Arthur has just turned 13 months, so I thought it was about time I did another update (I'm sure I'll be looking back and comparing when we have more children!), although 'time' isn't something I have had much of lately! From a nasty winter cold to his 12 month jabs, 2016 so far has been full of snot, sniffles and separation anxiety!
Routine:
Wakes up - although we still have some 5.30am get ups, more often than not he has been going back to sleep until 7am. We've even had a couple of 7.30/8am wake ups, but on the flip side he is awake ALOT in the night time...sometimes every 2-3 hours on a tricky night.
Since having his jabs and cutting some more teeth he has also wanted to breastfeed a lot more ( even sometimes during the day which he hasn't done since he was 6 months old). We're going with it. I have always fed on demand and the World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding until at least the age of two. It can be very common for toddlers around the 12 month mark to suddenly want to breastfeed more as a way of reconnecting and adjusting to developmental leaps.
(If you would like to read more on breastfeeding a toddler, then kellymom has a great link here and also some information on comfort feeding/nursing to sleep here.)
Breakfast - 7.30/8am
Playtime - 8.30 - 9/10am
Nap 1 - He usually skips this one now, although sometimes has a nap at 9/10am depending on when he woke up. Usually lasts about 30 mins if he has one.
Playtime - until 12 o clock
Lunch - 12 o clock
Nap 2 - between 1pm and 2pm for 30 mins to an hour. He has always napped in his pram/pushchair as it is the only place he would settle, due to the harness restraints so that he can't keep standing up and with the hood fully down to stop any distractions. This week he has started napping in his cot for the first time - but I do have to rock him to sleep in my arms first. We weaned Arthur off his dummy for a while back in December to see whether this would help improve his sleep, but it actually made it worse - so for now, we allow him to have his dummy (for sleeping only).
Playtime - until 4.30/5pm
Dinner - 4.30/5pm depending on how hungry he is.
Playtime - until 6.30pm
Bathtime - 6.30pm
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Ready for bed - massage, story, milk, cuddle 7pm
Sleep - between 7-7.30pm depending on how long it takes for him to fall asleep!
Night waking - Arthur has never slept through the night and wakes regularly, particularly when teething or unwell. I used to think it was just us, but this is a lot more common than you may think! If your child is the same, you are not alone. We feel very lucky to have the happy, sociable, active child that we do during the day - we have come to accept that for now, this just comes as part of the package!
Things he can do now:
Arthur has been walking for a couple of months and seems quite confident with this now. He is now learning other skills whilst walking such as kicking a ball:
Arthur kicking a ball: (Video link here)
He is also obsessed with the hoover! He loves to watch me hoover and if he sees food on the floor he asks for the hoover. As a result, he got a mini Henry Hoover for his birthday and he plays with it ALL the time! Often when he wakes up in the morning he asks to go and play:
Arthur hoovering : (Video link here)
Feeding himself - Arthur is still very fussy with his food, and what he will accept one day ends up all over the floor the next! He prefers to feed himself so we offer him lots of finger foods. He has recently taken a liking to his little fork and enjoys stabbing it into his food and then putting it in his mouth - this is a work in progress!!
At the moment his favourite foods are:
- Baked sweet potato / sweet potato wedges
- Roast chicken
- Babybel
- Cheese triangles
- Noodles
- Macaroni cheese muffins
- Homemade fishcakes
- Olives
- Blueberries
- Greek yoghurt
Speaking - Arthur is slowly adding to his vocabulary and seems to ask what everything is, all the time - often repeating the same question over and over and over and......
Here are some of the words he uses:
Star - "Staaa"
Teddy - "Tdee"
More - "more!" or "bore!"
Mamma - "Mamma"
Dadda - "Dadda"
Car - "taaa"
Grandpa - "pampar"
Grandma - "am-mar"
Hello - "heyoh"
Hi - "hi"
Yeah - "yah"
Sock - " cockah"
Noah - "Oah"
Ball - "bore!"
Trousers - "trsus"
Aled - "adid"
Hair - "hair" or "haar"
Eye - "ahhh"
Ear - "ehhh"
Arthur - "arta"
Nappy - "pappy"
Shoes - "shzz"
Cheers - "cheez"
Coffee - "coh coh"
Elmer - "airmer"
Understanding - Arthur is now starting to understand a lot more. For example, if I sign and say "food time" or "bath time" he will make his way over to the door ready to go. He will attempt to put his shoes and socks on/near his feet if I ask him to and if I say "shall I roll your trousers up?" he looks down at this trousers, pulls on them and says "yeah".
He has started to let me know when he is about to or has just started to do a poo by coming up to me and saying "poo". We aren't toilet training him yet, but I did ask him last week if he wanted to go to the toilet when he said 'poo' and he nodded, said yes and walked to the toilet, so I am encouraging his inquisitiveness by taking him there if he is interested.
He loves 'finding games' such as "wheres my nose/ears/eyes" etc
He is obsessed with making his Daddy a coffee in the morning and often asks "coh coh?" and points to the Nespresso machine. We let him press the button to make the coffee which he gets very excited about!
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| Arthur trying to get to the stairs to find his friend who is napping. |
Making relationships - He has started to become even more affectionate in the last couple of months, requesting cuddles and kisses, and greeting his special friends with a hug and a kiss. He has become especially caring towards his friend Noah who he sees for two days a week - fetching him his dummy/comfort blanket if he is sad, giving him books and toys to play with and stroking his hair and giving him a hug after nap times.
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| Arthur giving Noah a hug |
Technology - A contentious issue for young children, but something I think is important in today's changing world! The EYFS technology strand for children aged 16-26 months states that children should be able to " anticipate repeated sounds, sights and actions eg: when an adult demonstrates an action toy several times" and " shows an interest in toys with buttons, flaps and simple mechanisms and beginning to learn to operate them". - I think most of us will agree that many children learn these skills before this age simply due to the nature of the toys and products for babies available in today's market. I also think it is important to make technology real and meaningful for children so that they are able to make connections with real life objects. Therefore, although Arthur does have a toy phone and remote control, we do let him handle real ones.
Technology isn't just as simple as a phone or a laptop - most of our everyday household items use technology and your children will usually be learning all about them just by watching you! For example: cameras, hoovers, washing machines, coffee machines, TV, remote controls etc.
The only time technology should be something to worry about is when you are using it to excess or using it to replace other important activities such as using TV instead of reading a book etc.
Arthur on the phone: (Video link here)
Did your little one have trouble sleeping at this age? What did you find helped you?
Why not have a look at some of my other posts?
For all the Mummies going back to work...this one's for you
Having a baby - the things they never told me about pregnancy, labour and motherhood
The diary of a 9 month old escape artist