is she? my friends son onmy literally says ball and mam and he is 2.5, is fully understandong of stuff and moves his mouth in the right way for words to come out right but will not say it, the doc has said they wont be bothered until he is 3 and if he is saying 3 or 4 words by then they wont look into it as he is progressing, another mutual friend of ours is a speech therapist and she says its nothing for them to worry about for the time being.
Also if she is a bit nervous in the new surroundings she may be mumbling/ not speaking properly becasue of that, my niece is 8 and talks like a baby as in goo goo gaa gaa voice when out the house it drives me fucking bonkers as you cannot understand her but her mum says its down to nerves from being out the house.

cake we were going to see batman at the o2 for DHs birthday but he doesnt think it'll be worth the expense to get up there etc. Let me know how good it is so I can tell him what hes missed out on

Age? Closest to 13m, 13.5m or 14m?

14m

Walking?

Yes!

Talking?

Yes he says quite alot of words, things like- duck, cat, dada, car

Says please and thank you (or words to that effect)?

He says 'ta' but nowhere near please.

Naps - when/how many?

2, one in the morning around 9am, one in the afternoon around 2pm.

Eating with a fork and/or spoon?

still eats with his hands, I feed him yoghurt on a spoon. He sometimes takes the spoon and feeds himself. He hasnt got the scooping action yet though.

Responds to simple commands or questions such as 'give me that please' or 'where's your head?'

Yes 'wheres your car?' is used alot.

Copying others?

With some things, he dances and claps when he sees someone else do it.

Points at objects?

Nope.

Waves goodbye?

He used to all the time but I think hes got bored of waving. He does it sometimes.

Participates with nursery rhymes and songs?

Not really, kind of bobs along.

Plays social games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo?

No, hes v anti-social Although he does play this 'game' where we sniff loudly at him and scrunch our noses up and he does it back!

Babbles 2 or 3 words repeatedly?

yessss.

Cooperates with dressing?

Yes, he tries to take his top off over his head when Im undressing him.

Milk feeds (number and times)?

when he wakes up in the morning, usually around 6:30, then he has one for his morning nap around 9am. Then when he goes to bed.

Meals/snacks (average amounts and types)?

Breakfast- cereal+milk, toast, fruit, yoghurt.
Lunch- Sandwich, bread of some sort, cheese, fruit, yoghurt.
Dinner- whatever we have for e.g last night we had new pots, peas and pork loins so he had exactly the same and he ate every last bit and a yoghurt!
Snacks- grapes, rice cakes, raisin, cheddars. Anything Ive got in really.

(he doesnt have all this food at one sitting btw!)

Sleeping through?

Umm no...but hes better than he was.

Specialist skills or funny traits?
Hes started to crawl on his hands and feet so he looks like a monkey! He kisses our noses. Arghh I cant think of any now but I know theres loads.

memphis she'll be 4 in 2 months time. She has a huge vocab - talks and talks all day long in full sentences - it's just that not all her words are clear to other people. It's not a major speech problem or anything, I think a therapist would just give her/us some exercises to work on to improve certain sounds.

I will do the survey soon! Bedtime for the kids here so back later.

oh and she also says 'look' and 'that' (dat) . apparently mama + dada and a couple more words are typical at this age so she's not actually doing as 'badly' as dh and i thought.

wss that's a bit unhelpful of your dh but my dh would be similar on something like this - just not really getting the issue.

oh and F can't say c so it's tarrot and tat.

i love your crazy stories about extreme cases memph, i properly look forward to them - sorry!

memphis U cant find anything in JL to spend ur vouchers on???????WOW, I LOVE JL, for xmas last year i had a bath mat i wanted from there from mom and dad, how sad is that!! It was £25, i would never have brought it myself. Hope u had a nice relaxing sleep on ur own, bet it did feel weird. We are in somerset now, we moved just over 6 years ago because we were so sick of brum. We have friends who live in leicester must go visit them soon, they have the most adorable little girl. Is kiddicare worth a visit?
stac really glad ur first day went ok, have u got time table yet? How many hours a week will u go? How was R? Id love to do something else, learn something new. Bump is coming along nicley thanks, getting bigger by the day and loads of movement now too, i dont remember feeling D so much, maybe im jusst more aware this time.
cake he had his dummy for night time, possibly not the greatest time to do it as teeth are playing him up but im gona persevere with the daytime naps i recon. cake whats the deal with ur other thing you were going to do, was it life coaching? What days a week do u work atm?
Right, brekki then survey, its gota be washing day today, DH had no clean boxers this morning, Oooopss!!

Morning all! It was meant to rain and be cold today so I dressed M up warmly for nursery. But currently it's blue skies and sunshine out there. Oh well, they'll shed layers off her if necessary! And I just get to watch the weather from inside my greenhouse office block, boo.

Anyway, survey-time! :)

Age? Closest to 13m, 13.5m or 14m?
Virtually 14m.

Walking?
Not really. She's getting better at standing unaided for longer periods (but we're still counting in seconds) and will sometimes stagger drunkenly into someones arms. She can walk pretty confidently with her hands held, though. So I think it's just getting the confidence to let go.

Talking?
Again, not really. We've heard a few possible words, but not often in the right context or consistantly. Ones we've heard are "Dat", which is either Cat or That I'm guessing. "Dink" too, which we think was Drink. However in the last week she's picked up the baby sign language for Hungry and been doing that constantly at appropriate moments.

Says please and thank you (or words to that effect)?
No.

Naps - when/how many?
One, normally at about 11am for an hour and a half.

Eating with a fork and/or spoon?
Yes, she can scoop with a spoon and stab with a fork now. :)

Responds to simple commands or questions such as 'give me that please' or 'where's your head?'
Yes, normally "Can you bring Mummy the X?" when I'm too lazy to get off my butt to fetch something. It's useful having a little porter! She was also correctly identifying Grandma and Grandad via Skype the other day when asked to point to them. :) ... But when asked to identify Mummy or Daddy she points at the Cat.

Copying others?
Yes. I may possibly have used this to teach her to make a Native American call, to use her fingers to wobble her lips for funny sound effects and to smack her lips in a "Tatata" sound when she's eating something tasty. DH despairs at me.

Points at objects?
Constantly, anything of interest. Especially ceiling lights. Normally accompanied with "Rah!"

Waves goodbye?
Yes, on hearing "Bye-bye!" and also pre-emptively the moment we get to nursery in the morning. She wants DH and I to go so she can have breakfast, I hope I'm guessing.

Participates with nursery rhymes and songs?
Not that I've noticed at home, I've been trying to teach her "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" lately with no real success. However nursery say she joins in there.

Plays social games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo?
She loves peek-a-boo. :) "Where's M?" will immediately get her hiding. She also loves it when you hide behind doors/DH and peek out.

Babbles 2 or 3 words repeatedly?
No, words don't seem to be her strong point.

Cooperates with dressing?
Yes, she'll lift her arms/legs when you ask. When she's not too busy making a break for freedom...

Milk feeds (number and times)?
One before her nap and one before bed.

Meals/snacks (average amounts and types)?
[deep breath]
Breakfast: Whole weetabix in milk, waffle, fruit.
Snack: Crackers, squares of cheese, etc.
Lunch: Pitta bread with hummous, baby tomatoes, yoghurt.
Snack: Fruit.
Dinner: A huge bowl of pasta with tomato sauce and sweetcorn, dessert.

Sleeping through?
As usual. :)

Specialist skills or funny traits?
Will Waggle Dance on command. Enjoys having water dumped over her head/face. Loves being hung upside-down over a lap and having her tummy tickled. Can identify fluff on the carpet from a different room, get to it and eat it in the blink of an eye. Loves emptying things out of bags/boxes/pots and then putting them all neatly back!

Age? Closest to 13m, 13.5m or 14m? 14m in just over a week

Walking? Yes

Talking?
Yes, well, you know, a few words, Mama, dada, ro-ro (dog), Leeeeeeelia (Amelia - very cute when she says that), stuff like that

Says please and thank you (or words to that effect)?
No, haven't really tried that yet

Naps - when/how many?
Usually one, middle of the day, about 1.5 hrs

Eating with a fork and/or spoon?
With a spoon, haven't tried a fork. Eats with fingers mostly though.

Responds to simple commands or questions such as 'give me that please' or 'where's your head?'
Yes, she surprised me the other day when I said "Where is your nose?" and she immediately pointed to it - I'd never done that with her before.

Copying others?
Loads, the other day A and I were cleaning the windows (on the inside) and she followed us around picking up all the discarded paper towels and giving the windows an extra wipe for us.

Points at objects?
Yes, constantly at stuff she wants to hold, and grunts at the same time, if you give her the wrong thing she just chucks it and keeps pointing and grunting

Waves goodbye?
Yes, very cute

Participates with nursery rhymes and songs?
Yes to some,

Plays social games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo?
Loves peek a boo, will get a tea towel, chuck it over her head and wait till you say "Where's G"? etc etc

Babbles 2 or 3 words repeatedly?
Yes

Cooperates with dressing?
Will lift her arms up when getting tops on/off and tries to put her arms in sleeves too

Milk feeds (number and times)?
Bottle of cow's milk first thing, last thing and after sleep

Meals/snacks (average amounts and types)?
Breakfast - cereal/toast/pancakes/whatever
Dinner - pasta/sandwiches/noodles/omelette/quiche etc followed by yoghurt or fruit
Tea - much the same as dinner
Snacks - whenever she seems to need them during the day - mostly fruit and crackers

Sleeping through?
Yes unless she's ill. Had some unpleasant 5am wakings again lately though

Specialist skills or funny traits?
Just generally very cute. Loves her big sister. Throws a cracking tantrum too

i like hearing about M spirael as she def seems to be developing like mad in certain areas to do with eating

the pointing at mummy and daddy thing - A will get all of us (inc F) correctly but as soon as we say her name she's starts the inevitable hated peekaboo so obv doesn't realise it's her name.

have you tried twinkle twinkle, incy wincy and row the boat (with all the silly verses) with M? they were first faves for both of mine to do the actions to. A's little twinkling hands make me almost sob!

i keep meaning to ask - is M very like you were at that age?

right, better get my butt to work (late again) - i work tues and thurs and odd hours here and there vik

will post about the new business later

oh and advice please...

those of you that are/were bf: when it came to you going out over bedtime, did you just hope for the best in terms of them taking a cup/bottle of milk instead or were they regularly doing that? And how did it work out: did they cry lots, go down ok for whoever was babysitting?

have been trying to get A to have a cup of milk but she thinks its highly optional/quite silly. am thinking i'm just going to have to leave her with our friends on saturday and hope for the best. they've got a toddler and know A very well so i know they'll cope with anything that happens.

she's 13m ffs but it feels like i'm deserting a 3mo

Advice for you: never go on holiday with your in laws...

Don't have much time to reply to everyone and I want to do the survey, sorry! But Cake, WRT BFing and bedtime, I haven't left J at bed time yet - this is one big advantage of getting him to bed at 7ish, I can go out afterwards! DH did try once but it really didn't work and he howled till I came in at 8.30 or so. So no advice from me, but I'll be interested to hear how she gets on.

Age? Closest to 13m, 13.5m or 14m?
13.5 months

Walking?
Nope, though getting the idea of walking holding our hands

Talking?
A few words

Says please and thank you (or words to that effect)?
Now and again

Naps - when/how many?
Normally still two, a bit all over the place at the moment. Trying to settle into a pattern of napping 11-1 or so.

Eating with a fork and/or spoon?
Not quite got the hang of either but tries hard.

Responds to simple commands or questions such as 'give me that please' or 'where's your head?'
Yes, though doesn't know body parts very well.

Copying others?
Yes

Points at objects?
Yes, not always sure what though!

Waves goodbye?
Yes, normally early as someone else said!

Participates with nursery rhymes and songs?
Not really with me at home, and I haven't taken him to any singing things all summer, but my mum says he does at the playgroup she takes him to, and the nursery staff says he does too. Row row row your boat is his favourite, he goes "ro ro ro"!

Plays social games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo?
Yes

Babbles 2 or 3 words repeatedly?
Yes, mainly Daddy daddy daddy daddy

Cooperates with dressing?
Nope

Milk feeds (number and times)?
Normally three BFs, morning, lunchtime, evening

Meals/snacks (average amounts and types)?
Breakfast - one weetabix, some fruit, maybe some toast
Lunch - maybe a ham sandwich (1 slice bread), fruit
Dinner - something like pasta and sauce, meat & two veg or whatever, followed by banana and Greek yoghurt
Snacks - maybe breadsticks, raisins etc

Sleeping through?
Normally but not this week on holiday - having a bit of a mare with his sleep. Hoping he'll settle down when we're home.

Specialist skills or funny traits?
He likes to sing to himself as he goes about his business (dee da, dee da, dee da). Turns on the amp, fiddles with the buttons and then twangs the electric guitar strings to see what effect it has.

spirael how do you enter these tester things? I see people hooraying cos they've been picked but I've got no idea how to enter. (Not that I like sunbites so wouldn't have bothered with those). S had a haircut about 3 months ago but he's needing another one, his hair is overhanging his ears

stac how's college going?

So much for my meal plan, mum was working til 5pm both days so I did a huge meat pie that did us 2 days. My dad hates having the same meal twice in a row but he liked it so much he was wishing there was more for today

mlic the only soft play near us you have to pay for them from 6 months how many 6 month olds are crawling? let alone clambering around on softplay. It costs us a tenner when we go (which is probably why we've been once...). that bouncy castle is amazing! I so want one but have no money and no place to store it

viks S plays in the dirt, he loves it and always ends up with it coming out in his nappy Grandad always says "you gotta eat a bucket of dirt before you die" well S has done that and more. Like mlic I was so pfb with L but S does what he likes cos I just cba at the mo!

wss don't beat yourself up about the speech thing, how are you supposed to know what they grow out of and what they won't? Since they all develop at such different times we have no way of knowing where they should be and when!

cake I am very, very of Batman tickets. I'm not a big superhero fan but I love Batman and can't wait for the next film! When I was bfing S he wouldn't take milk from a cup so I'd feed him and go out hoping for the best. He was usually fine with babysitters (always my parents) he was rubbish on our anniversary, up for 3 hours in the night but mum eventually got up with him and played for a bit and then he went back to sleep.

memphis I too am agog that you can't find anything in JL to buy. Given half the chance I'd buy half the shop, I really like JL and think their customer service is brilliant.

woodlands as things stand hell would have to freeze over and Gaddafi decide he's Father Christmas before I go on holiday with my in-laws. Thankfully DH likes his

So I'm back, shattered after 2 bad nights and will do the survey later after I've eaten my fill of steam kale and bisto. I'm seriously craving bisto.

L has been able to spell her name for a while (it is short though) that's usually the word on the fridge along with her interpretation of 'wurzel' which never manages to have both the 'r' and the 'e' at the same time for some odd reason. She's useless with numbers though despite being quite interested in them, she just can't get the hang of them!

mlic I seriously sat here for ages thinking "should I say something? should I shut up? does anyone really need to know?" hah!

Hello!
wss when I was younger a hv type woman new to the area started reffering kids to speech therapists, the number reffered went up 10 fold, its because they couldnt say certain words usually ending in y e.g instead of party it would be part eh and beggining with th e.g thought would be fought... its the regional accent thats how Leicester folk speak- silly woman!I went to a posh school in next county and it got whipped out of me though!
I personally dont think nursery staff have the right or the qualification to tell parents about speech and would tell them to stick it up their arses! I think kids of about 4 (now I know I dont have a 4 yo) get so excited or side tracked by other stuff going on in the room they dont finish what they want to say, my 4yo brother is like that and I still am at 28!

viksam I have a lot of family in brum I havent seen them in years though, the last time I saw them they said I looked like my aunty...not the pretty one the one with teeth like Ed the horse, a mullet like Pat Sharpe and a figure like Mr Blobby!

About John Lewis as I have been anti JL due to them ruining local businesses and smaller shops I have never looked at anything in there before apart from to gasp at the stupidly shocking Haberdashery prices and to buy this stroller which I saw when I went to buy a Sophie so im sure if I look around I will find stuff but there are no strollers I like in a decent price bracket so a bit annoyed that I will have to find the money to buy one elsewhere!

Will do survey in a bit at the moment its chinese time and bath!

memphis they're not really "nursery" staff. What she goes to is called kindergarten here (I just call it pre-school on here as none of you would know what i was talking about if I went on about kindy, which is what it's shortened to) and is kind of the equivalent of Reception in the UK (school starts at 5 here). It is less formal/structured than Reception as it's mostly free play but all the teachers are fully qualified with degrees in education.

As I worked in early childhood for 8 years I know what their qualifications are and what they entail - they do have the knowledge and experience to recognise this sort of thing.

I think that she would probably get there by herself with these sounds eventually but I don't think there's any harm in her having an assessment and maybe having some vocal exercises to practise some sounds. My concern is just that she is getting frustrated at not being understood and that is impacting on her enjoying pre-school/kindy - it's such a battle every day to get her there at the moment.

woodlands don't talk to me about holidays with the in-laws! We have that "pleasure" to look forward to again next February. Hope you survived it ok.

tsc good luck with the sleep training...

No kindy (pre school ) today so we're off to play at a friend's house.

wss oh right thought it would be like nursery here (which is why we are moving to a village before L starts ) They all look like Vicky Pollards smoking outside gates before they start, I live next to the school all the TA's sit on the wall puffing on cigarettes and I could here them talking about getting on it like a car bonnet at the weekend this afternoon! know we all have lives but dont want L coming home saying stuff like that!

cake A does sound lovely!Bless her!
Well I did say id be back to do the survey but im just to tired now.
Whats bothering me though is, and im quite ashamed to say this, is that D has jars at tea time, i did make spag bol in the slow cooker yesterday (first use of the slow cooker!) and he spat it straight out but eat a whole jar afterwards so must have been hungry! I feel im bad bad bad!

at "getting on it like a car bonnet"

survey time!

Age? Closest to 13m, 13.5m or 14m?
13.5 months

Walking?
Yes. but more likely to run, Doesn't crawl at all now ever

Talking?
Not properly but says words, mummy, mama,aaah baby,dada, daddy, nanny, brum brum, that, where is his new word in a high pitched questionable way. has certail noises for things, dogs is a weird throaty noise, oooh oooooo is horse or cow (strange boy) wack wack is duck or anything with wings. herroooo
is hello but sounds like the a chinese accent.

Says please and thank you (or words to that effect)?
Says ta, but thats a regional thing, everyone says ta here.

Naps - when/how many?
One if with me in his cot for 2 hours, then if with my mum two smaller naps.

Eating with a fork and/or spoon?
He holds then and goes for his mouth but it goes over his shoulder, a spoon is a device that shoves the food onto the floor in Lyndons eyes!

Responds to simple commands or questions such as 'give me that please' or 'where's your head?'
He knows where is your nose, then says onk onk as he pinches it, and give me that he knows this as he runs away with what ever he has!

Copying others?
He thinks he is 8 yo he tried to run off to some boys earlier and doesnt understand why he cant play, he started copying me as when I say no to dog I tap him on his nose and when I say no to L he smacks his own tummy so no tapping the dog any more! he copes his dad when he cleans his bike with a sponge.

Points at objects?
Yes and says 'that' when pointing

Waves goodbye?
Yes

Participates with nursery rhymes and songs?
He does with round and round the garden he does it on your hand as you sing rather than me doing it to his hand. We dont really do a lot of nursery rhymes as I cant remember many!

Plays social games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo?
He plays pas a cakes and hides and pops up saying ooh ooh.

Babbles 2 or 3 words repeatedly?
Dad dad dada daddeeeeee, or the same for mam mama mam mammmeeee.

Cooperates with dressing?
Yes but prefers to get naked, he is like mlics w though and acts like im trying to harm him when its nappy change time.

Milk feeds (number and times)?
When he wakes (6oz ) 11am (6oz) and before bed (9oz)

Meals/snacks (average amounts and types)?
9am ish Breakfast - a bowl of porridg and a small yogurt
10am ish Snack - half a banana to a whole one.
Lunch - spaghetti or beans on toast, cheese on toast or something else on toast since he has top teeth he loves toast and raisins.
4pm ish Snack - fruit puree pot as he still loves them and its a way of getting more fluid in him.
5.30ish Tea - curry, or other sort of sloppy food that I have to feed him followed by a yoghurt.

Sleeping through?
Usually 7 til 6.30 then a bottle and back down til 8.30 but with these bloody teeth up numerous times in the night for pain killer and water, in the night he will drink up to 6oz of water but wont touch a sip in the day.

Specialist skills or funny traits?
Loves music, but he is trying to run and dance which is so funny but a bit dangerous.
Scoots himself along on his quad, only has to see a motorbike in the street and he will do anything to climb on it.
when he is tired in the day he pulls pushchair from the kitchen into living room and then climbs in, then I know he is tired! can climb stairs in seconds, can climb onto the back of the sofa or into rocking chair and makes it rock. on a whole a very happy laid back baby but sadly his teeth really bother him.