Look who's NOT talking.

I was once told that my standards are too high. This came from a good friend of mine, but I was also his boss. My answer to him at the time, was why weren't his standards as high. Surely everyone should strive to excel and be the best you can be at whatever you are doing.

Years have passed since he told me that and over the years I have come to realise he may have a point. Especially when it comes to being a parent.

THE POINT!!!

Many parents won't admit to it, but it's true, parenting is a competition and kids are simply the players. Some compete seriously, others just let the game pass them by. We fall into the last category. Although we have expectations of our kids, we won't be looking to trade any players based on their performance!

We have lots of friends who have kids, all around the same age (within a year or so) and you can't help but notice the differences. One kid will be walking by the time they are 12 months, others will be walking by 10 months. Some are already quoting Shakespeare, while others by the same age are still grunting and pointing to get their point across.

We are pretty happy with BB's development. He seems to understand most of what we are saying and then promptly ignores it! Lol! But it is getting more and more frustrating that he is choosing to point and moan rather than use words.
We have tried encouraging him to tell us what he wants, but it doesn't seem to be working. We're also not going to give up, as we know this could lead him to think he doesn't need to talk as pointing will get his message across.

Hopefully he will start using words and we can have a conversation with him, no doubt we will want him to be quiet in no time.

Have you had experiences of 'point and moan'?
How early did your kids develop the art of speech?

What can we do to encourage him further to use words?

I'm not worried yet, my cousin didn't mutter a word until he was 3 years old and now he's a very smart young man, so there's plenty of time yet.

As always, thanks for reading.
FTD

Silent Sunday

Things that go grumble in the night

Is 3 weeks too young for a baby to have his own room?

I cant believe I'm asking that question, but it's something we're considering.
I've now lost count of the late nights or early mornings, where I have ended up sitting downstairs with LB, just so The Mrs can get some un-broken sleep. (Although I have enjoyed some time alone with my Xbox!) That's not taking into consideration the number of hours, we've been kept awake, while trying to settle him after a feed or generally during the night.

On first appearance, LB appears to be sleeping soundly, a few wriggles here and there, but his eyes are firmly shut. Then, when you least expect it (or when you finally relax back into bed), the noises start.

Grumbles and moans, bleating lambs and demented goats. The sound a person might make during a nice big stretch or even what appears to be him trying to fill yet another nappy. During the day these sounds don't appear too harmful to a delicate ear, but when all is silent and sleep is eluding you, these sounds are amplified.You cold even go as far as to say he's snoring!

From reading the many experiences on line, this isn't a new thing. Babies have been doing it for years and it normally passes, but maybe not quick enough. This is continuing to keep us awake (The Mrs more than me) and when your getting broken sleep because of feeding, the last thing you need is something stopping you going back to sleep.

On the other hand, I feel bad putting such a young baby in a room alone. It's next door to ours, but maybe because it's not the norm, something in the back of my mind tells me I shouldn't consider it. We put BB in a room of his own after 6 weeks and I thought that was early, with LB I am considering it sooner.

Whats the earliest you would put a child in his or her own room?
Any suggestions on why he may be so noisy?
Any suggestions on where we can buy ear plugs in bulk?


Right, I'm off to try and doze while watching infomercials trying to sell me a steam cleaner.



As always, thanks for reading.
FTD

Paternity Leave:Take 2

I loved paternity leave the first time round.
A combination of both a peaceful baby and a wife that looked after him, all I had to do is help The Mrs settle into a breast feeding routine and keep the house running. If I am honest, it did seem like a bit of a holiday.

This time, it's been a little different.
Not only have I tried to keep the house running, I have also had a pesky little boy to chase around.
It's definitely been challenging, but we still have something that resembles home, so I must be doing OK!

It's been challenging, but as before, its been worth it.
The best thing about paternity this time round was, not only did I get chance to spend time with The Mrs and our beautiful baby boy, but I have spent lots of time with BB.
We have played and laughed and played and cried and been told off and cried and played and that's just ME!

It's been great to be able to spend some more time with him. Normally our time consits of days here and there. That's normally enough for me as I like that he is spending time with other people, so it was nice to have some time with him. Saying that, it was also nice when he went to spend some time with his Grandma and Grandad too! They do say you can have too much of a good thing! lol

I am back at work in the morning and I am sure by the end of the week, I will want to be home again with my beautiful family.

I am pretty confident, when I say I wont have paternity leave for the 3rd time as I dont think there will be a 3rd time and that's cool with me, but if you are about to take some paternity leave, enjoy every second, because it will be over far too quickly.

As always, thanks for reading.
FTD

2013: A year in Preview

Don't worry, the title isn't a mis-type, I'll save that for the post itself!

They say there is only two things in life that can be guaranteed, death and taxes! Well now blogging has become so popular, you can add 'Write a year review post' to every bloggers to-do list at the end of December.
Go-on, admit it. If you own, or owned a blog, then you have created one of these posts.

Now we have confessed and cleansed our blogging soul, we can move on. Instead of making such a cliche blog post, I figured I would do something different (probably not original). Instead of looking back at the year we have had, lets look forward to the year ahead! These aren't by any means resolutions, just stuff I am excited about in 2013.

2013, is already shaping up to be better than 2012. 2012 was a good year, 2013, is gonna be great. Why? Because I figure I have at least the following to look forward too!





BB's first word - Its close, but not quite there yet. He understand some of what we are telling him, we know this as he has learned to shake his head when we say NO! n the next 12 months, I hope he will become the little chatter box I know he will be. I'm sure by my 2014 post, I will be wishing he would shut up!








Registering BB for a nursery - They grow up so fast. It seems like only a month ago (not quite yesterday) that BB was learning to turn himself over onto his belly and back and soon he will be learning so many other things when we register for him to start attending a nursery.



Get healthier - You wouldn't believe me if you met me, but I'm not that unhealthy. Under this facade of fat and hair, is a streamlined machine of a man. Unfortunately he cant get out because of all the aforementioned fat and hair. In, my time I have started more diets than James Bond has drunk Martinis, but hopefully this year, I can start to shed some of this weight and with some help and support from The Mrs, increase my overall healthiness.



Make our house a home - We moved into our current home 6 months ago and although we are very settled, it's not quite how we want it. We need a wall building here, another knocking down there, a new kitchen and some more bulbs in the bathroom. Like all of the things I'm looking forward too in 2013, it wont happen over night, but I hope it happens!



BS's being playful - I know its early doors, but one of the positives of having kids so close together, is that they can entertain and play with each other. Hopefully by the end of 2013, BS will be a little more mobile and he can chase BB around the house..who in turn, will probably be chasing the dog...who in turn, will probably be chasing BS, so it should all work out in the end!








Well, I'm sure there is more, but I might bore you with those in another post.

I hope you all had a great 2012 and an even better 2013.
What are you looking forward too in the coming months? Let me know in the comments below.

As always, thanks for reading
FTD