Henry at 10 years old

It has gone fast and now we have to make arrangements to visit Secondary Schools, and I am nervous about it, but excited at the same time. I am not wishing his life away but seeing him grow it reminds me how time is more precious, each and every day.

He is still into Helicopters and Blippi and watches other content which we have had to delete, and monitor what he is watching. I feel you have to, because it can influence a child and with Henry he copies all the time and so have to be vigilant, in what he watches.

We still having a bedwetting issues at night, and is becoming a little frustrating and trying different ways to influence him to keep the bed dry, and last week we had dry nights, and felt relieved but then wet the bed again, so not sure what to do. If you have any advice please leave below. I thought we’d, and mean me and my husband, (son’s dad) and gone passed that stage, so yes, and I hope it soon stops, and I think I am going to speak to the GP for his advice, because last night he was dry.

Apart from that his speech has progressed a lot, and will say hello to another child, those he knows and doesn’t and seems to have more energy as he grows and constantly going from one thing to another, but it is good because he is starting to use a multi range of words and sentences, as he struggled with communication. He still so socialable and he does speak well, and not that he didn’t like talking, he just didn’t have that many words, to make sentences, and is a lot better.

Skills such as reading, is good but because he wants to do physical activities a lot of the time, its hard to get him to read, but have been installing this into his routine, and with writing. Yet when he saw and played with a friend of ours daughter was there, he did some painting masks and on paper, and so has learned a lot from other children, and want to continue that.

He feeds of other children. and so to help have paid for him to go to a holiday club during the school holidays and he loves it. He always has such a good time and will draw and paint pictures, play sports and story time, and learning.

So his development is getting better and better, and feel as I complete this blog that his bed wetting is a phase and will grow out of it. He is still developing and will continue to support and help him grow.

I do write another parenting blog and so check it out: https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com

I have written books too, check The Parenting Adventures, under the name Carrie Challoner on amazon.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Henry now he is in his fifth year at school

Soon my son will be ten years old and can’t believe how much he has grown, and is developing everyday. We are till having accidents at night, and bed wetting, but is now doing many things for himself and it has meant that I have had to take step back.

He can be reluctant in doing things for himself, and because he is an only child, feel that I don’t want to let go of the baby years, because me as his mum, not going to be around for ever. I talk about kids, and about them becoming independent, Check out other blog site: https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com

He is now into playing rugby and loves going to watch it, and can sit down for longer now, at one point he just wanted to run around all the time and wants to be a train, and have to explain to him that he can’t, but can work on the trains, but no he wants to be one. I wonder how long he will going to be wanting this, but my son changes his mind a lot and today said he wanted to be a doctor, which I was surprised at, but he watches Countdown still, Tipping Point, Thomas the tank engine and a character called Blippi.

He is now at his third school, and is at Primary school and has had to go to a more specialised school to help him with his ADHD and his development and he is a bit reluctant when it comes to school now as he keeps saying “He doesn’t want to go to school” but once he is there, as he gets picked up by taxi, he is fine and has made friends with another boy called Henry.

So I will write another blog as his birthday is coming soon and have plans of what to do, and what to buy him, and is another milestone and reminding me of how time, with my son is so precious.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

My son’s completing his 4th year at school

Yes it is my sons 4th year at school over and because of his ADHD he is now starting another new school in September. It is not to do with bad behaviour but his concentration and he gets so easily distracted and this school is more catered for him and so will be another transition and hopefully this school will be a lot better for him.

It was disappointing that his first school couldn’t match his needs because when he began it seemed to be that they could, but he got too behind on his schooling but seeing the amount of homework they gave, was too much especially when in Reception they spend time playing and learning and then expected in the next year to sit down and learn.

The one thing with Henry he won’t conform and show what he knows and never tells us what he did at school. His second school was a lot better and was doing horse riding lessons, swimming and went on a Residential trip, so he did get some good experiences but needs to be challenged a lot more.

However we have to do what the schools think and more or less out of our hands and means that Henry will have to make new friends once again, but the good thing he will be in one class with the same children as both schools before, had him in different classes, through out the days.

The last two days he hasn’t been well and was supposed to go to a holiday club but kids get sick however much we try to avoid, and it important he gets better and can still have fun whilst he is off for the school summer holidays.

He still loves to be read to at night and still having a few toilet issues as he will occasionally wet the bed and is frustrating. I do monitor how much water he has and make sure he hydrates enough in the day, but when children are unwell usually water is the best thing. Of course this depends on what they may have. There are always bugs hanging around being passed on and so it often is hard to tell, but rest and making sure they have been drinking and on the food they eat too.

Henry will eat fruit and some vegetables now, as before he wouldn’t touch any. Since him being unwell he hasn’t wanted to eat until tonight, continuing on writing this blog and been a lot more alive this evening so fingers crossed what ever he has had is going, and one thing I would recommend being a mum is to make sure you have a thermometer to hand to check their temperature as if is higher than 39 they may need medical help from a doctor or if you worried A and E.

I will update you in the next blog and will be most probably when it is his birthday, he is ten this year and talk about how he is finding his new school.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Henry at 9 years old

Yes Henry is now 9 and before I know it he will be going to Secondary school, and every milestone he reaches I want to press pause because I want to continue to enjoy his childhood. Watching him grow is so joyous, but it still challenging sometimes, but we do have lots of fun together. Like we will play football even when it is raining and for the first time I took him to the cinema. I waited because he does have ADHD and can get easily bored, but an experience I wanted him to have.

Kids need to experience different things and I like exploring with him. He now is getting to grips with what life is about, because he now corrects me if I for example when I say to him, “Put your pants and it is his shorts” he will correct me and say, “No they are shorts”, and so I apologise and correct myself.

Last week he went on his first Residential trip with his school. He didn’t stay but he stayed there to have dinner with his school friends and then came back home and loved it. He went to a place call Wild Child and got to do a scavenger hunt and not sure of what else as getting him to tell me what he did is hard, because he just wants to come home and watch his tablet which we are monitoring as it can affect their mind and we no longer allow him to watch his tablet before bed time and so he is not to sleep with him next to him, and he is sleeping better and I won’t have him watching it too early in the morning either and will go back to sleep.

We are still having issues with bedwetting, which I have been getting frustrated about. because he doesn’t do that for ages and then starts again and not sure why. I try to aluminate how much water he drinks and don’t have much water after 6pm or not for a while before he goes to bed. Of course I make sure he is hydrated through the day, so he doesn’t need it in the evening and it has made a difference but still does it, so something that I am trying to stop so when he goes on another school trip, he can stay over.

He learning has improved during the Easter Holiday we practiced some maths and taught him about the Solar system and he loves Helicopters too and what they are called. I do under estimate him a lot which I do feel bad about because I need to remind myself that he can think for himself and talk for himself too.

So I rein myself him and let him talk. He still goes over the train times and stations. He calls it “His stops” and wants to be a train.

He personates the trains, but trying to stop not to be mean, but he does it when friends and family come over and so we are teaching him about good social interaction, and not to get too close to other children. He is affectionate child and rarely argues with anyone but help him stick up for himself at the same time as I do think this is important because unfortunate not every person in this world are kind, and so want him to speak up for himself and have his own beliefs and boundaries.

I will add more as he grows and I do write another parenting blog related to this one called https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.com

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

How my boy has grown

Thank you all for viewing my blog, receiving 500 views and it really means the world to me and honestly it has been a journey and watching my son grow has been an amazing experience. He was born home on the 8th of December 2022 after being in the Special care unit for a month after he was born as he was born premature and can’t believe that this time 9 years ago and love marking my son’s life because my life has changed, he was coming home which luckily next door to the hospital and we couldn’t out the car seat as he still has to be driven around to home and been a wonderful 9 years and may it continue.

He does have learning difficulties, but he has still flourished, he has a fantastic memory and very observant, and has so much energy.

At the moment he is into watching food challenges on Youtube and I make sure they are appropriate as there are some very dangerous challenges, so do pay attention of what he is watching. He really gotten into playing rugby and football with a balloon and does the commentary when he plays and is very much aware now that it is Christmas. For a while when he was younger didn’t really pay attention to it, but now he does. He loves receiving presents like all kid, but he loves the process of opening them rather than playing.

When Henry was born we were so unprepared and thankfully my brother and sister in law helped get his bedroom ready, but stayed with us in our room first, in a Moses Basket, as we did order a crib but had to wait a few days for it to be delivered.

I did write a book called the The Parenting adventures but some of the details were wrong but still got the book uploaded as it marks out the way it changed our lives and is on amazon.com and my aim for next year is to start writing a new one to talk about parenting, and then wrote my second book called The Parenting adventures, Baby to Toddler years, is you’d like to check them out.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Typical London Gal

Henry now in his fourth year of school

I can’t believe how quickly it has gone and trying to keep up but struggle a little, but he has been very smiley this week so far and so feel he is pleased to be going back. Even though he is in year four though, because he has learning difficulties is following the year one curriculum and so will be going to meeting next week to find out more.

He now into rugby and wants to play it everyday so keeping me fit and today we baked our first cake together and finishing it off tomorrow. This is giving me ideas of what to do for his birthday and will be 9 this year and hasn’t gotten back into eating healthy food like fruits and vegetables, and getting to be more active.

During he school holidays we went swimming and went for walks and really made the most of the time we had and his dad took him to the seaside and now it back to school and thought he would be unhappy but wasn’t too, and he did some days during the holidays at a kids club, called Young stars and I think this helped because he loves being around other children.

We did have a little issue and that was he was kissing other kids at the club, and he was a little sad about that and I then got COVID and wasn’t able to hug him, but we all good now and I am happy he is and as long as he is enjoying what he is learning then let it be and he will be get there. I feel bad as a parent in did I cause the development delay? I need to stop punishing but give him the support he needs and so i do and we learn through playing games, like today when we made our first cake. Teaching my son to cook and bake are essentials as he is going to have to feed himself one day and I will be getting him to do chores. He makes his own bed now and he wants to do it himself so I let him.

Of course I supervise but they have to free from restrictions and learn as many skills as he can to help him expand his knowledge and so going to encourage his independence as he is getting more independent each day and that to me means he is on the right road.

My son has ADHA and Autism, but we don’t use it as an excuse to why he doesn’t learn at the same rate but use to boost him knowledge and skills even more, by setting tasks that he needs, like reading and he reads a lot and I will do English lesson using Oak Academy and this is a really good site to check out and has lot of different classes and is completely free to use.

I will report back when he heads to his next birthday.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

My son at 8 years old

It has been a while, and wanted to do an update of my son, if you wanted to know. My son changes everyday and he is in another school and is in his 3rd year of school and yes he is behind in terms of learning yet he still knows a lot that he surprises me everyday.

He is so full of energy that I struggle to keep up, but is forever growing. His loves at the moment is dinosaurs, tipping point (UK quiz show), loves watching youtube and not sure if this is good thing or not, please do not judge. He is not on it all day, and today when I write this blog played football out in the garden and every time you tackle him he throws himself on the ground, yes he is a diver. See Jose Mourinho why diving misinterprets the game of football, and is not gaining advantage but cheating, and I bet other kids think this is what you do now when tackled when playing soccer, too. They think it is normal.

He is changing his tastes in terms of food, and has recently been trying different fruits, as he will eat a banana and went off vegetables, but now getting a taste of them again, so will be adding to his meals again and add a least one other fruit a day.

I would like to make him different meals, because like many kids, his diet is bland and would like to create different dishes to do different things, and try different ingredients. He will eat his dinners though and his communication has grown. He will get sentences mixed up, but when you correct him, he will then say it.

Sadly he will be changing schools again, and is a shame. No news as of yet as to where he will go, and feel frustrated by it. It feels like as a parent I have been put into a corner, and because he is under Sendco because he has some learning difficulties, they can’t get the funding and feel he needs a more specialist school with even smaller classes. This makes me feel a lot that they don’t know and are struggling to get him and feel he will be taking two steps back, having to adapt with another school.

He is upping his confidence in swimming and has come a long way with that, as he was very nervous at first but is doing really well, and now want him to do other hobbies too and I did check for other clubs but not found anywhere or club he can join. I loved having hobby as a kid and would look forward to it.

Unlike me though he does love going to school and I got to see his Sports Day and he took part and loved it. He was so well behaved and was cheering for the other kids and he was so happy to see me there, and so however much he drives me bonkers, he makes me beam being his mum and hope I get to see more.

Life as a mum can be tricky but very much rewarding.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

My son 8th Christmas

Yes my son Henry is now 8 years old and bless him he was so excited this year about Christmas and Santa, delivering his presents and new he had to be good, and that means stopping the whining as he whines a lot.

Noone tells you about this being a mother for the first time and its like a trait that’s driven in them being kids. However, we did have some good moments yesterday on Christmas Day, when he got to open some gifts, and when it came to dinner time and I am glad that Henry is a good eater, but is fussy of the food, he has set things that he will eat. He did have some carrot and sweet potato. He used to love this as a baby when I would make my own babyfood.

We are trying to add it mashed and doing this is a good way of getting him to eat some vegetables. He also has a multivitamin each day too, and touch wood he has been okay and been full of beans all the way through.

I think the age here is, he getting to understand different times of the year and found the charts I did for him to teach him about the different seasons and what they are all about.

He still likes to play football and kick a balloon around, but that is becoming less and will sit down to watch a film rather than running around playing outdoors and yesterday he came on my Christmas Day walk.

He loves trains, buses and anyform of transport still and loves to seat on a platform and watch them, and loves Only fools and horses and is becoming very good at his prounciations and sentences now. He does have ADHD, but should be not be a barrier but use it to advantage to do different things, and trying to help be more into writing and drawing, and concentrate on one thing at a time.

Since my last blog of his birthday, grown so much and I love the way he is happy go lucky apart from the odd strops, but is forever growing and we all did this as kids, so you know I think it is breaded into kids and how they let you know what they like and what they don’t.

So heading into 2022 I have set some goals for myself interms of Henry and for himself too. So more to come and I hope that you had a good Christmas too.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Son now being 8 years old

Yes, it is my sons 8th Birthday today and I can’t believe how far he has grown. His development has helped him be so “Happy go lucky” and he still has naughty traits like being very fussy with food and what things he likes doing and wants my attention a lot and loves socialising and saying hello to people.

I thought he is a long way off from me, but no I am wrong I liked holidays where we travelled with other families that we saw every weekend and he loves other kids and will speak to anybody. I know some may say that is a bad thing because of the wrong type of people are around, but I don’t think this should stop our kids from being polite and wanting to talk to different people.

Henry is more aware of what he likes at the moment and not, and has discovered new TV, well for him and that is Only Fools and Horses like me and my brother did and he found it by himself, but I often rewatch them myself, but no he is loves it. He particular loves the episode where they go fishing and when Rodney goes out with another woman Tarnya..

Changing schools has helped a lot as they are meeting his needs more and he loves it and has not fussed once and is liking the Taxi that takes him to school and back and shares the journey with a class mate, and Henry is very much happy with his little companion.

He now likes to have his dad to help change him out of his school clothes no idea why but that is the case and not going to argue as kids can be like that sometimes.

There are a few areas where he has gone back to, and that is using the toilet and has a tendency to wet himself, but I hope this phase goes and with kids they go throught different phases in their lives, like we all do really.

He reads books all of the time and when I am there in the mornings he will read to me, and when he comes home from school he will go in and watch his tablet, but not for too long, but whilst he is winding down being at home for the day again.

When he ccomes to his energy he has loads and it cn be tiring but I like seeing him being joyful and have lots of energy as that his him and I wouldn’t have him any other way.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Henry new school/Horse riding & Swmming Lessons

Hello and welcome! On this blog I share the milestones of my son as he continues to grow and share this site with another called The Parenting Adventures tips and tricks, so if not visited yet I’d recommend for you to check it out.

In this blog I am going to share how he is getting on at his new school. This was due to his previous school, who felt that he’d be better at a different school that had less kids in each class and it has worked out really well. He has also begun horse riding lessons every Monday and doing Swimming Lessons on Saturday, and only being his second lesson asked if he can go again on a Sunday too.

He was very nervous on the first swimming lesson and that was because due to the pool being quite deep, but second time he loved it and couldn’t wait to jump in the pool and did two.

The strops are still frequent as he now makes a lot of decisions of his own, which I am glad about, because its good to involve them in choices. This morning he wanted us to dance whilst we watched last show from Saturday’s Strictly come dancing and we watched the results show.

He is definitley my child as I always liked to dancing and singing and he does too.

At the minute he has not got into Countdown a quiz show like he has done and his tastes on things keep changing, but again I feel is a good idea to observe as keeping up with their changes can be amiss. Countdown is a UK show on channel 4. He still likes Pepper pig, Tipping point (another game show on UK tv) and was yesterday looking at “Where’s wolly book”.

The horse riding is every Monday and his horse is Shona and loves it.

This is a new school seems to be a lot better than his last and having some help in getting him to school has been a real blessing. I would get so stressed out about it and found it a mission. I suffer with anxiety and it caused me a lot so I think my prayers and my son’s have been answered.

Henry spends time with me at the weekends too, aswell as being there for when he gets picked up or drop off. Henry’s dad doing a Plumbing course on Saturdays and glad to be back to looking after my dude and soon it will be his 8th birthday.

He is such a blessing too and I love watching him grow and having ADHD, this new change has been a Godsend.

So more to come about my son’s growing and so many thanks for reading.

Carrie X

My son and in his 8th year and now a proper school boy

Hello so I am gonna try to make these blogs be more frequent as I bet many who read this won’t know my story or not got round to reading them. So I have a son called Henry and he is now in his 8th year of his life and is now a proper school boy and I love him more with everyday and never thought that was possible but yes I do and seeing him grow as been the one of the highlights of my life.

He now is getting very independent like he wanted to carry his bag himself and i have him get his clothes from his room and go to the toilet on his own. The more independent he is the better as they need to be, and Saturday coming he is going to his first swimming lessons.

He is such a blessing and he can get very stroppy, but wants I sit and explain he is fine. Kids will start to feel more emotions as they grow and I feel as my role of mummy that he does need to be able to express himself but in a more positive way. He gets upset when his tablet is being charged and can’t have it whilst it is charged.

I have had to converskate it a few times but not too much and is pretty good when it comes to using it a little amount at a time.

He wants my attention a lot and that for me is overbearing at times, but at the sametime love it when he relies on me, its just often the balance of him wanting my attention as like many mums I have other things to do, but I will have time with my son and over the weekend we were having lots of fun and didn’t moan about leaving the park but didn’t like the fact he couldn’t use a canooe. Once he learns to swim then he can and it takes a few times explaining it but then he does eventually get it.

Whilst I was writing this blog I did a Truth About Parenting video which is saving now for me to upload and on my main channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUDFIqjVKLy7NhtcR6Hy0Tg/

My son is now stopped wanting to play football all of the time as that was since up to 6 years old, all he wanted to do. Now still loves Helicopters, plains, trains and buses and so I take hm out a lot on trains and buses and going to take him to Hamleys for the first time to find a large size Thomas the tank engine train and I love doing these type of things as he does get so much out of the outtings we have.

It is amazing how much he has grown and life would not be the same and that what comforts me, and I love having fun with my son and we laugh a lot and makes my days when we do.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

My son going to a new school

Hello this is the sister blog to my regular parenting blog theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com

My son is going to a new school in September and be in year 3 and so I am apprehensive about it, but hopeful that this will be a successful change. Its because he is under SENDCO and IAP as he has ADHD and his previous school felt that he would be better going to this specialised school to help with his next year of learning.

 

He is now with his Dad and on Saturday I am going to find the school and where it is, and i would recommend doing this if your child is changing schools to help get the sense of knowing where exactly it is and to do a trial run of the journey. With this new school they have said his old school teachers that they may be able to support us with his transport to and from the school, but not sure of that.

I do suspect tht Henry may bit unsetttled, this is normal as kids can find change hard and so going to prep as much as possible so he will be fine and be happy about the change.

We have his uniform and rucksack and so tomorrow I am going to stick some labels on the tags and that, so always prepare ahead of time and it is a change for everyone. I want to do the trip a few times just in case and hopefully we will know more. The new school have sents up some documents to show Henry of his new school and where his classroom is. They have sent us some details of summer projects looking at seeing things on a list on paper and I am gonna make him a summer diary with pictures and details of what he did during the 6 weeks holidays, I hope this helps break the ice for him and can talk about what he did to get to know his new school friends. 

When it comes to school it is always an uneasy transition but I hope they do wonders to help him and will be there I hope until he has to go to Secondary school. 

So I will write more about this as we get closer to him starting his 3rd year of school and how he gets on. 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Henry going into Year 2 at school

So I promised in my last post, My Sons time in Year 1, that I would post on this site once a month, because I have another Parenting Blog related to this one, which is my main site for The Parenting Adventures, check the following link: https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com/

In this post I am talking about my son, Henry going into Year 2 at school. He literally has this week, weekend and next Wednesday he is back at school. I have already ordered more uniform as he now fits in a size 6 to 7 years.

His growth spurts have been drestick, as he will be a size 5-6 for about two weeks and then is now the next size. Henry is bit clingy, as he won’t go to the toilet by himself, but when I try to help him he will sometimes fuss, as if to say “Let me do it alone” the only bit he still won’t do is wipe his bottom.

He has gone off playing ball all he time, as there was a time where he would do nothing else. He likes buses, trains, cars and helicopters. He will play with pretend money, as he likes personating the show Tipping Point with it, or a drafts set we have.

Now he is going into Year 2, he will now be going into school in a different entrance and so going to get his book they made for him to help prepare for him, because these changes.

I and Henry’s dad, will be looking for another school in Year 3, as his current one, we have to reapply to get a place in the school, but they think Henry will be better off going to a school with less kids in his class and to help his ADHD.

He still unable to write much, but his reading is good and can identify letters, words and numbers now. Plus his adding up is good, and knows about money, like what a £5 note looks like for example.

As Henry took part in his first Sports club at his school during the school holidays,(check out blog post about it: https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com/2020/08/19/afterschool-and-summer-clubs/)

I am now going to see if I can get Henry into an after school club for this coming year, and do an afternoon club on a Friday, as it makes it easier for me and his dad, because he spends weekends with his dad, and instead of his dad picking him up from Wimbledon, he will be able to pick him up, once he has finished work, from school which finishes at 6pm.

He has taken to the new routine, of my son’s dad and I having joint custody, and that is one thing I will never stop my son doing, is spending time with his dad. In fact as of Tuesday Henry will be spending a week with his dad.

It gives me time to myself when Henry’s dad looks after him.

I think we are all looking forward to school again, as this helps free up my days again so I can do my work during the day rather than using the evenings and will mean Henry will be able to ride on a bus or train to and from school, which he loves.

So I am going to wrap up this blog here, but will post again in September which isn’t far.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

My son’s time in year 1

Henry has almost finished year 1 at school and even though we have had some bad days it appears that he has also had some good days at school too.

Looking at his school report I received and going through his school book it seems that he has done a lot, and even earned a few stickers at school for being a star pupil.

His reading is brilliant along with his pronunciation but he will still get some sentences around the wrong way and can be muddled, but as we have gone through his second year at school being in year 1, he tells us a lot more of what he has done at school, now more than what he did in his first year.

Henry is still very much a socible boy and loves seeing his school friends and has asked to go back to school when I have picked him up.

Of course there was some time he wasn’t at school due to the lockdown but he still did some school work like drawing and writing. Lockdown did take its toll so we were all were looking forward to his return at school, and even though he has been in a different class to when he began his time in year 1, still seemed to love it and has made more friends.

In his annual review this year back in January it was discussed that he may be better off being in a different school when he is goes up to year 3, but because of the lockdown we haven’t been able to look into any of that further, but going to do this during the summer holidays.

I am going to try and write a blog on this site once a month so please look out for these and I will tell you more about my son’s life as he continues to grow.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

 

Henry now at 6 years old

Hello and welcome to my first post since March 2020 since the Lockdown. Henry is now 6 years old and is changing everyday.

He can say more words and sentences and has begun to write aswell as read. He reads really well and his pronunciation is superb.

We have tried to get him to do different activities since there has been no school due to the school being closed because of the coronovirus.

He went back there today, and got a little stressed about it as he not in his normal classroom.

Henry thrives on structure and routine still and loves socializing, to the point he wants to give other kids a hug, which we have tried to explain that he can’t do that, at the moment.

He is now completely toilet trained which has taken its time, boy no one tells you how long this can take, but we are finally in a place where we can sleep without the worry of him wetting the bed.

With the lockdown he has coped really well and we have tried to do homeschooling by getting him to read and write.

Luckily my mum’s husband is a caretaker of a school and lives onsite, and so when there has been no kids we have let Henry play football in the playground or he has played in his paddling pool.

Henry still loves quiz shows such as Countdown and Tenable, along with Tipping Point.

He has grown so much and is shooting up, that soon he will be as tall as me and I’m a short arse so he is getting taller and a lot more steadier on his feet.

I will post again soon on this site to let you know of his progression.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

 

 

 

 

Henry now in 2020

My son Henry has been off this week due to school being closed because of the Coronovirus and so I thought I’d take the opportunity to do an update on how he is.

He luckily has not been effected with the virus, I’m touching wood to make sure I don’t jinx this as it is a massive Pandemic and one we shouldn’t be taking lightly.

Henry has now lost a tooth his first one and now is beginning to grow his new teeth, I suppose I will have to get out a mortgage to subsidize this, apparently it is £2.50 a tooth now.

Boy oh boy are my purse strings going to feel it. We have been reading a book called my wobbly tooth must not ever never fall out really good book and very funny. Henry loves it.

There are many books in this series that I will buy more as they are great stories.

At the moment Henry is watching Spongebob whilst I am typing this post up and loves watching football, looking forward to when Match Of The Day comes back on myself as many programmes like this last up to 7 days on the Now TV box and I am coming the point already of running out of ideas.

I would totally recommend Now TV for kids brilliant as you have programmes like Thomas the Tank Engine, Peppa Pig, Peter Rabbit and of course there many kids films to watch too.

My son is now drawing a lot more which did take its time and yesterday we played out in the garden he helped me to replant a pot. This is great opportunity to have your kids do different things around the house, and I wrote a post two days ago about Getting kids to tidy up, which is something you can make fun and gets bits done that you normally can’t do because of doing the school run etc.

He really knows his numbers and we have been doing some worksheets and I love doing these activities myself going to create more at home for Henry to do as these are great to have kids counting and sharing stories.

Henry loves airplanes and we often have to take our time walking to and from school to plane spot and watch buses go by. It is a shame there is no school as he loves it there and seeing him smile when I pick him up or when he comes in after his dad has picked him up is worth every penny.

So I will share more very soon on Henry and other items I recommend but until I wish yo all well and lets see this pandemic through together

Many thanks for reading,

 

carrie X

Blogmas begins tomorrow

Hello! Yes I am doing Blogmas this year, posting various blogs on either of my sites everyday from tomorrow, 1st December to the 25th December 2019. I will be updating you about Henry now this is his 6th Christmas and how he is now understanding a lot more about the festive season.

Henry for a long time didn’t really know what was going on, but now he is and seeing your child discover and grow new findings as they develop is fantastic but mind boggling at the same time.

To read the blogs on my other sites that I will posting throughout Blogmas you can click on the following links below:

https://www.carriesrealworld.com/

https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com/

https://everydaylivingandlifestyle.wordpress.com/

https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com/

https://sportsandfitnesspassion.wordpress.com/

I also post various things on Pinterest and social media, please check out these pages below:

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/carriesrealworl/

 

Social media:

https://www.instagram.com/cazzasrealworld/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/carriesrealworld

https://www.facebook.com/Carries-Everyday-Living-and-lifestyle-261704010959953/

https://www.facebook.com/czavonuk/

 

Twitter

https://twitter.com/carrie82434764

Have a good weekend, many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

My son at 6 years old

My son with my husband Trilby hat on at  6 years old

I can not believe how fast the time has gone and sometimes I wish I could freeze the time for a few hours or so, because before you know it they are leaving their baby hood to move onto toddler world and then onto school.

Henry has grown so much even since I last posted on this site check out my last blog post in this link here: Henry is now in year one and is doing new things each day for example he now will tell us what he wants more, as before because he has speech delay didn’t often do even up to he was 5 and would point or take you to things instead of talking, but you do have to encourage them to speak by saying “Tell me” and if you can create which I have begun to do, flash cards to help with the word and images, this can really make a difference.

My son and my niece aswell who is younger than Henry, will more or less go by the image rather than the word to know the word and what it is associated with.

He is a little behind at school because unlike last year there is a lot more structured learning.  Last year, in early years it was very much about learn and play, but this year it is a lot of sit down and learning which Henry does find tricky to do. However and we have tried to explain this to his school who I do praise as they have helped immensely but because his teachers don’t see him 7 days a week often don’t see what we do and that is if it is something he is interested in like at the moment it is helicopters or football he will sit down and concentrate.

So what I have done is used that to say for example when out “How many helicopters have we seen today” and we will go over how many we have seen or if there happens to me more than one at a time I say and the same for planes too as he loves these also “let’s count how many we can see”. Henry works better with simple learning techniques and counting is just as important as adding up and subtracting, and with Henry I find introducing little bits at a time to be more effective and will remember. Repetition is the key and it can get tiresome but overwhelming him never I have found, has helped either. I include more gradually as Henry is beginning to learn and understand.

This year for his birthday check out my blog which I wrote on my other parenting site about Arranging a kids birthday/never try to please everyone because it is just impossible, which I share more about what we did, but we booked a gymnasium type of venue where kids could jump, swing and just basically go crazy, which they did as this is what Henry adores.

The difference between when Henry as a baby and a toddler is that he didn’t really know what to going on, on his birthday and wasn’t really interested in opening up his presents but this year most definitely and he is opening one up at the moment to help cheer him up as he has been unwell and off school, as he was sent home from school on Monday and Tuesday, is he really loves opening up his presents and going through his cards now and to be a bit different this year and to stop Henry eating too much chocolate as I am guilty, is he has on some days had a lot of it, but doesn’t benefit him, is I am going to create his own personal Avent Calendar with different items. Once I have created this I will post more about this very soon on my other site The Parenting Adventures Tips and Tricks. 

He loved it when he was sung happy birthday this year and even cried afterwards when we got home. His party which was the Saturday before his birthday on the Monday, he wanted to be sung happy birthday to him once again, which my husband and I did, and also relighted a candle to do it again.

One thing I had not expected as no one tells you is that not only do children have the terrible two’s but with Henry he has had the terrible fives and six’s. He can be very stroppy and his new thing is, is sitting on the floor with his back to you facing a wall  folded arms and legs, and does a “humph”.

This reminds me of when I was a primary school, because back then if you did wrong the teachers would get you to face a wall crossed legged and arms for some times what felt like an eternity, and because this was punishment you didn’t really want to be doing this because you could be sitting there until break, lunch or or until end of day. I have done timeout and got Henry to sit in a corner more to calm him but not really to punish and not to face the wall, but Henry does this voluntarily when he can’t get his way.

He also stamps his feet, his favourite words when he has a strop is “NO” very loudly or “Go away”, which apparently he picked up from another child at school.

Yes unfortunately even though it has some positives, is that he does tend to copy a lot, so you do have to be careful with your language and behaviour, but the one good thing is he knows how to be loving and affectionate too.

Henry loves a book still and enjoys a story one being Each Peach Pear Plum, which he has liked since he was a baby and really enjoys this book more than ever and even joins in at the end of the book and is very good at reading  books too. Henry’s pronunciation is brilliant and says words very clearly. He still doesn’t understand some words so we do have to ask effective questions and simple’s ones and use images if we can, this is where flash cards or props do come in handy, and this is not to boast but to show that if your child has development delay too then don’t worry as they will often catch up, may take a little longer but I have found being consistent and persistent, making gradual changes as he does on his own too, but will get there soon, and more often have a lot of other strengths that helps them with their weaknesses too.

Henry for example has known how to unlock doors and open gates, which in turn has helped him with his independence. Yes it does mean that we have to make sure the back door key is taken out and our front door is locked when we are in and key is removed too, because he can easily get out, but at the same time if when it is lot less cold, not raining and his is not unwell and it is a sunny warm day and not dark, when the key is in the back door he can open it himself without needing help should he want to play out in the garden.

He has learned at school by doing each day and has a fantastic memory of where his peg is to hang his coat at school and where to put his book bag, and the same for when we are at home.

What we have done to help implement the learning he has learned at school and the school has done to help us with what we have taught Henry to help with his development at home is collaborating with the teachers and making sure we do the same kind of things they do at school and they in turn do the same to what he has learned at home, to help him continue to grow as a person and not get confused or thrown off course,   and to with his transitions each day and what is expected of him.

Henry works well with a good routine and structure but often he will let us know when he wants a change. Example for ages we would walk the back way to school which isn’t really longer but I do have to leave a little earlier because of the busy road we cross as often in the morning it can be full of cars and getting a cross the road as there isn’t a zebra or traffic light crossing near and is further down have to be take our time to cross when there are less cars on the road and Henry has lost patience to walk down to the zebra crossing further down, so in that sense it can take a bit longer. Then one day he decided to go the other way, which is what I call the front and is a lot safer and quicker and now that is the way we go.

Sometimes I have found with Henry is to let them decide rather than forcing him to do something different and if it means leaving extra early or stops them from having a tantrum sometimes you just got to do it, to make them and your life easier.

However Henry does work better because he has learned what is next without being surprised as he hates that with a routine. I have once or twice done something different after school for example instead of going straight home, example I took him to the coffee shop so he could have a chocolate muffin and I had a coffee and then we because he loves buses, got the bus back home.

I did have to explain though and told him that we would be doing this after school before he went into school, so he knew and that this was a one off. Sometimes if you don’t give a child a pre warning if you have done something once they will expect it again.

Henry has developed an interest in drawing which he used to never be interested in, but again its when he chooses too, but I often just leave a pencil and notepad out and he will when not being paid attention too or forced will begin to draw. He still not able to write words, numbers or letters, but knows what number is what and certain words and what each letter is.

Anyway I will post again probably around Christmas or new year on this site. I post more regularly usually on a weekly basis on my other site of The Parenting Adventures, which gives tips and tricks for parents, please check out this link below: https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com/ 

If you would like to follow me here on WordPress.com then you can do so my clicking the Follow button below. If you have any suggestions of topics I have not covered or have any questions about myself as a mum or my son, then please leave a comment below.

Please check these other sites where I regular post blogs on various topics too, below:

https://www.carriesrealworld.com/

https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com/

https://everydaylivingandlifestyle.wordpress.com/

https://theparentingadventuresthebirthofmyson.wordpress.com

https://sportsandfitnesspassion.wordpress.com/

Have a fantastic rest of the week, and many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

P.S: I also post on Pinterest and on social media, please check these sites below:

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https://www.pinterest.co.uk/carriesrealworl/

 

Social media:

https://www.instagram.com/cazzasrealworld/?hl=en

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Twitter

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Henry is now in year one

Henry is now in year one, and following on from my previous blog “My son completed his first year at school” I forgot to mention that at the end of last year he won the book prize in his class.

He won a book called “Six Dinner Sid” and won it because of the progress he had made through his first year.

So far he has almost completed 3 weeks and 3 days since he began he new year at school. Since he began all the teachers have noticed since last year ended, from being away for school holidays, how much more progress he has made.

He is speaking non stop and saying more words and sentences as the days and weeks continue. His memory and recognition skills are excellent, and I think he won’t have my no sense of direction as he instantly remembers where he is and where to go.

Henry is very observant, he loves airplanes and spot one from a mile away and thinks all planes have a “White Engine”. No idea why but that is what he says as soon as he sees one. We have to stop and look before he will continue to walk.

He is beginning to listen to instructions and pick up on certain reactions, so when he misbehaves, as soon as we show no interest he will usually react by coming to you, to get your attention, so that’s when I will continue to give him instructions and is when I get his full attention.

So far he has been doing his homework. Occasionally he will try to refuse and say “No” however he knows the rule now, that if he doesn’t he can’t play until his homework is done, and I have now put a reward system in place to help encourage him. Seems to be working at the moment.

He will now do some drawing, before he wasn’t interested at all. He will recognise numbers and letters. We often use his wall charts, which I would totally recommend, on his walls in his bedroom to do some counting and have him find letters.

The wall charts I purchased from the The Book People.

They no longer have these ones, but they do have a new chart is a poster of Timestables (Please see link):

https://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?productId=825826&catalogId=10051

You can find those of wall charts for children on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=children%27s+educational+wall+charts&adgrpid=55904854049&gclid=Cj0KCQjww7HsBRDkARIsAARsIT7Ls0dgp9CNoHB0gussEur5AVFLokpESSA4JpFXZH2BuuowqqGPNS4aAoRxEALw_wcB&hvadid=259045638181&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006702&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3942120632726015266&hvtargid=aud-614677023298%3Akwd-314739668376&hydadcr=3824_1825688&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_194wph6892_e

Or check out Google of places you can get wall charts from:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Educational+wall+charts+for+kids&sxsrf=ACYBGNQo_g6VQnKFuEfd7pkMXdPZVtEl6A:1569497549344&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib953_se7kAhVOPcAKHbW6B1sQ_AUIEygC&biw=1066&bih=621

Henry has two new favourite songs. As a baby and toddler it was “Only You” by the Flying Pickets and Sia “Soon we’ll be found”.

Now it is Starship, “We built this city” and Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams”.

Music is really great for a child’s development, learning from experience, as it helps them to recognise sounds and words.

The one class I would recommend if you have a baby or a toddler is Monkey Music. I absolutely loved this class and helped me get to know some of the mums who’s children go to Henry’s school, and happen to be in the same year. This was before he had even begun school, but when he was a baby, then a toddler.

Henry’s favourite film at the moment is “Polar Express”, and his current TV programmes are Match of the Day, because he often wants to watch football, and I can’t always afford to pay for Sky Sports. He will often watch Thomas the Tank Engine, Peppa Pig, Spongebob or Peter Rabbit.

I allow him to watch a little Youtube. He tends to watch football and often gets us all, such as myself, my husband, my mum and the teachers at school to play the “Crossbar Challenge”. Otherwise it is My Talking Tom and music of the songs I have already mentioned above.

Henry has become quite fussy when it comes to food. He completely gone of most fruits and vegetables. He will only eat at the moment, raisins and sultanas.

He was at one point having a banana at school, which he would take with him, but stopped eating them.

Now he will eat potato but in the form of chips, croquettes, waffles, mashed or roasted. Won’t eat boiled spuds at all and doesn’t like crinkle chips.

Since starting year 1 he has received some more books at school, which I didn’t expect. They were given to him by one of the school teachers who looks after Henry, which was lovely, and loves the book called Dear Zoo.

Soon it will be Henry’s 6th birthday which I will share too on this page, and without a shadow of a doubt he would have grown and progressed even more.

We are having a few challenges as mentioned such as fussy eating, we are still going through bed-wetting, which I did write a blog about on my other blog, which I share with this one The Parenting Adventures Tips and Tricks, about bedwetting, and behaviour problems too. Yesterday at school the teacher told me Henry was pinching and kicking again and he has become very stroppy and defiant at times. Check out my blog about Handling Bad Behaviour.

Since the Birth of My Son Henry, it hasn’t been easy and there are days and times like above where I feel like we are often taking  a few steps backward, but I still of course love my son to bits and will do all I can to help him develop and learn from his behaviour, by continuing to teach him about what is good and what is bad, but at the same time let him be able to express himself as much as possible, to help communicate even more.

Please remember you can read more of my blogs on this site on WordPress.com by following me (see button below) and on www.carriesrealworld.com. I also write on these sites too (see below):

https://everydaylivingandlifestyle.wordpress.com/

https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com/

https://sportsandfitnesspassion.wordpress.com/

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

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