Monday 25 April 2011

Cup final

Sleep

Elliott woke at 6am this morning.


After lunch he had a nap for about an hour in his bed.

He went to bed at 7.10pm but took about half an hour to go to sleep.

Food

Elliott had Corn Flakes for breakfast.

He had sausages, mashed potato and 2 peas for lunch with a yoghurt pudding.

He had a toast for tea.

He had his Easter Egg buttons as a morning and afternoon snack. 

Toilet

He had 1 wee accident during the day and he did his poo while he was having his nap today.

Naughtiness

Very good again today - the only slight problem was getting him to leave places when it was time, even with 5 minute warnings, but counting worked each time.  

Activities

In the morning we went to the beach with the playground in Bournemouth (Alum Chine). We did lots of sand castles and then we went for a paddle in the sea which he seemed to love - he actually wanted to go all the way in so next time I'll bring some swimming trunks! Then he played on the playground for ages and was really good about waiting his turn for various apparatus as it was really crowded.

After we got back to Downton we dropped in on the leisure centre where Friends Provident FC were playing in a cup final. We watched the end of this (they won) with Harry, Martha, Noah, etc. He was really good and didn't try to run on the pitch once and then at the end he hada run around with Harry for 10 minutes.

After his nap we did some more alphabet recognition, played Connect 4 (sort of) and played football in the garden for quite a long time. We also watched some Humf and read some stories.

To see photos of today visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottsweekends/.

Sunday 24 April 2011

Easter

Sleep

Elliott woke at 6am this morning.


After lunch he had a nap for about an hour and a half in his bed.

He went to bed at 7.30pm and went to sleep quickly.

Food

Elliott had Weetabix for breakfast.

He had roast lamb, new potatoes, roast potatoes and carrotts for lunch with a yoghurt pudding. Unfortunately he add no carrotts despite some extensive encouragement!

He had a toasted hot cross bun for tea.

He also had some Buttons Easter Egg for snacks, though the buttons are yet to be eaten. 

Toilet

He had 3 wee accidents during the day - all 3 in the morning.

He also had 2 poo accidents in the morning, though on both occasions the poo was quite small and solid so easier to clean up than sometimes.

After his nap he was brilliant with going to the toilet himself!

Naughtiness

Very good today, only had to be asked twice occasionally and when he was responded well when reminded that we'd been talking about how he should be doing what Daddy asks him.  

Activities

In the morning we stayed at home and did a lot of playing with castles / toolkit / alphabet abacus (seems to have craked a, b and s) / trains and cars. We also did some drawing and some puzzles. And we went outside in the garden and played catch with balls and a balloon, pus some football.

After his nap we went to the park in Fordingbridge and he ran around a lot. Normal sliding / see sawing / climbing, but also he was beginning to climb some more adventurous looking aparatus (while I stood next to him) and he was sliding down a pole on his own after being helped onto it.

Finally after we got home we watched some Spoungebob Squarepants (like to mix it up a bit when I have access to Sky) and generally relaxed before doing some more letter recognition just before bed. Again a, b and s came out strongly, though really not sure how long he'll retain that for and s does sound possibly a bit more like a hiss than phoenetic, but very impressive to me all the same.

To see photos of today visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottsweekends/.

Saturday 23 April 2011

Old Harry's game

Sleep

Elliott had a nap for about a half hour today. He fell asleep in the car on the way back from Salisbury and so after we got home I stayed in the car while he slept for a while.


He went to bed at 7.15pm and went to sleep quite quickly.

Food

Elliott had Rice Crispies for breakfast.

He had sauasge sandwiches and breadsticks for lunch.

He had spaghetti bolognese and a yoghurt for tea.

He had some biscuits for snacks as elevenses and tea. 

Toilet

He had 2 set accidents during the day - 1 in the morning in the park and 1 in the afternoon at home. Other than this he was brilliant.

He did his poo before he got dressed so still had his nappy on today!

Naughtiness

Overall he was really good today, although towards the end of the day he was a little difficult but was visibly tired. He also didn't want to leave the park today when we were with Matt and Harry so I had a chat with him on a bench - but he responded very well to this. No time outs needed today. 

Activities

We went to visit Matt, Lara, Harry and Albert in the morning. Lots of playing and some gentle baby cuddling from Elliott to begin with. Then we went to Victoria Park with Matt and Harry where there was a lot of football, some golf and lots of slides / swings / climbing frame, etc. Then it was back to their house for lunch and some outdoor play. All really good fun and he was really well behaved with Harry and shared quite well. He did play up a bit when it was time to leave the park and their house, but on both occasions quickly started behaving better after some focused words.

In the afternoon we went into Salisbury with Granny to do some shopping. We went to Clarks and got his feet measured (between 8 and 8.5, so haven't grown that much officially!) and then we bought some new sandals. Then we went for some coffee and he chose water and drank from a bottle very well.

After we got home plenty of playing with toys and some watching Humf - and we did some alphabet recognition and he got pretty good with a, b and l - though be interesting to see if he remembers.

To see photos of today visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottsweekends/.

Monday 18 April 2011

Swimming with wings

Sleep

Elliott had a nap for about an hour today. He fell asleep in the car on the way back from Bracknell and so after we got home I stayed in the car while he slept for a while.


He went to bed at 7pm and went to sleep quite quickly.

Food

Elliott had Wheetos for breakfast.

He had fish nuggets, potatoes and beans for lunch and declared beans his favourite thing (unpompted) - he had a few segments of satsuma for pudding but not all of it.

He had toast for tea.

He had a half of Bounty for a snack after swimming in the afternoon. 

Toilet

In the morning he had quite a few wet accidents (3) which came as a bit of a suprise.

But then when we were out around lunchtime in Sainsburys he actually told me he needed to do a poo and so he did his first ever poo on the toilet with me in a Sainsbury's toilet! He seemed fine with the pooing, but he didn't want to do too much wiping of bottom afterwards so in the end I had to give up and use a wet wipe myself to avoid him pulling his pants back up onto a dirty bottom. He had done a few wipes himself though.

After this he was perfect for the rest of the day and after swimming back in the flat was taking himself off to the toilet for wees.

Naughtiness

He was a little bit naughty today, especially during the morning. It was nothing major but quite often I'd have to ask him to do things a number of times before he would, or he'd have chosen his breakfast and then not sit down to eat it, or he'd throw more colouring pencils on the floor when I was actually asking him to pick the ones from the floor back up, etc.

I did quite a few counts and these led to 2 time outs when he didn't do as asked after the count. Eventually I stopped him from playing and had quite a focused word with him about silliness and made him look me in the eye while we talked about this and this seemed to help. I then followed that up later in the day by telling him he'd been much better and much less silly and that had made me happy and would have pleased you and there's no need for silliness, etc.

And before I said good night I told him again how pleased I was he'd stopped being silly when I asked him to and said thanks.

Activities

We spent the first part of the morning playing with lots of different things. The highlight was probably when he was doing some colouring and he suddenly drew a number 2 and said "look, the number 2" - and it was pretty good. So we did some more numbers but I'm not sure if they stuck (even though I assume it's easier he didn't seem so good with number 1 for example!) But that was quite good fun until he got bored and started throwing his colouring pencils about.

Then we went to Sainsburys. This came after the silliness chat and he was pretty good while we were there (I didn't have much to get, but he was holding my hand and not trying to pull me in different directions, etc).

After lunch we went simming which was brilliant. Before the arm bands we'd only ever been in the very baby pool, but we went into the imbetween pool and did a lot of supported swimming on his front and back (lots of kicking). Then he started basically treading water with less support and eventually he started doing this without any support and then even swimming a little. He also graduated from the baby pink elephant slide to this imbetween water slide they have at Carnvial Pool - it's quite shallow with a turn and comes out in the imbetween pool - he had to basically push himself along it as it's not particularly fast. He really loved this and then simming on his own back to the steps and doing it again (and again, and again...) So in the end we were in the pool for much longer than normal and he was nicely tired by the time we got home for tea.

So before bed we watched some Ben 10 and a bit of Madagascar in a nice relaxed state.

Monday 11 April 2011

I do like to be beside the seaside

Sleep

Elliott woke at 6am and had a brief nap in the car on the way home from Bournemouth at lunchtime.


He went to bed at 7pm and went to sleep quite quickly.

Food

Elliott had Rice Crispies for breakfast.

He had spaghetti bolognese for lunch with a yoghurt pudding.

He had toast for tea.

He had some custdard cream biscuits by the seaside as elevenses.

Toilet

He was really good again today, although a poo situation just after lunch.

Naughtiness

He was really good today so while we were out in the afternoon and came across a Swampfire beanie I bought it for him to say thanks for being such a good boy for Granny.

Activities

We went to the seaside with Granny in the morning (Bournemouth). This was really good fun and he really got into making sand castles (though predictably would not allow either of us to help him in any way - but interestingly through trial and error he soon identified that wet sand was better than dry sand and a fuller bucket was better than a half full bucket!) He was as fascinated as ever by the sea, but really good in not running off into it. There was also a little adventure playground by the beach so it was nice to break up time on the sand with the playground as well.

In the afternoon he and I went out to Fordingbridge for some park time (lots of running around) and a wander around the shops (where we met Swampfire).

We also did some reading and Gruffalo carding before tea.

To see photos of today visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottsweekends/.

Sunday 10 April 2011

Body boarding on grass

Sleep

Elliott woke at 6am and had no nap today.


He went to bed at 7pm and went to sleep quite quickly.

Food

Elliott had Rice Crispies for breakfast.

He had roast chicken, roast potatoes, new potatoes and a little brocolli for lunch, with a yoghurt pudding.

He had toasted hot cross bun for tea.

Again he had some rich tea biscuits as elevenses and also some of a magnum at the Sladen's house (very messy and seemed far more interested in the chocolate than the ice cream, though did have some ice cream).

Toilet

He was really good again today, although we did have 1 wee accident in the morning and a poo situation just after lunch (which I was expecting and good to get out of the way before visiting the Sladens).

I put him in a pull up for the first part of our visit to the Sladens, but after speaking to them, and because he still asked to go to the toilet and then did a wee on their toilet even in his pull up, I changed him to pants and he didn't have an accident

Naughtiness

He was good again today, just a bit of tiredness towards the end of the day I think, but I gave him choices like "bath or time out" and he responded well to this.

Activities

We spent the morning out with Granny. We went to Tesocos quickly to pick up and few things and had some coffee (he had a fruit shute) and he was really good - even when he realised he wasn't going to get a Ben 10 toy. We also did some play time with farm animals before lunch and then watched some Peppa Pig.

After lunch we went to the Sladens for the afternoon which was really good fun. We started off playing outside (with cun cream applied, meant to say was yesterday at Pepperbox Hill as well). This included Charlie and Poppy joining Elliott in football / pulling around each other across the grass on a body board / playing on a mini slide / playing frisbee (he didn't quite get the hang of it) / stroking guinea pigs in their run / playing with some water pistols. Then we went inside and he played with lots of Fireman Sam and Ben 10 toys with Charlie, really interacting well. Then we watched some Total Wipeout (he really enjoyed this, as it appears to Poppy and Charlie). Finally Poppy told him all about wildlife before it was time to go. He was really well behaved and good with the toilet once we'd switched to pants. He interacted really well with both Charlie and Poppy, and at times seemed to speak clearer than maybe even Charlie (though Charlie is pretty shy I think).

Anyway he was also really polite at all times and before we left he gave everyone a big hug which was very sweet.

To see photos of today visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottsweekends/.

Saturday 9 April 2011

Pepperbox Hill

Sleep

Elliott woke at 6am and had a nap for about an hour in the afternoon..


He went to bed at 7.10pm and went to sleep quite quickly.

Food

Elliott had Weetos for breakfast.

He sausages, mashed potato and a few token peas for lunch with a yoghurt pudding.

He had toast for tea.

He had a couple of rich tea biscuits as a snack at elevenses.

Toilet

He was really good all day with the toilet.

He did have a wee just before we left to travel to my parent's house and though I put him in pull ups for the car journey when we arrived and I changed him back to pants the pull up was very dry. He didn't ask to stop for the toilet during the journey, but we did stop after about an hour and he did go for a wee then.

Luckily for me his poo came while he was having a nap today, so again in pull ups.

Other than that though it was pants all the way and he's been taking himself off to the toilet which is brilliant.

Naughtiness

He was really good all day today, apart from spilling some paint in B and Q - he pulled a tin off a shelf while I was picking up another tin to have a look at. I didn't tell him off particularly as I think the shock of the tin hitting the floor and the weirdness of paint escaping from the tin was enough - but after we left the shop I did recap with him that it's not good to just pick things up in shops or accidents can happen and he agreed!

Also worth noting that because he was in the garden when I picked him up from nursery on Friday I didn't think to ask about Humungosaur - so he's been without Humungosaur for a while and so far has not been affected.

Activities

We spent the first part of the morning at the flat, where we did some scalextrix.

Once we got to Downton we spent the rest of the morning playing with Granny and reading stories.

After nap we went to B and Q briefly (see above), Mothercare to buy some sunglasses, and then we went to Pepperbox Hill where we did lots of running around and played some football.

After we got home we played with some Gruffalo cards and watched some Ben 10.

To see photos of today visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottsweekends/.

Monday 4 April 2011

More tea with Millie

Sleep

Elliott had a nap for about hal an hour this afternoon.


He went to bed at 7.30pm and went to sleep just before 8pm.

Food

Elliott had Weetos for breakfast.

He had fish fingers, curly fries and beans for lunch at a pub with Granny and me.

He had a sausage and aphabetti spaghetti for tea at Milly's house with a small chocolate bunny for pudding.

Toilet

In the morning it was the seond part of the parenting information course so he wore a nappy while Granny looked after him in Reading for 3 hours or so. This wasn't ideal but I took the decision that it was possibly a step too far to expect Granny to be able to circumnavigate accidents while out and about in town over that period and hopefully this won't have set him back too far.

For the rest of the day it was pants and there were 2 wee accidents, but also 4 toilet wees, including the normal before bath time wee.

However I had my first experience of a poo accident today, made all the more fun by it being a little runny and Elliott managing to trample some of it into the carpet before I could pick him up and get him into the bath tub for dealing with! However he didn't seem upset and once in the bath tub was very helpful and even used the wipes himself to clean up when his trousers, socks and pants were off. Good adivce on how to deal as well, though used shower for initial clothes scrubbing before washing machine.

Naughtiness

He was really good again today apart from just before his bath.

After we got back from Dave, Lucy, Millie and Elsie's he did seem quite tired and as bath was running asked for a pink juice orange. As I was getting this he came into the kitchen and asked for a bisuit. Unfortunately I am currently out of biscuits, though I wouldn't have given him one at that time anyway as he'd just finished tea and had a chocolate bunny as pudding. So I bent down and said gently "no biscuit now, you've just eaten and Daddy doesn't have any anyway". He looked a little perplexed and pointed at the cupboard so I opened it to show him there were no biscuits. At this point he started getting a little upset and saying "I need a biscuit". So I gave him his pink juice orange as a distraction and then moved him into the lounge for some pre bath Ben 10. However he wasn't buying it and fell to the floor proclaiming he needed a biscuit and getting a little worked up. So I said "it's not time for a biscuit and I don't have any". He continued his strop so I ignored him. However he became more and more worked up and ran to the front door talking about "needing to go shopping for biscuit". He then started banging at the front door. So I bent down and told him he was being silly and if he didn't go back into the lounge after I counted to 3 he would get a time out because banging at the door like that was naughty. As I counted to 3 he started actually kicking at the door so I picked him up to take him for a time out saying firmly "right, time out it is then". After I got back into the lounge (have no steps so do time outs on chair in lounge turning off computer) and put him down, still distressed, he turned to run away and banged his head into the table leg with some force. This led to him going into meltdown and it was a nasty bang. So at this point I abandoned the discipline part, picked him up and took him into the bedroom for a cuddle. By now he was crying badly and really worked up and breathless. So I cuddled him, stroked his back, patted his bum and kissed the bump on his head a few times. After he had calmed a little we went to the window to look at trees, flowers and birds outside as a distraction and this helped him calm down some. However it took quite a while (maybe 5 minutes) and he remained a little upset. In the end a bit of Caterpillar seemed to really do the trick and when he was back to himself we went straight to bath and it was almost like nothing had happened. However have been checking on him ever since, but no signs that bump on head has been serious (eg steady on feet, no nausea, hearing and sight fine).

All very unusual and haven't seen him like that for a long time, but visit to Milly was quite high energy and fun so suspect he was also quite over tired and hyped up.

Activities

Again he spent morning in Reading with Granny while I did final part of parenting information course. And again he seemed to have had a lovely time and was in good spirits after - though no toys bought for him this time!

Lunch at the pub went well and was nice, though took a while for him to start eating.

After we got home and Granny left he had a brief nap, but suspect he could have done with longer.

After waking and playing with cars we went to visit Dave, Lucy, Millie and Elsie and he had (and all of us) had loads of fun playing with various of Millie's toys, including a pretend tea with a tea set! Also some jumpy bed, butterfly catching game, a slinky, some soft toys and a balloon we brought from the pub. Plus tea and a quick Peppa Pig. Anyway lots of really good interaction with Millie again and lots of giggling - at one point he boffed her on the head with the balloon (it was aimed at me) and he gave Millie a hug (slightly prompted by me) to say sorry (she made a little more of it than I think was necessary as it can't possibly have hurt!)

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