Almost 16 months

Wow.  It feels like there is so so so so so much to say this month!  Get a cuppa and get set as this is a long one.

It feels like a long time ago indeed but I’m pleased to report that Mr.J and I managed to enjoy a lovely meal out for our wedding anniversary and I really enjoyed our trip to the Harry Potter studio tour and our tea at Wagamamas.  We also managed to save the world for the first time in Pandemic that evening; there’s not too much you can do when you have a 15 month old and you’re staying in a Premier Inn!

A and I went swimming for the first time in almost 6 months and sadly he wasn’t impressed, at all!  Hopefully he’ll ease back into it when we go swimming on holiday in a few weeks time.  I had a nice Mother’s Day lunch out and was lucky to get some delicious truffles and pretty flowers and a home made card!

 

Mr.J has been to India for work again; we Skyped almost every day so that A got to see Daddy.  However, his favourite thing was to turn the TV off and say “Dada guh” repeatedly!  A now thinks that Daddy is always on TV too.  Daddy brought A back an India cricket shirt and a cricket bat; sadly, no gifts for me as per usual!  The cricket bat was my idea as I thought it would be really cute but after 10 seconds I realised that it was a very dangerous thing to give a toddler as he immediately started bashing things with it.

Nanna P came to stay whilst Mr.J was away and knit up this wicked bobble hat (I did the pom pom though) and me and A also baked a banana loaf.  Solo parenting wasn’t quite as bad as I’d anticipated – mostly because I was uber organised and we ate meals I’d already cooked from the freezer so that meant I didn’t have to cook or wash up in the evening and I got everything prepped in the evening for work and nursery so the mornings were fine too.  The hardest parts were not having anyone to handover to for difficult bedtimes!!

A has also had his photo taken at nursery; the first attempt was completely unsuccessful as he just cried a lot and when they took him back up again later in the day, he cried before he got there but then started laughing on the way back – cheeky monkey!  However, they had group photos later in the week and he was much happier so he had his photos taken then.  We’ve not seen them yet so we’ve not been bankrupted just yet.  I’ve also been busy crafting again making an Easter bonnet.  As usual my effort was far from perfect (note to self – follow the dimensions in the instructions next time!) but you can definitely tell it’s a (squashed) chicken and it only took about 10 minutes so I was quite pleased with the outcome.  I don’t think he wore it for more than a few seconds in total anyway!

We’ve also had another trip to hospital this month.  It was a bit worrying at the time but he’s fine now.  A started with a slight limp on Thursday evening but I thought nothing of it as I thought he was just treading on his dungarees.  On Friday morning it was a definite limp, which progressed to not walking by about 10am and not taking any weight on his leg at all by lunch time. There’s definitely something wrong with A if he doesn’t move from sitting on the sofa to follow you out of the room 😦  We saw the GP that afternoon and they referred us to the hospital for more tests – an X ray to check for fractures and some blood tests to check for infection.  He had some numbing cream put on his hands and arm before the X ray so it had time to work and he was very brave having the blood test.  Overall, he was pretty upset and unwell as he had no appetite and just wanted cuddles.

We eventually got the blood test results and thankfully there was no sign of infection so the diagnosis was reactive arthritis; basically, his (hip) joint had become inflamed as a result of a reaction to a virus.  We were told to give him paracetamol and ibuprofen and wait it out but everything should go back to normal in a few days.  However, after hobbling around like an old man or a Walking Dead zombie wannabe at the weekend, he didn’t walk much at all on Monday so we went back to the hospital on Tuesday.  Obviously, as soon as the Dr came in, he started walking! I think the main difference was the painkillers (as nursery aren’t able to give them without a prescription) so we waited for an hour in outpatient pharmacy so we could get some paracetamol and ibuprofen on prescription so that his nursery workers were able to give it to him.  I really think there should be a better system for this but the main thing is that he’s on the mend and almost back to normal now – phew!

Today, we went on a lovely walk in the sunshine and played in the garden.  A lovely end to a low-key Easter weekend 🙂

Movement:  Almost back to normal now!  The biggest change is that he can stand up independently now.  I think this happened last month but I forgot to mention it.  He does a good Downward Dog to get there but his squatting is awesome so I’m sure he’ll figure out how to balance enough to stand up like grown ups soon enough.

Teeth:  Some more have finally broken through!  This month has seen the appearance of a lower left lateral incisor, lower right first molar and upper right first molar.  The lower right lateral incisor is looking fairly close to breaking through too. That means we’re almost half way there!

Eating:  He’s doing great with a fork and spoon now but we are going through a phase of throwing the cutlery on the floor, mostly after he’s eaten what’s on them , though not always, and saying “uh oh”.  The distance that yogurt can be splattered is impressive.  When he was most poorly he wasn’t interested in eating much at all.  However he did enjoy this chocolate ice cream!

Sleep:  Hrm.  I think this is why it might have felt like such a long month!  After a few evenings where he had been doing a bit longer for his first stint last month that all stopped and we were back to our 2.5 hourly wake ups and when Mr.J was in India we also had some nice long wake ups in the middle of the night when he started reciting all the words he knew (see ‘Communication’!).  Looking back, it was probably the virus that made his hip sore and/or the molar coming through that led to the crap(per) nights.  We’ve had a few longer stints since so hopefully things will continue to slowly improve.  Here he is having a ‘lie in’ at 6.50am whilst Mr.J was in India – bearing in mind we usually leave the house at 7am since he is usually awake between 6-6.30am.

Play:  There’s so much to say here!  Everything is fun at the moment I think.  Today he’s spent most of the day attempting to do a buckle up and has gone from no success to regular success over the course of the day.  Pegs are still really fun – but now the fun part is pulling them apart which is both annoying and dangerous.  I don’t know why but he also likes playing the small juice cartons I take to work for breakfast and pulling the straws off them all (also annoying as I now have to stab them with a pencil and squeeze them into a cup at work).  We’ve been having a lot of fun out in the garden and on the scuttlebug and in his car. He found it hilarious last night when me and Mr.J kicked the football between us.  The hoover is still a winner too and he even got very excited when we were playing outside and he heard it inside this afternoon.  He knows where it lives and if I go into that cupboard for anything else he makes his sound for hoover.  Oh, and how could I forget: books, books, books, books, books!!  He just wants to read, albeit only usually one page from any book, all the time.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Thomas and Friends and Mog are clear favourites, as are the small set of In The Night Garden books we were given. Sometimes we get through a whole book – he patiently sat through Paddington and The Tiger Who Came to Tea one (early) morning.  Mog is also quite funny as Mog (and every other image of any cat) seems to be called “Wywra”.

 

Communication:  He has so many ‘words’ (sounds) of his own now and he’s finally saying “Mimi”!  “Uh oh” is being said  a lot but other new sounds include “wee wee” (which is said every time he sees the toilet), often accompanied by “ditti” (dirty), this weekends new French-style favourite “Peh-pear” (as he got given a Peppa Pig soap), empty – I can’t write that phonetically but it’s definitely what he’s saying as he says it after tipping things out, hoover, Nanna, banana, cheese and many more!  His comprehension still surprises me, as does his compliance!  Occasionally he is helpful and will put things in the bin or back where they belong when you ask him.  Here he is saying ‘gaw’ (ball):

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