Actually… I’m not sure why I called this a “running start”, when Chef Du Plunge can’t even crawl yet.
Little Blonde Kid: My arm is sore from holding it up and attention seeking! Curly-haired Kid: Frickin' show pony...
Today was the wee man’s first day of childcare. Naturally Second Chef was in two minds about the whole thing and there was a few moments of wanting to go rescue him! My opinion is that most mothers reading this would have experienced exactly the same anxiety, and doubtless have great advice.
While I personally had some small twinges (almost entirely centred on nervousness about letting strangers care for my boy), I figure that we’ve in effect committed him to his first days of education (so only 18 years until the really heavy lifting starts then?)
I say education because kids really do seem to benefit from day care. My lack of experience of childcare made me sceptical about the whole thing until “a friend” had one of their daughters in care during a difficult family time, and the stability of that child is a testament to the carers. Chef Du Plunge is hardly in a difficult family situation, and the good news is that he’s unlikely to be so, but the value he could gain from the exposure to other totts is likely to be high enough that this day care business could just about pay for itself in the “well balanced child” stakes.
And apparently he spent the better part of the day having his toys taken away by a child who can crawl, and being crawled on by said tyke. Personally? I this is a good thing. CDP is a big boy at 11.5 kg and 8 months, so his learning tolerance of other kids will in all probability save Second Chef and I many many trips to speak with teachers!
In other news, he’s doing really well. Second Chef has given “elimination communication” a go, and he seems to pretty regularly be using the toilet, which is, IMHO, amazing. He might not be learning to crawl as fast as other kids, but if he’s out of nappies earlier then we’ll hardly begrudge him sitting and smiling like a wee cherub for a bit longer.
He’s also an outright smiley and happy kid who is a joy to be around. There’s those moments all babies have, toys flying and the like, but, he is a baby after all.
And we love him to bits.
3 August, 2009 at 11:03 pm
9 months is average for crawling, but apparently it’s so variable that it’s not actually a useful milestone. 13 months for walking, but in all honesty, it’s better if they don’t walk so soon. If they walk a bit later, they seem to have developed a bit of a hazard-warning system, and they don’t get nearly so many bumps and bruises.
smiling like a wee cherub
“Like” a wee cherub? Surely he is a wee cherub.
4 August, 2009 at 6:35 am
no wings. therefore, not an *actual* cherub.
we try to keep rational about the cherubic values our child.
stress: try
4 August, 2009 at 1:01 am
at what age did you guys start with EC? i was doing it once or twice a day with violet for a couple of weeks and then got lazy. i’m not sure what direction i should take.
4 August, 2009 at 6:37 am
just a week or so back. we tried when he was “very small”* but also gave up.
it helps that when he needs to go he kind of grips the sides of his hi-chair, turns bright red, and grunts.
* has never been very small
5 August, 2009 at 8:02 am
yeah, holding her on that little potty is plain uncomfortable for both of us and i’m still not solid on her cues to minimize the time on it. i got to thinking i should maybe try again when she can sit on her own. brian’s co-worker from india had her daughter diaper free by 11 months (which i think is pretty normal for india). i would like that very much.
5 August, 2009 at 9:43 am
yup. 2nd Chef started when he could sit.
we think he finds the whole palaver easier when he’s on the little seat we put up on the toilet.
i mean, have you ever tried to poo wearning pants and sitting on the ground? i’d imagine it can’t be easy.
4 August, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Some things to remember with developmental milestones like crawling
1) all kids develop in their own time, so comparing to others doesn’t really tell you much.
2) development is not always linear. CDP might be advanced for his age in some other things.
3) what encompasses ‘normal’ is a bloody huge so re-read number 1.
4 August, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Yep, my niece took until she was a bit more than two to begin walking around, and even longer to speak properly. But that latter one may be down to living in a bi-lingual home. I’m sure once she’s got her head around both languages she’ll be yammering away nineteen-to-the-dozen in both.
*goes off to google elimination communication*
6 August, 2009 at 7:30 pm
I feel I have missed something (from being away, maybe) or that I shouldn’t be asking this.
But how do you even get an eight-month-old into childcare?
My eldest managed the odd session at two, when her mum was expecting number two.
The crawling/walking business is amazing. My first slept through the night by four months, crawled at 10 months and walked at 15 months and we thought that was what babies did.
Then number two came along and crawled at five months and walked at 10, and refused to sleep through the night till 15 months. Life was utter misery for the parents!
Congrats on the milestones!
6 August, 2009 at 8:23 pm
and thank you, good sir. we ended up going with barnardos. they offered us a place with a new set-up, and we jumped at it.
i think it’s more or less a baby-sitting service, but with a skilled sitter. the good news being that they have four children to work with at most. this means he gets the necessary attention to keep his development going (in big centres the small ones get “parked”), while also ensuring socialisation.
all sounds pretty good in theory!
and it certainly wasn’t easy to get into. he’s currently being taxied up to newlands by his grandparents, three days a week.
10 August, 2009 at 10:42 pm
We’ve been using home-based care too since the start of first semester, have found it really good for our (now) 10 month old, definitely helps with his socialisation etc and has the added benefit of slightly less incidence of sickness than when you’ve got your kiddy in larger childcare centres (which was why it was recommended to me by one of my tutors, study doesn’t really allow for sick-leave).
I had signed up at the (Dunedin) uni child care centres when I first found out I was preggers, but am still on waiting lists now, 18 months later, with no end to the waiting in sight. However, I am so happy with the home-based care that I will def stay with our current carer until he’s at least walking.
Oh, and our 10 month old was sitting at 4 months, but is not yet crawling (but is close, probably, can roll and push himself places backwards). Was quite happy about that, due to going thru the process of selling a house and moving over the past 2 months, a crawling bubba would have complicated things further. Yay for your sweet bubba!