Our boys

Both boys have been weighed and measured recently. Luke weighs in at a massive 16.5 kilos so I am trying to convince him that I don’t have to carry him anymore. His height is 103 cm (both stats put him right on 75th percentile for his age). Alex, as we all suspected, is a big boy for his age, his weight is 12.5 kilos (just under the 75th percentile) and his height is 86 cm (just over the 90th percentile). In comparison Luke at the same age was 11.6 kilos and 82cm (all on the 50th percentile). All development aspects are on track.

It will be good when Alex comes up with a few more words although he’s keen to make do with his favourites “more, this up, mama, ball”, nodding and pulling us where he wants us. Just the other day Alex started saying "boo" as in the first part of book! I vaguely recall this age with Luke and of course you think they will never talk and now I think he will never shut up.

Alex is also experimenting with exercising his opinion. He has clothes that he prefers to wear over others and pity help anyone who says that gumboots shouldn’t be worn when there are no puddles. He hasn’t exactly had a full blown tantrum but is testing the effect of lying horizontal when he doesn’t like a decision. Our strategy at this stage is to walk off (within a safe distance) and encourage him to see our point of view.

He loves buckles – on his booster seat, car seat, pram and tryke. But we have battles when he wants to stand around trying to hook them up when I want him in the pram and moving. Like Luke he will wedge his fingers into anything and everything and has a very cute “oohh oww” noise with a smiley kind of grimace. So he’s also a bit of an actor.

I’ve been trying to encourage Alex to blow kisses to me and his carers at Possums but he won’t perform. To his credit, just the other night he went back and forth between G and I giving us kisses on our cheeks which was quite delightful.

Luke is testing the power of speech and like most kids his age (I’m told) seeing what effect lying has. This comes out especially when he has hit, pushed or taken something off Alex. Luke says “no Alex fell” and when asked what happened Alex (who’s in tears) will point to Luke. Hopefully we move through this stage quickly.

Luke has adopted “what we will do now” as his favourite saying for working out the days schedule. He’s quite interested in having a plan for the day and knowing what will come next.

I see a lot of peer group influence on Luke’s behaviour and a big thing continues to be “I’m not your friend”. This is very obviously from the playground and delivered in such seriousness that it must be the ultimate insult. I try to laugh it off and tell him that I’m his Mum forever. Other peer group influences are Plancy (“is his name Clancy”? “no it’s Plancy”) who is the naughtiest boy at Possums and is always doing terrible things to the other kids.

Luke is quite fond of pirates (of which I’m supportive) but then dabbles in some superheros (of which I’m less fond). Given we’ve never had Spiderman or Batman stuff in the house he knows an awful lot about what they are capable of.