Hi everyone, sorry for the 6 month hiatus, Life with a toddler certainly is different to life with a newborn, and the time has just flown by.

Nearly saying words: Liam;s been attempting to say things like “ear”, “light,” and he now says mamma and dadda repeditively. His first repeated words besides mama and dadda were “toot toot” and “uh oh.”

Liam can now also:

Wave “bye bye”

Hi-five

point to his head and tummy, and tries to point to eyes, ears and nose but gets mixed up.

point and gesture to what he wants

climb off of the change table

Fetch items such as ball, nappy, shoe, toy, etc.

running

walking backwards

open and close his drink bottle cap

helping stack and unstack the dishwasher

can place objects in the bin and washing basket (and toilet)

Understand words and small phrases like “bath” “eat” “car”, “we’re going”, “drink it”, “no / don’t”, “yeah,” “come on,” “go’, etc.

learning to spit food out

learning to throw a ball forwards

on the brink of learning to kick

can turn around in a circle

retaining memory of slippery floors, and dangerous places; for instance he is super careful around door frames, steps, and in the shower and bathroom area when the floor is wet, and if there are obstacles in his way or narrow walking spaces he will run up to them, then carefully wonder through, then run again.

Liam can pick up and place down objects skillfully now, and he knows himself in a mirror, photo, or film clip.
He could pick up a 3L milk for a few seconds.
he is currently in size 0 clothing, but can fit anything from 00 to 2. Most size 0 and 1 pants fall off of him though.

he is starting to ge tthe concept of a spoon / fork now.
He has also learned that things can inside of other things, etc.
His artistic side is starting to emerge, he can draw lines and dots now with paints, pencils, paints and chalk, and he is definately right handed!
He can walk up steps with assistance (hand hold) or else he crawls up them.
He is also starting to take an interest in dressing and undressing himself, but can’t do these tasks yet.

he has recently had his first temper tantrum, and it seems that his security is his bottle of milk and a dummy.
he has also wanted to co-sleep with us now, and has a fear of being left alone with the door shut.
we’ve been trying to stacking cups games lately, which he loves, and he is sometimes fussy with food, now refusing salad items and chewy / textured or larger foods.

He has one nap a day now most of the time, and currently attends occasional care without Michael or I once a week, and also attends a playgroup weekjly with us there. he doesnt seem to have any issues at all with others, or with us playing with other kids, or even with us leaving!

If we tell him to pick something up or get doen, he usually does.
he can dance if we say dance (by bouncing), and I got him a baby born doll with a bottle that he likes to play with and feed. sometimes he also offers the doll his dummy. I’ve also been using it to show him nappy changes, etc.
he can get in and out of his toy car and his toy trike now (pedal toys) and he has a small playgym in the back yard, which he is hesitant to play with unless we are there with him.

he can ‘brush’ his teeth, turn taps on, lift the toilet lid, etc, close doors, and climb onto tables from other objects. he can now easily climb up onto his chair, and his booster seat on a chair, etc. he is almost tall enough to reach light switches, and understands what they are for. If we say “light” he will look at the light.

he is still very musical and seems disinterested in cars and other boyish things.
His favourite song is still the fox song, and he also likes Justine Clarke, The Wiggles, Matilda songs, small Potatoes, Big Block Sing Song, and Baby Jake.