Oscar you are 14 months old – Mummascribbles

My darling boy. I stopped writing monthly updates because there isn’t always something to say. Instead, I decided that I would do it when I had enough to say that could fill out a whole blog post. And now, at 14 months old, there is plenty to tell you!

Probably the most important thing would be that you are walking! Not permanently and not yet properly outside (although yesterday you did walk from the end of the road to our front door holding my hand!), but you are confidently moving around the house and at playgroups. You took your first steps at 13 months – later than I thought it was going to happen. And even then, it was only odd ones, between me and the sofa or from a toy to the coffee table. It stayed like this for a while whilst you built your confidence up and then you started letting go of things yourself and moving from thing to thing. You now move around quite freely although you still end up sitting on your bottom if too many steps are needed, and you like to know that there is something to grab hold of when you need it. And you still prefer crawling because you are much, much faster at that!

In a way, it’s not such a bad thing. I know that the day will come when you are confidently walking outdoors, and you won’t want to go in your pram on the school run, which will make for a much longer walk! I do love seeing how proud of yourself you are though, quite often with a beaming smile on your face or on the odd occasion, clapping yourself well done!

You are communicating a lot more now. You haven’t said any distinct words yet but there are certain things that we know what you mean. When you point at something and say ‘geh’, I know that you are either showing me something that you want me to look at or you are telling me that you want something. You love the Thomas Take and Play sets that we have and as they are out of reach, you have to tell me that you want to play with them, which you do quite obviously.

You have also put ‘yeah’ and nodding together. You have literally just learnt to nod, and more often than not, you are nodding yes to something and making the sound at the same time.

You also get extremely excited for food now and when you want another mouthful, you say ah, ah, ah, repeatedly until you get it! You get particularly excited about mummy’s homemade lasagne, mummy’s homemade shepherds pie and yogurt!

Speaking of food, you are generally doing so much better at eating now. You will happily wolf down your Weetabix most days, you love your snacks throughout the day, and lunch and dinner usually get met with happiness. A week ago you came down with a really rotten cough and cold and you went completely off your food which was a bit of a worry, but you seem to be back on it again now which is a relief. The easier eating might have something to do with the four molars you have coming through, making chewing a lot easier! You have 12 teeth now (although we suspect there are even more coming through!).

You aren’t the biggest fan of being strapped into places. You don’t very much like your highchair and you certainly aren’t a huge fan of your pram – particularly when we do the school run. You are a boy that likes to be free and as soon as I start putting your coat on to go out, you know you will be going in the pram and you get all huffy, sometimes having the biggest meltdown for the first half of whatever journey we are making.

That said, you love napping in your pram. You are down to just the one nap a day now and it is always in your pram or car seat (mostly the pram). You sleep at around about 11.30 and usually have a good couple of hours rest before you wake up ready for the afternoon. If you wake up to soon and want to stay asleep, you have a meltdown until I put you on the boob and you’ll either have a drink and relax on me or you’ll fall back to another sleep. Which can make the whole trying to stop breastfeeding you in the day a bit tricky, but we are getting there!

I can’t quite believe that we have been on our rocky breastfeeding journey for 14 months. It’s pretty amazing really when you think about it. Most days you do go without if you have the correct sleep and then only need it at night, but sometimes, when you need comfort, the only thing that will suffice is boob. I don’t mind really – when you latch on, breathe a sigh of relief and your little eyes roll back with with that sigh, I know that at that moment, I am doing the exact right thing for you.

Sleep is still really hit and miss. You mostly seem to have your daytime naps worked out, as I mentioned above, but the evenings and nights are just a mismatch. Sometimes you will sleep all evening and only wake up when we come to bed. Sometimes you wake up once, sometimes a few times. I never ever know what kind of evening I am going to have. Heck, last week when you were poorly, I could only get you to sleep on the bed and for two nights it took two hours! That said, you did discover that you can fall asleep on your own. It  has happened not quite a handful of times but after having boob (and not having fallen asleep), you have drifted off with me stroking your back or singing to you. It is a major step forward and I am going to try and keep giving it a go as and when you let me!

For the majority of the time, we still bed share. Next to me is where you are happiest – you sleep so much better, I sleep so much better, and whilst I know it is not ideal, it works for us. And I won’t lie, I blooming love having you snuggled up beside me. Sometimes as you drift back into sleep without the boob, I put my arm around you and snuggle around you and honestly, it is just the most beautiful feeling. So often I wish I could get into Zach’s bed and snuggle into him the way I am able to snuggle into you. You are both so extra precious when you are sleeping – my beautiful boys.

A new little thing has stemmed from you learning to lay down and go to sleep and that is when you are tired, you just randomly lay on the floor! Just this morning, we were at a playdate and it started getting close to nap time and you kept laying down, cheek to the carpet, and stayed there for a few seconds. Quite often if I ask you if you are tired, you will show me that you are by laying down on the spot where you are. It’s not quite as comfortable to do on our wooden floor – maybe I need to buy a rug for the front room. A cosy little space for you!

I mentioned up above that you like to have a good meltdown and whilst I feel there is a whole blog post to be written about your tantrums, I couldn’t not mention it in here! Seriously, you are like a thing possessed. I don’t remember your brother having such epic tantrums so it’s all a bit new to me. You throw your head back, you flip out, you cry and scream, thrashing around everywhere. You even headbutt things gently, the floor, the sofa, the wall. I didn’t know one year olds could tantrum quite so much but you have shown me that it totally happens! Hopefully you are getting it out of the way now so that the ‘terrible twos’ are as easy with you as they were with Zach. I have this feeling though, that is not going to be the case at all and that you are going to be a little terror!

I try to get out with you every day now, finding something to do to keep you entertained. Our Baby Sensory journey ended when you were 13 months old (the maximum age that you can go until) and it’s been hard to find a replacement.

We do now go to Jo Jingles and you love it. You love playing the musical instruments and dancing on your bottom. I just know that when you are up and moving around properly, you are going to enjoy dancing and singing. It really is a fab class and I am so glad that I signed us up!

The other things we do are mostly stay and plays. The local children’s centre on a Wednesday morning, and a playgroup at the church on a Friday. Monday’s and Thursdays are a bit trickier as the groups that are on are for 18months up and so we can’t go to those yet. It won’t be long though! But sometimes we just go out for a walk to feed the ducks or we arrange a playdate with someone. You just get bored if you are stuck at home and your only napping in the cot means that I am always flexible to be anywhere in the morning! You love soft play so I might have to factor that more into our schedule!

You have this huge fascination with doors and drawers and want to open everything! I am forever moving you from one door and then I find you at another! Whether it’s Zach’s cupboards, the ones under the stairs or the freezer! Your favourite thing is to empty the plastics cupboard!

I think that is pretty much everything covered! It’s a pretty epic update because it’s been so long since I wrote the last one! It’s safe to say that you are thriving and I am so proud of the gorgeous (if a little temperamental) boy you are growing into!