This is a diary we kept of Alex's progress and development, from just a few weeks of age. It's presented just as it was written at the time - take all the doting parent stuff with an element of sympathy!

28 May 2001: 12 weeks old

Hi, Alex's Dad Chris here. This is where we're going to post Alex's progress. Of course, having a little one turns your life upside down and we should have started this twelve weeks ago when Alex arrived in the world. But we didn't get around to it, despite the best of intentions. The story so far: Alex was born on 4 March 2001 at the Rosie Maternity Hospital, Cambridge. He didn't seem disturbed by the experience, but it was a difficult one for his Mum, Dawn. She's fit and well now, and he's spent the last twelve weeks getting through the first size of babygros and vests. There are definite signs of a personality developing, albeit only one which parents can see. He sleeps erratically and cries unpredictably, but so does every baby, and these things are relative. Talking to other parents, I'd say we're having it much easier than most. At the moment Alex settles down to the night around 7-8pm, and goes through to about 5-6am with just a pit-stop for a feed about 1-2am. If you totalled up all the time he spends crying during the day, it wouldn't add up to an hour. That still seems tiring to us, but I think we've got a fairly easy ride. Other than that, he looks around at the world, has the occasional nap, and smiles happily when people make faces at him. That's really the only entertainment he wants, and has been for about five or six weeks, since he first smiled at the world, and wordlessly issued the instruction: "Entertain me". So, on with the diary. Who knows what the rest of this online adventure will bring?

3 June 2001: 13 weeks old

5.44kg (12lbs 0oz): Three months old today (13 weeks). Two noticeable changes this week: firstly, Alex has begun to realise his hands are under his control. He loves rubbing them together (maybe he'll be an accountant?) but he only associates making them do things with certain specific objects, such as his baby gym. He'll grab on to the toys hanging down from that, but he won't grab other toys held by hand. He'll also grab both sides of his feeding bottle. Secondly, he's left behind the repertoire of noises developed over the last 3-4 weeks to concentrate on his form of shouting - a noise which sounds like it's on the verge of crying but is just the one which can be performed most loudly. It's getting very noisy here for an hour or two a day! On Tuesday he went for his second set of jabs, and only cried briefly (brave chap!). On Saturday Daddy took him for his first walk in the baby sling which brought a huge smile to most of the residents of Cherry Hinton. What a star. We asked Jane (on Saturday) and Paul (on Thursday) if they would be his Godparents, and both agreed. Jane was really happy, Paul seemed pleased so long as his responsibilities could be limited to software support...

10 June 2001: 14 weeks old

Week 14, and we're discovering new things every day, aren't we Alex? This week's trick is certainly learning how to grab easy-to-clutch stuff, like towels, sheets, bibs and muslin squares, and shove them in one's mouth. The shouting - reminiscent of how a cat in pain might sound, we think - has subsided somewhat, but there's still plenty of noise. Sleeping has improved steadily with the introduction of an early evening routine of bath-feed-bed at about 6.30pm, leaving Mummy and Daddy with a whole evening to themselves before the street gets woken at 1am for a night-time snack. Mummy and daddy are, in turn, extremely grateful, as are any babysitters, who generally don't get anything to do. First full week in a big proper cot too. Now that's grown-up, isn't it?

17 June 2001: 15 weeks old

Big adventure this week: Alex's first venture into the swimming pool. Actually, as with so many baby things, the parents are far more anxious than the babies, and it only took some gentle instruction from the teacher to overcome all the apprehension. Mum's apprehension, that was. Alex just loved it, and wasn't fed up even after 20 minutes (by which time Mum had had enough!). Another landmark, although one which marks something passing rather than something new, was the first full day on bottle feeds. After introducing one bottle feed into Alex's diet after three or four weeks, gradually a few more have been added, until just a single breast feed, usually in the morning, was left. And now that's gone too. Mum won't miss them.

24 June 2001: 16 weeks old

Week 16 and we have to admit Alex, you're one heck of a well-behaved baby. On two occasions we had our first experience of sleeping through the night (or at least from mid-evening to 5-6am, which is probably as good as it gets). On the developmental front, this week's discovery has been that two hands are better than one when it comes to manipulating things (invariably mouthwards), but the big conceptual leap still to be made is that most things are simply too big for that little mouth. And although we saw Alex roll onto his side for the first time unaided, was it a fluke? Certainly turning 90 degrees in the cot or shuffling off a changing mat slowly is well within his capabilities, and I think that first success in self-propulsion gets our breakthrough of the week award.

2 July 2001: 17 weeks old

A bit hungrier this week, or was it all in the minds of the parents? Certainly an extra (i.e second) wake-up call in the night became the norm (again), and we were told if this happened it might mean baby was ready for "solids". So we gave it a try, and Alex had his first taste of real food (assuming milk isn't real food and baby rice is). Would he take to it? Mum stuck a spoon of the stuff in his mouth while he was in a particularly good mood, and as if by magic, it disappeared. So did the next one. And the next one. At last, our tall blond child has something in common with his father...

8 July 2001: 18 weeks old

We have one very happy baby here. Alex never seems to stop smiling. It's the hottest weather he's ever experienced, but it makes him sleep like a log, and there's nothing he seems to like better during the day than lying out on a towel in the garden, watching the trees and sky. And the fewer clothes he has on, the better. First full week of semi-solid food to accompany the milk, and Mummy has decided that if he's going to make a mess, he can do it himself. So he gets the spoon of baby rice put into his tiny hand, and he has so much fun trying to manipulate it into his mouth that we all end up in hysterics. He's taken to the baby rice ravenously, so something even more adventurous may be imminent. Oh, and - pause to switch into proud mode - did I mention that Alex can just about hold his own milk or juice bottle now too?

15 July 2001: 19 weeks old

This Proper Food thing is really the business. It almost seems like Alex is deliberately cutting back on the milk so he's got more room for the (mmmm) baby rice and pear, or pureed carrot. He just can't get enough most days, particularly on the evening feed, but also on the morning one too. Apart from that, he's been much happier this week when put on his front (he holds his head up and looks around for a minute or two now instead of just burying his face in the carpet and crying) and he can sit up with only light support. Crawling and sitting properly are probably still a long way off, but it's a start...

30 July 2001: 21 weeks old

Ah, the first food Alex didn't like the taste of. Good man, it was also the most expensive to date, namely Avocado. It also brought us a brand new expression ("Bleurgh, I don't like the taste of that thanks"). The other highlight of the past fortnight has been an exemplary behavioural performance at the Cambridge Folk Festival with barely a whimper of irritability despite being stuck in a pram for hours on end in absurdly hot temperatures. Whilst not showing any outward signs of enjoying the music, the volume certainly wasn't a problem, and nor was staying awake late into the evening. Last Tuesday Alex went for an "induction hour" at his nursery, where he'll be spending the day for a couple of days a week very soon. As with all these things, it was as much an induction for Mummy and Daddy as it was for Baby. It seemed like a happy place, and there was enough movement and availability of new faces to meet Alex's somewhat less-than-demanding requirements for entertainment. But we still have to get over the big hurdle of Mummy saying goodbye for the first time...

12 August 2001: 23 weeks old

First day at nursery, then second and third... and all seems well. Of course, Mummy and Daddy have mixed feelings when Alex doesn't burst into tears when we drop him off, but apparently he's immaculately behaved all day. We're convincing ourselves he's terribly excited to see us when we arrive to pick him up. At this age, it's all really a bit of a blur really: now is all that matters. Food still being hoovered up with gusto, and everyone's still commenting on what a happy (and alert) little soul Alex is. In comparison with other babies of the same age, he seems very lively, but he seems to be quite a way from sitting up unaided, which one or two of his contemporaries seem on the verge of doing, and as for crawling ...well, being happy to be on his tummy at all is a barrier which will have to be crossed first.

27 August 2001: 25 weeks old

Twenty-five weeks old, and some real breakthroughs in the last few days. Was it only a fortnight ago I wrote here "he seems to be quite a way from sitting up unaided"? Last Tuesday, in the bath, Alex discovered that if he put his hands out in front of him on the floor, they'd support his weight. And from there it was just a matter of a few days' practice. Five days later, in front of a roomful of onlookers at a drinks party whilst staying at Grandma and Grandpa's, Alex decided to show the world that he could sit up, unaided ...for over ten minutes. What a little star. Of course, if he's not distracted by something whilst he's sitting, he starts to concentrate too hard on the sitting itself, and promptly topples over. And he's nowhere near working out how to get himself from a lying to a sitting position yet (famous last words) - he still needs a hand up. But it's a great start. Sleeping has been more fitful over the last few weeks, with at least one and occasionally two requests for milk in the night. He's taking a lot too, but not much during the day since he went on to semi-solids in daylight hours. However, in between feeds he's pretty good, possibly thanks to a Baby Sleeping Bag which he really likes. Thoroughly recommended for any baby who (like Alex) prefers to be out of clothes rather than in them. with the sleeping bag, on these warm nights, he need only wear a nappy. And one more development: tonight we discovered Alex, for the first time, sleeping on his side all curled up. He's been able to roll onto his side during the day for weeks, but doing it in his cot to go to sleep is something quite new...

24 September 2001: 6 months old

A long gap since the last diary entry because Alex has been on his first holiday. Two weeks in the Algarve, and he had a lovely time in the sun. Or at least in the shade. He played happily throughout the flight, and continued the good form throughout, right until the last day when he showed symptoms of what (at the time of writing) seems to be a nasty little virus. But a great experience. The major breakthrough of the period has been two breakthroughs really: two lower front teeth. These came through within a few days of each other, and with very little fuss, it has to be said (a couple of nights with frequently broken sleep, that's all). The sitting up is getting much better now: although it normally results in tipping over backwards after a minute or two, this occurs under control now with no serious head-banging. Now we just have to work out how to get back up again, don't we Alex?

30 September 2001: 6 months old

Our first ever health scare last week, when the nursery rang to say Alex had developed a rash all over his back, tummy and face within a few hours of being there. Daddy rushed him to the GP, who said it was just the effect of a virus, and if Alex wasn't uncomfortable (he seemed as happy as ever) then it wasn't anything to worry about. It promptly went over the next 24 hours. Ah, to be as calm as a GP... The achievement of the week is rolling which has not only been mastered, but is an obsession. Even sitting up takes second place to this: no, I want to lie down again and get back to rolling. On my back... on my front. On my back... on my front. On my back... on my front. Hours of entertainment for (it has to be said) all the family. And Alex looks so pleased with himself! When on his front, he desperately wants to start shuffling forward, but doesn't look close to cracking the secret. We shall see.

8 October 2001: 7 months old

The rolling obsession continues, but now with a purpose, as Alex has realised he can get from one side of a room to another in a minute or two. He can also sit up perfectly now, for long periods, and is getting good at operating toys which require specific actions (such as hitting a toy keyboard in the right place to make a noise). The look on his face when he succeeds (and gets approval) is wonderful...

22 October 2001: 7 months old

Yesterday was Alex's Baptism. It all went well, with a lovely service at St.George's, Chesterton presided over by Rev Canon Pam Reed, a familiar name from a certain marriage ceremony seven years before. It was wonderful to be able to get Pam to do the baptism too. Alex was beautifully behaved throughout, and made everyone chuckle (including, fortunately, Pam) by blowing a large raspberry at the end of the sermon. He looked very cute in a little waistcoat and trousers. Afterwards everyone (Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Godparents and their families) went for a cruise up the Cam on the Riverboat Georgina where we had lunch and a great time, despite pouring rain. So many people, so much activity - poor Alex was absolutely shattered by the end of it, and was quite forgiven for being a little bit grizzly. Developmental progress report: Well, he gets up on all fours now, and rocks backwards and forwards - just a little more effort swinging forward, coinciding with lifting a hand off the floor and moving it ahead, and we'll be off.

4 November 2001: 8 months old

Eight months old today and plenty to report from the last fortnight. Two top front teeth have descended to match the two bottom ones, with a bit of irritation and sleeplessness, but I'm sure it could be worse. Now, however, we have the old Alex back - the happiest, most constantly-smiling baby we could possibly imagine. Has Alex said his first word? It could be. And it's "Daddy". He's been chatting away day and night, and at first, we dismissed it as just one of those random noises (and there are plenty) which sounds like a word. But this one's being repeated so much, and so deliberately, that it must be the real thing. He'd have been better advised to have said "Mummy" first, but there you go. On the movement front, Alex still hasn't made the leap from getting up on all fours to actually moving forward (the gentle rolling from side to side method seems sufficient to go forward at the moment) but it looks imminent. The stair guard is in place. However, a breakthrough of sorts was made this week when he successfully manoeuvred himself from lying down to sitting up. Finally, he's just started to eat in Olympic-sized proportions, three big meals a day and oddments in between. That one's come completely out of the blue...

19 November 2001: 8 months old

It's hard to believe, reading the last entry, that only two weeks ago Alex wasn't yet crawling. He now crawls and crawls all day long. His first hesitant attempt was at nursery, and it took about 3-4 days to get up to full speed. At the same time, he worked out how to get from being on all fours to sitting and back again, so he's now totally independent and needs no help from grown-ups. What a transformation. In the last few days he's been reaching up onto the coffee table, bath, stairs etc and hauling himself up almost to standing too. It's all a bit of a blur, in every sense (there he goes again!).

2 December 2001: almost 9 months old

There's so much to explore that there's little time for anything else. Toys, milk, food... they all seem to just get in the way of crawling. And this week, working out how to get up on our knees to peer into the bath or to see what's on a coffee table. It's all so exciting! Generally, although really happy, Alex hasn't been in fantastic health for the last few weeks - he seems to permanently have a cold, he's had occasional bouts of regurgitating his food, and his sleeping is still poor: we'd normally expect him to wake for milk twice in the night, e.g 11pm and 4am, and we get a lot of restlessness for the rest of the time too. People say it's teething, but there's no sign of any additions to the now prominent front four. We shall see!

16 December 2001: 9 months old

It's the middle of December, and rather festively, Alex still has those red cheeks ...but no sign of more teeth. Sleep - or at least getting to sleep - has been poor this last fortnight, with several wake-ups during the evening, and serious settling-down perhaps not happening before 1am. But the unrest is sporadic, and any baby who's that happy during the day can be forgiven just about anything. Having now exhausted the excitement of the new-found mobility, toys have once again become interesting, after a month or so when they only really got in the way. Two related advances have taken place in the last few days: the ability to pick things up and bang them together, and the ability to wave one or both hands back in response to someone waving. Mummy and Daddy have been trying hard to teach Alex the basic elements of sign language, which he definitely responds to, but the ability to wave is, we guess, the first crucial step towards Alex being able to do the signs himself. That'll be fun when it happens! Meanwhile, the Christmas tree has been set up, and already the mound of presents for Alex is threatening to spill out of the living room...

30 December 2001: 9 months old

Alex had a wonderful Christmas and was so excited by it all (to our surprise). He loved the boxes and wrapping paper in equal measure, slightly ahead of the presents themselves. A fifth tooth has just come through, after quite a few disturbed nights, and on the mobility front, he's standing (leaning against furniture) almost as much as he's sitting now. Still very, very happy during the day, hardly ever crying, and enchanting everyone. Night-times are a litle more fractious though...

20 January 2002: 10 months old

Alex's latest movements are as much as anything on the movement front! He can stand up with only one hand on some furniture for quite long periods, and he's not really leaning on it, although there's no great inclination to leave the comfort and safety that brings. But he's just discovered how to get up and push his little bricks trolley across the room, so the concept of putting one foot in front of the other is in place too. He looks so pleased with himself when he does it, with a massively wide grin which makes everyone else in the room laugh. The other big step forward has been on the sleep front: out of the blue last week, he slept right through the night (previously there'd been one or quite likely two wake-up calls which only warm milk would put right). Then he slept through the next night. And the next one. And every one since. Is this the sudden big change which so many people said would happen? It could be. 7pm to 7am is certainly good enough for Mummy and Daddy!

3 February 2002: almost 11 months old

If I had to characterise the last couple of weeks, I'd say it's been most memorable for the real onset of mimicking. From clapping hands to repeating words, Alex seems to have discovered copying (and the response it gets) in a big way. He's probably "repeated" a dozen or more words: fish, bubbles, cup ...even Grandad. He does it when he feels like it, and certainly won't "perform" in front of an audience, but he's become quite a little mimic. And of course, completely loveable with it. Now if only he could remember how to do those things without prompting...

17 February 2002: 11 months old

Although Alex's sleeping has been fantastic for six weeks or more now, the last few nights have been a bit more restless (and have on occasions had to feature a milk-feed) because the poor little chap's had Conjunctivitis, which means he's waking in the night with his eyes stuck together. Scary. Other than that, he's doing 7pm to 6.30am right through, waking for a little thirty second cry two or three times, but always putting himself back to sleep without any intervention. On Friday Alex had his first proper haircut, at the village hairdresser's, and was very good about it (rather bemused actually). Now he looks more like a smart young man, ready for his first birthday party, rather than a total wildman!

3 March 2002: almost 12 months old

Tomorrow is Alex's first birthday, and a brief review of his progress is, inevitably, in order. Even allowing for parental pride and overexaggeration, he really is an exceptionally happy little boy. He rarely stops smiling, grizzles only occasionally (usually when he can't get his way), and cries only when he hurts himself. Above all else, what people remark on most is how happy he is.
Physically, he's average height for a one-year-old (76cm), although we think he's well down the scale for weight (10kg? Nobody can be certain, he won't sit still to be weighed!). He eats and drinks consistently, but not in huge quantities. His blond hair has shown no sign at all of changing - even his Mum's had got darker by this stage, we understand, and his Dad was never remotely that colour. The eighth tooth is just popping through, and there are early signs of movement at the back.
Developmentally he's doing very well in the areas his Mum and Dad have been most keen on, especially communication. Although he's only just grasped the first sign in sign language ('milk'), his speech is advanced enough that sign language may not be of such usefulness as a stop-gap in communications after all, but it will help him grasp the concept of communicating, we're sure. He can repeat many words, particularly when he's in the mood, but more importantly he knows several words and their meanings, and can say them unprompted to refer to the correct object, notably Mumma, Daddy, bubbles, car (although this does mean most toys), rarah (Sarah, the name of both of his favourite nursery nurses) and gaga (yoghurt). He's attempting to feed himself with a spoon, but it's very early days for that one, and normally fingers go in quite quickly instead. Despite crawling well at an early stage, and standing up ('cruising' along furniture) soon afterwards, we're still waiting for independent standing and those first few steps. We can wait. He can play unsupervised for quite a while (half an hour is not unheard of) but does prefer to be played with, of course. His favourite toys are ones where he can post things, and easily, such as the house where balls can be posted down the chimney.
Sleeping has been very good for two months now. Alex goes to bed at 6.30pm without any objection, usually rolls over onto his tummy and goes straight to sleep, and will go through until about 6.30am. He may wake a couple of times in the night for a short cry of a minute or so, but will nearly always put himself back to sleep when finished. As parents, I don't think we can ask for more than that! Alex is, quite simply, a joy.

17 March 2002: 12 months old

No sooner had I written last time that Alex didn't seem unduly worried about taking those first few steps, than he took them! Nothing dramatic, just a wobbly couple of steps lurching towards one parent or the other before falling into their laps. But it may be a start. Alex had his MMR jab the other day, and was very good about it, but we're fully expecting him to have a fairly miserable time for the next fortnight (or at least that's what we've been warned will happen)...

31 March 2002: 12 months old

The effects of the MMR jab were, we understand, quite normal (a rash, bad sleeping and generally feeling under the weather for a week or more) but they've knocked Alex back a little, and he doesn't seem to have the energy to explore the walking much further. Still, there's plenty of time. He still has a wonderful inquisitiveness and enthusiasm to know about everything going on around him, and has kept up his reputation as being one of the smiliest babies around, despite not being a hundred percent. There's a lot of teething going on too, with the eighth and final front tooth making an appearance at last, and at least three (if not four) back teeth starting to show. We've had one or two "proper" new words - that is, unprompted ones referring correctly to the object in question (such as "cat", curiously, even though we don't have one and he rarely sees one), and he seems to be able to repeat almost anything if he's in the mood.

28 April 2002: 13 months old

A lot of growing up this month. In one amazing week, Alex 'caught up' in terms of progress with the two weeks he'd been quiet since the last jab. Nearly every day, there was something new, whether it was words, actions, teeth ...or walking. Firstly, Alex started to get up on two feet in the middle of the room, stand there, applaud himself, then fall down on his bottom. After that, steps followed. Within four or five days, it was half a dozen steps (usually then toppling into Mummy or Daddy's arms). Curiously, a week or so later, whilst he'll still walk at the slightest encouragement, he doesn't like to do it from a standing start, holding on to furniture, but instead prefers to crawl out into the middle of the floor, get up unaided, and start from there. It's still a showing-off thing though - when there's nobody looking, or when his concentration is completely taken up with getting from A to B, it's still crawling every time. His 'conversation' is really coming on.
After trying hard to follow the Babytalk programme from the start, you can see it's having an effect - we'd guess that Alex is saying more words than most of his contemporaries, but more importantly, they're usually said with a purpose, often naming things when he wants them. He's also mastered a couple of signs ("Milk" and "More") after some patient teaching by parents and nursery. Alex's most frequently used words and signs are, in approximate order, "bubby" (dummy), "ro-ros" (Cheerios), the "milk" sign, the "more" sign, "juice", "apple", "baby", "bird", "cat" and "car". Obviously, there's much more "babbling" than comprehensible words - Alex does seem to make far more "conversation" than most of his contemporaries - but overall, we're thrilled with the way he's "talking".
The weather has been gorgeous for the last couple of weeks, so we've been able to get out a lot more. Alex loves to take his brick truck out for a walk round to the neighbours' houses in the evening. He's also going to regular swimming sessions (which he seems to enjoy), play and music sessions (at Gymboree, which he loves), and music/movement classes (Jojingles, which he's just started). What with all that, and three days of nursery a week (Kids Unlimited at Fulbourn), Alex has a lot going on! He's also happy to stay with others, which is nice for his parents!

26 May 2002: 14 months old

Alex has quickly progressed this month from walking just for show, to walking with a purpose. In fact, he now no longer crawls at all. Ever! He's also got better at it, realising that he's got to look where he's going - the period of bumping into things lasted, thankfully, only a day or two. Plenty of falling over still of course, but seldom hard enough to get distressed about. He's still finding his place in the world though: he's being a little boisterous at nursery, especially with some of the less mobile children. Nothing malicious, just some friendly pushing! But above all else, we want to teach him consideration, which is why we need to put a stop to it.
The new-found mobility has preoccupied Alex for the last few weeks, and he's spent more time exploring than playing with toys, although he's still always willing to sit down and have a picture book read to him (or have the objects pointed out, at least). While one book rarely keeps his interest for more than thirty seconds, he's willing to go through several, one after the other! His speech has continued to progress, with some comments being added to all the objects he can name. These include "allgone" and "ohdear", which always make everyone smile. The number of objects Alex can name continues to amaze us: sometimes he can name things which we might only have mentioned once or twice, and hours or even days ago too. I guess it's only the normal sort of thing babies do, but it certainly impresses his parents! He's sleeping reasonably, although he's gone back to waking once in the night (usually around 11pm) and demanding milk. From then on he'll sleep until around 6am, at which point we get the hilarious half hour where he lies in his cot reciting all the words he knows, one ater the other, mixed in with lots and lots of babble...

30 June 2002: 15 months old

Now just about as mobile as he's going to get, there's no stoping Alex now. Walking has become completely second nature. On a couple of occasions (but still only rarely) he's put his hand up to hold hands, but usually he just likes to toddle off by himself. And he's quite fearless! In the park, he wanders off until he's just a speck in the distance, while Mummy and Daddy wait and see if he'll get nervous and come running back. Guess who cracks first.
Speech has continued to develop, with Alex's vocabulary of objects which he can name (particularly in books) probably now stretching to thirty or forty words. Even more impressive is his ability to name people, and remember their names when he sees them. He can point to, and name, a dozen or more people from nursery (Hannah, Ryan, Teresa, Tanya, Ash, Aramea, Lena, Olivia, Stanley, Matthew ...the list goes on), as well as a handful of relations such as Grandpa and Grandma. He can also sing, much to everyone's amusement, and joins in by the third line of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Often we'll hear him in his cot singing the tune and filling in words where he can ("Twinkle twinkle la la la, la la la la la la la. Up above the la la la...")
He's eating very well, with ham ("am!") having probably replaced yoghurt ("gagat!") as Alex's favourite food. But he'll try almost anything, including most of a full English breakfast with Mummy in the shopping centre after Gymboree music class on Saturday mornings. And gradually we're trying to move him from bottles onto beakers, during the day at least.
Alex's behaviour is excellent at the moment; he's much gentler with other children now, and we've only seen some very minor grizzles when he can't get his way. We're quite prepared (if you can be) for worse to come on that front. All in all then, still loveable!

31 July 2002: 16 months old

Not too much to report this month. Steady progress with the walking and talking, and there's been the normal succession of things to leave the parents speechless, such as when Daddy counted "one-two-three" oranges and Alex replied: "four-five-six!" Generally his behaviour is excellent, with only infrequent mild objections (the occasional bit of back-arching when he doesn't want to go in his pram) but certainly nothing which could be described as a tantrum ...yet.
He does seem to need a lot of interaction and won't play on his own for more than a minute or two (unless, curiously, other children are present), but he's very entertaining to play with, fortunately. Books are still the activity of choice, and he loves to point out what he sees as much as he enjoys being read to. Still no interest in TV - it's seldom on when he's awake, but when it is, he rarely gives it a second glance - and I guess we should be glad of that. And surprisingly still very little interest in knobs and switches, which is lucky.
Sleeping is reasonably good: 6.30pm to between 6.00am and 7.00am as a rule, with frequent small cries but at most one major wake-up, normally around 10pm, which can easily be quietened if there's a full bottle to hand.

29 August 2002: 17 months old

It's still all books as far as Alex is concerned. His communication is excellent: we guessed the other day that he can name at least 40 or 50 objects now (half of them animals - he loves his visits to Home Farm), as well as 20 or more of "Alex's People" (we've made him a big book of photos of people he knows). He's also regularly putting combinations of words together ("Alex's dinner", "Daddy's paper" etc). He eats well, and a varied diet, still showing a fondness for strong-tasting food: he launched into a jar of pesto the other night like it was the best thing he'd ever experienced.
One new thing this month has been the development of a sense of humour, in that he laughs at things spontaneously. We can't always work out why they're funny, but until now it's only been things like tickling which have made him laugh. Alex has moved up another class at nursery, to Toddler Three, and settled in within minutes, which was good. He certainly doesn't seem intimidated by new surroundings or people, although it can take him half an hour or so to come out of his shell when new people are around.
The main area where there's room for improvement at the moment is sleeping! Although he settles quickly when put in his cot around 6.45pm, he'll wake two or three times in the night, and has realised he gets our attention more quickly if he creates as loud a noise as possible. He'll calm down, but it can take a while. At the moment we're hoping it's just teething...

27 October 2002: 19 months old

Alex has continued to develop his personality these past few weeks, and is certainly one of the chattiest children of all his contemporaries. He can sing complete songs and rhymes such as "The Wheels on the Bus", "I Hear Thunder" and "Incy Wincy Spider", and can count right through to ten starting at any number. He's also putting two or three words together into sentences more often than saying single words now too (such as "Daddy read it", "Mummy carry", and his favourite in the shops, "Pay the lady"). So all the effort in encouraging communication skills seems to be paying off, with the intended result that Alex is a far less frustrated child than we understand is typical for his age. We rarely see tears during the day, and thanks to a bit of patience we're rarely seeing tantrums either.
Night-time is a different matter, and there's definitely room for improvement here. Alex goes to bed fairly co-operatively at around 7pm, after bath and "books on the bed", but will wake two or three times in the night with tears and needing considerable consoling. One solution is for Mummy to take him into bed with her in the spare room (with both of us it's all too exciting and he won't settle) but this is something we're trying only to do as a last resort. If we're lucky, after some warm milk and a lullaby he'll settle back into his cot. It's a bit frustrating, and of course very tiring. But we knew the rules when we joined.
Alex still loves nursery, and is there four days a week now. He seems to play well with the other children, and they tell us he's very well behaved, as a rule! He eats almost anything, but there's nothing better than sausages and beans for weekend brunch, often in town or at the swimming pool, where we all go most Sundays. And he seems to really enjoy staying away at Grandma and Grandpa's, perhaps because he's been used to it from the beginning, or spending a day with Sarah, his former nursery carer ...so Mummy and Daddy do get some time off!

30 November 2002: 20 months old

Well, we had our first crisis: Alex's finger accidentally got cut when he was having his nails cut, and it wouldn't stop bleeding, so we had to whip him down to A&E, but he was a brave little chap and didn't get too distressed over it all. The finger eventually healed up, and a couple of hours later it was only Mummy who needed some TLC (a large brandy). Alex also had a virus at the end of the month which necessitated antibiotics, so it's been a tough few weeks for him!
That said, in his good moments (which have still been the majority of the time) he's been brilliant. He's started to ask questions ("what's this?") and to say "please" and "thank you" quite regularly without prompting. As ever, there have been loads of incidents where we've just shaken our heads in amazement, such as when Alex named all the pieces on the chessboard (well, all bar the bishop) after Daddy had pointed them out to him ...two days before. He can "sing" the letters of the alphabet most of the way through, and his repertoire of songs now stretches to around a dozen, including all the Christmas songs they've been singing at nursery. He loves music in the car - with a particular fondness, curiously, for the Human League - and we seem to be getting away with our strategy of not introducing him to kiddies' nursery rhyme CDs, which we've seen elsewhere they can get obsessed with. Alex still sees almost no television, although he is taking a passing interest if it does happen to be on, but that's fine. We've deliberately managed to avoid putting him in front of it, and he's definitely gained from that extra time we've consequently been able to give him. Everyone (including the parents of children of a similar age) seems to be extremely impressed with his communication, and I'm sure the effort we've put in is making the difference. Thank you again Babytalk.
As for the terrible twos, no sign yet, so fingers crossed. He's certainly a very content, and very smiley little boy! Plenty of "dohnwantit"s of course, and occasionally he'll curl up in a ball on the floor and say no to something, but it's hardly what you'd call a tantrum. Let's hope things stay that way. But we're not counting on it.

29 December 2002: 21 months old

Alex really enjoyed (and understood!) Christmas, much more than we expected, with Father Christmas being a huge source of fascination. Sitting on the lounge floor on Christmas Day afternoon, surrounded by all those new toys, he was, for once, quite speechless. It was almost too much to take in, and he didn't know what to turn to next. He's learned lots of Christmas songs, like "Jingle Bells" and "When Santa got stuck in the Chimney", and regularly sings them through unprompted. With all this excitement, sleeping hasn't been great, and we normally get a couple of requests for milk in the night, accompanied by grizzling, and occasionally a more seriously upset session, but he is staying in bed now until 6.30 to 7am, which is the best part of 12 hours.
Speech continues to develop well, and particularly when Alex wants something, as he know it's irresistible, he'll put quite a few words together, such as the other night when - as usual - he decided he needed another dummy ("bubby") in his cot, and we heard from the bedroom: "More bubbies here now please Daddy". His use of plurals and possessives has appeared almost un-noticed, and is especially impressive. But for once, the communication side of things isn't the only area where leaps are being made: Alex has learned to jump! After several weeks of trying (and in front of some of the family), he suddenly worked out how to jump up on the spot. When you watch some of his contemporaries racing around the nursery, nobody would claim he's particularly advanced physically, and it doesn't help that he's still only 15th percentile weight, a position he settled on soon after birth. In fact, whilst some of the others are trying to see how hard they can hurl themselves at each other or into the wall, Alex will normally watch and then go off to the playhouse "to make a nice cup of tea" or something. Still, he can argue over possession of toys with the best of them!

26 January 2003: 22 months old

We have such a nice routine for Alex nowadays, I thought it would be worth recording. He's learning the days of the week (and it's, er, very early days there) but because we have a pretty consistent routine, he enjoys guessing what he's going to be doing at the start of each day ("Today is Tuesday, Alex, and on Tuesday we...").
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are nursery days of course. Alex still loves nursery, and he's just gone into his fifth class (Baby 1, Baby 2, Toddler 1, Toddler 3 and now Toddler 4). Daddy drives him there in the mornings, and we have a nice chat on the way; Mummy and Daddy alternate collection duties in the evening, and we have an even better chat on the way home: Alex can tell us who he's seen that day, and even some of the things he's done ("painting!", etc). He also points out what he sees on the way home (like "pub!").
On Wednesday, Mummy is off work, and she takes Alex to the Jojingles music class, then on the bus into town, to lunch (beans and sausages in Debenhams cafe, or nuggets at Burger King), and then to Gymboree. A bit of shopping, and perhaps a sleep, and it's the bus home. Alex loves his Wednesdays. He has a similar routine on Saturdays, sometimes starting the day at Gymboree music class. Great fun.
On Sundays we all go swimming to the Parkside pool. Alex loves this too, as long as it's his very fixed routine: changing, half an hour in the pool, watching people on the slides, getting dressed, and having lunch in the cafe (more sausages and beans). We might then go into town for a bit (Alex might have a nap while Mummy shops and Daddy reads the papers in borders), or we might go home and perhaps all go down the pub for Mummy and Daddy to have lunch, and Alex to have ice-cream. He is, it has to be said, very well behaved. We might then go and see friends or family in the afternoon, or have them round to see us.
And then it's Monday again...

23 February 2003: 23 months old

Just coming up to two years old: it hardly seems possible. And Alex is a real little boy with a personality now, no question about that. It's a very calm personality, for sure: if we see tears as often as once a week I'd be surprised. It's just constant laughing and smiling: "That's very funny!" is one of his favourite phrases. We just had him weighed and measured, and at 11.9kg and 86cm he's "in proportion" although down the lower end of the scale. That'll do.
Jigsaw puzzles are the big thing at the moment, having taken over from the post-Christmas favourite, the Happy Land road and rail layout. Alex has raced through from four- and five-piece ones to 28- and 35-piece ones, which don't seem to provide much of a challenge past the second or third time of doing. But being a little boy, it's not the challenge he's into, and the more he gets to know the puzzle, and the faster he can do it, the more he enjoys it. He still loves his books too, particularly any featuring Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder and Appletree Farm, and is starting to show an interest in drawing and colouring with crayons.

30 March 2003: 24 months old

Alex's birthday seemed to go on for a week or more. A party with Grandma and Grandpa, a party with Nanny and Grandad, a party with the family in Ipswich, and of course a party at home with friends. I'm not sure how much a two-year-old can understand about what's going on, but he didn't seem too disappointed that the following days weren't as busy.
We're seeing a few tiny tantrums starting (right on cue!) but as yet it's not a problem. Alex is very aware that no means no, and whilst you can see he's tempted to repeat a "naughty" act, he rarely does so at the moment. His attention seems to have moved away from toys, and even to some extent away from books and puzzles: he'd rather wander round exploring and "getting involved" at the moment. He loves pretending, or attempting, to help Mummy and Daddy around the house. His speech continues to amaze, with nine or ten word phrases appearing regularly ("Alex put dressing gown on and go downstairs now") and often adding some really cute copycat stuff, such as "er...", "I think..." and "probably..."

27 April 2003: 25 months old

OK, at last we've let Alex watch the television at home for the first time. He's seen it on often enough, but there's never been anything interesting to watch (football, the news etc) so it's never held his attention for more than twenty seconds. He's seen some children's programmes at nursery, but until now I don't think he'd put two-and-two together and realised that the TV at home could show children's programmes too! Were we mean to "deprive" him of TV for so long? We've always wondered! Babytalk suggests there's nothing damaging about TV, but it's simply time wasted: time in which he could otherwise be developing and learning. Who knows if it's right, but Alex's speech and his temperament are undoubtedly exceptional for his age, and I wonder if they'd have been so good if he'd lost a lot of interactive time to TV?
Anyway, however hard it is, we're sticking to the Babytalk advice and steering away from "talking inanimate objects" on TV. That means no Thomas the Tank Engine or Bob the Builder for now, but I guess the theory is at least we won't have a little one who's disappointed when real-life cement mixers don't talk back. Not that it's stopped him becoming a real Bob the Builder fan anyway, through the puzzles, books and toys. Keeping away from talking animals is one bridge too far to cross however, but it's a reasonable compromise! So Alex's first video was some episodes of the "Book of Pooh", and he loved it. For a few days at least, watching the video (and one or two programmes on broadcast TV) was all he wanted to do, but the novelty wore off within a week or so, and now TV seems to be just one more thing available to do should the feeling take him.
Curiously, since watching children's TV, Alex has also taken more interest in what's going on if Mummy or Daddy have the TV on: he can tell football from cricket (and even, incredibly, rugby, although that may have been a fluke), and when he saw two cars crash in the grand prix, he was talking about it for a week afterwards.

25 May 2003: 26 months old

This month's landmark has been potty training, or more correctly, toilet training! With the help of Alex's nursery, the basics of this have turned out to be surprisingly easy. We went from tentative sitting on the potty when reminded, to wearing pants most of the day and sitting on the toilet without help, in about two weeks. It was all quite a shock to us, as we'd expected this to be a really traumatic time. But Alex saw it as a challenge and was determined to do it all properly. Although it wsn't planned, I guess it was useful that toilet training has coincided with the time in his life where he wants to do everything for himself. Of course, Alex still has nappies at night, and we usually have one when we go out, but he can now get through most days at nursery or at home in pants without any "accidents". In fact, he gets very upset when he has one!
It's also been a big month in the swimming pool. Alex spotted other children using armbands and decided he wanted to try them too. For the first session or two, he did his normal thing, always wanting to be supported while he pretended to swim. But then one Sunday morning he suddenly said "Daddy let go now" and floated off! Now this is his favourite thing, and he's even insisting on getting himself out of the pool. Next up will be getting him to jump in without holding on!

29 June 2003: 27 months old

In amongst the chat the other day was a small but significant "because". Why is this significant? Because it means, we guess, that Alex is about to discover "why?" ...and we've been warned by other parents that "why" is something we're going to hear a lot. We'll see.
Alex has been getting a bit more physically active this month - perhaps it's the outdoors weather - and seems to enjoy running around much more than usual. He's still less inclined than some of the other kids at nursery to rush around the place like a maniac, but maybe that'll change. Videos have become part of the daily routine, but only in the half-hour or so before bedtime, which is all he's allowed. What cruel parents! Current favourites include Maisy Mouse and the kids singing on Jo Jingles. Toys are back in, after a few weeks when they seemed to hold less interest, particularly the Happy Land train set. What a good buy that turned out to be!

27 July 2003: 28 months old

Toilet training has gone like a dream, from one end at least. Alex now quite happily does it all himself, removing his pants and putting them back on afterwards, flushing the toilet or even occasionally, when he's used it, emptying the potty. However, that's just for a wee. When it comes to the big stuff, he's much more apprehensive, and nine times out of ten he asks to have a nappy put on so he can do it in that instead, but he's plucked up courage to use a potty on a couple of occasions, so we're hoping he'll get over it.
Alex's language and comprehension continues to impress everyone. For the first time it's now possible to have a reasonably lengthy conversation with him, discussing what he's been doing or what he's seen. There are sporadic examples of cause-and-effect in his sentences ("are you blowing on it to make it cold?") and he seems to know (and use) the relevant adjectives for almost every subject he talks about. He really is becoming a little person, who's genuinely good fun (for a parent at least!) to be with.

31 August 2003: 29 months old

Wow, what luck for Mummy and Daddy: Alex responded well to the reward of chocolate for sitting on the toilet, and now has no problem with the toilet from either end. That was easy ...it was, after all, something we'd been warned can be rather more of a problem with many children.
Meanwhile, we've at last begun to see a bit of rebellion. Perhaps not full-blown "terrible twos", but many days are "No" days. "Let's get dressed now Alex." "No". "Let's go to nursery now Alex." "No". "Let's have a bath now Alex." "No". You get the idea. Fortunately the objections aren't much more than token efforts (which is a fortunate on days when he says no to almost everything).
We've introduced Alex to broadcast TV (mainly the CBeebies channel, of course) and it didn't take him long to grasp the difference between that and videos, i.e the choice of programme is up to the broadcaster and he can't tell them what to put on next! At the moment it's restricted to bedtime (an hour or so) which means he's not demanding to watch it at other times in the day, presumably because he thinks he'd have to go to be afterwards. He's very keen on "his" music too, which is a fairly limited selection but he can pull out the correct CDs and skip to the right tracks, both in the car and on the hi-fi. "His" music consists of "Waiting on a Sunny Day" by Bruce Springsteen, "Carnival de Paris" (a.k.a. "Football Tuna" - don't ask) by Dario G, and "Breathe" by Kylie Minogue, as well as most of the CBeebies favourite tunes CD. A strange selection, but it could be much worse.

28 September 2003: 30 months old

A few tantrums at last! The "no" days seem to have gone, but then again, if you're going to have a tantrum about something, it can't be all day every day. We probably get three or four a week (usually over trivial things: "I don't want to go to the supermarket Daddy!") but in all honesty, it's not particularly alarming stuff. In fact, it may have peaked already, because Alex has quickly realised it's not getting him anywhere (Mummy and Daddy have had to be tough). He's even been "told off" a couple of times, for accompanying his "don't want to's" with hitting gestures in our direction. A major glare from parents, a walk-out and a demand for an apology usually achieve the desired contrition.
If this all sounds like Alex is becoming a little less fun to be with, that's not really the case. For most of the time he's as delightful as ever, with his inquisitiveness and desire to please still totally endearing to these besotted parents. His language continues to develop, although perhaps in less obvious ways: he now includes lots of helpful but unnecessary words in sentences, such as "also" or "even", which is quite impressive. And kicking a football in the park has become an appealing activity for Alex for the first time ...inevitably!

26 October 2003: 31 months old

Alex's tantrums seem to have gone almost as rapidly as they started, although they've definitely left behind a far more determined sense of what he does and (more often) doesn't want to do. However, like the tantrums, all this can be headed off with a bit of foresight and psychology. Of course he's going to say no to the question/statement "will you put your coat on please?". But if asked instead "do you want the blue coat or the black one?" he'll opt for one or the other, and all will be well. We go through this routine many times a day.
Videos are definitely the current favourite activity, and although we're still imposing a fair degree of restriction on viewing times (only in the afternoons, and never for more than a couple of hours), the amount of time spent in front of the box is creeping up. I guess it was inevitable. The week has a good routine though: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are nursery days, with TV when we get home about 4.30pm. Wednesday is spent at home with Mummy, and includes Jojingles in the morning. Saturday is usually spent firstly at "baby gymnastics" with Daddy, then possibly followed by a few hours in the city shopping with Mummy, or an afternoon with Sarah or Grandma/Grandpa if it's a football afternoon for parents. Sunday normally begins with swimming, and then often involves visiting (or being visted by) friends or relations.
Mummy spent a couple of nights in hospital this month, and Alex enjoyed visiting her, without getting too disorientated! However, he may have put two and two together wrongly: he knew Mummy worked (whatever work is) in the hospital, then he went there and saw her lying in bed: therefore, presumably, Mummy lies in bed all day when she goes to work, doesn't she? Well, that's what Alex has been explaining to Daddy. Still, it gets worse: Daddy works on a computer, and we all know the computer is only for playing with Rosie and Jim's website, so that's what Daddy must be doing when he goes up to "work"!

30 November 2003: 32 months old

Somewhat later than we'd somehow expected, Alex has begun to spend time on "imaginary play" by himself (with all his toys, of course). It's fascinating (and hilarious) to hear him conduct imaginary conversations between his toys, and whilst he still spends very little time playing on his own, he is at last starting to do so a little bit. His concentration span seems to be excellent for his age, and Mummy decided this month to see if he could sit through a movie for the first time. So off they went to the cinema to see Piglet's Big Movie, and Alex sat through the whole thing, transfixed. Well, almost: he decided he'd had enough ten minutes before the end. But a pretty good first effort!

28 December 2003: 33 months old

The months started with a week's holiday at Center Parcs, where Alex slept in a bed for the first time. The plan was that if it worked well, when we got back, we'd move Alex out of his cot and his Grobag into a bed and pyjamas. Not only that, we'd kill several birds with one stone, and move him into a new, larger bedroom. It went really well. For the first few nights after coming back, he needed a lot of reassurance at bedtime, but he took to the duvet (and freedom of movement!) very well, and equally importantly, understood that he wasn't to get up during the night. So far, so good on that front, although he does trot into Mummy and Daddy's bedroom as soon as he thinks it's "wake-up time" in the morning.
Christmas was a real treat, as Alex understood it all for the first time. We had advent calendars (chocolate every day? it doesn't come any better than that!), we left a mince pie out for Santa and milk for the reindeer, and we had stockings and what seemed like thousands of presents on Christmas Day itself. Somewhat overwhelming, but Alex was really well behaved throughout. A wonderful end to the year.