Raising Rex – 18 Months

It’s been a while since I wrote an update on Rex and his milestones. Life has run away with me a bit as I am not only caring for him full time but I am also trying to work and set up my photography business (which seems to be going pretty well so far). To say that raising Rex is a juggling act is an understatement. Thankfully, Ross is pretty handy with him so the two of us are gradually finding our groove.

It is hard to believe that my last update was his first birthday. The months are whizzing by so fast now. I was looking at Grace sitting on the sofa the other day and thinking that it wouldn’t be long before Rex was that big and Grace had left to make her way in the world (sob!). So, I really need to record more of his milestones – before that all happens!

Rex’s Character

Rex is certainly proving to be a determined little soul! I have mentioned previously that he throws temper tantrums when he can’t get his way – and he still does it! Although these days it seems to be all or nothing. He is a very happy boy one minute but, when he wants something, he cries – and if he is insistent he also clenches his fists and shouts a bit!

He feeds himself the majority of the time now and gets very cross if he can’t. He either resorts to eating with his fingers or reluctantly lets me do it for him.  He loves to potter around the kitchen when I am in there cooking or cleaning. He goes in all of the kitchen cupboards and mainly takes things out and puts them back again. I tend to find a lot of bottles in the laundry bin as well as our recycling and kitchen utensils end up in his toy box!

He laughs a lot. He is never happier when he is surrounded by the 3 of us. Grace is still the one that he laughs at the most and it is wonderful to see their relationship as it develops. We have a large Orangutan puppet called ‘Marzipan’ which Grace had when she was small. Whenever Rex is going upstairs to get ready for bed, either Grace or I make the monkey noise and Rex gives a little squeal of excitement!

Ross’ office ALWAYS gets called ‘Stick’ or, as Rex calls it, ‘ccccccc’! This is because Ross regularly plays him the Hey Duggee Stick Song.

Trying to Speak

As I said above, he uses the ‘ccccc’ sound for stick. Other than that he definitely says ‘mum-mum-mum’ mainly when he wants some comfort. ‘Dad-dad-dad’ is also there. Occasionally you will hear ‘dace’ for Grace and he has also attempted ‘Gypsy’ for our cat – which is pretty distinguishable. He also says ‘Peppa’ really well and he has just started to use ‘key’ for monkey.

He seems to be extremely vocal – which is no real surprise in our family!

On the Move

Rex is now walking at lightning speed everywhere. He started walking in earnest the week before we went to Center Parcs back in November. The week in the lodge really helped him progress as it was a great place for him to practice his walking. Ever since he has got better and better. Ross and I went for a browse around Currys last weekend and Rex had a ball running around the shop! He also thinks he is very clever by walking backwards.

The only issue? He still won’t wear anything on his feet except for socks! I am determined to persevere on this – even if it is with his wellies!

He has also started to attempt walking upstairs – but he always comes and grabs one of hands to help him do it.

Favourite Foods

Rex has a few big loves when it comes to food. The first is the Vegetable Straws from Kiddylicious. He also loves omelettes (particularly cheese and ham) and Jaffa cakes (which I think I mentioned on my last update). He enjoys brioche rolls. He loves strawberries, watermelon and bananas (especially when in the trolley at Tesco) and, just like his mum, he can’t get enough of chocolate!

He also does a brilliant face, throws his head back and says ‘mmmmm’ when he really finds something tasty!

Favourite Toys, Books and TV

His cot toys remain Olly, a Fisher Price musical owl, and Mim Mim, a cuddly rabbit which was in a BritMums goody bag a few years ago. He also has a talking Duggee and, having got a talking Roly and Happy (Squirrels from Hey Duggee), they are also joining him now.

He loves his Duplo, cars (together with brummm noises) and he loves all books and regularly brings them to us to read them. He received a ‘Feed Me Dinosaur’ for Christmas and loves it. He also received some Stickle Bricks but, rather than put them together, he likes to post them in different places.

He still loves books of any sort and will sit down and try and tell himself a story using baby babble!

Swimming

Swimming has been a real lovely surprise for me. Rex and I have really bonded over our time in the pool and it has been wonderful to see his confidence grow. Thanks to Konfidence making us Baby Swimology Ambassadors, I was given the kick I needed to start the lessons with Water Babies in Axminster and we have carried on from there.

Not only have I felt that it has helped Rex learn to swim, it has really brought us closer together and helped our bonding. I really treasure our Thursday afternoons together.

Bedtime Routine

Bedtimes are much more straightforward these days.  Rex tends to have tea around 5.30pm. Then he has a bit of a play and either has half a bottle of milk and then goes up for a bath – or vice versa.

Whilst Rex is getting changed for bed, Marzipan usually pays him a visit thanks to Grace. Rex always laughs a LOT at this. His star light show then gets switched on and we usually read a story. At the moment it is either ‘Under the Sleepy Stars’ or ‘Cheeky Monkey’.

He usually gets up anywhere between 6.15 and 7am and Ross regularly does the mornings with him, allowing me a bit of a sleep in.

Rex’s Second Christmas

Whilst he still doesn’t understand what Christmas is all about, he definitely had an inkling something was going on.

Over Christmas, he had a chocolate advent calendar and he knew exactly how it worked. Every day he would take our hand and lead us over to the shelf so that he could have a chocolate. It was very cute.

We managed to barricade the tree behind his plastic fence and whenever he went over to touch it, he got the ‘nooo Rex’ and he got it. When we took the fence down ready for the Christmas presents, he didn’t really touch it bar a couple of times. Even then, he knew he shouldn’t!

He kept trying to say Christmas and it was coming out as ‘dismas’ but I got the gist. He also knew Father Christmas as ‘Ho Ho Ho’.

He really got into the present opening – even though it did take him all day – and he had a great time doing it. I am really looking forward to seeing what he makes of the whole thing next year. But I don’t want to wish those months away! I am really enjoying who is right now.

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