Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014 was a lovely one! With Dexter being older and therefore more aware of what was going on, it made the whole thing so much more exciting for us.

The nursery was having a Storytime With Santa event in the play gym leading up to Christmas so we took Dexter along to meet Santa for the first time. He was a little unsure at first but after some singing, dancing and a festive story (complete with funny voices that made him giggle!) he came round and was more than happy to strut up to the front by himself to collect his present and have his picture taken :)

Following this, we just had a nice relaxing couple of weeks planned. Dexter got into a great habit of having lazy mornings and most days he didn't wake up until 9am (we were thrilled) although we got a little impatient waiting for him to wake up on Christmas day. I think we were more excited than he was haha

Needless to say, Dexter loved opening all his presents but I think he enjoyed eating tons of food even more. His Christmas dinner was almost as big as mine!! He was so into the spirit of everything too and didn't want to be left out in pulling crackers or wearing his hat.

It has been a great Christmas and a fantastic 2014.... here's to next year! 

Nest Photography Photo Shoot

Two Years Old!!!

Okay, so our (not so) little man turned 2 today! and over the recent months, we have watched Dexter continue to develop, learn and grow. Both physically and mentally.

His speech has come on leaps and bounds recently and he's even beginning to join words together, forming sentences more and more. He has begun singing nursery rhymes now too. We'll often hear him over the monitor at night singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to himself in bed before he goes to sleep.... it melts my heart.

He is coordinated enough to drink from a normal glass or cup now (and not chuck water all over himself)! He confidently uses cutlery at (most) mealtimes - sometimes we do just have to accept though that hey, fingers are quicker! haha

And a few weeks ago, my big grown up boy had his very first 'sleepover' at his nan's house. In 23 months he had never slept anywhere other than his own bed and had only ever spent one night away from us. I'm pleased to say he was as good as gold in our absence, went to bed on time and slept THIRTEEN hours giving everyone a lie in. Part of me is proud. Part of me is gutted he didn't seem to miss us haha.

On Sunday 9th November 2014, Dexter got dressed up in his smart new outfit ready to welcome our families who joined us to wish Dexter a Happy 2nd Birthday!! He got lots of presents and in return he showered all his guests with kisses and cuddles (aww!).

And this morning, Dexter awoke to be overwhelmed by a room full of presents. What to open first?! He has been spoiled rotten by (thank you to everyone who bought gifts, he/we really appreciate it)! He was much more in the spirit of present opening this year too. No sooner had he selected what to open and torn the paper off it was on to the next one :)

He was so engrossed in it all this year that he didn't even want his breakfast. Once the toys were open he didn't know what to play with first but made sure he played with everything! After a much needed nap and a spot of lunch, the three of us headed over to The Tropical Butterfly House for a family day out. What a fantastic afternoon it was :) There were so many different animals for Dexter to see, pet & learn about. He had an amazing time!

And after a fun-filled couple of days, my little guy is now tucked up in bed, soundly sleeping. A little older and wiser. And definitely more handsome than ever!

Love you baby boy, mummy and daddy are so proud of you xxxxxxx

My trip to the dentist!

"Now that I have all 20 of my baby teeth, I had my first ever visit to the dentist today.

The lady was very nice. She asked me to open wide so she could have a good look at my pearly whites. I told her how I brush twice a day and she was very pleased with me.

I even got this awesome sticker for being so good!"

- by Dexter Fleming, 23 months

21 Months

Another three months have passed us by and all of a sudden it's time for another blog entry...

Yes, today Dexter is 21 months old.

Since he has conquered the two biggest milestones a child his age will go through (first steps and first words) it seems as though there is little to report.

In actual fact Dexter has changed massively in the last few months. But this "massive change" is made up of lots and lots of little things...

He is unbelievably confident on his feet now. Walking. Running. Walking backwards. Tackling stairs, both up and down (with a little help of course, I'm not careless enough to let him do it alone!)

He can say so many more words than he could on my last count. I would say well over 40+ clear, understandable words used in the correct context (most of the time). And the number just keeps increasing as he has become the resident parrot, copying what we say. And being ultimately chuffed with himself when he get's it right :)

Dexter's overall understanding has come on leaps and bounds too. He can comprehend instructions delivered in a much more complex manner than he could before. I'm sometimes amazed that something I say jokingly under my breath actually get's understood.

He can recognise loads of animals by sight and follow up with the correct noise that they make.

He follows routine with minimal prompting these days too as he knows what is supposed to happen each morning and at bedtime.

He understands the concept of sharing. He often shares his food and snacks with us... whether we want it or not haha It's nice to hear from his key worker at nursery that he behaves in this same kind manner towards the other children there too.

Another thing Dexter has picked up that is so endearing is that he loves to make us laugh! He obviously notices when he does something amusing that we may have a giggle at, makes a mental note of it and breaks it out when he's in one of his funny moods. Throwing himself on the floor and pretending to fall over if his favourite. And he has perfected his fake laugh too :D He loves to play the comedian.

I feel I have waffled on here and yet it seems to be about so little. But it's hard to describe. Dexter is a little older, a little wiser and a little more coordinated. Physically he has changed very little, but his personality is rapidly developing and he is such a joy to be around.

I am so proud of my handsome baby boy xx

Eureka!

Today, we had a fun family day out at Eureka! with Dexter. It was a brilliant learning experience for him, even at this young age. He really enjoyed being able to wander freely around a public place and play with whatever he wanted. And the added bonus being that the entry fee includes an annual pass so we can take him again for free.

He had a great time & it was clearly a tiring experience, he was exhausted at the end of it!

1 and a ½

Today my little guy is one and a half! That's a whole 18 months that he has been in our lives and changing them everyday for the better :)

Physical Changes

In-keeping with the theme that Dexter doesn't do things by halves, his top two canine teeth made their (very quick) appearance together. So by the time he was 15 1/2 months he has 16 teeth! I am just waiting for those second molars to appear now then he will have a full set!

Needless to say that following his new found confidence with walking that he now insists he walks all the time. He's the first one at the door with his shoes in-hand waiting to be let loose. And he can even tackle the steps (with a little help from the railings) so he makes his own way to the car most mornings.

We are also trying encourage Dexter to exercise some better table manners and have slowly been teaching him how to use cutlery properly. I know he is still quite young for this and he knows full well that using his hands is far far quicker, but impressively he does give it his best try. Even if that only involves stabbing some food with his fork and then using his fingers to take it back off the fork to eat it haha - we are letting him take his time with this one but we offer him cutlery each meal time and more and more he tries to use it.

Developmental Changes

Dexter has only added a few extra words to his vocabulary recently but his favourite one has been doggy and since he learnt it, everything is a doggy.... bless his enthusiasm. Needless to say we try encourage him to learn the correct names for animals. However, he is getting close to being able to lion properly. We bought Dexter a lion money box and whilst it's still only understandable to us that this is what he is trying to say, he knows for sure that a lion says ROAR! and is his new favourite noise to make... and expression to pull for photographs....

He also loves to vroom vroom when he is playing with this cars :) and although he hasn't learned an abundance of new words to say recently, he can certainly understand an awful lot! He knows what certain facial/body parts are and can point to them when you ask him to (he is obsessed with belly buttons at the moment).

He can follow simple instructions such as 'fetch your shoes', 'put that away' and 'would you like a drink?' And he loves to imitate. I feel my obsessive traits with cleaning are slowly rubbing off on him. He copies me plumping the cushions, he wipes his own face with wet wipes and when we get a flannel to clean up after meals he starts clearing his own highchair :D

In final news, Dexter has recently moved groups at nursery. Since he started in January, he has been a little duckling, outgrowing the 0-18 month group at a fast pace. But now he has been allowed to spread his metaphorical wings and fly. He has moved up to the little tadpoles group and is back with children of his peers, children that can run and play and engage with him. He seems to enjoy it so much more and he has made a new found friend in his new key worker, Daniel. They are best buds! and Dexter's face lights up when he sees him.

Every new day is an adventure with kids. I love being a mummy xx

Dexter @ 18 months

Watch me run!

Dexter has well and truly found his feet, yay...

One! (and a quarter)

So, I decided that after Dexter turned 1 year old that I would reduce the blog entries to every 3 months seeing as development slows down considerably at this stage.... and then loads seemed to happen.

We were so excited recently when Dexter took his first steps completely unaided but unfortunately there is little more to report on that. He is not running around like a maniac just yet, but he keeps attempting it. Practice will eventually make perfect, but at the moment he still prefers to crawl.

However, there has been plenty of other things going on to compensate. In addition to the abundance of adorable chattering, Dexter can now say FIVE different things :) We've now got: mama, dada, all gone, hiya and yeah. He shakes and nods his head but I've not had that defiant NO! yet

Dexter started nursery one day a week in the new year and he seems to enjoy it. The staff are always telling us what a lovely, happy and well-behaved little boy he is which is so nice to hear. However, being in close proximity with other children has opened him up to getting illnesses. A few weeks ago, our little soldier had chicken pox and although he was poorly, he was very fortunate! He had only a few spots and seemed to recover from it very quickly.

But as if fighting off chicken pox wasn't enough for his body to cope with, in true Dexter style, more teeth started coming through in pairs! In addition to the 8 front teeth, Dexter now has 4 molars (one each side, top and bottom) and both his bottom canines... that's fourteen teeth!! Fourteen!! I'm sure kids his age shouldn't have that many?! But he is so brave and makes such little fuss about it that we don't even know he is teething until we see a whole tooth where there previously was just gum :)

Dexter is turning into such an adorable little person, with tons of affection for his mummy & daddy. He loves his cuddles but now he even gives kisses. He is such a loving son, we're so proud of him xx

Dexter @ 15 months

Today I went to nursery...

"Today was my first day at nursery and I had lots of fun.

It was beef stew on the menu for dinner today and cheesy broccoli pasta for tea with bananas and custard for pudding, it was so yummy!

My favourite parts of today were playing with the toy cars, meeting some new friends and charming the nursery workers with my cheeky smile.

It was all so exciting that I didn't want to miss anything so I didn't even take a nap. I was super tired when I got home and had an early night.

I can't wait to go again next week"