On Children: Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Teeth....

Mummy has had a sore tooth this week. I think one of my (very) old fillings may be working loose. I forgot to mention that at his Two Year Check they asked about Jamie's teeth and whether we/he was cleaning them. I said that he always wants to have his toothbrush whenever he sees us cleaning our teeth, but whether he is actually brushing them is another matter. She suggested trying to clean then for him but do it as part of a game and let him clean my teeth at the same time!!

Somewhere along the line I acquired a leaflet which states we should start brushing our child's teeth twice a day as soon as the first tooth appears! All of the toothbrushes we have used so far have been given to us - I think all of them have come from the SureStart Centres. I think I have bought the last lot of toothpaste but again I think the first few tubes were freebies.

Reading the leaflet I seem to be cleaning my own teeth wrongly. The leaflet says to apply toothpaste to the dry toothbrush and after brushing spit out only and do not rinse with water. The leaflet states that we should supervise brushing until they are at least 7 years old and:

• The easiest way to brush children's teeth is from behind. For a young child, sit them on your knee, or stand or sit behind them.


• Cradle their chin in your hand with their head resting against your chest. This way you can see into their mouth and reach their top and bottom teeth more easily.


• Always brush gently by moving the brush backwards and forwards in small circular, movements, bristles angled towards the gums.


• Be gentle. Brush all round - don't miss any surfaces of the teeth.


• After brushing the child should spit out only, not rinse with water (the fluoride left in the mouth will work after brushing).


• Some dislike having their teeth cleaned so try and make it a fun part of your child's routine.


• Change your toothbrush every 3 months or sooner if it gets out of shape.

Leaflet produced by: http://www.amsinternational.net/

Vocabulary

On Tuesday I tried to write down everything that Jamie said during the day and when daddy got up (after a night shift) he helped as well. It would be silly to write down here all the words that we noted, but we managed to write down over 70 separate words that Jamie said during the day. This included all the words that he used whether wanting something, playing or generally, as well as the words he said as I read to him and asked; 'Whats that?' Most of the words were of one syllable (dirt, mine, hands, socks, tree, slide, race, more, pop, spoon) but there were a number of two syllable words (hammer, heavy, bubbles, raisons, Weetbix, Choclate, and of course Peppa!). There was even an attempt at 'Potatoe', and a few instances of two words strung together i.e. 'juice gone', 'On No', 'Oh dear', and words with actions i.e. 'out' and pointing to the door or 'there' / 'back' and pointing. There were also other words that we were not sure of what he actually meant and then there was the babbling; where Jamie obviously knew what he meant but we had no clue!

From an early age, we have always counted to Jamie whenever possible. One example is as we lift him out of the bed we always say; 'One, Two, Three'. This week we have actually been able to hear / witness him counting. It has not always been in the correct order and whether he actually understands the concept I am not sure but its a start....

Two Year Check

Popped along to the local SureStart Clinic today to complete Jamie's two year check. We had been sent a form to complete which highlighted any problems. The only ones that stood out were Jamie's tendency to sleep with us and his language skills. The Health Visitor was really encouraging. She weighed and measured Jamie. He is on the 91% centile for both. Weight is 14.8kg and Height 91.5cms. She said as far as the sleeping in our bed was concerned - if we weren't bothered by it then that was all that mattered. As she said; "He won't be in there when he's 19!" So I am happy to continue as we have been doing. It isn't every night he ends up in our bed and at least now he is getting into his own bed at bedtime some nights....

As for his language skills, the only concern was that he is not really putting two words together as yet. He has however, got a wide vocabulary and does understand most of what people say to him. He does point and indicate things that he wants, he does have ideas of concepts; such as hot and cold, and he is 'vocalising frequently' i.e. making sounds and chattering even though we don't necessarily know what he means!! She suggested writing down all the words he says in a day to get some sense of how many words he does actually know. She was pleased when I said I limited TV til 9am in the mornings and I told her how when reading not only do we say 'Point to' but we also now say 'Show me'. The Health Visitor commented on his prematurity (which I had forgotten) and said this could be a factor even at this age. She said to go back to the clinic in 3months if things had not improved. This is what they said to Nicola at Will's 2year check so am not too worried as yet!!

While we were talking, there was another little girl who was older than Jamie and she was playing with the toys in the middle of the room. The Health Visitor was able to see Jamie interacting. He came over a few times for reassurance from me. I said things like; "Its ok, you can play with the toys as well", so she saw Jamie was quite social. She highlighted that Nursery would help with his development and not to worry that I was not doing enough with him.

I got quite tearful at one stage and explained how I get so anxious about him. She said this was perfectly natural and if I still felt like this is a few weeks - after mine and Dale's jobs had settled down - I should go and see my GP and ask about some counselling.

I came away feeling better. I just need to just cut myself some slack, stop trying to live up to unreasonable, self imposed standards and just GET ON WITH IT!!

First Trip to McDonalds

Met up with Will and Nicola at McDonalds yesterday. It was Jamie's first time and mine since before Jamie was born (I often had a McChicken sarnie and large fries when I was pregnant!). Glad to report that Jamie wasn't that bothered and I can't say I had an 'enjoyable' time - other than the company of course.

We then went for a trip to Sainsbury's where they have a Clarks concession. Jamie had his feet measured and one was size 8 and one size 8 and a half. Both F width. So we bought some Peppa Pig / George trainers that weren't from Clarks (and a third of the price!)

First Party Invitation

Jamie came home from Nursery today with his first proper party invitation. It's from a girl called Tessa. That's all we know other than the date, time and venue. Not sure of her age or the reason for the party but I am so proud!!

Sometimes we just need reminding....

What a weekend! Had not seen cousin Lucy for ages (November last year) and boy can she talk! On Saturday afternoon it was a deciding game for Lincoln City. Christine was desperate to go but had agreed to spend the afternoon with Nanna Mo. Just before I took Jamie off for our playdate I said ‘Lucy is welcome to come with us’ and after a moment’s thought Christine decided she would risk it. To be honest looking after two, two years olds was not as hard as I thought it was going to be; though I was glad that Nicola was there with Will; especially when it came to opening and closing car doors. (Note to self: new car needs to have central locking). Jamie and Lucy (and Will) were very well behaved. I kept saying; ‘Have you met the twins?’ We had such a good time playing with Will's birthday presents; slide / tree house and bouncy castle we all decided to go for Ice cream at Daisy Maid. On the way I heard the end of the football and so we all thought it better if we stayed out a little longer but I did take them a tub of ice cream back to sooth the pain.….

Tuesday I took Jamie to the library to see the Bookstart Bear who was doing a session on pirates. Only trouble was Jamie screamed his head off when he saw the big bear. I think this might have something to do with daddy playing mountains with Jamie and asking 'Where's the Bears?'. Is this another phobia Jamie is going to develop along with Bees (which is actually all insects) ??

Had an awful day yesterday. My PMT / Periods have gone ballistic since I have had Jamie! Had to travel to Sleaford for a two hour course for work then travel the hour back. This was all after trying to change my phone from a contract to a pay as you go. Had planned to go out in the evening and after leaving work early for a good lie down, I sent a text to say I might miss it. In the end I went out and was so glad I did. Told the girls how I felt about work (doing too many hours) and how I feel so anxious about Jamie and what could possibly happen to him. Karen commented she thought I was Stressed. When I thought about it I had to agree with her.

Child Locks...

After watching Jamie expertly open the passenger door at the weekend, today I finally got around to working out how to put the child locks on the car doors.

I should have tested them AFTER I had got out of the car!!

Panic Part 2

Saturday night we had a lovely evening with Karen and Neil, Nadine and Urs. While we were there Karen mentioned she had a few things that their children no longer used. In particular she mentioned a climbing frame which would be 'free to a good home'. Off daddy went to have a look and we agreed we would be that home!! So Sunday morning we went back with our tools and in a matter of hours Jamie was loving his new toy!! This only added to the lovely long (wedding bank holiday) weekend we have had in the garden with visits from Uncle Paul (Sunday)and then Nanna and Granddad for a small BarBQ yesterday; after collecting 8 bags of play bark to go under the frame!! Who needs to go abroad when we have everything in our own back garden?

And as I thought; both Nadine and Karen were less than happy with our tales of Jamie sleeping in our bed. However, when we got home from theirs, Nanna had put Jamie to bed with his bottle of milk and there had been no trouble after lights out. In fact, he slept all through til 7.30am and I had to go and get him out of bed!! Since then he has gone to bed with a story and his milk with daddy. Mummy has yet to try. And even though I told them on Saturday that it was daddy who was too soft, it was me who wanted to get him up and bring him in for a cuddle Sunday night!

And did I mention Jamie has now got a big boys car seat?