20 months

Weight:  He hasn't been weighed for a little while but he seems to be getting a little chunky - not in a bad way, just filling out a bit!

Health:  Things haven't been great to be honest.  We started the milk ladder with half a malted milk biscuit on a couple of days running - his sleep went to pot, he vomited a few times and his reflux got worse.  However, we're now thinking it might be coincidence as that was over three weeks ago and his reflux is still bad.  He's not really been sicky but he sounds really chesty after he eats or drinks.  He's had a really bad bout of hayfever or another cold this week, we aren't sure but I'm really suffering with hayfever so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the culprit.  He's now fully weaned from the breast (and has been for four weeks) so I'm back on dairy but he's back to being fully dairy free.  His behaviour has been a bit up and down since he weaned and I'm not sure if it's because he's feeling rubbish or just because he's not got milk as a way of calming down (I wrote a full post about it yesterday).  I did ring the GP last week about his reflux but I got an older, less caring GP who basically said he'd grow out of it and that was it!  I'm wondering if he's maybe outgrown his ranitidine dose but it shouldn't be such a drastic difference so I'm really not sure.  We are seeing the Paediatrician on 30 July so will save all my questions for them!  Obviously I always worry that it's EDS-related but he doesn't seem obviously hypermobile so hopefully not.

Sleep:  Bedtime is generally pretty smooth and we've shuffled it back to closer to 7 pm instead of 6 pm in the hope that he might sleep later in a morning, no such luck so far!  He's still waking very early but it's hard to tell why as he's had a cold/hayfever/cough for the last week or so which has been disturbing him, along with his reflux making things worse.  He's now having two bottles of milk (watered down) during the night, one around midnight and one around 4-5 am but he often doesn't go back to sleep after the second one which is exhausting for everyone involved.  I'm going to see how things go once his cold has gone (if it's a cold) and then get in touch with our Sleep Consultant to ask about timings etc.  He's midway through another developmental leap too so it wouldn't surprise me if that's had an impact.  

Development:  Every day is something new!  Today he surprised me again - we were reading a story from a collection storybook and when we'd finished Oscar started pointing at the book and blowing kisses.  He wanted to read another story from the book about kisses which we've only ever read once or twice and not for a couple of months!  His memory is impeccable which does cause us some little difficulties because he never forgets anything - for example, if you say no to something he won't just drop it, he'll ask again an hour later, a day later, a week later etc.  It will be a big asset for him when he gets older though!  He cottons on to things so quickly; I've started counting to three to warn him about things and try to get him to do things when he's asked so now, if I ask him to do or not do something he holds his finger up and goes "daa" (he can't say one yet).  He's learning new words everyday, today's was "robot" and he picks up signs really quickly now too - he's even been teaching the staff at nursery.  He's getting better at communicating his wants and needs to us, whether verbally or otherwise.  He can build towers with wooden blocks, up to around six at a time and is getting better at balancing them.  He's basically running everywhere now and kicks a ball by swinging his leg rather than walking into it.  He generally tells us when he's done a poo so we're thinking about toilet training in the next few months but ideally he'll tell us before he does it before we start.  He's getting better at using gentle hands with people, animals and books although he's still likely to smack/headbutt/grab my face if he's overexcited or doesn't get his way.  We are going to start introducing a time out zone and see how that goes.  He's coming on amazingly with his swimming - he can hold onto the side independently, kicks his legs, climbs out with a little help, supports himself with two woggles to float around the pool, jumps in from sitting and generally participates well.

Likes/Dislikes:  He had his first time on a ride at a fair this weekend and LOVED it, so much so that he spent the next hour asking to go back on it and making a beeline for it!  He really loves being outdoors, exploring anywhere and everywhere.  Breaded fish is easily his favourite food and one of the few things that I can consistently get him to eat, he's pretty picky nowadays but we're getting by.  He isn't keen on loud noises such as strimmers, motorbikes, dogs barking but he is slowly getting used to them with a lot of support.  He loves taking selfies, brushing his teeth, playing in water and books too.

Nursery:  He's still barely eating at nursery, although they said he's doing pretty well with his fruit lately.  They're really impressed with his signing and they take him into the pre-school garden to play outside because he's too advanced for the baby garden now.  

Me:  My course is going well and I've passed my second assignment (after some minor alterations).  I'm getting stuck in with my third now.

Universal Credit STILL isn't in place but we're managing and we've cut corners wherever possible.

I've been physically struggling and generally exhausted since weaning Oscar.  I'm not sure if it's a hormonal thing, a hayfever thing or because I've been eating a lot of dairy, I'm going to give it another few weeks and if it doesn't improve I'll cut the dairy down again.  It could also be because I'm not very physically active so I'm going to try and start getting some exercise again.  I've been trying to take regular vitamins to see if that helps.  I had a filling the other day on a tooth that didn't hurt and now it hurts when I bite down so I'm going to have to go back and see them about that.  I've also got my first hand therapy appointment this week.  

Both Ant and I decided to self-refer to be assessed for autism.  The first step was a questionnaire whereby if you scored more than 26/50 you warrant an assessment.  We both scored 40, although on different questions.  I've sent mine off and am on a waiting list but it's a FIFTEEN month waiting list so nothing will happen any time soon.  

We are starting the process to have a second child but it's not going to be very quick - I've drafted a full post about it which I'll post soon!