On Saturday night I made the mistake of saying to the kids that they could stay up to watch some of Strictly Come Dancing. It's not a mistake while it's on, it's actually fun. They like dancing and jumping around and I get to see my favourite programme. However it meant that they were going to bed just a bit later than normal and that means that bedtime was going to be difficult as they're more tired.
As the programme finished a car's headlights flashed into the front room window and Isla saw them and said "who's that?". I don't really know how this happened but the words "Its the bedtime police, and they're driving round the street to check that all the children are in bed...." came out of my mouth. Where did that come from?! Anyway I decided to finish what I'd started and ushered them upstairs in the manner that they needed to get upstairs and into bed quick before the police knocked on our door. Next came a series of questions about the police. Ooops. I tried not to make it sound scary, just that they were doing checks (I almost believe my own lies sometimes!) but when Isla, who was now lying in bed asked if she could go to the toilet I told her to make it quick. She ran off to the loo, and whilst on the toilet, had a really concerned look on her face, every so often furtively staring down the stairs to make sure they weren't at the front door! She dashed back to bed, jumped in. Both of them settled down quite quickly and Saturday night for me was resumed with a glass of wine in hand and the X Factor.
The following morning I'd decided that the police trick was going to be a one off (it was a bit mean!) and I told them that the police were so happy with their performance at bedtime, they were the best children in the street and they wouldn't be coming by our house for a long time!
It feels like in the last month Noah has really changed from baby to almost toddler. Traces of babyhood remain but he's growing up so fast! He also seems to be doing things a lot quicker than Isla did and I guess that must be the influence of having an older sibling and wanting to do everything that she does.
In the past few weeks he has been practising his standing up on his own skills. He stands up hands free and looks around for appreciation, which of course he gets. Yesterday he was even standing up lifting a ride on toy up in the air, I'm wondering if it's too late to enter him into Olympic weight lifting?
He's also understanding so much of what we say to him now. If you ask him to clap he'll do it. He'll also give kisses too! The one development that I'm not so keen on is the shaking his head 'no'. I seem to remember 'no' becoming Isla's favourite word so I'm not looking forward to that phase starting again. He also whistles, it started with him blowing and then it became a whistle, so funny because I can't even whistle, neither can Isla and reminds me of an episode of Peppa Pig where she desparately wants to whistle and can't but even George can do it. He's also a pro at playing the harmonica....
He is a climber in a way that Isla never was, he wants to climb on chairs, Isla's bed and if we accidentally leave the downstairs stair gate open he's up like a shot. Needless to say it's staying shut a lot now, even though this then proves tricky when Isla wants to make a dash for the loo - why do kids always wait till the last minute?!
What else is he up to? Well he eats really well, doesn't refuse very much (yet), his sleep has improved slightly, there are fewer 5am starts than say 2 months ago but still more than I'd like! He has recently started to like some characters on TV - In the Night Garden has become a favourite since we went to see the show - when it comes on TV he points to the photo that we had taken with Iggle Piggle! He also loves Thomas the Tank Engine. Gets really excited when he hears the music for it. Bedtime reading is also one of his favourite times and he loves books with sounds, but his favourite one is the same as Isla's was at his age - a book called Peepo Sun. He's also got a favourite toy/comforter called Doggy the Bob. I swore after Big Sheepy that we wouldn't go down that route again but I find myself in a similar situation again where he loves this toy and gets upset when either someone else has taken it or he's not ready to give it up when he's woken up. He sleeps cuddling it - it really is too bloody cute!
Oh and he's also very nearly got 6 teeth and its so obvious that he finds them a bit strange as he pulls all kinds of faces and is constantly rolling his tongue over them, I guess it must be weird all of a sudden these sharp little things spring up in your gummy mouth.
He's still totally devoted to me and cries blue murder if I have to walk away from him for anything. He's settled at nursery though now and is comfortable with the girls there and recognises where he's going when we show up there.
So he's almost 1 years old and I can't quite believe it, it has to be the fastest year of my life. I'm so enjoying watching him grow and become the most gorgeous little boy. MY little boy.
