… the tooth fairy

Yip, Bradley’s first tooth fell out   he’s so very excited.  Except… we had to write a letter to the old tooth fairy tonight to explain that he’s actually lost it!!

LOL, we actually suspect that he swallowed it in his sleep last night, as he was toothless when he woke up this morning and we’ve hunted high and low for the missing tooth!

Now the dilemma is trying to figure out what a fair price is.  I know from Babynet that some people give R50 for the 1st tooth, and R20 thereafter, but I’m thinking that’s too high.  I’ll see how I feel just now when I go to bed, and have to play tooth fairy.

I knew this was coming, we were warned that homework would start, but it was so strange to see a homework book appear in Bradley’s bookbag this week, and have to sit with him and actually do it!!

Thankfully though, it’s fun for him to do, and so far it’s quite easy.  I like the way they do it.  It’s not all about his academics, it’s about life skills too. And apparently if we spend more than 20 minutes doing it this year, we’re taking too long and we need to stop.

For example, here’s what we’ve had to do this week (we got the week’s schedule on Monday):

Monday:  Count to 20.  Brush your teeth every morning and every evening.

Tuesday:  Write the letters c, o, a, d in the air.  Keep your bathroom tidy.

Wednesday:  Play eye-spy with the letters c, o, a, d (this was loads of fun today).  Wash and dry between your toes and fingers.  Read a poem with him.

Thursday:  Sing heads, shoulders, knees and toes.  And I can’t remember the rest, and I’m too lazy to walk downstairs to check his book

Interestingly too, the sequence of letters c, o, a, d is the sequence in which they learn the letters at school.  And the reason… the shape of a C is the most natural one to write and it’s the first shape that you naturally learn.  And then the others naturally follow from there.  Interesting hey?  The teacher told us that at his parent’s evening.

Bradley started school today.  This year he’s in Grade 0… BIG school.

He was in the same school last year, so there aren’t that many changes for him from Pre-Primary.  He has the same friends.  He’s still in the same uniform apart from his new real school shoes (last year they could wear almost anything on their feet).

But even on the first day… the move to BIG school was very apparent…

• The lockers in the classroom are now organised alphabetically instead of randomly
• He has his own stationery that we spent ages marking with his name last night
• He has a chair bag for the first time!
• He attended assembly for the first time

… and the biggest change for him… “Mom, we had to wear our shoes ALL day, we weren’t allowed to take them off!”

I must tell you though, that some of the mom’s were really over the top with this BIG school thing.  I mean please, they were in the same school last year and etc etc as I explained above.  While I was waiting for the assembly to start, I cannot tell you how many mom’s standing around me were getting all emotional about their child starting big school.  They were all going on about how they’re sad about their babies growing up.. and how much this means to them… and it’s so big etc etc.

I’m normally the one who cries at the drop of a hat… but please… it was ridiculous!  The only major change is that they’ve moved to the other side of the school road!!

Connor has all of a sudden changed.  I know I’ve blogged about him quite a bit lately, but he’s changing so much and I have to record it somewhere

I’ve mentioned before that his vocab improved in the last 2 weeks (while I was on leave), but he’s just astounding us every day with new words.  Not phrases yet, still words, but this is HUGE for him!  All of a sudden he’s decided to start copying words, which is the cutest thing to listen to.

I took the boys food shopping on the way home last night, and he was sitting in the back of the trolley (I know… he’s not supposed to sit there… but you try fight that fight with him).  I’d bought a few cold items and then a hot grilled chicken.  He touched the cold milk and said “cawld” and then touched the chicken and said “hot hot hot”.  LOL!! I thought that was clever

I could go and list all the words he’s saying but that would bore you to tears.  I have to tell you though what my favourite words are… “chuse” or juice, “bovil” or bovril (I know he’s a strange kid, he’s barely talking yet he can say bovril by name!), “poon” or spoon, “bow” or bowl, and “eeeuuuuwww” or cat.  Yip, you guessed it, he’s still calling all animals by their sounds and not by the names

As for other stuff, the biggest thing happening at the moment is the start of potty training. It’s the bane of every mother’s life.  I can’t wait for him to get out of nappies, yet the process seems endless and it’s just crap (excuse the pun)! I’ve been trying to get him to wee in the potty before his bath for a few months now, but it was a pointless exercise and he would just sit on it for 5 second and say “pssss” and then get off and run away.  Then, 2 weeks ago,   I started leaving him nappy free after our swims and showing him that he could wee in the garden.  That’s been quite successful, and he’s started getting quite good control in the last week.

Then yesterday, he decided that tonight was the night…. he actually did it… he wee’d in his potty!! Woohoo! And he did it again tonight!! i’m thrilled! I hope this means that he’s close to having no nappy during the day.  I think I’m going to try this weekend.  I wasn’t going to do anything until the teachers started the process in a month’s time, but I think he’s ready, and he hasn’t had a major issue adjusting to school.   Hope I’m right!

And there goes my little baby… he’s nearly a big boy!

Connor started nursery school today.  It’s the next step in his life.

I have no idea why but I was so nervous this morning about it.

Part of me is quite relaxed about him being at school because I know no-one is going to be able to bully him… in fact, I’m concerned that he will end up being the bully.  This is completely different to my concerns about Bradley because he’s always been a softy, and still is.

I’m worried that they won’t understand what he needs because he’s not really talking.  His vocab has improved leaps and bounds with me being at home the last 2 weeks, but still, it’s nowhere close to talking properly.  In fact, I explained to his teacher this morning that if he starts chanting ”mine mine mine” it means that he wants his dummy (pacifier).

When I took him to school this morning, he was so funny though.  As soon as we walked through the gates he took off yelling and chasing the other kids and climbing on the biggest jungle gym in the school yard (which his teacher was a bit concerned about at the time… but LOL she’ll get to know my little daredevil).  He only seemed slightly concerned when I kissed him goodbye, but he didn’t cry at all.  I hope that he’ll be the same tomorrow, but I doubt that because he knows what he’s in for now.

I’ve actually just chatted to my mom, who picked him up a while ago, and she said that he had a good day and the teacher said that he was very happy today.   He even gave the teacher a hug to say goodbye!

My next worry is that he’ll be happy at the school and that they’ll stimulate him properly.  You can only guess at the quality of the school when you choose it initially, the proof comes a few months down the line. I hope that this time, we chose the right school (Bradley’s first nursery school was a disaster after a few months)!

Anyhoo, can’t wait to get home and give my big boy a hug!

I went to the shops this afternoon to buy nappies.  But before I went, I read Lotus’ post about green training pants, and it triggered thoughts of potty training.

I have to start training Connor.  He’s starting school in January, and it looked like all the kids in what will be his class are wearing undies and not nappies; and they were very proudly explaining about potty training time schedules.

Ho hum… not sure if I’m ready for it though.

We have been trying the potty every night before his bath, but he just sits on it, and says ‘sssssss’ and then gets up and climbs in the bath.  LOL!

So, today at the shops I bought normal nappies for night time… and then a pack of training pull-up disposables to try.  And then I went to Woolies to buy undies for him, and possibly training pants (the green kind).

And guess what… Woolies only sell training pants up til age 18-24mths?!?!  WTF!!  There were even training pants for 3-6mth!! WTF for?  So much for my thoughts about going green the easy way!  I’ll just have to use undies

It feels so strange when you realise, as a mother, that your children are growing up.  There’s something about certain things that they do, that signify that they’re getting bigger.

Today, it was Bradley telling jokes.

It might not seem a big thing for those of you reading my blog, that don’t have kids.  But before now, he’s never really found jokes funny. He’s listened to them, but they haven’t stuck in his head, and he hasn’t laughed when he heard them.

And that’s changed.

He was telling us 2 jokes tonight, and they were so cute!

“Why did the worms go into the ark in an apple?”
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“Because all the other animals went in pairs!”

And then…
“What do you call a sheep on a trampoline?”
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“A woolly jumper!”

I love that he’s understanding them now and finding them funny

I haven’t done an update on Connor in a while, so here goes…

He’s still not talking!  That’s the main thing I have to blog about… LOL! Not really, but OMW it’s frustrating.  I wish he would speak now damnit!  He’s saying the odd word here and there, but it’s not clear.  I think he’s almost there though… or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.

His vocab at the moment consists of…
bubbles (still his #1 word)
mmmmmaw (more… which he uses VERY often considering how much he loves food)
Baddeee (Bradley)
Jack-Jack (Jackie my parent’s jack russel)
baw (ball)
Nah (no)
Yah (yes… sometimes but more often than not, he just nods his head)
Duh-duh (dummy)

I spoke to the clinic sister this week about it, and she said that it’s OK if he’s not speaking properly as long as his pronunciation is getting better, and he understand everything we say and if we’re absolutely sure that he can hear us. Well, I have no doubt that his hearing is fine, so I’m sure he’s just a bit lazy

Speaking of the clinic (I took him for his 18mth jabs) , he weighed-in at 15.7kg (34.6lb). Little wonder that the 2-3 year clothing is a little snug . Hee hee! At least his head has stopped growing, it’s still measuring 51cm.
It’s not like he’s fat though, he’s extremely muscular… ok with a tubby little tummy .

I was actually thinking that he’s getting rather large, but then I met his match last night (a 21 mth old boy who weighs between 17 and 18 kg). It was so cool to see them sizing each other up at a braai (BBQ) at Marlise’s house last night. Oooh and his mom is keen for me to do family pics for them – hope she calls me!

As for the rest of his development, I think he’s doing well. He’s jumping and skipping all over the place now, he looks so cute trying to hop like a kangaroo.
He imitates many many animals (cat, dog, rooster, chicken, duck, elephant, gorilla, monkey, fish etc etc)… Lance even taught him to gnash his teeth to imitate a crocodile this afternoon. LOL!
He’s also blowing whistles and trumpets. This is really cool, because I remember struggling to get Bradley to blow things, I bought him whistles and trumpets for Xmas when he was 19mths, but he only grasped the concept after the age of 2 properly!

OK, he’s 18m+1week

I haven’t posted about Connor in quite a while, and thought that it was about time that I did.

In the last 2 week’s he’s really changed, and is all of a sudden doing so many new things.  My mom is convinced it’s because we spent more time with him when we were on holiday, but I also think it’s because Bradley’s been at home with him this month.

On Friday he started jumping.  It’s the cutest thing to see.  He bounces around while you say “jump” and eventually his feet both leave the ground

And you should see him dance.  LOL!!  I should really get my old camera out to video it.  It’s a half skip that he does while going around in circles. 

As for fine motor stuff, he’s not as advanced as Bradley was at this age.  We’ve only just started doing 2 piece puzzles with him, and he hasn’t quite grasped it yet, but he’ll get there.  He has started enjoying drawing though, even though he only concentrates on it for less than a minute (before he’s eating the crayons!).  And while Bradley’s been on holiday, they’ve been drawing on the paving outside with chalk, which is great fun for both boys. 

But he has started sitting still for long enough to listen to a short book being read to him!  That’s a HUGE change in the last few weeks, and he absolutely loves it.

As for talking, well, I don’t think it’s going to be long now.  He’s started saying the right kind of sounds for us to be able to decipher what we think are words.  Every day for the last week, my mom and I have noticed an improvement.  He now says Mamma, Dadda, Adda (Bradley), Bubbles (that’s the only really clear word!), Mawmawmaw (more more when he wants food or juice or sweets), Meeee (Miao for the stray cat that we feed every morning), umum (dummy or bottle), haha (hadeda birds get shouted at when he spots them in the sky), parp (when he hears a car), cack (quack for a duck), ooo (moo of a cow), cockoooooo (cockle doodle doo! when he sees a rooster), aaaaagggghhh (roaring like a lion).  As you can tell, we read a lot of books with animals in them  

I’m also convinced that he said mine yesterday, when he took his dummy from me.  He hasn’t said it again though.

He uses his own sign language for a lot of his communication, which is why his speech might be a bit slower than Bradley’s was, but I think it’s starting to frustrate him , because he’s screaming a lot now when he wants attention, and I remember Bradley doing that just before he started talking.  His signs are quite cute… he sweeps his hand to one side for “go away”.  He lifts his hands up and outwards, and makes a silent “oooh” mouth for “gone”.  He pretends to chew when he wants you/the cat to eat something.  He pats his nappy if he wants you to change it.  And I can’t think of more right now, but I’m sure there is.

He was just the cutest on holiday when he spotted the seagulls.  He watched them for ages, and then started running on the beach and flapping his arms.  LOL!  And he still does it now when you ask him what a seagull does.

But he’s a naughty little thing!  And OMW so busy! He doesn’t stop for a second.  He opens all the cupboards, all the doors, and nothing is safe! 

Within half an hour of us being in the flat at Shelly Beach we had to find a high cupboard to put the knives and scissors away, because he was running through the flat with a butcher’s knife in the one hand and the scissors in the other hand! Hee hee, it wasn’t fun for us at the time! 

And of course, his favourite song at the moment is the Barney song.  and he runs to you to give you a hug at the end!  It’s the cutest.  As for Barney, like every kid his age, he’s obsessed with the dvds!  He can’t get enough of them, especially the Zoo one.

And talking of hugs, if he spots Bradley crying, he runs to him and hugs him!  Awww!  It’s so adorable to watch.

He’s the most adorable little boy   But OMW, he’s exhausting!

And now I have a very busy weekend ahead too!

I’ve seemed to have run out of things to blog about this week.  How weird.  I’m still doing the photo thing though.

I was going to have a family photoshoot for a colleague this weekend, but she cancelled this morning.  But maybe it’s a blessing, I was wondering if I have the right lens for it.  I’m sure I’ll be able to take nice family pics with the lenses I have… right?   I’ve been eyeing out a 50mm lens, but I’m not sure if I should get it right now. 

Anyhoo, I was going to blog about Connor tonight.  I’m feeling like I’ve let him down.  He’s really not developing and getting the stimulation he should be.  I took Bradley to Moms and Babes classes on Saturdays, but I haven’t even tried with Connor because of the time.  And I think it’s beginning to show now.

He’s not talking yet, but Bradley was a chatterbox by now.  The only things Connor can say is Mama, Dada, Badda (Bradley), bubba (bubbles), nana (which I HATE with a passion… that is bottle and dummy and food because that’s what Beauty used to call food when he was tiny).  And he’s making animal sounds for cow, sheep, cat, dog, fish, duck, chicken, rooster etc.  But that’ it!!

And then ito fine motor skills, I’m almost positive Bradley could do more at this age.  Connor doesn do arty things at all.  If I give him a crayon to draw, he eats it after drawing one line! 

Arrrgh!!  I don’t know.  I don’t really have the time, but maybe I should get him into a toddlers class of some sorts on Saturdays.  Or, we’ll have to put him in a playgroup a few mornings a week.  But it’s the middle of winter!  He’s going to be so sick if I do it now.