41 Months Old

Winter set in and in the blink of an eye Jack Frost had sprinkled his first dusting and you had turned 41 months old. This month has seen you becoming more cheeky, humorous and dare I say it…? More grown up.

Your vocabulary has been coming on and the depths of conversations we can have has been really interesting, and it makes me so proud to hear you really making an effort with your words. This month you have been telling me all sorts.

The one where I won’t put the roof down on the Mini.

Leo: ‘Mummy put the roof down’

Me: ‘Leo it’s far too cold to have the roof down today. It’s freezing outside!’

Leo ‘It’s not freezing Mummy!’

Me: ‘Oh yes it is Leo!’

Leo ‘Oh no it’s not Mummy! You naughty! I call Santa!’

The one where you cancel Christmas for the waitress in Frankie & Benny’s!

Waitress: ‘You make sure you eat all of your dinner up and then we can look at the puddings!’

Leo ‘No Christmas for you! No Santa come your house! No Christmas dinner!’

The one where you think I owe an apology.

Leo: You be nice me Mummy!’

Me: ‘I am being nice to you Leo.’

Leo: You hurt me! You say sorry!’.

We have been carrying on with the speech therapy and working closely with nursery, and I think it is safe to say that we are all seeing you develop. Your such a kind natured little boy, you care about how others are feeling and you always apologise if you accidently hurt someone. I was watching you with Josh just a few weeks ago, and something happened that resulted in Josh crying. I didn’t see exactly what but you took it upon yourself to say ‘Sorry Josh, I give you a kiss’. And that is exactly what you did, you gave him a cuddle and a kiss that was so  lovely to behold. Once upon a time you were the little boy who refused to say sorry point blank, but these days you are just so loving and affectionate.

November has seen you getting increasingly excited about Christmas, and it really is the first year that you have a proper understanding of what is going on. You can see everyone around you building up for the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, the Christmas lights appearing and capturing your complete attention. You talk about Santa and what you want for Christmas and even know that on Christmas Eve, the man in Red is going to deliver your gifts by sleigh and enter the house by means of the chimney! You have very quickly worked out that the weeks ahead are going to be full of magic and wonder, and at almost 3 and a half, you are in awe of everything.

You even had your very first Costa Hot Chocolate... and Loved it! The next day you put in your demands for a Costa and a Subway!

You are spying adverts on the TV and avidly watching them, and when the advert wraps you tell me ‘I want that! Santa bring it!’. I have had to explain that Santa can’t bring you absolutely everything that you want for Christmas, but he will do his best to make you smile.

A big development for us this month is that you are finally starting to ask questions. This has been one of the language developments we have been waiting for, and now you ask me ‘What’s that?’ about absolutely everything. You have the wording to help you ask what you want to ask, and you take in my answers and store them for next time. Your memory never ceases to amaze me, you can remember things that I thought you would have long forgotten. Down the road from our house each year a man puts up a rather larger Christmas Tree decoration in his front garden. Last year you were so impressed by it and you missed it for months after he had taken it down, and now that it is back up again you have told me ‘not in loft now, out of box!’ and remembered the entire conversation I had with you about what happens to Christmas once everything is finished, and you even remembered the tree.

You are still loving nursery, even if you have decided you don’t like forest school for the moment. When I asked you what you did while the other children were at forest school you told me ‘I have hot chocolate and biscuits!’ – I guess that is why you would prefer to skip forest school!

Naptimes are slowly dwindling but you still get so incredibly tired and grouchy in a afternoon, we have taken to having a sit down and cuddle together and maybe watching a film (currently Christmas films!), but with school creeping ever closer I know that we need to try and leave the naps behind so that you are ready to start school with your peers in 9 months’ time.

You are still doing very well with the toilet and have very few wet accidents, but we are still trying to combat the number 2 issue. You have done 2 on the toilet now, but it’s hit and miss. You hold out for bedtime when you have a nappy and do it within the first 5 minutes of wearing your nappy. I have tried getting you to go before putting your nappy on, I have even resorted to bribery… But somehow we are going to have to get you there. We both know you can do it, and I am sure it’s a confidence issue. But in the New Year we will be trying to tackle nights, which will mean there will be no more nappies!

As we prepare for Christmas I know that your 42^nd month is going to be filled with cheer and magic. There is so much to look forward to and as we embrace the festivities together, I know we are in for a wonderful time.