Nola's 6, 7, 8 & 9 Month Update!

General/milestones

Nola you are now nine months old, the same amount of time you were growing inside me. I'm sorry I haven't kept up to date with your updates, there wasn't any big changes between five and six months so I thought I'd pick things up again at seven months, then eight months and before I knew it here we are at nine months old!
You have grown a lot, especially your hair it's getting thicker and thicker! You have become more smiley, you 'talk' a lot making an 'aahhh' sound and you have continued to work hard at holding objects and rolling over. You have been rolling all the time these past couple of weeks and you're getting pretty good at it, you did bump your head at the weekend and bruised your head.

Seizure wise they made a come back unfortunately. When you were six months old I noticed when you were sleeping sometimes you eyes would open and then flicker, I was pretty sure they were seizures. So I sent a video over to the epilepsy nurse, I didn't hear back but then received a letter for an appointment at Addenbrookes with the paediatric neurologist, it turned out the epilepsy nurse had forwarded the video to him. He put you on a third medication and told us he would see you again in July.
The next day you began to have infantile spasms again so called I the neuros secretary and explained. The Dr called me that evening and said we'd stick with the plan, which was introducing the third medicine over four weeks and that should hopefully stop the spasms.
 It didn't so our appointment was brought forward and we saw him again a couple of weeks ago and he said the next stop was to put you on steroids. I really didn't want to put you on these as the side effects aren't great. But the with the overall outcome of infantile spasms there really is was no other choice. You have been an absolute trooper on them though Nola, you've just been amazing so so good! Very quiet and dazed at times but you have been smiley at times too. The good news is they stopped the spasms quickly and they have kept away so far! We started to wean you yesterday on your nine month birthday so I'm hoping that will be ok as I know it can be difficult for some little ones.



I don't think your development has gone back, if it has only a little. You wanted to roll for ages and you're doing it consistently now! You also want to sit up by yourself, you're getting there. I know you'll do it, I'm so proud of you! You're still not overly keen to use you hands, although you'll bash things and try to grab them if you're in the mood. A few weekends ago you mastered blowing raspberries and couldn't stop doing it! You haven't done it as much since you started the steroids.
 You cut your first tooth just after you turned six months and the second one followed shortly after!
In April you had your first trip abroad to Disneyland Paris, you were far better behaved than your big brother! It was such a nice getaway, not in anyway relaxing but wonderful to getaway...Disney is magical!
We were chosen to be ambassadors for Turtle Tots which is very exciting! We started our swimming lessons in May but have stopped for now due to your immune system being suppressed whilst on steroids. You love being in the water and did lots of splashing around.
 I moved you up to size 4 nappies at some point but discovered today you still fit in a size 3! 

Wearing purple for world epilepsy awareness day!

Feeding

Nothing has changed about your appetite! You still love milk and of course I started weaning you at six months. I gave you different vegetables first, broccoli, potato, carrot, cauliflower, parsnip, peas, green beans. You liked most of them but broccoli made you heave he first time, you were fine after that though. You definitely prefer sweet though as you can't get enough of fruit and yogurt! You are loving eating solids!
Milk is still very much a favourite, you have three to four bottles a day 5-6oz, I mix a bit with one of your medicines in the morning and at night. I have been putting some of steroid doses in.  

Sleeping

Mostly you sleep through the night but there have been a few times you've woken up very early, to be fair you happily lay there kicking your legs and playing with your feet. Mostly you have been waking around 7am.

 

Weight

I can update your weight this time! You were weighed at the hospital a couple of weeks ago and were 8.16kg = 17lbs9oz which is lighter than I thought you were!

Clothes

You are mainly in 6-9 month clothes but also wearing some 9-12 month bits.
 

More Nicknames

The nicknames keep coming!  Here are what came out last time and below there's more!     

30. Kee Kee
31. Kee-Kai
32. Beauty
33.Beauty Weauty
34. Tutti Fruitti
35. Pumbles
36. Kee-Kai
37.Pooch
38.Poochie
39.Poochie Woochie
40.Poochie Woocha

With big bro at Hampton Court Palace

 

Your Likes

• You still love snuggly cuddles...I do too!
• Milk and food
• Bath time still makes you happy and now swimming does too
• You love being out and about
•  Watching trees, they make you very excited for some reason
• Big brother playing with you (when he's not being too rough!)

Your Dislikes

• Waiting for milk or food
• Still not a fan of being dressed or undressed, although you don't grumble as much
• Still being disturbed

In all honesty there's not a lot you kick up a fuss about right now, you are so chilled!

That's it my darling girl, until next time!

xxx



 

 

5 Month Update

General/milestones

I said it with your big brother, and I'm sure I'll continue to say it but I just don't know where the time goes, I can't believe you are 5 months already!!!
At present your seizures are under control (high five!!!), since the last update you've had one ambulance ride to hospital, your third lot of immunisations and an eye clinic appointment!
I'm convinced your seizure activity changed each time you had a round of immunisations, a week or so after the first set you experienced seizures for just over a week and then they stopped. A couple of days after the second set you began to have the infantile spasms, followed a few days later with another type of seizure. Then the day after your third set you stopped having any spasms. Coincidence I'd just increased the dose again? I'm not certain nor am I convinced but fantastic news  that the spasms are currently at bay! But before that last set you were a bit poorly.
 After the first and third set of jabs parents are currently advised to give their babies three doses of paracetamol to help prevent a temperature. Having the combined jabs, including the one for meningitis means you were more likely to get a temperature. I gave you two doses but because you'd been sick in the evening and I was already loading you with your anti epileptic medicine I didn't want to go over board you and give you paracetamol whilst your temperature was normal. That was a mistake!! I woke up about 4am to hear you chomping on your hand, which was unusual for you as after going several hours through the night without a bottle, you'd normally be screaming! I felt your head and you seemed to be on the warm side but still took a bottle and drank it all. I then checked you with the thermometer and your temperature was on the high side. So I gave you  some paracetamol which you vomited back straight away so I didn't finish the dose. You then had a long, nasty set of spasms so I rang 111 for some advice as I was worried. They dispatched an ambulance based on the information I gave them.

This pramsuit makes me laugh because it makes you look huge!!!

When they arrived the paramedics checked you over, as your temperature was still high and your heart rate was out of the normal range they took us to hospital. By the time you were checked in A&E and again on the children's ward everything was back to normal, thankfully. After a couple of hours we were sent home, with the overall medical consensus that you had a reaction to the immunisations.
  Apart from that little drama you had your eyes checked and we found out you have growths behind your left eye. At the moment they don't seem to be causing you any problems, time will tell but fingers crossed they won't affect your vision.
Development wise, you can see that having the seizures under control is making a change to your progression. You are more awake, I guess because there are no seizures to make you tired and your body has got used to the medicine. Being awake for longer means more time to interact, you are smiling more and you have giggled a couple of times which is the best sound, it melts my heart! You babble a lot and over the last couple of weeks you began a high pitched shriek/cry/shout and use it when you're both happy and upset. You still only give eye contact on your terms, when you're being held you usually avoid eye contact but will look at people when you are lying down.
This month you had your first bath with your big brother, you thoroughly enjoyed it but I didn't as I was worried you were going to slip out of my grip! You are still in size 3 nappies. Overall you seem to be on the whole just a lot more chilled out, you really like your oball and have started to grip hold of it. You absolutely love chomping on your hands and fingers and will stare at them for ages!

Enjoying your oball

Feeding

You appetite still hasn't changed, you would drink milk continuously if you could!. You were still having 5oz bottles, five times a day, sometimes alternated with a 6oz bottle but now you are on five 6oz bottles. If you do wake during the night I will give you less to help you go back to sleep.

Absolutely love looking/chomping/sucking your hands and fingers

Sleeping

You are continuing to sleep through most nights from anything between 9pm-11pm usually through until 7:30am-8.30am. You have slept through more this month but there are still times you have woken up.

 

Weight

I haven't had you weighed since the last update.

Clothes

Clothes wise you are mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes with some exception here and there. Such as a newborn size cardigan!

More Nicknames

I'm still coming out with random nicknames.  Here are last months and below there's a few more!     

26. Baboo

27. Baboose

28. Baboosey

29. RoRo Beans

 

    

Your Likes

• You still love cuddles especially if you're tired
• You still  love your bottles
• Bath time continues to be a favourite
• You still enjoy getting out
•  You still like watching and listening to Eliot
• The dummy is still soothing, mainly when you're tired.

Your Dislikes

• Eliot being 'too cuddly' or on the rough side
• Still having clothes put on/taken off if you are not in the mood
• Still...Being disturbed when you are comfy

It's been a more positive update Nola,  I hope next month there are more positives to write about!

xxx

 

I've linked this post up with Jenny's 'Bumps & Babies' linky!

 

 

Nola You're 4 Months Old

 

 

Little Nola your turned four months old just over a week ago. This is the second update I have written about you and boy have things changed since I wrote the last one.

Right now I'm not sure if you will ever be able to read these.

In hospital

General/milestones

I think the biggest change is finding out you are very likely to have a rare genetic condition. You began having seizures just before you turned 12 weeks, although when they started I did not realise that's what they were. I will explain in more detail in a separate post but you were admitted to hospital for three days at the beginning of December where lots of tests began to try and find out what was causing you to have seizures. You had an attempted MRI scan which couldn't be done because you were awake, an EEG test and different bloods taken. There were some abnormal results from the EEG tests so an urgent request for an MRI was made to try and get a good look at your brain. You didn't have any seizures whilst we were in hospital which is typical and didn't experience any more for a couple of weeks. You then had a MRI under general anaesthetic where some growths on your brain were discovered. The discharge letter I received said the findings were 'highly suspicious' of  a specific rare condition, something until that day (19/12/17) I was oblivious to. It's a condition that affects people differently with symptoms ranging from mild to severe, so right now we don't know how affected you will be. 

The day before you had the MRI you began having these odd spasm type movements which I know now are another type of seizure. On Christmas Eve night I ended up taking you to the children's ward because you were having these spasms following a different type of seizure. We were admitted so you spent your very first Christmas morning in hospital which was so sad. You did get discharged as you hadn't had anymore seizure episodes but within a couple of hours you went back via an ambulance as we were advised to call 999 if you had a seizure that got to three minutes long. So we spent the next two nights there until we saw the paediatric consultant who specialises in epilepsy. You were prescribed medicine to control the seizures but the spasms went on and you were put on another medication aiming to stop them after the results of a second EEG were worse than the first. Last week you had a heart scan which also revealed you have two growths on your heart, you then had an ECG which fortunately revealed your heart is working as normal at present. We also saw a specialist at Addenbrookes hospital who agrees it's highly likely you have the rare genetic condition but no one will confirm it until we have the genetic blood tests back. You have an appointment at the end of the month to have your eyes checked for any growths. It's all been hard to take in as it would be for any mummy, I still don't think I've fully got my head round it but I will be with you every step of the way, I'm so sorry this has happened to you, you are so brave!

Apart from all of the drama that you've had, what else has gone on since my last update?

You had your first holiday at Bluestone in Wales, unfortunately this was when the seizures really kicked in so we didn't make the best memories.

In December you were chosen as one of the new brand reps for Petal & Grace, a beautiful hairband company on Instagram. Their bows make you look even cuter than you already do!

You still enjoy cuddles and can be very snuggly, sometimes you won't calm down if you're upset until you are being cuddled, sucking your dummy and having your face stroked!

One of the most upsetting aspects of the seizures is that they can affect development unless they're under control. This has happened with you, before this all started you began to giggle, even though we only heard it once or twice, it was starting to happen. Since around Christmas day you barely smile, if we're lucky we see maybe one smile a day. I'm told once the seizures are under control you are more likely to reach the general baby milestones.

I've had to move you up to size 3 nappies, as you are growing into a right little chunk!
You've had your second round of routine immunisations and due the next batch soon. 

Feeding

One positive is that your appetite hasn't changed, you still love your milk and guzzle it down. You are still having 5oz bottles, usually five a day, sometimes more as there have been several nights you have woken during the night and needed a bottle to settle you. If you've had a very long stretch sleeping overnight I give you a 6oz bottle and have tried 6oz bottles before bed to see if that helped with sleeping few but it hasn't always worked!

Sleeping

Most nights you have slept through but there have been several where you have woken up once and at worse, twice. You're actually sleeping more than you're awake at the moment. I've been told it's probably down to a combination of medicine and seizure activity.

Your second EEG test

Weight

You were weighed last week when we saw the specialist and you're now a whopping 14.7lbs thanks to all the milk you've been knocking back!

Clothes

Clothes wise you still fit in some 0-3 month clothes but some are too small. You are also wearing lots of 3-6 month clothes too and most need some growing in to.

More Nicknames

I wrote a post about your name and the nicknames I had come with so far. I still can't help the random names that pop into my head. Roly is still the one I'm using the most! Here are the ones I added last month and below there's a few more!                    

23. Rooka Took
24. Rooky
25. Angel cake

Cuddles with big brother at Bluestone!

Your Likes

• You still love cuddles
• You still  love your bottles
• You still love having a bath, if you're crying beforehand you immediately stop
• You really enjoy being out and about
•  You like watching and listening to Eliot
• You still enjoy being sung to
• You like your dummy a lot now! It's very soothing for you when you want it!

Your Dislikes

• Still...Sudden loud noises
• Still...Being taken out of the bath
• Having clothes put on/taken off
• Still...Being disturbed when you are comfy
• Occasionally still...Being put in the car seat

I'm sorry it's not been a more positive update Nola  I hope next month there is more good news to write!

xxx

 

I've linked this post up with Jenny's 'Bumps & Babies' linky!

Your First 10 Weeks Nola - Update

16/11/17

 I've linked this post up over at letstalkmummy.com 

My darling Nola, this is your very first update. It's sooner than I did your big brothers' first update but later than I wanted or planned. I'd been meaning to write an update ever since your turned two weeks old but life flies by and all sorts of things get in the way. But thanks to Maisie from lovemaisie.com who shared that she had written about her sons' first 10 ten weeks I thought I would do the same too (except you're actually 11 weeks today) before you get any older!

Just a few hours old

General/milestones

You have changed so much in just a small amount of time, when you arrived I couldn't believe you were a girl (I really thought I was having a boy!). You were so different from your big brother in size, you had the tiniest features, hands and feet whereas Eliot had huge hands and feet! You weighed between 7lb11oz and 7lb12oz, so again smaller than your big bro thankfully...I really thought I'd be birthing a ten pound + baby. Even though you were much daintier than your brother I could see him in you and there are some photos where you look so alike.
You made a  lot of grunting and adorable squeaking sounds as well as snorting, in fact you are still doing all three, just not as much.

To begin with you slept a lot during the day and not as much at night. You were feeding roughly every three hours, except when you slept for longer periods. Now, apart from the odd occasion you sleep through from anything between 8:30-10pm to 6:30-8:45am-ish which is pretty darn good, keep it up please!
From the very beginning you have loved your cuddles, as you got older and more alert during the day it became harder to put you down...making it difficult to get things done so we began to use a carrier which you loved. You still like it now but can take a minute or two to settle in it if you are cranky. You also enjoy studying faces and spend a long time looking/gazing at them when you are in the mood.
You began to smile in secret at me around 4-5 weeks, I wasn't certain until I caught you grinning at me whilst in your car seat. Not long after you began to coo as well when being spoken to
When you were seven weeks old you took part in something rather exciting! Asda filmed some short films for their website about baby care and you and I feature in their nappy one. You were extremely well behaved and didn't make a sound during the filming.
When you were around eight weeks you began to start whacking the toy hanging over your bouncer and have really started to take notice of it over the past couple of weeks.
You have strong control of your head/neck and seemed determined from birth to have a go at holding it up as much as you possibly could, very much like Eliot!
At eight and a half weeks I reluctantly moved you up to size 2 nappies, I just want you stay 'little' for as long as possible.
You had a BCG immunisation at two weeks old and your first round of combined jabs just before you turned ten weeks old. Needless to say you were not happy, you screamed like I'd never heard you do before, it was awful! Luckily you were ok afterwards but did spend a lot of the next day sleeping. 

Wearing a sleepsuit Eliot also wore in hospital

Feeding

I was determined to try and breastfeed you but unfortunately it didn't work out. You did try to latch on but even with help whilst we were in hospital it just didn't happen. During the first few days you had some expressed breast milk and of course formula, you have Aptamil like Eliot did.

At the start you were having between 2oz and 4oz, although there were a couple of occasions you were sick so it was obviously too much for your tiny tummy. Now you are having five bottles a day, four 5oz bottles and a 6oz bottle when you wake up. Again like your big bro, you adore your bottles... you literally down them! However you cry/scream for a few seconds when it's finished, you are really not happy when that happens! 95% of the time you bring your wind up very quickly, sometimes all that has to be done is to lift you up and you'll burp. I think you may get some colicky pains as you can be unsettled and upset at times. I haven't tried gripe water or infacol to see if they help yet.  

Sleeping

As mentioned above, you are currently sleeping through the night which is amazing! You tend to 'cat nap' in the day unless you are in the car or pram where you will sleep for longer. It seems as though you are going to have a good sleep but it can be just after ten minutes when your eyes pop open wide awake! You have slept in your crib (which used to be Eliot's) next to me at night since you came back from the hospital.

My dinky girl

Weight

You have continued to put on weight since your arrival, which is great to know you are thriving. To be honest you don't need to be put on the scales, it's easy to see you're putting on weight when you finish every bottle! You really started to fill out a few weeks ago. Last week you were put on the scales and weighed 11.46lbs.

Clothes

As I was convinced I was going to have another nine pound + baby I only bought a couple of things in 'up to 1 month' size but as you surprised me being so dainty, you were able to fit into 'first size' and 'up to 1 month'. Even now some of them still fit you, not for long (sob, sob)! Mostly though you are wearing 0-3 months.

More Nicknames

I wrote a post about your name and the nicknames I had come with so far. I just can't help it, random words fall out of my mouth and they stick so here are some to add to the list...

17. Little old man

18. Noly

19. Noly Poly

20. Noly Poly Roly Roo

21 Roly Roo

22. Roly (at the moment this is the one I'm using the most)


Your Likes

• You love cuddles
• You love your bottles
• You love having a bath, if you're crying beforehand you soon stop
•  You enjoy studying peoples faces
• You really enjoy being out and about and taking in different environments
•  You like watching and listening to Eliot
• You like giving your toys above the bouncer a whack
• You show an interest in baby books
• You enjoy being sung to and seem to like the song 'Wonderwall' by Oasis and 'Incy Wincy Spider'
• You like your dummy, more so over the past week or so

Your Dislikes

• Sudden loud noises
• Being taken out of the bath
• To begin with you were very selective about your dummy, spitting it out at times
• Being put down for too long
• Being disturbed when you are comfy
• Being put in the car seat

So I think that's about it for now, you are growing and changing to quickly! Until next time,

xxx

Eliot You Are 4! An Update

At your pre-school graduation ceremony

Surprise surprise, this update is overdue but this time it's just a couple of months late! There have been lots of changes in the time since your last update too!

General/Milestones



I suppose the biggest change that is about to happen any day now is that you're about to become a big brother. You're not exactly excited at this prospect but I'm sure once your new sibling is here and things have settled down you will love being a big brother. You are keen to have a sister so we have been working on helping you understand it might be a brother which at times you are really not happy about! You have said you want to push the pram and help change (non poop) nappies so I'm looking forward to your assistance.

You are also about to start 'big school' which you have told a couple of people you are 'worried about'. It is a big change as you were so settled in your pre-school and had lots of lovely friends but you are soooo ready for Reception and you'll make lots of new friends which is part of the adventure!

You don't realise it yet but you love to learn, you ask questions and soak up lots of different information like a sponge. I think you will be much better at maths than mummy was, you count to 20 and beyond recognizing the numbers, if there is an unfamiliar number on a bus you will ask which number it is. You know the 'plus' and 'minus' symbols from one of your number puzzles and have an understanding of what they mean. I have a feeling math's is going to be one of the things you most enjoy at school.

You still enjoy books, mainly at bedtime but there are occasions where you will sit and look through a book by yourself, telling the story. We went through a phase of  practicing letter sounds with your alphabet cards every night, you know the alphabet sounds and can read and spell bus, cat, dog and a few other words.

You're still not keen on drawing and writing but have started to draw pictures of people which are very cute! You occasionally spontaneously decide your going to try and write something, like the other week when your tried writing letters from your name.

Before the summer holidays you did have a settling in morning at your new school which you went in to confidently and before pre-school broke up you had a graduation ceremony which made mummy very emotional! You were given a certificate and leaving gift by your key worker, Lisa who you you enjoyed joking around with and called 'pineapple head'.

 

 Earlier on in the year with the help of some of your pre-school staff we made a break through with potty training! You use the toilet independently, although there are still times you avoid going and hold wee in. We're still working on poo's but you have made such progress to where you were at Christmas.

 Your behaviour continues to be extremely challenging at times, when you're good you're really really good but when your at the other end of the spectrum you like to push boundaries to the limit or have epic meltdowns. I must add though you were a complete angel at pre-school so I hope your good behaviour carries on in your new school!

You had your three year boosters at the beginning of the year, it was a struggle to even get you in the room. There was a nurse on either arm ready to get the two injections over together. I had phoned to pre-warn the nurse of your phobia but I don't think she realised how difficult you would be. Thankfully we are over and done with all your immunisations, so hopefully there won't be anymore injections for some time!
You did have tonsillitis in June which meant you needed antibiotics which was a bit of a nightmare as you don't take medicine. Four times a day was a challenge but we bribed you with sweets and a sticker chart. You would let pre-school staff give you the antibiotics without any objections which was rather frustrating.
 

 Eating



Over recent weeks you have all of a sudden become quite fussy with food, you ate cheese (cheddar) and cheese sandwiches like there was no tomorrow! Then one day you declared 'I don't serve cheese anymore!'. So you've quit eating cheddar but will have soft cheese sandwiches, you've also gone off cucumber saying you don't want it. You do still love egg and will request egg sandwiches or an egg!
Of course you still love naughty foods and would quite happily eat them all the time. As I've said before I know you ate more of a range of foods at pre-school so hopefully you will do the same at school.

Not keen on having a picture with mummy at your pre-school graduation

Sleep

You were sleeping through pretty much every night until around June. You have been waking up most nights and getting into bed next to mummy. I think all the changes that are due to happen are playing on your mind and this is disturbing your sleep.

On a trip to Southend with Nana J & big cousin Ella

Weight

I'm sure you've been weighed at some point but I'm not sure how much you weigh at the moment.

 

Clothes

You are wearing most clothes in size 4-5 years. Some 3-4 clothes still fit but as I've said before it can vary so much though depending on where the clothes are from. You do seem to have had a growth spurt and are as tall as some children who are a year older than you.

Pretending you've just had a workout at the gym!

 

Likes/Dislikes

Likes...

•  Trains & buses (still)
• Making traffic jams with all your vehicles
•  Toy Story (still)
• PJ Masks and Transformers Rescue Bots
•  Playing games such as snakes and ladders
• Playing rough games with daddy
• Going on train, tube and bus journeys

Dislikes...

• Hand dryers, if we're in a public toilet you'll sing 'I don't like the dryer' over and over again to stop other people from using them, even though you use them on some occasions.
•  Showers
•  The dark.
• being told off
• consequences
• Queues and waiting

And Then You Were 3 (and a half)...An Eliot Update

This update has been sitting in my drafts since just after you turned three back in June but I just haven't got round to writing it! So it's more of a three and a half update!

General/Milestones

You have progressed soooo much since I wrote your last update , I'm not even sure where to start!
You are a real chatterbox and your vocabulary has continued to grow, people have commented how well you talk for your age. You started reading print in the environment last year when your were two. Back in November 2015 Grandad told me you pointed to a jar of marmalade and said 'Tesco' as that's where it was from and you recognised the branding. Since then you have learned pretty much all the supermarket names as well as other familiar print that is seen out and about. Whenever we drive by a supermarket lorry, you always call out the name of the shop.

You still enjoy stories, especially at bedtime although you often request the same couple of books for several nights running! I bought you some alphabet cards and have gone through letter sounds with you, although we haven't done this for a long time! You recognise a few sounds but are definitely more interested in numbers at the moment. You count to 14 before getting muddled and recognise numbers to 12 and a few random numbers that you've seen on buses, like 88!
At the moment you're not really interested in 'writing' but will usually happily 'write' in cards for people, holding the pen/pencil/crayon with your whole hand.
Not much has changed with what you most enjoy playing with, you're still obsessed with buses and trains but you have also developed a liking for Toy Story after we went on your first holiday abroad to Disneyland Paris in the summer.

You play with different children at pre school now and often talk about them at home. It was lovely to hear that you've become 'best friends' with a little boy who struggled to settle at his previous nursery but you have helped him get used to his new setting. You do have a lovely caring side to you.
You are very confident and will happily talk to anyone and will wander off which worries me!

We've seen the podiatrist a couple of times but she's not worried about your walking on tiptoes and doesn't think you have any problems with your feet. It has improved a great deal and you don't do it very often anymore.
We have two big battles at the moment, potty training and your behaviour. Back in the summer you deiced all by yourself to use the potty by yourself to go for a poo and then did one again after that, you were so proud! Since then you have not been keen on the idea of using a potty or toilet, I thought you would get into the swing of it with your friends at pre school but unfortunately you got yourself in a bit of a state getting upset and holding wee in for hours, so we have stopped trying for the moment.

You continue to be a happy little chap, but your behaviour can be extremely challenging, you are a 'threenager' for sure!

You woke up with chicken pox on Christmas day but I suppose  a good thing is that we've got it out of the way now. I was due to book your immunisation boosters but have delayed that due to you having chicken pox. I'm dreading it because you have  massive needle hatred and hated having the meningitis jab.

Celebrating your 3rd Birthday with a trip to the transport museum

 Eating

Overall you are a pretty good eater, your current favourite has to be cheese sandwiches which you request way too much! You still enjoy pasta, yoghurt, cucumber and all the naughty things that you shouldn't eat too much of. Your love of banana has dwindled and you rarely eat it but you have begun to eat cooked carrot. I do know you eat more of fruit and veg at pre-school.
 

Sleep

You haven't napped for a very long time but I still  think you could do with a short one as you often fall asleep if we're in the car.

At night you usually sleep through but there are occasions when you wake up crying but you usually settle fairly quickly. I do have to stay with you until you fall asleep at bedtime.

 

Weight

You haven't been weighed recently.

Having fun at the river festival

Clothes

You are wearing clothes in sizes 3-4 and 4-5 years. It can vary so much though depending on where the clothes are from. 

Likes/Dislikes

Likes...

•  Trains & buses (still)
•  Toy Story
• Dinosaur Train (TV progamme)
•   Harrassing Mimi which upsets mummy...alot
• Playing with daddy

Dislikes...

• Hand dryers (still) although you use the one at pre school apparently
•  Smoke alarms
•  The dark.
• being told off
• consequences

Eliot's 2 Year Update

 

This update is way overdue Mr Eliot as you turned two, two months ago!Sooo much has changed since the last update...

General/Milestones

You started pre-school back in April which you seem to enjoy. Apparently when daddy drops you off sometimes you don't want to leave him but once he's gone play happily. We had your first parents evening back in July! Tracey, your key worker said you're doing really well, you love messy play and cars (we knew about the cars!) She said your language was great for your age and that you play nicely alongside others. You're not quite at the stage of playing with the other children yet but you do love playing with your cousin Ella.

You love playing with Ella!

Your language has come on leaps and bounds, you have so many words in your vocabulary and pick up new words all the time! We have to be very careful what we say as you repeat things!!! You can put simple sentences together, everyone comments on how good your language is.

We had your two year health check the other day and the health visitor was happy with where you're at. You are 93.3cm tall now and the health visitor said you would be about 6ft when you stop growing. A tall boy! She said your slightly heavy for your height but I think you are going to be a boy who has a rugby player build!

We spoke about potty training which I don't think you're quite ready for yet. You've had a go at sitting on the potty but not used it, you did put your toys in there though!

I spoke to the health visitor about you walking on your tip toes, with and without your shoes on. She has referred you to see a podiatrist so we are waiting for the appointment.

Overall you are still such a happy little chap, you can be demanding and difficult at times which can be difficult but you are clearly a determined little boy. Terrible twos are in action for sure!

We are very proud of you, especially with your development you can count to ten, you understand what two objects are and will count them. You talk so well and have started to say please and thank you without being reminded.

 Play wise you are still obsessed with vehicles and play with your cars, lorries, buses and trains all the time. You also get very excited about trains and buses when we are out too.

We took you to a trial session at Little Kickers football last weekend, you enjoyed it but pretty much wanted to do your own thing! I think we are going to enrol you though so you have a hobby!

A rather big thing is that we took your dummy away before you turned two, you quickly forgot about it and didn't ask for one after a day or two of not having one.

 

 

Eating

Apparently at pre-school you eat really well, often asking (demanding) for more. At home you can be slightly fussy at times although there are some foods like cucumber and strawberries that you will eat now when you wouldn't before.

Your favourite food has to be pasta, you always ask for pasta! You're also quite partial to a Happy Meal but obviously we limit those! If we drive past a McDonalds though, you do request to go in.

 

With Nana J

Sleep

If we're out for the day or you're at pre school, you won't have a nap but that does lead to you being tired and cranky. If we're just at home I put you down for a sleep and you usually nap for about two hours.

At night you have been waking up crying sometimes. I'm not entirely sure why. I think it may be down to back teeth coming through and definitely down to bad dreams. At Nana's you said there was horse in 'mummy's bed' so I think you had a nightmare. You still talk about the 'horsey' now!

Sometimes when you are unsettled during the night I've brought you into bed with us. You fidget and wriggle around a LOT!

 

Weight

At your two year check up with the health visitor you weighed 16.8kg.

 

Clothes

You have grown a lot and mostly wear clothes aged 2-3 years but also fit into 3-4 years! It's crazy how sizing differs in different shops!

 

Puddle Splashing

 

Likes/Dislikes

Likes...

•  Puddles
•  Vehicles
• You love playing with your big cousin Ella
•   The cats, although you have been testing the boundaries with Mimi and stroking her too roughly
• Peppa Pig

Dislikes...

• Hand dryers but they don't seem to bother you as much as they did
•  Smoke alarms
•  Horses. You cried your eyes out when a horse trotted over to us.
• The Dyson
• Wasps



A Little Update

It's been a long time since I last wrote a proper blog post, I can't completely put my finger on it, I guess I have just lost my blogging mojo. On many occasions I've had the best intentions to write a post but then lost it. It's not because I've been struggling to come up with ideas, I have many ideas for posts and posts that need to be done. I just can't muster up the motivation to start writing! I don't want my blog to just stop either, I've put a lot of time, effort and memories into it. I'd like to be more organised with my blog (and the rest of my life!) but it's something I struggle with massively.

 

Any-hoo, I thought I'd update about where I'd been before getting into a little weight loss update. In my last weight loss update I explained that I'd ordered a seven week bundle on The New You Plan.  I stuck to it until I attended Brit Mums Live where I had a couple of days off, mainly because I didn't want to miss the social side of going for dinner etc. I couldn't have sat there and ate nothing!
I was weighing myself around every two weeks and the weight was coming off. The last time I weighed myself I had lost one stone four pounds in total.

 

I found when I was working it was really easy to stick to. Sometimes weekends would be harder and I would have a day or two off which is where it started to go wrong. When I went away with my mum a few weeks ago I used that as an excuse not to be on plan too. After that I pretty much came off the plan. I've had days of being on it and then off it but that is not going to work.

I want to get back on track, I certainly don't want to put all the weight I've lost back on.
 I'm just not sure what the right path is for me at the moment. If you have any advice or tips I would love to hear them!

An Eliot Update-21 Months

On Tenby Beach

It’s been a long time since I last wrote an update, in fact it was 4 months ago! So much has changed in that time!

General/Milestones

We have moved out of your first ever home which was in London, to Bedfordshire. Unfortunately it didn’t quite go as expected and there were lots of things mummy and daddy needed to get done in the house before we could all move in. So you stayed with me at Nana and Grandad’s. We are in the new house now and you’re very happy, you like climbing up and down the stairs and you have more space in your new bedroom.

You have changed so much, you look so much older, you’re taller and your speech and language is really coming on. Over the past month or so you have been saying so much more, copying words we say and putting two or three words together like ‘all gone’, ‘bye Coco cat’. It’s just utterly amazing watching your development but you’re changing way to quick. You also have your own little language, at the end of last year it became apparent anything that resembled a train was a ‘googaa’. Other words are ‘sauce’ for your basket of bath toys and ‘dyas’ which we still haven’t completely sussed out. You have started to count, we count together when we walk down the stairs and you sometimes call out numbers, not quite in order yet. You have a bit of a lisp when you say words with an 's', it may just be because you're still developing your words but I wonder if using your dummy (which you call doe-doe) has played a part.

You play by yourself more and enjoy pushing vehicles around and parking them next to each other, when we're out you demand to play with your 'car' and use my arm as a road! You also enjoy colouring and it appears as though your gong to be left handed like mummy.

You’re still very active and strong willed. Quite (very) defiant at times and have some whopping tantrums. You’ll throw yourself on the floor and really make quite a scene at times which isn’t always the best thing when we’re out and about!

It really is amazing seeing you grow and learn, we are so very proud of you and all of your achievements so far.

Unfortunately you’ve been quite poorly a couple of times this year. It’s the first time you’ve really been knocked off your feet which was really hard to see as we know you are a boy who doesn’t keep still. We took you to hospital the second time you were ill back in February as we were worried about a rash. Whist we were waiting to see a doctor you suffered a febrile convulsion which was very scary. The doctors said it happens a lot to young children but it was still very worrying and we hope you don’t have anymore.

We were lucky enough to go on a holiday to Wales at the beginning of March which was lovely and nice to getaway as a family. We went swimming and you adored it, so mummy is booking lessons for you to do once a week. Hopefully you’ll start them after Easter.

We all looked around a pre-school for you last week and thinking that it will be good for you to help develop your social skills. It will be for two afternoons a week when I am at work.

Enjoying the sand pit on an afternoon out

 Eating

For the first time the other day you told me what you wanted for dinner. I said I was going to make you something and you kept saying ‘pasta’.

Food wise you are definitely fussier and developed a taste for the foods that aren’t so great for you. Some days you will happily eat something, then the next time it’s served you downright refuse! You’re favourite food at the moment are pasta, cheese, raisins and anything (naughty) that is sweet.

You still enjoy your milk particularly in the mornings and evenings, often asking for it when you wake up.

Weight

I took you to the health visitor to be weighed and you’re now 15.9kg.

Clothes

You are still wearing some 18-24 month clothes but you are also wearing some 2-3 years aged bits. We took you to get your feet measured a couple of weeks ago and your feet are still growing at different rates, one is a 7 and the other a 6 and a half.

Sleeping

Apart from when you’ve been poorly, you’ve been sleeping really well through the night. You usually nap for an or two during the day but sometimes fight it. When you do, you become one cranky little boy! So I think you still need your day time nap for both our sakes!

Not looking happy here but you adore your big cousin Ella

Likes/Dislikes

• You love jumping in puddles no matte what footwear you are wearing
• Playing with vehicles, particularly buses.
• You love playing with your big cousin Ella
• You still love the cats, whenever we leave the house you say 'bye Coco cat' even though Coco spends the entire days hiding from you
• You prefer to be out rather than indoors and request to go to the park
• Hand dryers are still a big dislike, you say 'no dryer' whenever your nappy is changed when we are out
• Loud noises spook you, the fire alarm went off which really upset you
• Large animals seem to worry you, we saw some horses today & you began to cry, I guess because you're not used to seeing them

Eliot's 17 Month Update

 

Dressing up on Halloween

General/milestones

Mummy is a week late on getting this post published due to being busy and unwell!
Well, what can I say about you this month?! Walking is not an option for you, you must run everywhere and that means frequent falling over and bumps. Although you seem to be used to it now and only cry if it's a bad fall/bump.
You have two words which seem to be an obsession 'ire' (fire) and tractor. Grandad pointed out the flame on his gas cooker and you picked fire up from there. You hate fireworks, interestingly it seems to be the way they look and not the loud bangs. You call them fire and you would get really upset if we tried to put you in your highchair (next to the kitchen window) as this is where you first saw those fireworks. Every vehicle seems to be a tractor. When a lorry drives past you yell tractor and you will point actual tractors out on clothing and other items.

You are still happy sitting and flicking through books and you are very keen on the Argos and Asda Gift catalogues, safe to say they're missing a few pages!
One thing that has really improved this month is that you're much more chilled out when it's time to change your nappy. This is a BIG relief as it was an extremely difficult task.
We are getting ready to move home which is exciting but also stressful and busy as there is so much to do!

Feeding

You've been a real pickle with eating this month and have refused lots of foods. Mummy has learnt a bit of a naughty trick though, if I put Peppa Pig on to distract you I can usually get a few mouthfuls in!

Messy Play with cornflour

Weight

We haven't had you weighed but  you have definitely put on weight!
 

Clothes

You are wearing mostly 18-24 month sized clothes. Some shops sizes seem to come up smaller so you require size 2-3 which seems crazy! I took you to get your feet measured again and they have grown although one appears to be a six and the other a six and a half. Mummy was advised to take you back in a couple of weeks as your current shoes still have a bit of room in them.

 

Sleeping

Sometimes you've missed a nap in the day, usually because we've been out and not at home for you to sleep in your cot. You get very cranky when you haven't napped so it's much better when you do! In your cot you can sleep for two hours or longer.

As usual there has been the odd  night when you have woken up unsettled but you usually go back to sleep ok.

Love this picture with your big cousin Ella

 

Your Likes/Dislikes
Your like and dislikes are pretty much the same as last month but here are a few new ones...

• You like flicking through catalogues
• You like saying (shouting) 'ire'
• You HATE fireworks, they upset you, a  lot!

Your next update will be due Boxing day after celebrating Christmas, where has the year gone?!