18 months now!

Bailey's now 18 months and a week old. He had his 18 month immunisations on Tuesday and he was fine, no reaction and hardly even upset, just swatted a bit as if he was bitten by a mossie but then was more interested in the Chuppa Chup the nurse gave him...
We've been having some issues putting him to bed for his nap and at night, but especially at night, he just stands up and cries and cries. Last night he was still going after 8.30 at night so we got him up and asked what he wanted to do and he wanted to sit on the couch and smile at us cutely.. cheeky boy!! But he has been having naps of nearly 3 hours, finisheing just before 4 so maybe he's just not tired when we put him to bed?? We'll keep persevering.
His favourite things to eat at the moment are grapes, pineapple, chicken and bread.
At his 18 month old check up he measured 11.7kg and 79cm so just below average which is good, he's starting to fit into more of his size 1 clothes, though we still have a lot of 0s and 00s and even a 000 shirt!
He's starting to make a lot more noises and experiment with different sounds - hopefully talking is just around the corner.
Favourite things to play with are bead mazes - he LOVES the one at Playtime so much, shape sorters and cars. Starting to love Thomas the Tank Engine too, loves when it comes on TV.
Think thats about all for now, Easter is just around the corner, we didn't get him much chocolate we got him a few little hollow eggs and a pull and go Thomas toy, but I'm sure he will be spoiled by the extended family!!

Family leaf

This is the leaf I made for Bailey to take on Tuesday to Playtime at the Caboolture Early Years Centre, they are making a huge Autumn family tree on the wall and they want all the families who use the centre represented to promote positive family and community. I reckon it's not too bad, the dodgy drawing lets it down a bit but it's ok hehe. :-)
He continues to be fascinated with the bead maze every time he goes to Playtime, it's basically the only thing he touches!!

Getting out and about

We had a really good week last week, we're finally getting some regular activities and new friends which is great! :-) This week we had a playdate at a friends house with 3 other mums and their children, Bailey didn't cry. On Tuesday we went to Playtime at the Caboolture Early Years Centre for the first time which was great, there were a lot of kids and lots of boys around his age. They run it quite well with lots of toys and art/craft things for the kids to do. Bailey just played with this bead maze thing the whole 'free play' time though! They had morning tea/fruit time and then outside play time. All the kids had fun and we will definitely be going back! And we still have Kindergym and went to the park with a friend on Friday.
Then on Saturday we met up with all the mums and bubs from our New Baby group from the Morayfield playgroup which was great. So a very social week. :-) Hopefully being around other kids more will help Bailey as in the last few weeks he has cried around other kids when they make a noise louder than a normal speaking voice!
Our other challenge at the moment is teaching Bailey to play by himself or stay in a specified area when asked (like on the mat), only making tiny bits of progress though like 2 minutes at a time of him playing alone. Will keep persevering!
Here's a photo I took of him yesterday, love it!

Fascination with numbers

Bailey has had a fascination with numbers for awhile now. He always asks us to read the 'educational' type books he has (like about numbers or the ABCs) and not the 'stories'. Whenever we walk around the neighbourhood he has to stop at every letterbox to point at the numbers, number plates, the street electricity box things, every time he sees one anywhere he has to stop and touch it. He can tell the difference between a letter and a number, and can find a number anywhere. If a book just has words and we ask him to show us a number he turns it over and shows us the ISBN or barcode number. He is good at counting too, he'll count how many wheels on trucks and toys and the spot parts on the blocks and points to each thing only one time.
When we are doing drawing and I put numbers on the paper he gets so excited.
Not sure if this is normal behaviour for a 17 month old, but yeah Bailey just loves numbers. Will be interesting when he can talk to see if he starts 'counting' himself and saying the numbers himself.
Pointing out the numbers on the side of planks of wood at his Grandads.

17 Months

To get started on this blog I'll give a rundown on where we're at right now.
B is 17 months old, loves playing with cars. Last week he had an ear and throat infection and was very miserable and hard to deal with and then developed a rash from the medicine he was prescribed. Fortunately he is over it all now and back to his normal happy self.
This week we went to Kindergym on Monday, he is the youngest one there (it's for 18 months to school age really) but he does enjoy it and I think it's good for him to participate in structured activities and give him a bit of challenge and a chance to develop his gross motor skills.
I've been really missing interaction with other mums and kids as this year our regular playgroups haven't been happening as most of the other mothers are back at work. We've caught up a few times with one of our friends which has been good but I have been wanting something regular. I think B gets bored at home as he can be quite clingy and whinge at home and doesn't like me to go away from him but when we're out of the house he's quite happy to go off and explore independently.
We went to the Caboolture Early Years Centre yesterday and found out they have a few programs there we might be able to go to which would be great for us both, but we went along today and it had been cancelled (possibly because of the massive amount of rain we have had all week) but will try again next time.
B's behaviour was a bit better today, he is enjoying the 'new'/old toys his Nona gave him on the weekend (which used to be Tim's and his brothers when they were kids) and when he was napping I set up the playroom differently and put his little table and chairs set in there and he was excited to see it was all different. A change really can be as good as a holiday. :-) Only watched 2 shows Roary and In the Night Garden which is good.
He ate a lot of fruit today, his favourite things to eat right now are grapes, pineapple, strawberries (when we have them) and chicken or fish fingers. That last thing is probably not so great but its good to have a food he can eat on his own without me having to spoon feed him. He had shepherd's pie for dinner tonight - it was a good idea to cook in bulk and freeze a couple for when Tim's running late home and we can't all eat together.
Anyway I think that's quite enough for my very first blog, will write more when I can!