The Older Man!

Well, it's been over a month since I last had time to write anything, and in that time Iona seems to have magically transformed from a baby into a full toddler! I can't believe how much she's changed and learned. She's picking up new words (or her version of them) all the time, and some of the Makaton signs for them, too. I've been trying to do a series of activities with her based on the theme of apples, and she used the sign for apple for the first time yesterday, which was exciting. She's also finally beginning to get the hang of walking, and loves to try to toddle all the way across the living room - at the moment it's 50:50 whether she makes it all the way across in one go!

Anyway, we went to the home education group at the soft play centre for the first time in several months today. It was nice to see everyone again, and Iona really enjoyed it, even though it was so busy with loads of other kids (apparently there was a party on, too). She was more confident than ever on the slide, and still loves the ball pool, although as it was the afternoon she was starting to get tired. During one of her stints in the ball pool there was a boy of about 8 playing in it with a younger girl (probably about 3), and Iona seemed to really take to him. She kept smiling at him, which he reciprocated, then when she slid down the slide and landed near him she leaned herself against him, smiling up at him with a winsome look on her face. Luckily he seemed amused, as Iona seemed to think it would be nice to rest against him, and she seemed quite happy to settle herself there, until Daddy and I decided it was time to be off. She definitely seems to have a thing for "the older man" - I think we'll have to keep an eye on her as she gets older!!

Up and down

I was so proud today - for the first time Iona got the hang of a slide and used it independently! We try to get along to our local home education group fortnightly get-together when we can, at the JJB Sports soft play area, although we haven't now been for a couple of months, as it's been conflicting with the, also fortnightly, toddler group at church. However, due to a mix-up over dates, we went today but no-one else did. It wasn't a total waste, though, as Iona had a lovely time playing in the toddlers' part of the soft play area. As I said last time, she's definitely getting the hang of ball pools, and I've previously put her at the top of the slide for her to slide down into it. I've also tried putting her at the bottom of the "steps" up it, but she wouldn't climb up. Well, this time she did ...

She then turned herself round and slid down on her front, feet first:

Then she "surfed" across the ball pool,

Mummy hoisted her out of the ball pool, and she crawled back to the steps, ready to begin the cycle again. It may not seem like much, but it's the first time she's done the whole cycle (with just a bit of help getting out of the ball pool) herself!

A Playtastic Day

We had a wonderful day on Thursday, playing at the new Playtastic soft play centre in Sinfin (http://www.playtasticplay.co.uk/index.html). We'd been there 2 weeks before, having Iona's photo taken for the local Lots for Tots magazine (http://lots-for-tots.net/) competition, and she really enjoyed it then, but being dolled up wasn't really dressed for climbing. We had to return this week to collect the CD of photos we'd ordered, so I made sure Iona was dressed in trousers this time, and that I had socks on. We arrived at half past 11, had lunch in the cafe there, and didn't leave till about 3:30. I really like this soft play area, although it's pretty expensive, as it has plenty in it for the younger children, even having a little area for babies, which Iona still enjoys. Almost as good, the cafe has women's magazines on the counter, so you can have a little read with your lunch. Lunch, incidentally, is good, too, with crisp, non-greasy chips, ample veggie choices, and lovely, child-friendly crockery and cutlery, although, once again, it's not incredibly cheap.

With a bit of help Iona got into the toddlers' ball pool, then a little girl of about 4 joined her in there. Iona was a bit uncertain of her at first, but quickly accepted her, and I was so proud that she played so well with her. Prompted by me at first, she passed balls to her, and copied the little girl crawling around in the balls. On a couple of occasions I was a bit concerned that her little friend was starting to get a bit rough, and was tempted to intervene to remind her that Iona was only little, but I restrained myself and found that Iona was able to push past her quite well, with no worries on her part. This is really the first time that Iona has properly "played" with another child, really taking notice of her, and not just as another plaything.

On the uses of reading

Despite my intentions to teach Iona reading by the "look-say" method, rather than phonics (as English is such a non-phonetic language), she has been determined to use phonics - she keeps pointing out individual letters and asking "Tha?". She has been very interested in the BBC logo for a while, and a week ago she spotted the ITV logo and asked about it. On being told it said "ITV" she happily kept repeating "I, T". Yesterday we had an ITV station on, and Iona looked at the little logo in the corner and said "I, T", without any prompting.

As Iona seems so interested in letter sounds, I have begun to help her make her own A, B, C book, using a presentation folder, paper, and cut-out photos. The advantage (besides cost) is that we can concentrate on words that have a meaning for her, so under "B" we have Boots and Backpack, and "D" contains Dora and Diego. 2 days ago we added the Asda logo, as we go shopping there quite a lot, and yesterday when we went shopping she was very interested in the logo. When we read the book she says her version of "Asda" when she sees the logo, so she is definitely beginning recognising written logos, a first step in reading.

In's and out's of HE

For ages now I've been reading that Iona should be taking things out of containers and putting them back in - well the taking things out has been going brilliantly, but unfortunately not so the putting them in! Well, today we went to the Stay and Play session at the local children's centre and Iona decided to spend most of the time in the outside play area. They'd set up a sink full of water, with squashy fish and boats floating in it, and Iona was one of the children fascinated by this. Unsurprisingly, she started by taking the fish and boats out, and splashing in the water so much that she might as well have jumped in, her clothes were so wet! Then I watched, open-mouthed, as she put some of them back in the water - I was ecstatic! So much so, that I didn't have the heart to stop her splashing. She repeated it several times, so I began to believe that it might not be a fluke. However, I was a bit cynical about her repeating this behaviour at home.

Later, at home, the living room was a total tip where she'd been practising the "taking out" behaviour, so I started putting her building bricks away in their bag and asked her to help me. Incredibly, she put several bricks into the bag, before she got bored and started throwing them around the room. I even managed to persuade her back onto task again several times, before she started trying to empty the bag again. Okay, it wasn't just the bricks she was trying to put in the bag, but other toys too, but it's definitely a major advance in Iona's ability.

It seems to have been a day of advances, as she was asking during the evening about the ITV4 logo on the TV, and she was so taken with it that she spent the rest of the programme asking about it, then repeating "IT, IT, IT". She also got the idea that mice say "eek", which she also repeated copiously, and was very amused by the piano playing on "Show Me, Show Me".

"We are Climbing up the Golden Stair"

Well, Iona finally made it up the stairs today. She was playing out in the hall, so I thought I'd better check on her, only to find she was on the second step up. We'd got out of the habit of closing the downstairs stair gate, as she'd shown no interest in the stairs up to now, so I hurried over and followed close behind her. In no time she'd crawled up all 13 steps, and was very proud of herself. Now to teach her to come down just as safely!

The beginnings of reading?

I'm hopeful that my attempts to teach Iona to read are beginning to pay off. Although she usually still tends to say "Mamma" when she sees all 3 cards, she is usually quicker to realise what "daddy" says. When I lay 2 cards out and ask her to find a particular card she is now usually able to do so, and on 1 occasion last week as soon as she saw the "head" flashcard she put her hands to her head!

How to Teach Kids to Swim

From looking at the Brill Kids website (http://www.brillbaby.com/teach-baby/baby-swimming.php) I discovered that YouTube had some really good videos on teaching your baby to swim. One in particular proved very useful, as I had been wondering how to move Iona on from being comfortable being submerged to swimming on her own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds7nLmhQSSg

When we went swimming today I decided to risk trying to persuade her to float a bit towards the side bar. She was a bit clingy generally, so not too keen, but I was thrilled that, with a hint of support underneath, she managed to "swim" virtually on her own a short distance to the side. Now I have an aim for the next few sessions (not sure how many it will take): to decrease the amount of support until Iona is able to float / swim to the side from a couple of her lengths away.

More on reading

I've tried to show Iona the "Mummy", "Daddy" and "head" flashcards at least once a day since my last post. She now says "Mama" as soon as she sees them. Unfortunately, that's true whichever one I show her! However, when I show her "Daddy" and correct her that it's not "Mummy", then prompt her with "Da..." she excitedly says "Dada", so I feel that's some progress, especially at only 13 months old.

On reading

A month or two ago I came across a website which had downloadable signs to put up around the house (URL to follow), to help babies / children to learn to read. I'd planned to do this for Iona, but not got around to it, so I printed them out and put them up. Unfortunately, several got torn down fairly quickly, but in the last week or so she's been pointing at some and asking "Tha?", so I've been telling her. She's also pointing similarly to page numbers and things like the "DK" logo on books. As she seems really interested, I decided that she's now ready to begin to learn to read, especially as her talking is coming on in leaps and bounds. This may seem ridiculously early, but my Mum taught me when I was 4, using Glen Doman's "Teach Your Baby to Read Kit", which I've inherited. According to this, and the site Brill Baby / Brill Kids (http://www.brillbaby.com/teach-baby/reading.php), now is quite a reasonable age to begin showing her flashcards, without any pressure.

Consequently, I got the kit out of the spare room, and found the large, red "mummy" flashcard, which is the one you're supposed to begin with. I showed it to Iona a few times yesterday and the day before and told her what it said. She was very interested, and pointed to individual letters, asking about them. Although I don't want to use phonics, as English isn't very phonetic, I felt I should answer her questions and tell her the letter sounds that she was asking about, while trying to maintain emphasis on the word as a whole. I also broke the kit's rules and showed her "head", as she's been extremely keen on that word for the last 2 or 3 days, and "daddy", which is one of her favourite words. We'll have to see whether that confuses her.

Today I got the "mummy" flashcard out and before I even had a chance to ask what it said she said "mmm"! Mind you, she did the same with the "daddy" and "head" cards.