Little Monkey

Xander is getting over his cold, he is down to just a chesty cough, which is good - this means soon we can re-book his procedure and if not wait til after baby is here (only 7 weeks to go!).

He has suddenly figured out how to put his puzzle pieces together really quickly and this has flowed over to putting his train set rails together too - it is great watching him fit the bits together.
We are still really busy with playgroup and mainly music which he continues to enjoy - i'm just getting really tired and unable to do all the jumping etc!
Xander has been a little monkey over the last week - i have discovered him climbing on everything, here he is climbing into his highchair - which we have put quick work into trying to stop.


new words: stop, turtle, yip, 'kay, jersey, sore.

Bedtime Antics

Bedtime has now become fun and games. Of course i understand that it is more fun up than in bed but he is totally tired! This evening was a classic, he lays there rolling around, playing with the blankets, curtains anything that can distract him. When he is finally quiet and almost asleep he cries out and starts all over again (this can go on for about 30 minutes). Tonight he kept clutching his nappy and saying "poo", i checked it many times and informed him "no poo" only to have him cry and clutch and say it again. So thinking the big bulky nappy was just really uncomfortable i changed him into a huggies. This settled him for 5 minutes and then he started rolling around clutching his tummy and crying, after 20 minutes (just when i was about to call Alan and take him to the after hours doctor) he fell asleep.
I have no idea if this is another one of his delay tactics for sleep or if he actually had a sore tummy - it may be because he is hungry too because he STILL isn't eating his dinner. I swear this problem is getting bigger and bigger and we are just stumped as to what to do. If anyone has any ideas of fail safe meals or getting toddlers to bed without all the antics we would really love the advice!

Funny things...

Xander had butter chicken for dinner last night and his comment on it "yum, yum" and he ate it very quickly and was upset it when it was all gone! He loves the spices i think - he has tried other curries we've had but they have been too hot for him, but he kept asking for more because of the spice flavour.
Also when Alan came to bed last night he checked on Xander and couldn't find him in his bed - he was asleep on the floor! He has been fighting his sleep every night this past week and he must have climbed out of bed in an attempt to come out and then just fell asleep! Very funny.

Lovely Colours

We went to the hospital yesterday and visited a friend who had a new baby. Xander held the baby and was really gentle - even tried to cuddle it when it cried! Bodes well for when our baby arrives.
We had heaps of comments about Xander's colourful jersey that Granny knitted. Everyone thought it was beautiful - well done Granny!
At library playgroup Xander made an elephant mask - here he is just about to take it off!

new words: White, Black, Xander, shoes, mat, please, thank you, kicking, up, down, gone, dummy, Murray (red wiggle!), cool, okay, get it!

Crafty and Fun

We didn't go to Mainly Music this morning as Xander was very grumpy and ended up asleep at 10. He only slept for an hour but that is okay.
This afternoon i entertained him by doing a collage using photos of all the most important people in his life. We started by drawing on the cardboard and tracing round our hands which Xander thought was the coolest thing ever! We had to wash our hands twice to get them all clean. Then i cut out the photos and Xander helped me glue and stick them to the paper.

It's not finished yet, i intend on going to the $2 shop and getting some stickers and stamps and stamp pad and decorating it with them and some glitter. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make it safe? (ie, covering with varnish or duracell or laminating? I'd like for him to keep this forever. I want to stick it on his wall so he can see everyone every day!
Then i took him for a walk to the dairy and we had an ice cream each - it was less messy than i expected! And after we got home, washed our hands and changed nappies we went to the park.
Xander had an hour sleep when we got home and is now watching the wiggles!

When he was at Nita's a week or so ago, they did potato stamping and had heaps of fun (and mess!)

Very tall indeed

I finally put up the height measure chart that we have and measured Xander's height this morning. He is a whopping 85cms tall!
Saturday was our last time looking after Michaela, so to sort of make it special we took Xander and Michaela grocery shopping and they spent the entire time in the Wiggles car trolley! It played music the whole time round the supermarket and kept them nicely entertained.
Nita stayed the night and she and i had a girls night watching Bridget Jones' Diary 1 & 2 and stayed up til the wee hours of the morning (i've missed doing a girls night!). On Sunday we took Nita and Michaela (and Xander of course!) to the miniture trains and we had great fun going for rides.
Sorry no pictures - i forgot the camera!

20 Months Old

Wow, can't believe he is 20 months already! It also means only 2 months to go til baby arrives!
We are still working on his eating dinner, but it is getting better - he is actually trying what i'm putting in front of him which is good. Although i don't know if he has just figured out that if he tries it and doesn't like it he will get something else!
Another plus is that he is now sleeping until 6 or 7 rather than 5 or 6 which is great!

New Words and Hospital

Xander is having his last (hopefully!) procedure on Wednesday at 7am.
His new words include: door, cheese, toast, wiggles, milk, mat, boy, down, up, move and shoes.

I had a day to myself yesterday. Xander spent the day with Michaela while i relaxed and had a massage - it was wonderful! Only 10 weeks or so to go until baby arrives and i feel like i have so much to organise!

Rainy Days

With all the rainy days lately, Nita and i decided the kids needed a run around so we took them to Lollipops playland - it was very busy with all the school holiday programmes!
They had great fun in the cars, going down the slide and the ball pit. Xander didn't last long in the ball pit as he was a bit tired and kept crying when he couldn't move which was almost always, and since i couldn't get in there with him, he got out. But he loved playing in the cars most of all.

Race Car Driver

Wiggles

When we got home from our weekend in Taupo there was a package on the doorstep with lots of wonderful clothes from Granny and Grandpa.
This is Xander's favourite - his Wiggles jersey. He asks for this as soon as he is awake in the morning!
Granny also included a knitted jersey which Xander has worn once and it's really warm. Also included was a pair of Wiggles pj's and a Thomas the Tank Engine top - neither of which Xander has seen yet as they are size 3 and i wouldn't be able to get them off him!

Day with Dad

I woke up with a major headache today so Alan stayed home and looked after Xander.
They had a great time putting down the cot - with lots of help from Xander of course!

I could hear lots of giggles and laughs all day.
They even ran some errands for me and Xander went to the park where he spent most of the time playing with a construction resembling a car.

Having a drink