Over the last couple of weeks we have been trying out a reward chart for Matthew to encourage him with some basic tasks: going to the toilet rather than the potty, undressing himself, and drinking a whole beaker. Although Matthew has seemed excited by the prospect of earning stars and the rewards he can get (chocolate buttons, a trip to the park and stickers), it hasn't gone too well as he's still not carrying out the tasks at the moment.
He has drunk a full beaker on a couple of occasions, but has only gone to the toilet once instead of the potty, which we thought would be quite a simple task for him to earn stars quickly. To be fair we knew undressing would be difficult as it's a new challenge for him, and until tonight he hasn't really tried, but I did give him a star today for trying to take off his top with some help from Louise - he can do his trousers, socks and shoes himself. I'm now wondering whether we need to reduce the number of stars he needs to get to earn a reward, or increase the incentives...
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Friday, 9 March 2012
School stress
We had our first taste of parental school stress this week, when Louise heard at the Cylch that there were problems with applications to Matthew's chosen school and that, even though we had completed the required form and submitted it, he may not have a place. Louise spoke to some of the parents afterwards who had applied to the same school and are so furious with the mix-up that they are planning on taking the school to appeal.
The confusion has been caused by a new system where parents are supposed to apply online via the council website, though nobody had told us this, and so the school has one list of children and the council has another. The Cylch advised us to apply online, which we did, but when Louise telephoned the school they confirmed that Matthew's name is on the list for September and that there shouldn't be any problems. The problems have affected children who are starting school after Easter rather than in the Autumn. Even so, it is still a little worrying given the problems the other parents have experienced, and we will be relieved to receive the confirmation letter from the council which should arrive this month.
Louise asked a member of staff in Matthew's nursery if he plays with other children, and apparently he is now part of a 'crowd' of friends who hang around together. There is also a particular boy who Matthew often talks about at home, and when Louise mentioned his name to the nursery they said that Matthew and this boy "seek each other out" because they are both "very intellectual". Matthew told us a particular fact about the boy's family which, although the nursery can't officially confirm because of confidentiality, seems to be correct and the nursery staff were surprised that a child of Matthew's age had managed to discover through conversation.
The confusion has been caused by a new system where parents are supposed to apply online via the council website, though nobody had told us this, and so the school has one list of children and the council has another. The Cylch advised us to apply online, which we did, but when Louise telephoned the school they confirmed that Matthew's name is on the list for September and that there shouldn't be any problems. The problems have affected children who are starting school after Easter rather than in the Autumn. Even so, it is still a little worrying given the problems the other parents have experienced, and we will be relieved to receive the confirmation letter from the council which should arrive this month.
Louise asked a member of staff in Matthew's nursery if he plays with other children, and apparently he is now part of a 'crowd' of friends who hang around together. There is also a particular boy who Matthew often talks about at home, and when Louise mentioned his name to the nursery they said that Matthew and this boy "seek each other out" because they are both "very intellectual". Matthew told us a particular fact about the boy's family which, although the nursery can't officially confirm because of confidentiality, seems to be correct and the nursery staff were surprised that a child of Matthew's age had managed to discover through conversation.
Friday, 2 March 2012
Sick!
Matthew didn't get to wear his rugby shirt again after all today, as he's not very well. He's been coughing for the last couple of days, and today he developed a fever and was sick twice this morning. Despite this, he's not been too bad in himself and during periods when he's felt alright he has been trying to convince us "I'm well now", "I'm not ill any more!". He obviously isn't well, though, as he fell asleep on the floor in the lounge this afternoon and cried for Louise when he woke up.
He has been quite comical at times - for example when I asked him if he was feeling ok for about the third or fourth time today, he looked cross and said "you ask me that all the time!", and when Louise tried to take his temperature this evening he said "not temperature! You take it all the time!".
Edit, 9th March 2012: Matthew was better by Monday, but Louise and I went down with the bug - a great way to spend my week off work! I was better just in time to go back yesterday!
He has been quite comical at times - for example when I asked him if he was feeling ok for about the third or fourth time today, he looked cross and said "you ask me that all the time!", and when Louise tried to take his temperature this evening he said "not temperature! You take it all the time!".
Edit, 9th March 2012: Matthew was better by Monday, but Louise and I went down with the bug - a great way to spend my week off work! I was better just in time to go back yesterday!
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Eisteddfod
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| Performing a song |
He wore his Welsh Rugby shirt for the second time this week; he also wore it on Monday at Nursery in error, and will have to wear it for Nursery again tomorrow (Louise had been told they were to dress up all week, but it turns out that it's just tomorrow).
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| Certificate for participating |
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| 2nd place in the Collage competition |
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Health Visitor
After posting on 7th Feb that Matthew won't need to see a health visitor again, I discovered that because she didn't get to see Matthew on that day she asked to see him last week instead.
Louise forgot to take Matthew for the rescheduled appointment last Thursday until five minutes before the visit, but fortunately the health visitor was running late so they didn't keep the health visitor waiting. Apparently this time Matthew couldn't stop talking, which is good as he has always been quiet before. He was 'officially' measured at 103.5cm, so not too different to our home measurement of 104cm earlier this month. The only potential issue that the health visitor noted was Matthew's lisp, which he should grow out of naturally, and if this persists until after he is 5 we need to get back in touch with the health visitor. She also mentioned that he should have grown out of bed-wetting in the night by the age of 7, which is a long while yet, though he is getting too big for his night time nappies so it would be good if he can learn to wake up and go in the potty in the night every time.
Which leads me to the big news this month: Matthew now goes to the toilet (potty) in the night on his own. Louise put his potty and his Snug-as-a-Bug lamp beside Matthew's bed, and showed him how to switch on the lamp. He didn't do anything for the first couple of nights and still cried for us to put him on the potty once, but Louise did go in when she saw the lamp on underneath his door and found out he'd put it on to find his dummy! Since then, he has used it to go to the potty in the night several times and Louise has also noticed the light on a few other times in the night as well, though he's never disturbed us. Although he does use the potty when he wakes up and realises he needs to wee, he still has wet nappies fairly often so obviously doesn't yet always wake up when he needs the toilet. The less positive toilet news is that Matthew doesn't like using his toilet seat anymore for having a wee in the day, and has got into the habit of using his potty throughout the day at home.
Louise forgot to take Matthew for the rescheduled appointment last Thursday until five minutes before the visit, but fortunately the health visitor was running late so they didn't keep the health visitor waiting. Apparently this time Matthew couldn't stop talking, which is good as he has always been quiet before. He was 'officially' measured at 103.5cm, so not too different to our home measurement of 104cm earlier this month. The only potential issue that the health visitor noted was Matthew's lisp, which he should grow out of naturally, and if this persists until after he is 5 we need to get back in touch with the health visitor. She also mentioned that he should have grown out of bed-wetting in the night by the age of 7, which is a long while yet, though he is getting too big for his night time nappies so it would be good if he can learn to wake up and go in the potty in the night every time.
Which leads me to the big news this month: Matthew now goes to the toilet (potty) in the night on his own. Louise put his potty and his Snug-as-a-Bug lamp beside Matthew's bed, and showed him how to switch on the lamp. He didn't do anything for the first couple of nights and still cried for us to put him on the potty once, but Louise did go in when she saw the lamp on underneath his door and found out he'd put it on to find his dummy! Since then, he has used it to go to the potty in the night several times and Louise has also noticed the light on a few other times in the night as well, though he's never disturbed us. Although he does use the potty when he wakes up and realises he needs to wee, he still has wet nappies fairly often so obviously doesn't yet always wake up when he needs the toilet. The less positive toilet news is that Matthew doesn't like using his toilet seat anymore for having a wee in the day, and has got into the habit of using his potty throughout the day at home.
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Disappointment!
Matthew experienced his first proper let-down this week. He was due to stay with my Mum on Tuesday night because it was half term week and there was no Cylch on Wednesday, but Mum came down with a fever on Sunday and so we had to cancel. Unfortunately for poor Matthew this meant going to nursery all day on Tuesday instead of going to Grandma's, as well as missing out on his first overnight stay which he was really looking forward to. Although he's experienced disappointment before when he's asked for things and we've refused, we've never had to let him down before when we've promised something. Well, except maybe the Fireman Sam book.
He did throw a tantrum on Monday night when he found out he was going to nursery instead of Grandma's house, but was actually very good on Tuesday and didn't cry at all going to nursery. He stayed at home on Wednesday. To make it up to Matthew, Louise bought him a Bugs Bunny DVD and some toy tennis rackets on Thursday. Poor Louise only had about two hours sleep in three days as she was working Monday and Tuesday nights, and couldn't sleep when Matthew was in nursery on Tuesday due to the saga of our oil tank being replaced (fortunately for readers, before I start moaning, this is outside the scope of this blog).
Matthew had his first experience of a real computer yesterday, when I taught him how to type in different colours using Windows Paint. He really enjoyed doing this, and actually did pretty well for a first attempt, so we had another go this morning. He was able to type words and names if I read out the letters, and found most of the letters on his own (in addition to those I've mentioned before he recognised K, N and R but struggled with E). He enjoyed using multiple letters and didn't seem to understand each letter only needs to be used once, so ended up typing things like "MMMAAATTTTHHEEWWW". He also was able to type the numbers 1 - 10 unsupervised, in order, correctly recognising that 10 needed a one and then a zero, and although he didn't type them out correctly counted to twenty today without missing out 13 and 15 like he's previously done.
We've also been teaching Matthew to use scissors this week as he has done this in nursery and they suggested practising at home. Louise bought him a pair of red children's scissors and he's enjoyed cutting out shapes - I had to draw Mater (from Cars) this morning for him to cut out and colour in.
He did throw a tantrum on Monday night when he found out he was going to nursery instead of Grandma's house, but was actually very good on Tuesday and didn't cry at all going to nursery. He stayed at home on Wednesday. To make it up to Matthew, Louise bought him a Bugs Bunny DVD and some toy tennis rackets on Thursday. Poor Louise only had about two hours sleep in three days as she was working Monday and Tuesday nights, and couldn't sleep when Matthew was in nursery on Tuesday due to the saga of our oil tank being replaced (fortunately for readers, before I start moaning, this is outside the scope of this blog).
Matthew had his first experience of a real computer yesterday, when I taught him how to type in different colours using Windows Paint. He really enjoyed doing this, and actually did pretty well for a first attempt, so we had another go this morning. He was able to type words and names if I read out the letters, and found most of the letters on his own (in addition to those I've mentioned before he recognised K, N and R but struggled with E). He enjoyed using multiple letters and didn't seem to understand each letter only needs to be used once, so ended up typing things like "MMMAAATTTTHHEEWWW". He also was able to type the numbers 1 - 10 unsupervised, in order, correctly recognising that 10 needed a one and then a zero, and although he didn't type them out correctly counted to twenty today without missing out 13 and 15 like he's previously done.
We've also been teaching Matthew to use scissors this week as he has done this in nursery and they suggested practising at home. Louise bought him a pair of red children's scissors and he's enjoyed cutting out shapes - I had to draw Mater (from Cars) this morning for him to cut out and colour in.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Mqtthew
As I recently mentioned, Matthew now enjoys drawing and writing, and has really taken to his LeapFrog Scribble and Write which Louise bought him for Christmas. I have to admit that when Louise first showed me it, I didn't think Matthew would play with it much as he's never been into electronic toys and has always preferred his cars and trains. Clearly I was wrong, as he now uses it on a daily basis, sometimes for long periods. He enjoys drawing the pictures and copying the letters, so has now started to learn lower case letters as well as upper case and has bizarrely mastered most of the end of the alphabet (he drew a U and a V for me today, W was his first letter, and he also knows X and Z).
The only problem is that he's started to mix up his letters now he's getting used to lower and upper case. He's become used to writing lower case "a", and draws this as a circle with a tail, but has got this mixed up with upper case Q so now often presses the Q button on Scribble and Write when trying to write his name!
The only problem is that he's started to mix up his letters now he's getting used to lower and upper case. He's become used to writing lower case "a", and draws this as a circle with a tail, but has got this mixed up with upper case Q so now often presses the Q button on Scribble and Write when trying to write his name!
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Last injections
Louise was due to take Matthew to see the health visitor at the same time but the health visitor had left a message to say she didn't need to go in as they were so busy. This would have been Matthew's last scheduled health visitor appointment, so unless we ask to see a health visitor now he won't need to again until he starts school.
Today's injections were for DTap / IPV (Diptheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussis, Inactivated Polio Vaccine booster) and 2nd MMR vaccine against Measles, Mumps and Rubella.
Louise had a look at the centiles in Matthew's Child Health Record book today and if he is indeed 104cm, which is what we've measured, he's now on the top centile so is very tall for his age.
Monday, 30 January 2012
Grammar expert
Before going to work I walked into the Lounge this morning, where Louise and Matthew were watching the telly, and said "Goodbye everyone!". Matthew replied "But there are only two of us here!".
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Hands behind the back
Matthew has recently started standing with his hands folded behind his back. Louise has noticed this as a trait of her late Great Uncle, who used to live with her and is the only member of Matthew's family to do this that we are aware of. I'm not sure if it is genetic, though, or whether he is just aspiring to one of his heroes:
Louise to Matthew: Why have you got your hands behind your back?
Matthew's reply: Because that's what the Fat Controller does!
We had some sleet here this afternoon, and occasional bursts of wet snow which didn't stick on the ground. I was in work, but Matthew apparently told Louise this afternoon that it was "raining snow! I've never seen that before".
Matthew has also developed what is probably his first mouth ulcer. He has a large one underneath his front teeth, and he also has a bruise in a similar position on his chin so it is probably a result of knocking his face. He's been complaining about the ulcer hurting this weekend, and hasn't eaten all his food but Louise thinks he might be ill as he is also coughing a bit and hasn't seemed quite his usual self. He has had a few accidents lately; he fell three times yesterday while running through the kitchen from the hall to the lounge. We're trying to teach him to be careful!
Louise to Matthew: Why have you got your hands behind your back?
Matthew's reply: Because that's what the Fat Controller does!
We had some sleet here this afternoon, and occasional bursts of wet snow which didn't stick on the ground. I was in work, but Matthew apparently told Louise this afternoon that it was "raining snow! I've never seen that before".
Matthew has also developed what is probably his first mouth ulcer. He has a large one underneath his front teeth, and he also has a bruise in a similar position on his chin so it is probably a result of knocking his face. He's been complaining about the ulcer hurting this weekend, and hasn't eaten all his food but Louise thinks he might be ill as he is also coughing a bit and hasn't seemed quite his usual self. He has had a few accidents lately; he fell three times yesterday while running through the kitchen from the hall to the lounge. We're trying to teach him to be careful!
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