Little Miss is 18 mths old

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Wow, so our gorgeous, clever little lady is 18mths old. I can’t believe it as the last 6 months have seriously flown by and she really is growing into a little girl before our eyes. Our baby girl is just not a baby anymore and that’s a scary thought. 18 mths

So what is she up to? Well in many ways she’s not changed that much since my update last month, but in other ways she really is developing and changing so much all of the time.

So similarities first. She is still fiercely independent and loves to go her own way when we are out on walks. She is still absolutely obsessed with puddles and it can be seriously hard to get her away from one she is having fun splashing in. Cue screaming and tantrums and kicking off wellies as she certainly knows how to let us know her displeasure! She’s also discovered daisies this month too which really slows down our walks!

Her communication is one area where she has really developed this month. We still don’t have many words but it really feels like she is on the cusp as there are lots of *almost* words. Still duck, hiya, mama, da-de (somewhere between dada and daddy), dat (that) but also approximations of no (nananananananana at increasing volume), yes, wow, out, down, boots, and my mum is convinced she has said car too. Aside from the words she is really good at letting us know what she wants and getting us to do her bidding. She has an ‘ayow’ noise, which accompanied by a hand wave, means “get me that” or “I want that” or “hold my hand” or basically “help me with this” which we have to interpret depending on the situation!

We are getting good at this but she does expect everyone to be able to understand her too. She is such a little attention seeker actually and loves getting people to do her bidding. On play dates she will always try and persuade (by taking their hands, saying ayow and leading them to where she wants) other mums to help her, even when she doesn’t really need helping! She is such a flirt too and positively beams at people and is learning that helps her get what she wants. Especially with her softy uncles who all adore her!

She has also developed some other really cute hand movements. She loves playing hide and seek (thankfully as Monkey insists on playing at least once a day) and is so cute when she holds her hands up and looks around in imitation of us saying “where’s he gone?”. She also does a similar hand movement when she has done something she is proud of. So when she has put some puzzle pieces in, or I’ve helped her finish something, and it is lovely seeing her so proud of herself. The other hand movement she has learned this month is a high five. She loves giving people high fives and generally has to give a high five to everyone in the building!

Her personality is developing so much and she loves to laugh and loves trying to make people laugh. She’s actually a bit of a show off, running around and spinning and beaming at people who come to visit. As I mentioned she is an attention seeker so she likes going up to people and messing with them. With adults she goes up with a big grin and almost throws herself at them, and with other kids, she likes trying to tickle them and messes with their hair. She constantly does this to her brother and it does make him laugh!

She loves being chased by her brother and by me, and will take any opportunity, especially at nappy change time or when I am trying to get her dressed, to run away giggling! I do indulge her quite a bit as it is gorgeous seeing her so happy while saying “Mummy’s gonna get you..” hehe.

Because I have felt a bit like I baby her I have been trying to make sure I do lots of activities with her this month. I looked up the activities I did with Monkey at this age and have been trying to do similar with LM. So we have been painting and playing with play doh which she loves. I’ve also got some puzzles and very simple jigsaws out and she loves having a go at those.

We’ve also made a bit of a change this month and have moved from the high chair to a booster chair at the big table.
She was in the high chair far longer than Monkey and has always been happy in there but lately less so. She loves sitting at the big table with us and positively beams at Daddy and I during dinner which is amazing. Food wise we are going through a bit of a fussy stage with her unfortunately. I had hoped that baby led weaning would have maybe prevented this but I really hope she doesn’t get as bad as her brother was at this age. So far she still adores fruit, ans she likes what she likes. So meals we have frequently, such as tortellini in pasta sauce, curry, Thai curry, falafel, cheese on toast, soups, carbonara etc, she loves and will tuck into. Anything we haven’t had for a while or anything new she just will not try and it generally ends up on he floor. Seeing a plate of lovely food fly across the room is so frustrating but I am trying to rise above and give her just one or two bits at a time to throw and hope she gets the taste for it! She’s even started pulling apart trusty fish fingers so she will eat the breaded bits around the edge but not the fish despite previously loving them. So frustrating! She does have a good diet so I am trying not to stress but it drives me mad too and I hate having such fussy eaters.

Anyway back to happier things, as I mentioned above she loves puddles but basically she loves water in all its forms. She adores water play and watering the garden. We have done water painting which she was brilliant at and she adores bathtime fun in the bath. To be honest she would be happy playing with water most of the day I think haha and at least it is an easy activity to clean up.

She also adores just going for a walk. She frequently finds her wellies or a pair of shoes and is actually amazing at getting them on herself which I am dead impressed by. She then presents me with my shoes and I know it is time to go out. She can walk for ages and we have braved a few short walks without the buggy as she can walk a good long way now when she is in the mood. The buggy does help though if I need to get her away from a puddle!

She loves visiting our friends next door who have a trampoline in the garden and she lives bouncing on there. Their 8 yr old is also really really good with her and gives her loads of attention which she also loves. We joke that she is going to be a gymnast when she is older as she loves being upside down and being flipped over and helped to do role poleys. It’s a bit barmy actually as she even likes lying back and being upside down in the shopping trolley, looney girl! She loves climbing and unfortunately after copying some older children now likes climbing up the slide, which means I have to really watch her and make sure she goes up the steps rather than the slide itself! She’s also teaching herself how to use Monkey’s scooter which is cute and a bit amazing to me as Monkey’s only really got good in the last year. They really are such different children.

These updates are never the most eloquent of prose as I keep adding bits as I remember them, and I know that they are a bit picture heavy, but I hope one day she will like to read what she was up to at this age. She is a force to be reckoned with at times and has the loveliest smile that just melts the heart of anyone she bestows it on.

She drives me potty at times but I adore her all of the time.

Little Miss at 17 Months

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Its been a couple of months since I last wrote an update for our gorgeous girl, and she really has grown up so much in that time. As I type this the poor darling is snuggled up to me as she has caught chicken pox from her brother and she is really not herself. So it is quite nice to think about how happy she is most of the time!

I say most as she is incredibly strong-willed which leads to some doozies of tantrums. She knows what she wants and if she can’t have it she certainly knows how to tell us she isn’t happy about it even though she doesn’t have many words yet. She is really pushing her boundaries and asserting her will a lot, which is all part of her age but it can be hard work! Most of her tantrums are because she can’t do what she wants… Such as stand on the sofa, push buttons on the laptop or walk onto a road. Some are out of frustration too as she wants to be able to do things that she can’t always quite manage. She is doing so well though.

She is really good with her hands now is really quite dextrous. She loves posting things (as all toddlers do) and adores Monkey’s Mr Potato Head and she spends ages putting things in and out of the holes. She even made a proper face the other day which I was surprised by… Though then went back to random combinations so I think it’s just the law of averages that she would have got them in the right place eventually hehe. She is also learning how to build with blocks. I’ve seen her build a tower of 4 but for the most part she likes to build a few towers of 2 or 3 arranged just so, which is seriously cute to watch. She likes things the way she likes them!

She plays so well independently too, in a way her big brother never really has. She obviously loves being played with and she almost constantly what’s me to read her stories, but there is a lot of time when she is just content to potter about by herself, playing with toys. This also goes for little soft play areas. On a recent visit to a cafe with a play area she was happy playing in there by herself for ages and then loved it when some older girls joined her too. There is no way Monkey would ever have been happy playing on his own like this at her age! He only just does it now and even then he gets bored after a few mins. She is so sociable and adores other kids and for the most part other kids love her too.

She really is an independent little miss though and when we are out for a walk she often just decides she wants to go in a particular direction and off she trots. Again something Monkey never really did as he never wanted to leave our side. It’s obviously not always a good thing and she gets in such a mard when I have to stop her going the way she wants, to you know, save her life. I mean, how dare I stop her walking in the road!?

Another trouble we have with walks is puddles. I’ve actually decided she is addicted to puddles as she just cannot keep away from them. She is generally wearing waterproofs and wellies so is allowed in puddles, but it’s like she can’t walk away from them. She tries, and she takes a few steps, then stops and looks back longingly at the puddle. She can do this a few times before running back to the puddle and starting the cycle all over again. It does mean it takes a heck of a long time to get anywhere if there are puddles about!

She loves being out and about though so I can’t mind too much. She often gets her coat and shoes and demands (wordlessly) that we put them on. Even if she is only wearing pjs at the time haha.She is also trying really hard to put her boots on herself and is great at getting her arms in her coat. She often presents me with my shoes too or takes me by the hand and leads me to the front door bless her.

She is getting so quick on her feet too, running about everywhere, though she also still falls over a lot and constantly seems to have grazed or bruised knees. She also spends so much time running round the living room and spinning herself. She has also even taught herself to jump! She’s only managed both feet off the floor a couple of times but we can’t believe it as Monkey was nearly 3 before he learned to jump. She loves being active, she adores swimming and being the bath and is such a little water baby.

It also looks like she may be talking earlier than her big brother did. She is very vocal and there are definitely early versions of the words, hiya, dada, (often combined to be hiyadada) and duck are the main ones but there are more and more sounds these days and she understands so much that we say and ask her to do (even though she doesn’t always listen… ;)). She also makes the most gorgeous durdle durdle noises, and I managed to get a very cute snippet of this on film one day when she was just sat playing with toy food. Such adorable little noises I know I will miss when she is talking more.

She’s shooting up and seems really tall now which has really upped her climbing on things as she can climb onto some low chairs. She’s fearless too with climbing from one chair to another and scares the bejeeses out of me at times! Oh I could go on talking about her little ways for ages I think so I will leave it there.

She is growing up so fast and while there are many things about the age that I won’t miss (such as poo in the bath, dinner thrown everywhere, the whining etc.), there are many things I will miss. The way she kicks her legs when she is happy and the way she screws her face up when she splashes herself. The sounds she makes… from growling to giggling to durdle durdle ing. The way she shouts hiya to everyone and runs for cuddles, and the way she picks up a phone and says hiya. The way she puts a blanket on her head and spins round in circles, laughing her head off because she can’t see where she is going. LM 17 mths The way she sits cross legged when she is concentrating on something and the way she runs away giggling every time I come to change her nappy – especially cute when her little botty is bare! The way she shouts “duck” at every picture of a duck in every book we own! The way she closes the door to the conservatory then plays hide and seek through the glass panes. The way she loves running down hills, with even the tiny slope outside of her Granny’s house providing much merriment. The concerned look on her face if she hears someone crying, expecially if it is her brother. The way she sometimes lies face down on the floor like she has passed out. Such a randomer!

Sometimes I really wish I could bottle her up and keep her this way forever. But I know there is more fun to come too. For now I am looking forward to her feeling better and being back to her normal happy self.

Arguments about pants and the world through the eyes of a Threenager

Posted by Caroline Elliott

These are apparently not the right pants

Every day starts with an argument about Pants at the moment. Actually that’s not entirely true. Every day starts with hubs and I taking it in turns to get up with LM when she wakes up, anywhere from 5.30 to 7 am. Then when Monkey’s gro clock clicks over to the sun at 6.45 he comes and joins whichever of us in still in bed for a snuggle. Then there is an argument about pants.

Monkey is in pull ups at night at the moment. He has the occasional dry night so we know he can do it but he says it is hard work. We are trying to incentivise this by offering the star wars lego he wants when he is dry consistently, but so far we are not there yet. So anyway first thing it is time for a wee and to change into pants. The argument arises over which pants. Namely his “Dash pants” (Dash being the character from the incredibles) which he has decided are the only pants he ever wants to wear. They are often in the laundry basket and he has even been known to fish them out, massively excited at having found them. Cue explaining why you can’t wear dirty pants and trying to find some other pants that are acceptable.

Why am I going on about pants? Well this argument is similar to so many others we have every day. Trying to argue or explain to a three year old whose response is “but I want it. ” A three year old who thinks that that is enough and that no matter we say, the fact that he wants it trumps everything else. “Sorry darling but you can’t always get what you want. ” “But I want it.”

Sigh.

This face… looks like butter wouldn’t melt but oh he is strong willed!

The same also happens with the opposite. “But I don’t want to.” Monkey has become a master procrastinator and can always find a hundred excuses why not to do something he doesn’t want to do, like tidying toys. “I can’t bermember” (yes bermember, not remember, bless him!) “oh I can’t do it” “oh it’s hard work” “I can’t lift it” (a piece of duplo?? Come on) “I don’t know how.”

And oh the tantrums “no, you do it!” Um I beg your pardon, I don’t think so. Or my favourite “I’m the boss, you’re the child” and “I’m in charge.” Nope, sorry darling you really are not.

I’m not sure where all of this is coming from. We have been in quite a good place since Christmas, his behaviour has been great and we haven’t needed to do more than occasionally threaten the naughty spot. Now the threats are frequent and the times sat on the naughty spot have increased. He’s obviously not all bad, in fact there are so many times where he is absolutely adorable… But he is really testing us too. He doesn’t listen to me and ignores me. He is stroppy and everything is “I want” which I hate as it makes me feel like a slave, so I am on endless repeat reminding him to ask nicely which he does usually do with only a little prompting.

The threenager year has been an odd one with some real ups and downs. It is exhausting having the same arguments over and over again. The trouble is I know that some of it can be down to the way we are with him. Yes some of it is just a phase and he is pushing boundaries and figuring ut his place in the world… but I know he is better when I am better. When I have time to properly play and listen to him more. When I don’t let him watch too much TV. But the trouble is that parenting 2 small children is very tiring. His little sister inevitably takes a lot of my attention and when I try and do activities that both of them enjoy I invariably fail.

I try to give Monkey 1 on 1 time but that is easier said than done. Generally I am shattered in the afternoons when his sister is asleep so while I try to play with him there are a lot of times when I opt for a sit down in front of the TV with him instead or at least after a bit of a play. Then LM wakes up and chaos rules again. She is at a particularly trying age so Monkey doesn’t get the attention he craves and at times I expect too much of him.

There’s not much point to this post really other than a reminder to myself I guess that I can help change his behaviour, and not only via discipline, but by trying to listen to him more and think about the way he sees things, rather than just the way I see it. I read this very well timed post by the lovely Tarana at Sand in my Toes who put my feelings into words. This is how I wish I had the energy to be all the time. I don’t have the energy to do that but I am going to try harder to be more like that!

In the meantime, because I want to end focusing on the positives of this age, here are some of the cuter conversations we have had with Monkey lately.

“Mummy, Jack said something at playgroup today.”
“Ok, what did he say?”
“Um I don’t bermember. Daddy do you bermember what Jack said?”
“Um no I wasn’t there.”
“Oh. But do you bermember what he said?”

Having an argument with Daddy about his porridge at breakfast which he normally loves. “No! I don’t want it, no I won’t eat it.”
Daddy – “ok, calm down, what would you like” “Hmm. urrrm. I wooooould like….. porridge and honey”
Daddy – “that’s what you’ve got!”
“Oh yeah!” “Sorry, I made a mistake. ” (He says this a lot and I’ve only just twigged today that he is imitating the dragon from room on the broom!)

He loves Umizoomi and I do enjoy hearing him answer their questions. For example when they asked if he liked playing in the snow. he replied “Um not really, it’s actually a bit chilly”

Monkey as Darth Vader – hs “friend”

“Dogs have bones but they don’t eat them, they hatch and have baby dogs in them.”

“Oh. That’s odd.” (He says this all the time and it is so funny as it rarely makes sense!)

“Daddy, I wish I could go into space so I could see the whole earth.”

“When I’m older I can go in Daddy’s office and work with him.”

He is obsessed with Star Wars and frequently says “Darth vader is my friend.”

His is also fixated on the days of the week. So every day, at least once, there is “what is it today?” so I tell him, and for example if I say, it’s Thursday, he wil tell me “tomorrow is Friday and then Saturday, Sunday, Monday..” sometimes telling me the whole week bless him.

While having a hair cut “I was looking in the mirror at my cutiful eyes.”

I’m not sure where this one has come from, but Monkey’s version of an expletive is “oh buffers” lol. Could be worse I guess?

And finally, possibly the cutest of all, is Monkey’s current obsession with his baby doll (she was actually bought for LM but who cares) who he sleeps with every night. She has his name and is his age but he is adamant that she is a gorl “She grew in my tummy then she gre out. She’s 3 like me now!” He adores her and sits her places so she can watch him and he cuddles her in bed at night. I absolutely adore seeing how caring he is with her and who said dolls are only for girls anyway?

Learning to draw at 15mths and 3 3/4

Posted by Caroline Elliott

My word of the week this week has to be drawing, as both kiddies are making leaps and bounds with their drawing abilities at the moment.

LM has well and truly discovered drawing now and would love to be doing it all day every day at the moment. I have held back from letting her have crayons for a while (for fear of her eating them) and she has amazed me with the magna doodle things. Then lately we got a couple of crayons out and she was in her element.

She does pop them in her mouth from time to time but is gradually learning not to I think. She loves it though and often takes herself off to the little table in the conservatory and sits swinging her legs. She has fallen a couple of times bless her but she just wants to get right back up.

She doesn’t distinguish that much between paper and table though and I have to control my feelings about this and remind myself that it doesn’t matter if she draws on this table. I am still trying to keep the crayons contained though as I really don’t want find her drawing on a wall or sofa one day! So it was lovely at the weekend when we got out in the garden with the pavement chalks as I could really leave her to do as she pleased. Again it ended up in her mouth once or twice but only very briefly and on the whole she was absolutely loving drawing on the pavement.

Monkey was loving it too and it was lovely seeing them do it together.

His drawing is coming on leaps and bounds lately too. There is still a lot scribbling going on but they are usually something, at least in his mind, and are often roads. I was dead impressed a few days ago though when I was doodling while they were drawing and drew a tree with some grass by a river… And Monkey copied me! He did so well and it was lovely to see him create an actual picture of something.

He’s also coming on really well with his writing. He has been writing his name for some time now but it has definitely improved and then the other day he wanted to draw numbers so he was again copying what I did, and did such a brilliant job! I was so proud of him! (excuse the bag of clothes in the background ready to go to the chairty shop!) Of course some aren’t perfect but who cares, what a brilliant effort, such a clever Monkey :).So as you can see there has been a lot of drawing going on in our house. Do your kids love to draw?

Monkey Says – age 3 3/4

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Our little boy seems to get cuter all the time. And the things he says these days? Oh he makes me chuckle, and sometimes makes me melt. He also makes me cross though, no doubt about that!

So what little gems has he been coming out with lately?Well for a start he is now copying a lot of the things we say, and hearing a 3 year old come out with some adult phrases really is so cute. For example

“What in the world!?” and “What on earth?” when he doesn’t understand something or sees something new. Then there is also “It’s the biggest I ever seen” and “I never seen it!” meaning he has never seen anything like it before. So cute!

Less cute is when he copies our stern voice and tells us off. “Don’t do that to me” and “Ok I said” which really riles us up. Especially when he is steadfastly ignoring us and after repeating a request (for example, Please eat your porridge) he responds very loudly with “Ok!” ooh makes us grumpy! And then when he says “Ok just calm down guys” it either makes me chuckle or really winds me up as generally I am perfectly calm and wish he would just do what I am asking him to!

I have to admit I loved it when I was pulling a daft face and he put on his stern voice and pointed at me and said “Stop doing that face ever again. You mustn’t do that again ok?” haha bless him. Not sure pulling a funny face warranted the voice and commands usually reserved for him hitting or pushing his sister though!

The way he copies the things Daddy and I say to LM is interesting too. He is forever telling her off for throwing her food on the floor or for standing on the sofa which is very sweet but sadly she ignores him even more than she ignores us. Yes she really is a madam at the moment. I love it when he copies us by calling her a “cheeky madam” though. He really hates sharing with his sister at the moment and I did think it was very cute when he held up a toy in front of her and said “Father Christmas got me this so it’s mine, ok?”

Monkey may be stroppy at times but he is such a softy and is so loving. Daddy normally does bathtime but I was having a bath with him & LM the other day and melted when he came out with “You’re very pretty aren’t you. I’m married to you aren’t I?” and he frequently tells us “I just love you so much” and he does include his little sister in this too frequently combining that statement with a huge hug that often knocks her over haha

The questions have really stepped up lately, though not in the way I would have thought. He is constantly seeking confirmation about things he has said at the moment. “I’m all snuggled aren’t I? That box is annoying isn’t it? I need another blanket don’t I?” I think this is again something we do with him. When we are talking to him we sometimes ask questions at the end of a sentence to encourage a response and I think this is his version of this. I have to admit that it is frustrating sometimes though constantly having to respond to everything he says!

His imagination is really showing at the moment and coming out in the form of some cracking comments.

“That was a big poo poo. It’s like a creature or something!”

“I’ve got to go and look after LM”

When something was broken and I said it couldn’t be fixed “It’s ok, the elves will come and fix it, won’t they?” Errrrm

monkeysaurus rex He gives his toys characters a lot of times and actually inanimate objects too and they after often missing their mummy or daddy, daft little cutie! He loves dressing up at the moment too and adores pretending to be Andy from Andy’s Wild Adventures… and dressing up as a dinosaur. But he does want to make sure that he is a “friendly dinosaur” and whenever we talk about any animals, tigers, lions, crocodiles, sharks etc… they must be “friendly” ones.

He is interacting more and more with friends now at playgroup and often comes home telling me so and so is his best friend – and it changes quite a lot! Harvey, Jack, Michael, Preston haha. He has also played so so nicely with some of my friends little boys recently which has been amazing for me as he has someone else to play with! He still needs a lot of interaction the rest of the time. I loved it though when he was playing with a friend the other day and he suddenly says “Mummy, LM isn’t bad, is she?” Of course I said no and he turns to his friend and says “see, LM’s not bad.” Bless him defending his little sister!

One thing that he has picked up from friends that I am not keen on is the concept that some things are for girls to play and with and some things are for boys to play with. That’s just noth something I agree with and both kids play with dolls, cars, whatever and the only things LM can’t play with at the moment are those that pose a choking risk. So when he says “this isn’t for girls, it’s just for boys isn’t it?” m response is with a fairly firm no and telling him that both boys and girls can do the same things and play with all the same toys. We will see how that concept progresses over time I guess!

Another of Monkey’s favourite sentences at the moment is “Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t.” or “Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t” usually after we have explained something to him or talked about something. Sometimes it is very accurate but sometimes it isn’t remotely relevant to what we have been talking about haha. Clearly copies that from me though!

Phew I could probably go on forever as he does come out with such cute little comments, but I will leave it there till next time!

Little Miss at 15 Months

Posted by Caroline Elliott

I have to admit I struggle a bit with writing these updates now, they take a bit of effort collating it all, remembering everything I want to write and making sure I have good piccies. Which is probably why I have not been very good at getting them done on time lately! So I think from now on they will be a bit less frequent, to take the pressure off. I will still do updates but only every 2-3 months I think!

Anyway on with the 15 month update! Our little lady isn’t a baby anymore. She runs around like a little loony, makes her feelings known and she is so so clever. At least to us. I haven’t got a clue what little ones are ‘supposed’ to be doing at this age and I don’t really care. I just want to marvel at every little development and enjoy every moment of her growing up.

She adore books. She loves turning the pages and she loves being read to. But only the books she wants you to read.. And you have to do it the way she wants. If I lay the book on the floor so I can read it while she is getting dressed then that isn’t good enough. I have to hold it up. I have to let her turn the pages when she wants and read it in whatever order she dictates too haha. If I don’t then ooh there’s screaming. Some times I haven’t the foggiest what she wants and I just know I am not doing it right because of the screaming! She certainly is a feisty girl, which I love.

One of her current favourite books has some ducks in it and she loves pointing at them saying her favourite word “dah” over and over again as it does seem that she does mean duck when she says this. Though she also says it when looking at fish and a lot of other things too! So I can’t be 100% certain.

We do have a couple of other almost words too. She is good at shouting an estimation of hiya to people, often accompanied by a little wave which is seriously cute. Especially when she shouts it and waves to complete strangers while she is in her buggy haha.

The most commonly yelled word though is her version of uh oh. No cute uh oh here though, no, LM’s version of more of a shriek. Uh Aowww. Actually drives me crazy, especially when she is shrieking it because she has deliberately dropped all her lunch on the floor. Hmm uh oh indeed!

This happens a lot as she is very much in a phase of dropping things deliberately. Everything. Food from her high chair. A box of crayons. Any container must be emptied in fact. If she has climbed the stepstool in the kitchen then anything on the worktop (usually a selection of toys for her but occasionally something I actually need) ends up on the floor. In the bath she throws all of her bath toys out meaning water goes everywhere. Hence lots of shrieking uh aaowww.

It is also said a lot when she wants us to do something. Our girl has always loved hats and shoes and she will often present us with a random shoe or hat or glove saying uh aaowww until we put it on her! This has extended as she loves coats and jumpers and dresses too and bless her she does have a good go at getting them on herself though she doesn’t remotely succeed. She’s hilarious though and is clearly going to love dressing up. When I was sorting clothes recently I kept having to stop so I could dress her in something she had found in one of my piles. Little cutie!

Even at just 15mths LM is showing signs of being far more independent than her big brother. She will potter about and play on her own in a way that Monkey has just never done, even now really. I do play with her of course but often I don’t need to. I’m there keeping an eye in case she needs/wants me but quite often she is content doing her own thing, and actually I do feel like some of her play is quite advanced.

Much of her play involves posting things and putting things in and out of containers. But then there is a level of imaginative play which melts my heart. She adores playing with dolls and any toy really and is so caring towards them. She absolutely melted my heart recently by playing with a dolly, putting her in her buggy, feeding her an ice cream and then giving her a kiss. It was so cute!

I loved seeing her do it with her brothers Buzz Lightyear doll too, she absolutely adores Buzz! She is lovely with woody too making him stand up and walk. Such signs of imagination already which I just adore.

She is a really cuddly little lady too and loves a good snuggle with a teddy, a doll or a blanket. She even wanted to cuddle one of my bags the other day and tried to go to sleep on it… Which obviously was not very comfy! Love seeing her snuggle on the bean bag or a blanket though!

She is also massively cheeky. There are things she knows she isn’t allowed to do, like standing on the sofa or pressing the buttons on the side of the TV… So she does them anyway with a huge grin on her face. Little madam honestly!

Her walking has been coming on a lot lately. She’s been walking well for ages but she can walk further now and is even running quite a bit. The main improvement though is that she will now sometimes walk with us in the right direction. Not always or even most of the time but she certainly does it sometimes. She walked all the way home from Monkey’s playgroup the other day, which isn’t far (about 5 mind at a normal pace) but certainly the furthest she has ever walked!

There are still a lot of times where she is adamant that she wants to go the opposite way and honestly there is about a zero chance of persuading her otherwise when she is set on doing something! Feisty little lady that she is. Which of course means that there is a lot of screaming and the start of some serious tantrums when she doesn’t get her own way. She also falls over a lot too… So I am grateful for the padded snowsuit and that it is cold enough for mittens (when she keeps the things on that is) as they do protect her a little. She has had some nasty grazes on her nose from face planting the floor though poor thing. She will also just randomly decide to have a little lie down on the floor sometimes too… Oddball!

I’m sure there is lots of other things I could say but that’s enough of an update for now about our gorgeous, clever, Feisty Little Miss at 15mths old.

Playtime Ideas at 14 months

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Little Miss turned 14mths a couple of weeks ago but with Christmas and everything I never got round to writing an update. So I thought for a change I would write about what playtime we have been up to instead. One of the things I love most about being a stay at home mum is being able to watch my children learn and grow in front of my eyes. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the drudgery of day to day life, laundry, cleaning etc. and I forget to stop and really pay attention to the way my littlies play and the way they are learning in their playtime.

Little Miss is at such a lovely age, she is so inquisitive and so full of fun, it has it’s challenges of course but I love this stage of development and watching her learn all of the time. Here are a few of the simple playtime ideas I have been using lately to encourage her learning.

At this age toddlers love posting things and sorting things. Monkey was the same at this age so the first few activities are a variation on the same theme really.

Posting in a pringles tube

We rarely have pringles but at Christmas we did and I have kept the tube as it really does make for perfect toddler playtime. LM adores putting things in the tube then either tipping it out to start all over again, or reaching in and taking them out one by one. She can spend ages playing like this, look at the concentration on her little face. It is fascinating to watch her and the things she is learning when she picks up the various objects. For example this gray bit of duplo, instead of grabbing it in one she was fiated on picking it up on the smallest part of it using her pincer grip, and only did it that way which I thought was very cute.

Then when we played it a few days later she was insistent on picking up two objects in her hand at once. It was lovely watching her work out how she needed to change her grip in order to be able to pick up both items at once and she did really well.

Plastic cutlery sorting

LM is randomly a little obsessed with our dishwasher, she always has been and she especially loves the cutlery holder. Now obviously we don’t let her play with it when it has dirty or sharp things in there, but occasionally I will get it out with some of our plastic cutlery as she loves putting the cutlery in and taking it out again.

Water Play

Also in the kitchen, LM still loves playing in the sink and quite often ‘helps’ with the washing up, splashing about in the sink while I clean up. She does like sorting here though too and likes putting things on the drianing board when she has finished with them.

Pasta Play

The good old Tuff Spot comes out for this one as it helps contain the pasta but it’s not essential. Basically I give LM some dried pasta and a few kitchen bits like a measuring jugs, some measuring spoons etc and let her have an explore. She has great fun taking things out of one container and putting them into another, and pouring them out all over the place and again it is lovely to see the concentration on her face. I also thought it was so cute when she started stirring an empty jug with a spoon and then brought it to her face to eat!

Early pretend play

Though obviously she is very young LM does like to get involved with her big brother’s pretend play. She has started to pretend to feed her baby a bottle of milk and when we have teddy bear tea parties she likes giving food and things to her teddies to play with. It’s funny though as she also loves feeding people, whether you want to eat the food she is giving you or not haha!

I also adore it when she is playing with cars, pushing them along the ground and when she makes planes fly through the air copying us doing the same. Adorable.

Hide and seek

One of LM’s absolute favourite games is hide and seek. She loves peeping out at me or me peeping out at her and it is lovely to see her playing with her brother too. It is good for little ones too, teaching them about object permanence, and when we are playing it with a toy I love seeing her trying to work out where it is going to jump out from next.

Reading

LM loves books and learns so much from them. She is getting really good at turning the pages herself but she is also learning a lot from the books themselves. Some of her favourites have a lovely rhythm to them and many contain little hidden learning. I really love a peepo book called “Where’s baby’s belly button” where the babies in the storie are hiding certian things, eyes, mouth and belly button. I point out each part of their body on her too and she has now started copying and pointing at her belly button, feet etc. along with the story which I love.

The “That’s not my…” series are so lovely too as they are so touchy feely and she is learning about all sorts of different textures through these stories. Another favourite is Rainbow Rob which as well as being touchy feely also talks a lot about colours and has a great message about being yourself – which is a good lesson in life I think!

Climbing

Our little lady is well and truly at a climbing age. She gives me heart failure at times but I do think it is important to let her explore, to a certain extent. She is getting really good at climbiing onto the little Ikea chairs we have in the conservatory, and she has been loving climbing ladders at the playpark to reach a slide. She does stumble at times but she tries so hard and like I say, I think it is important for her to learn.

One area I need to be braver with is messy play. By this age Monkey had been exploring in sensory activities like homemade finger painting and playdough etc. but I haven’t been brave enough with LM. I am determined to rectify this soon though so there will be a second instalment of ideas when I do!

Little Miss at 13 mths

Posted by Caroline Elliott

I am a bit late in writing this monthly update for our gorgeous girl as she was 13 mths over a week ago! She is growing up so fast and though she is full on I really love this age. Watching her learn and seeing her really develop into a person with her own personality is just wonderful.

And our Little Miss’s personality can be defined in one word – cheeky! She loves to laugh and is such a cheeky and inquisitive little thing. She adores running and being chased, laughing her little head off. Great fun unless you are in a shopping centre with her brother causing havoc in one direction and her running off in another – aaargh! She also adores playing peepo with her brother, often hiding behind the sofa so he can find her while she chuckles away merrily to herself. In fact she is turning into such a chuckler and it is amazing to hear her laughter fill the house.

She is so inquisitive too, far more than her brother ever was and she gets into everything in a way he just never bothered with. With Monkey you would tell him know and he would listen. With her she gives you this cheeky look and sometimes even shakes her head, then does it again! Minx! She is terrible for taking Monkey’s things and yes you may say she is a baby and she doesn’t know, but oh, she knows. She gets his Doggy Bear (his special comforter) and she is so proud that she waves it around for me to see… and will even go and wave it in his face before running away giggling. Cheeky Minx, seriously!

She stands on things and is obsessed with touching radiators which she knows she is not allowed to do. She is seriously quick off the mark and if one of the door gates hasn’t shut properly then she is off – making a dash to get up the stairs, or into the kitchen to climb the stepstool and see what she can find, or in the hopes of playing in the sink. So I have to be seriously vigilant to keep her safe. She hates being shut out of anywhere I am, standing and rattling the bars and screaming her head off so I often relent and have to do jobs with her accompanying me. Standing washing up with her at the sink with me, or trying to get washing in/out of the washing machine with her ‘help.’

She absolutely adores her brother too and he is guaranteed to make her happy (other than when he snatches his toys back from her, or takes hers!!) and she absolutely loves havng bath time with him, splashing away to their hearts content and absolutely drenching the bathroom!! I absolutely adore seeing their relationship grow and hearing them laugh together and enjoy each other’s company. It’s just magical as I am sure you can imagine.

Not the greatest photo in the world but you get the idea I’m sure

She is learning all of the time, getting really good at using the stacking rings and has even done some drawing on little magnadoodles which I was impressed with. She is obsessed with posting things and putting lids on and off of things – obviously leading to immense frustrations for her at times – and boy do we have the start of tantrums! She can be such a little diva at times and even Monkey is repeating what we say by calling her a drama queen. He also has the way we shout no to her down too… sigh mini parent, he is good at alerting me to some of her cheekiness though! Anyway, she also is starting to love her dolly and buggy which is just adorable. She gets really frustrated by the buggies though and by not being able to put baby’s hat back on after she has taken it off.

She is fascinated/obsessed by clothes, shoes and accessories, we have taken to calling her diddle diddle dumpling sometimes as she will often present us with a shoe and insist we put it on – then walks around with one shoe on for ages! She often wants her hat and coat on too… and any other random item of clothing she lays her hands on. She likes to use some of the bigger stacking rings as bangles too, little cutie 🙂

Her communication is coming on leaps and bounds too, partly with the tantrums and moaning – as she is very loud, but also with little hints at language, and lots of pointing and shaking her head. She is getting very ~~fussy~~ particular about certain things and is getting very good at letting us know what she wants. Bedtime stories makes me laugh as if she is not interested in the book I have chosen she will shake her head and point at one she would like. Usually the same ones – “Where’s Spot,” “That’s not my snowman/dinosaur” or “Baby’s Day.” She adores books actually and often brings them to us to read her.

In addition to pointing and shaking her head she has the start of a few words too – “tickle tickle” being my favourite, along with “uh oh” and there are lots of ohs and ooohs with varying volumes and tones depending how excited she is by something haha. For example whe we came across the shoe aisle in H&M this morning “oooooh! Ooh ooh ooh!” haha which descended into screams as I dragged her away.

She also is saying something resembling “there you go” when she gives you something, which is seriously adorable. It is not that defind, more of a “daredudo” but still so so cute and lovely to see her start to share already.

She is such a snuggly little lady, far more so than her brother ever was at this age, especially with me. She loves to ie with her head in my lap for a good snuggle or sometimes just snuggle herself up on the sofa or in the beanbag. Monkey has gotten a lot more snuggly as he has gotten older so we do now have some lovely times all snuggled up together!

So on the whole, she is just a whole bundle of cheeky adorableness. Yes it can be challenging at times but I want to bottle her up at this age as she melts my heart every day she really does. I love this age, so much fun 🙂

My word of the week is cheeky.

Monkey Says at 3 1/2

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Our little boy is growing up so much all the time and his language skills are growing with him. Pretty incredible when I think he was a little delayed and had no speech at age 2! He now gives everything a good go and even copied “echocardiogram” from Get Well Soon on Cbeebies the other day! He also comes out with some real gems at times too. Some that make me cringe and others that make me laugh out loud. So here are some of the Monkey’s top sayings recently.

“That’s my favourite.” Everything is his favourite. From people to food to things. The Dr is his favourite. His dinner is his favourite. Even his poo has been his favourite (I’m not kidding sadly). It’s actually very endearing when he says “I love Daddy, he’s my favourite” and when he calls LM “my favourite sister.” He also has a couple of children at playgroup who are his favourite too and it is so lovely to hear he is building relationships with other children.

Another endearing one is when he strokes his Daddy’s arm and says “You’ll be OK.” Generally absolutely nothing had happened and Daddy is perfectly happy…. but it is very cute nonetheless!

Less cute is when he copies us and shouts at LM to stop or yells at her that she is naughty. Nothing makes you think about the words coming out of your mouth more than hearing those words come out of a 3yr old’s mouth! That also includes him copying “oh for god’s sake” (we are trying to turn this into for goodness sake) and worst of all copying Daddy when he described a relative as “big fat …” I was less than impressed with that one and thank goodness he hasn’t said it to the person!!

He really likes making up random words at the moment too. Some are quite amusing, “binky banky” for example, some strangely accurate as when he described a car park as danky when yes, actually it was a bit dank. You can probably get there is a theme here and yes he did go through a stage of proclaiming everything was “winky wanky” which I was less than enamoured with! Thankfully we have persuaded him that is a bit of a silly thing to say!!

His imagination is wonderful now, and when he is playing cars or doing car painting he is very often using one to chase another, saying “I’m coming to get you” followed by the other car saying “aaaaaaaaahhh” hehe. You may have seen recently that he loves dressing up as a super hero and he really is so cute – running around saying he is “coming to the rescue!” and once he has rescued something (for example he did a great job of rescuing a welly the other day haha) it is “mission accomrished” with two thumbs up, so a bit of a superhero/postman pat SDS combination!

Mission Accomrished!

He is really inquisitive about the world around him, asking “where do trees come from?” and “what are planes made of?” He wants to know everything and he loves spotting things, the moon being the most recurrent especially at this time of year. We can be in the car and he will suddenly be yelling “look Daddy look it’s the moon!!” and of course we have to reply (as with whenever he tells us anything) or he will just keep repeating it tirelessly until he gets the answer he is looking for! He also thinks every conversation is aimed at him and answers any question he hears, not just those directed at him. So I can be talking to LM or Daddy or someone else and he will answer. He adores Show Me Show Me on the tv (one of my fave progs for the kids) and always answers when Chris and Pui ask questions. The other day he ran over and said “Chris asked me if I like shopping and I told him I did” and was so proud of himself.

A cut? Or Jam???

We love the way he tries to find the language to describe something. For example he had a bit of a sore throat on the weekend and when he had some of Daddy’s warm tea he proclaimed “That was lovely! That made my throat feel not all gone” so cute. Other examples are “I’m getting all filled (full)” “that’s a bit splatty” (paint). During a snuggle on the sofa he decided I have “a lovely cosy bottom” and once when I was getting dressed “that’s a lovely nippley boobie.” Errr, ok, thanks Monkey haha.

After falling tooth-first onto my forhead at the weekend giving me a lovely cut, lump and bruise, Monkey looked at me and said “you’re all cut. It looks a bit like Jam.” Well yes, I suppose it does, a bit!

Now for the funnies. We were watching Toy Story 2 the other day and when the man came to mend Woody’s arm, Monkey decided the needle and thread was a hooker. “Look he’s get a hooker. He loves hookers. I love hookers too, they’re my favourite!” I really wasn’t that sure what to say to that to be honest hehe. Then at lunch one day he randomly piped up “Mummy and Daddy do you like licking each other?” errrrrrr not sure what to say or where that came from.

my cheeky Monkey 🙂

Finally, this morning he was on the receiving end of a few stern words from Daddy about the fact that he had done a wee in his pants (he seems to have regressed a little lately which is annoying with more incidents than usual) and he was being really good and listening, and then he suddenly announced “But cats don’t like bananas.” I have to admit I laughed out loud in the next room, I mean where did that come from? Funny Monkey!

Little Miss is 1!

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Wowee! Here we are at the end of our Little Miss’ first year of life! In the early days the weeks seemed to last forever but in reality the past year has absolutely flown by. We have all come such a long way in the past year and no-one more so than the little lady herself. From a teeny wee thing who struggled so badly with colic, temporary lactose intolerance and reflux… to our beaming, happy, gorgeous little toddler.

I honestly just adore her 100% and she is such a Mummy’s girl which is lovely but obviously a tad infuriating at times when she does not want me to move from her side. I do feel for Daddy too when she is writhing out of his arms to try and get to me. Thankfully though this isn’t all the time and she is a generally a smily happy girl, she is so sociable, she loves people and is just a quite contented little thing really.

The last month has seen her take the huge leap from baby to fully fledged toddler as she now walks everywhere and I have to admit I love it. At home she is constantly pottering about finding things to inspect and she loves running and throwing herself onto the beanbag, which is hilarious.

Unfortunately it also means a lot of falling over so she constantly has bruises and scratches on her face from face-planting the floor or a piece of furniture poor thing. I also have to keep a close eye on her as she likes picking things up and putting them in her mouth. At home it isn’t too bad (though she has a penchant for crayons at the moment, joy) but out and about is a nightmare and I am constantly saying no and running when I see a fistful of mud or stones heading to her mouth. Sadly I don’t spot it in time every time, so try to convince myself that a little mud never killed anyone! She also likes to find manky puddles of water, splash her hands in them then put her fingers in her mouth… noooo!

She does understand “no” but rarely obeys and generally gives a huge cheeky grin and shakes her head before carrying on what she was.doing… grrr! There are other times when she does listen but they are few and far between… so I sound like a bit of a stuck record but I know repetition is all I can do at the moment, that and picking her up and moving her away from dangerous things such as radiators or the oven!

In terms of food she is still really good for the most part but there are signs of fussiness showing…. sadly BLW hasn’t completely staved this off… she definitely doesn’t like broccoli anymore and I don’t think she is too keen on potato. But even though her Daddy adores potato I have never been a huge fan of potato so maybe it is hereditary? Who knows, we shall see how this progresses though and we don’t have any of the problems we had with her brother as she scoffs curry and anything with pasta and she adores fruit which is great. She also eats a ridiculous amount – easily an adult portion at mealtimes and WAY more than her big brother eats. I have no idea where she puts it all!

She is also a very different baby to her brother in terms of routine. Whereas he was in a fab routine from 4 months and then was always so much happier in a routine, she is so different. We struggled massively to ever get her to settle in a routine for more than a few days at a time, BUT, and here’s the thing, now she is much more flexible which is actually handy. She now is best when she has one nap in the afternoon. She has a long sleep, is happier and sleeps in later the next morning (till nearly 7am, wahoo!). But on days when we are in the car a lot she sometimes dozes off in the morning then either doesn’t nap in the afternoon or has a shorter sleep. And do you know what? She is still fine. She wakes up earlier the next morning (between 530-6) but is still pretty contended on it so I really can’t complain. Monkey was always a nightmare if you shifted his routine even slightly so it is a nice change and a relief after the struggles of trying to get her to settle in a routine all year!

Now that she is awake more though we are getting out and about a bit more too. I take her to tumbletots on a Monday morning when Monkey is at playgroup, which she loves. She loves the other people most of all I think but also has a lot of fun exploring all of the equipment. Then on a Tuesday my parents take her to rhyme time at the local library while Monkey and I have a Mummy and Monkey morning. Apparently she loves going and is getting more and more confident as the weeks go by, which is lovely. I hope it will also do her good to be away from me for a little while every week too. She adores her Nanny & Pops and is very comfortable being with them and they love having her which is great.

She has always been an incredibly loud baby and she knows how to make her feelings well and truly known. We are very much getting a lot of whining and she makes the Marge Simpson noise when she wants something (you know, closed mouth, mmmmmgrh hehe). We do also have the start of words too which is really lovely. She occasionally makes an almost “tickle tickle” sound – much more joined together and unclear, but she has also been known to accompany this with grabbing Monkey in a tickly way… and obviously we say it a lot to both of them so we think she is trying to copy us. She also definitely says “uh oh” and copies us whenever we say it (and hubs now says it a LOT to make her say it) and whenever she drops something, which is massively adorable!! I feel like I am constantly comparing her to her big brother but I can’t help it as this is another way she is very different to him as he didn’t say his first word until he was 2!

So there we have it, our gorgeous little lady as she approaches her first birthday! I love the determined happy little person she is growing into and am looking forward to what the next year will bring.

Becoming a Stay at Home Mum

Can I really do this?

Mini Milestones

Little Miss is 18 mths old

Little Miss at 17 Months

Arguments about pants and the world through the eyes of a Threenager

Learning to draw at 15mths and 3 3/4

Monkey Says – age 3 3/4

Little Miss at 15 Months

Playtime Ideas at 14 months

Posting in a pringles tube

Plastic cutlery sorting

Water Play

Pasta Play

Early pretend play

Hide and seek

Reading

Climbing

Little Miss at 13 mths

Monkey Says at 3 1/2

Little Miss is 1!