So many small things happen day in, day out. And over a period of time it all equates to quite a significant change in Dexter and his development - although only updating the blog every three months means it can be easy to forget so much of what has happened :( But here goes, this is a rough picture of what's been going on from 25-27 months old.... Ok, so shortly after his second birthday Dexter went through a bit of a phase. When things didn't go his way we would end up with a Dexter shaped heap on the floor, kicking his feet and sobbing into the rug. "Oh dear!" we though... "is this the start of terrible twos???" Oh no, not the terrible twos. The timing would seem right. Other peoples experiences would suggest that this was probably what it was, and why would we be so lucky as to escape this dreadful stage? However, a phase was exactly what it was. Short lived. In hindsight it was probably more about him knowing what he wanted but struggling to express it properly. But Dexter's vocabulary seemed to step up a gear almost over night. He can now say up to four or five consecutive words at a time in a clear and understandable manner (that's quite an impressive sentence as far as a two year old is concerned)! and is learning more and more complex words by the day - he surprises us with some of the things he can actually pronounce. So once he was able to make us understand a bit more, the tantrums stopped. Phew!
Dexter @ 26 months
We attended Dexter's parents evening at nursery back in December in preparation for his move to the Jumping Frogs room. They showed us all his progress reports, lots of fun pictures of his daily antics and told us he is meeting or exceeding expectations in all areas which makes us very proud parents :) Since his move to the new room in January he has made loads of new friends. And being around older children means he is learning so many new things from them which is good.
Part of the progress chart they showed us stated that around this age he might start to show a preference for which hand he uses... and funnily enough we had started noticing this without even realising. We think he may turn out to be left-handed as this seems to be his hand of choice and most dominant hand in a number of activities:
Dexter can now also count from 1 to 5 without any prompting. If we're lucky he can make it up to 7 but more often than not the numbers tend to trail off or get muddled after this point! And recently, he started being able to correctly identify and say the names of an array of shapes too. His new hobby is pointing out shapes that he sees in day-to-day activities.
We began attending our first term of swimming lessons together last month and so far, Dexter really seems to be enjoying it. He is definitely gaining more confidence in the water. His new favourite thing is jumping in and he has even been 'swimming' under the water :D (You can read the blog entry here). There have been lots of little tweaks to Dexter's personality over the last few months. He has a better understanding of things. He can say a lot more. He just seems grown up somehow. He is incredibly affectionate and loving. And much to my delight, still such a mama's boy. We can't wait to see what the next 3 months will bring.......
Today we were up bright and early to take Dexter to his first swimming lesson with Puddleducks (starting out in the Kickers group) and I think it was as much fun for me as it was for him :)
As soon as we got to the pool side Dexter was itching to get in! After a bit of swishing and splashing (and bubble blowing in the water) he was really into the spirit of things. He had no problem getting water on his face and in his eyes. He thought jumping in was loads of fun. He was happy and confident enough for me to let go and float him off towards the instructor and back again without any hesitation.... and those few seconds that he was completely unaided in the water were obviously great fun as he has a huge smile on his face on his way back to me :)
Let's see how he get's on next week when we try underwater swimming (eek!)
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!
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
"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!"
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