July 2010: It's about time, that we all went back to rhyme!

[Spirael]

Though mutiny is always an option.

I keep refreshing this cos I'm bored and avoiding knitting more of my doomed scarfy thing but nothing happens...I bet you'll all start chatting the moment I turn this off and go to bed. 13 more days til I can put the tree up :)

See It's the opposite in Scotland the oldest children in a school year are born in march and the youngest in February so B will actually be one of the oldest in her class where as D being born in December would of been one of the youngest.

You do get a thing called an advantage year which you can make use of if your child was born between about November to February where by you can take another year in nursery which is what I've done for D.

It's a really common thing to do here but I believe its not so common down south which is a shame. I would of hated sending D to school this year he just wasn't ready for it but I think he'll be more than ready for it next August :)

I think that Dylthan, L will be 3 months off 5 when she starts, but S will (like most of the babies on this thread) only be 5 weeks into his 4th year. When I taught in primary schools you could tell the younger ones, I mean 4 year olds are still so small! Like I said, not much you can do about it, I think being able to choose to delay for a year is a really good idea. Some children might be ready for it, others not - the only advantage for S is that L would be in the year above.

L will be in the year above? I thought D would be two years above #2 ( i wish he had a name!!) Have i worked that out wrong? I thought L was older? Ooooh im all confused............doesnt take much!!

i find the school years and age thing really confusing too vik i've just got confused again about when F will start school whilst typing this

i've got so many fave things with A. she's just the cutest. at the mo my no 1 fave is when she keeps pointing to F's phonics sounds and then doing the sounds and actions - rather stealing his thunder the other thing i love is when she does her crazy dance moves, kind of filched from F and then embellished. they do the craziest dancing to the Wizard of Oz CD during their music time in the mornings. they're usually in fancy dress too. i feel like i've been eating shrooms most mornings

dylth technically we can delay a year here but it's not done often so i'd worry that they'd find it hard starting a year after all the others. if i lived up there then i'd def think about it.

everyone up for a development survey if i get a mo to do one tomo?

ignores all talk of monitors and double-checks the angelcare mat's switched on for the 4th time tonight

that made no sense, i meant:

keeps pointing to F's phonics sounds print-outs

tis here mlic www.mumsnet.com/Talk/big_slim_whatever_weight_loss_club/a1316038-Anyone-tried-the-Eating-Right-for-your-Blood-Type-Diet#28528968

I'm up for a development survey, I keep thinking J's way behind the others on this thread because he is still crawling rather than walking, but then occasionally I realise he's been doing some stuff for ages that others are just mastering! It will be interesting to see what they're all up to.

here goes:

Rough age: 15.5 months

Plays with ball

Uses three words regularly (not three words in a sentence!)

Uses six words regularly

Speaks clearly

Scribbles with a crayon

Walks

Walks backward

Runs

Adopts "no" as his favorite word

"Helps" around the house

Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh"

Turns the pages of a book

Has temper tantrums when frustrated

Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object

Discovers the joy of climbing

Stacks three blocks

Uses spoon or fork

Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone)

Takes off one piece of clothing by himself

Only has one nap (what time and how long?)

Enjoys pretend games

Likes riding toys

Feeds doll

Throws a ball underhand

Dances to music

Sorts toys by color, shape, or size

Kicks ball forward

here goes:

Rough age: 15.5 months

Plays with ball
Yes, loves playing catch with F

Uses three words regularly (not three words in a sentence!)
Ish - has suddenly started talking more. Her usual words are: banana, cat, look, bye, hello/hiya, mama, dada, felix (said very craply), rella (ditto) and she's just started saying new ones in the last few days - eg motorbike (!) and car.

Uses six words regularly
Yes - as above

Speaks clearly
some are whereas some only a mother would understand

Scribbles with a crayon
yes, really well for ages

Walks
yep

Walks backward
yep

Runs
yep, she started running within about a fortnight of walking

Adopts "no" as his favorite word
No (hah), i don't think she's ever said it! F said it late too despite speaking early.

"Helps" around the house
yes, loves to 'clean' the table and her nose with the same grotty wetwipe

Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh"
yes but only recently since we learnt the phonic sound for Sh!

Turns the pages of a book
yes, has for ages

Has temper tantrums when frustrated
yes, she goes bright red and sounds really angry but it lasts about 30 seconds max

Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object
no, F didn't for ages either

Discovers the joy of climbing
yes... she put F's drum on a speaker and then tried to climb on that this week

Stacks three blocks
not sure - she doesn't seem much interested in them. she's stacked 3 stackable crayons tho

Uses spoon or fork
yes, for ages but not always that well

Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone)
yes, loves chatting on the 'phone' (or any random object) and trying to control my Mac

Takes off one piece of clothing by himself
no. F doesn't undress himself even now

Only has one nap (what time and how long?)
yes, for ages. 11.30 for 1.5 - 2 hours

Enjoys pretend games
yes, like pretending to be a monster etc - she has the funniest growl!

Likes riding toys
yes, loves the tiger she got for her birthday

Feeds doll
yes, she gives dolls a bottle, which makes me laugh given she's never had one herself

Throws a ball underhand
dunno!

Dances to music
yes, can't really remember her not being able to actually. hell, she came out of the womb jivin'

Sorts toys by color, shape, or size
not sure but she's a bloody great tidier! even a hint of us going upstairs and she'll start clearing up around us.

Kicks ball forward
yes, i think i've seen her do it a couple of times recently

go up then tsc. if he's ill you'll feel terrible for not going. if he';s been sleeping well recently then presumably there's a reason?

Rough age: 16 months

Plays with ball: yes

Uses three words regularly (not three words in a sentence!): yes, I dont' think she's learnt many new ones lately - we have mama, dada, ra-ra (dog), Leeeeeeelia (her sister), KUH (like the phonics sound for "k", means milk or drink, ish (fish), maybe a couple of other words I can't remember at mo. Various animal noises

Uses six words regularly: yep. as above

Speaks clearly: I think so

Scribbles with a crayon: yes

Walks: yes

Walks backward : not that I've ever noticed but she probably can

Runs: yes

Adopts "no" as his favorite word : has never said it, shakes (and nods) her head though

"Helps" around the house: yes she knows which drawer the clean cloths are in and if I'm wiping a window or a wall she goes and gets a cloth to help :) Oh and if I say "Let's have some food" she goes and gets herself a bib and a spoon from the drawer.

Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh": yes, just started doing this

Turns the pages of a book: yes

Has temper tantrums when frustrated: Does she ever, she actually bangs her head (quite hard) against walls, doors, floor etc if she can't get what she wants :(

Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object: quite likes her doll at bedtime but not completely attached to it

Discovers the joy of climbing: Ha ha. Oh yes. Climbs up our slide in the garden, turns herself around at the top and slides down backwards. Dining chairs currently having to be kept on table whenever they are not being used as otherwise she uses them to climb onto the table about 20 times a day

Stacks three blocks; yes

Uses spoon or fork: good with spoon, tries with a fork

Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone): puts phone-type objects to ear and says "Dada!" (as it's usually him on the phone)

Takes off one piece of clothing by himself: no, except for socks :

Only has one nap (what time and how long?): middle of the day, about 1.5 hours

Enjoys pretend games: yep

Likes riding toys: yep

Feeds doll: no, plays with a doll and holds it to her shoulder and rocks it but hasn't tried to feed it (I don't think)

Throws a ball underhand: yes

Dances to music: yes

Sorts toys by color, shape, or size: not really

Kicks ball forward: yes

G and A sound at a v similar stage of development, i think wss.

you reminded me that A's just starting saying 'milk' too, kinda 'mowk' she got very excited earlier pointing out her mowk (my boobs) to dh earlier

i felt like she hadn't learnt any new words in months until literally this week. my father was getting all worried saying 'have you had her checked that she's hitting all her milestones? she's seems so different to F was' basically he was talking loads by now whereas she mostly squeaks and squeals but i know she's developing completely normally, she's just a different person to F.

btw - any news/progress re A's eye? also how's she doing with her speech and settling in at school now?

Her eyes just need to be checked every 3 months to keep checking the prescription (very very low at the moment) and to check the weaker eye (see if it's getting any weaker). No need for glasses or patching the stronger eye at the moment.

I think her speech is getting better, she has made a few friends at pre-school and they seem to understand her fine. Adults understand most of what she says but sometimes there are a few words I have to "translate" to them. She loves pre-school now - can't wait to get there in the mornings :) (huge relief to me)

Still waiting on an appt with a speech therapist to have her assessed for that, I think we were referred in September - they told me the waiting lists are quite long espec if it's not a major speech problem. I'm not too worried about waiting for the appt as I think her speech is improving gradually anyway.

Rough age: 16 months

Plays with ball - yes

Uses three words regularly (not three words in a sentence!) - sort of, dad, mama, cat are the ones we get most (despite not having a cat), everything else is 'dat'

Uses six words regularly -no (he does have a mammoth vocabulary of signs though, over 40 last count) L didn't talk til 2 so I'm not worried.

Speaks clearly - no

Scribbles with a crayon- yes

Walks- yes

Walks backward-yes, he also does a sideways walk with one arm stretched over his shoulder looking backwards, oddly enough L used to do the same thing

Runs - oh yes, more than walks, esp if I say anything food related

Adopts "no" as his favorite word - yes

"Helps" around the house - yes, if I say 'biscuit' or 'breakfast' he'll run to the pantry and open it, ferret around in the onions (which is all he can reach) and then do the biscuit sign like crazy. He also wipes himself at nappy changes, and his face if he finds a suitable cloth, tidies up well too

Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh" - yes, but most of the time he means 'snake' (we've got ocean fridge magnets and that's his favourite one)

Turns the pages of a book - yes

Has temper tantrums when frustrated - yes, having one now as it happens because I'm doing this instead of reading him Wind in the Willows

Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object - loves Monkey at bedtime and if he's ill

Discovers the joy of climbing - yes, he's awful for climbing, have found him on top of the cooker several times which terrifies me, he'll climb anything.

Stacks three blocks - yes

Uses spoon or fork - yes, I was very surprised yesterday when he ate a petit filous out of the pot with a spoon and polished it clean, L was very slow with cutlery.

Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone) - sweeps the floor with a broom (just the dustpan to go and I can put my feet up ), loves the phone and waves the mouse around threateningly when he climbs up the drawers onto the desk.

Takes off one piece of clothing by himself - seems to enjoy removing his trousers at every opportunity

Only has one nap (what time and how long?) - 12-2.30

Enjoys pretend games - plays with L's tea set, gets Duplo toys and makes them walk around with little chattery noises (L didn't do this til much later so I think he copies her)

Likes riding toys - yes although both the ones we have are a bit big for him, he's quite short-legged like his mum

Feeds doll - no, all food is destined for his gob, unless I want him to eat it, in which case it's all on the floor

Throws a ball underhand - yes

Dances to music - yes, one of our favourite things is dancing, his signature move is one arm over his shoulder, looking over the opposite shoulder and spinning in circles. I've tried to catch it on camera but he only manages a couple of turns before cropping so I only ever catch him tumbling over laughing.

Sorts toys by color, shape, or size - lines cars up in a straight line and trains in another but I'm not sure that counts

Kicks ball forward - yes, both of mine love a good kickaround [excited for own footie team emoticon]

Ack cake that annoys me tbh, they're all so different and even though we know that, when someone points it out you immediately start wondering about it! L hasn't been advanced with anything so it's set the scene well for her siblings (mind you, she has started the 'interpretive dance' thing when she wants something, I'm supposed to guess by her pose/movement )

wss that's great that she's enjoying it! I'm half-dreading/half-looking forward to L going to nursery.

tsc how was your night in the end?

We've got nothing planned for today, I'd like to go somewhere just to get out of the house but can't think where would be good to go.

Morning,
Notice theres no 'good' there!! Horrific night here, less said the better! Really do feel like shit today.

Rough age: 15.5 months

Plays with ball
Yes

Uses three words regularly (not three words in a sentence!)
Daddy, yep, tolly(dogs name) oh yeah Ta, unprompted when given anything.

Uses six words regularly
Not six yet but attempts lots when hes in the mood

Speaks clearly
only with those three

Scribbles with a crayon
Well dots the page then tries to eat the crayon

Walks
Yep

Walks backward
Yep

Runs
Yep

Adopts "no" as his favorite word
No, hasnt said it yet

"Helps" around the house
Yes, i give him the fluffy duster and he 'cleans' everything he can including the dog, he liked the hand held vac as well.

Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh"
No

turns the pages of a book
Yes

Has temper tantrums when frustrated
Yes but mostly short lived

Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object
a musliN when hes tired under his chin

Discovers the joy of climbing
Yes

Stacks three blocks
Hmmmmm not really but does try and build the duplo

Uses spoon or fork
yes, both but still with a lot of help

Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone)
Yes, lots of things are 'telephones'

Takes off one piece of clothing by himself
socks, will take legs out if we pull trousers down and puts his arms up/pus his arms in when asked.

Only has one nap (what time and how long?)
Yes, 1ish till 2.30ish

Enjoys pretend games
pretends to eat/drink out of pots, drives his cars around saying brum and flies his figures around saying woosh.

Likes riding toys
Havent really got any but does get on his trike, doesnt get pushing forward with his feet though.

Feeds doll
Doesnt have one but that is soon going to be rectified, much to daddys disgust!

Throws a ball underhand
yes

Dances to music
Yes, mostly at lunch when we have the radio on and we dance and sing, very funny. (another one of my favourite things!)

Sorts toys by color, shape, or size
No

Kicks ball forward
Yes

Wow, thats a survey and a half!, interesting though, makes you think. I think he understands so much more than he can 'do' iyswim.

The nursery i have them both booked in to in sept phoned yeaterday saying there may be a problem with the baby space on a thursday!!!!!!!!!!Rahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! as far as im concerned i booker a baby and a toddler space tues/wed/thurs from sept 2012, not hard is it, she said she got a bit confused because i had put an asterix on the form saying to be confirmed, that was to do with the babys name not anything else!!! TUT! She was saying theres no problem with Devon, what am i supposed to do, take the baby to work with me on a thursday!!

How was everyones night?

Rough age: 16 months exactly

Plays with ball - yes

Uses three words regularly (not three words in a sentence!) - yes

Uses six words regularly - probably not

Speaks clearly - no

Scribbles with a crayon - yes

Walks - can take 5-6 steps but prefers crawling still

Walks backward - no

Runs - no

Adopts "no" as his favorite word - not yet!

"Helps" around the house - no

Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh" - no

Turns the pages of a book - yes

Has temper tantrums when frustrated - yes

Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object - no

Discovers the joy of climbing - yes

Stacks three blocks - yes

Uses spoon or fork - yes

Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone) - yes

Takes off one piece of clothing by himself - still only socks!

Only has one nap (what time and how long?) - yes, roughly 11.30-1pm

Enjoys pretend games - not really, thinks it's funny when I pretend but doesn't pretend too

Likes riding toys - oh yes!

Feeds doll - kind of

Throws a ball underhand - no

Dances to music - yes

Sorts toys by color, shape, or size - no

Kicks ball forward - no

Oh dear, there's lots of things he still doesn't do! He is very adept at going up and down stairs on his own. When he turns the pages of the Gruffalo he says 'owl' at the relevant bit, and 'sssss' for snake. He also does the actions to some songs - the other day I couldn't figure out why he was rocking backwards and forwards and then doing a little pretend scream, until I realised I was humming Row row row your boat!

Ooh a new survey!

Rough age: 16

Plays with ball
Yes

Uses three words regularly (not three words in a sentence!)
Duck, nana (banana) and dog

Uses six words regularly
Daddy and mummy and car plus the three above.

Speaks clearly
Some words more than others but I know what he means when he says 'dub' he really means boat.

Scribbles with a crayon
I try to show him but he prefers to eat them still.

Walks
Yep

Walks backward
Just started to.

Runs
More of a fast walk.

Adopts "no" as his favorite word
Doesnt say the word but if he doesn't want something he'll say nah or something along those lines.

"Helps" around the house
He pushes the Hoover whilst I'm using it, empties the cleaning cupboard when its open.

Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh"
No

turns the pages of a book
Yes

Has temper tantrums when frustrated
Yes but I distract him.

Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object
For a while but doesn't have a special toy.

Discovers the joy of climbing
Yes

Stacks three blocks
Can't say I've seen him try.

Uses spoon or fork
Haven't tried a fork yet but want to get him his own set. Will use a spoon with help.

Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone)
He knows what to do with the phone that's about it.

Takes off one piece of clothing by himself
He takes his socks off and if his trousers are round his ankles he will kick them off. Same with tops if I take his arms out he pulls the top off his head.

Only has one nap (what time and how long?)
Yup, roughly about 11-12.

Enjoys pretend games
He is always pushing his cars around saying brrroom. Loves taking objects out of a container and putting them back. Also likes lining objects in a line on the windowsill.

Likes riding toys
He's got a ride on bus tht he climbs on himself and is starting to move himself along.

Feeds doll
Hes got a doll but just gives it cuddles and hits me with it!

Throws a ball underhand
Not underhand.

Dances to music
Yes it's so funny I love watching him wiggling his bum!

Sorts toys by color, shape, or size
Not really, he has got a shape sorted but uses it more of a container to put anything in.

Kicks ball forward
Yes

Wow that was a long survey!

Lol 16 MONTHS obv not 16 years!

sorry for your crap night vik

i'm at the stage where i can;t work out if i'm getting less or more sleep due to bf at the mo while she's teething. last night she woke screaming at 1am and i resorted to bf, she went back down til 5am and then bf off and on til 7am. hearing how bad everyone's nights are i'm wondering if bf is actually helping altho it does my head (and back) in.

That all sounds really positive wss. really pleased for you and A. have the pre-school teachers said anything about her speech lately?

oh, i ought to say re the survey - i took milestones from 15 - 17 months from 'most children' thru to 'advanced children' (roughly in age order running down the list) so don;t be surprised or worried if yours isn;t doing everything on the list! i take it from a range like that as children vary so much in the different things they can and can't do - eg kicking a ball and dancing is on the advanced 17 months list (i think) but some of ours have been doing those for a while.

chul loved the sound of S signing for biscuit whilst rummaging in the onions you should get a pic of that!

Some things are reliant on something else too, walking->walking backwards->running/kicking ball.

cake I think the main difference with not bfing is that while you still have to have something to settle them, it doesn't have to be boob. S will settle with a good long cuddle on the whole (think 20 mins+) but DH can do that as easily as me and sometimes with more success so I'm not always the one who has to get up. S was never that good at settling even on boob due to reflux etc, I think he developed a fear of 'milk' because it gave him such bad stomach pain so it wasn't a big thing for him to stop.

vik at D dusting the dog!

woodlands some stuff S is doing purely because he copies L. L was slower because she had no one to copy - the only thing she was quick with was drawing and holding crayons properly.