seen from Indonesia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Algeria
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from South Africa
seen from United States
seen from Peru
seen from Germany
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Japan
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
April Reset Checklist for Students and Young Adults
A new month brings a fresh opportunity to refocus, reorganize, and restart. For students and young adults, April is the perfect time to pause, assess your progress, and make intentional changes that help you move closer to your goals. Whether March felt productive or overwhelming, this April reset checklist will help you start the month with clarity, motivation, and structure. 1. Review How…
First of the Month Checklist
I love the first day of the month. There's just something about starting a new month that makes you feel like you can get tons and tons of stuff done. And whether that's true or not, the idea behind it makes me hopeful. Is it just me who feels that way?
The one thing I do every time this day comes around is check off my list of monthly things that need to get done. I really think that everyone should have one of these lists. How else are you supposed to stay on top of things? And if you're unsure of what types of things should be on this list, feel free to take a glance at mine.
My Monthly Checklist
Clear out any old food from the fridge and clean the shelves.
Choose my next book to read.
Set a goal of how many times I expect myself to go to the gym (this varies depending on the season - I go less in the summertime since I'm outdoors more compared with the winter when I need to up my gym dosage since I spend so much time indoors, not moving as much).
Set a spending budget (which takes into consideration birthday gifts, holidays, etc.)
Clean out my car (this was, obviously, for the times when I had a car).
Check Barnes & Noble for any author events that I might want to go to.
Buy greeting cards if there are any family or friends' birthdays this month.
Wash the bed sheets (should I be doing this more than once a month? Hope not. That's a lot of work).
Clean and polish any shoes that are looking rough.
Go through emails and respond to anything that's ridiculously late.
That's it! Pretty good list, eh? I think so.
Rainbows and Unicorns
Rainbows (refracted* by the glass balustrades) inside at the bach.
"By 2.75 years, your toddler...
... should be able to:
brush teeth, with help
build a tower of six blocks
... will probably be able to:
draw a vertical line in imitation
balace on each foot for one second
identify a friend by naming
carry on a conversation of two - three sentences
build a tower of eight cubes
wash and dry hands
use propositions
... may possibly be able to:
identify one colour
use two adjectives
broad jump
put on a t-shirt
... may even be able to:
balance on each foot for three seconds
count one block"
Look, I'm not trying to skite but they do seem to set the bar fairly low here. I'm going to look at the next level. I'll just add in the ones that are different from above.
"By three years old, your toddler...
...should be able to:
identify four pictures by naming
throw a ball overhand
speak and be understood half the time
... will possibly be able to:
describe the use of two objects
... may even be able to:
copy a circle
prepare a bowl of cereal
dress without help"
This is more like it and probably more accurately what we should be aiming for. I think in this list the only things that A Bear hasn't been caught doing is: putting on a t-shirt (he's very uninterested in clothing in general, except for shoes. Oh boy, the shoes!), describe the use of two objects and prepare a bowl of cereal. I actively discourage rummaging in the pantry so he may well be able to do that given the opportunity.
* It is refracted, right? Am struggling to remember from high school science.
Other milestones: it seems that our boy is now toilet trained. Still the odd stressful moment but by and large things are going well. Nappies are only for nights now. A big leap forward developmentally!
This Charming Man
I opened up the "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" book again recently and discovered that our girl has outgrown it. Given that she is fast approaching four, that's no real surprise. A Bear is still trucking along though and this is what is the book suggests he might be up to.
"By 2 1/4 years, your toddler...
... should be able to:
use 50+ single words
combine words (by about 25 months)
follow a two step command without gestures
... will probably be able to:
wash and dry hands
jump up
put on an article of clothing
brush teeth with help
... may possibly be able to:
build a tower of eight cubes
use prepositions
carry on a conversation of two or three sentences
... may even be able to:
balance on each foot for one second
put on a t-shirt
identify a friend by naming."
Once again, our boy is doing really well. The only thing I haven't seen him do is get dressed but then, he's a boy! M always had the drive to achieve new things herself but he, being much cruisier, will happily let me keep doing stuff for him long after he really needs assistance. Every now and then I catch him at it and tell him "You can do that yourself!", to which he normally laughs as he realizes that he's been caught out. I suspect this may be a life long personality trait. A Bear, I am on to you and your wily ways!
Can You Believe It
Sorry for the lack of updates this week. With K away I am feeling quite worn out by the end of the day. The worn out feeling is exacerbated by a few things looming on the horizon, one of which is A Bear's birthday shortly after we come back from our trip. I really need to organise something and send out invites before we leave.
My "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" suggests that toddlers reaching the end of the 24th month...
"...should be able to:
take off an article of clothing
'feed' a doll
build a tower of four cubes
identify two items in a picture by pointing (23 1/2 months)
... will probably be able to:
build a tower of six cubes
throw a ball overhand
speak and be understood half the time
identify one item in a picture by naming
identify four items in a picture by pointing
... may possibly be able to:
jump up
put on an article of clothing (by 23 1/2 months)
... may even be able to:
draw a vertical line in imitation
build a tower of eight cubes
carry on a conversation of two or three sentences."
Hmm, the only shortfall there is the getting dressed stuff. Not worried about that though!
A Bear is beginning to try on tantrums too. He is hilarious, carefully arranging himself on the floor, checking there is an audience before commencing crying. He hasn't really got the hang of it though, no flailing, kicking or screaming, and then sits up looking slightly confused. It's almost like he feels like this is something he should be doing but doesn't understand why. I guess he's seen some children at daycare throwing wobblies but it's not really in his nature. Perhaps as he gets a bit older he'll refine his technique. Something to, ahem, look forward to.
That Time of Year
It's been a while since we've looked at we should be expecting from our wee man. Here's what the is suggested for the twentieth month in the "What to Expect..." book:
"By the end of this month, your toddler...
... should be able to:
dump an object in imitation
use a spoon/fork
run
... may possibly be able to:
combine words
identify 1 picture by naming
name 6 body parts
throw a ball overhand
speak and be understood half the time
use 50+ single words
... may even be able to:
identify 4 pictures by pointing
build a tower of 6 cubes"
I still think that A's strengths are in communication, despite him being quite introverted, and he is able to use short phrases and sentences well. In fact, the manager of his daycare centre was commenting today about how clear he speaks and how he was asking "what is that?" all day.
Some of the things the book lists as possible concerns at this age include:
aggressive behaviour: hair pulling, biting, hitting, aggressive play with toys etc
aggressive friends
over-sensitivity
dealing with fears and phobias
I wouldn't say I'm overly concerned about any of these things although A Bear does have a large repertoire of annoying behaviours that he uses to wind up his older sister. Of course, she always winds up beautifully. Hopefully she'll wise up to his tricks! Meanwhile, I'll try to redirect him from taking her toys, pulling hair, biting and so on.
Fifty Plus
Ready for bed.
It's that time of the month when I pull out the "What To Expect The Toddler Years".
"By the end of this month, your toddler...
... should be able to:
use three words
point to a desired object
... will probably be able to:
run
use a spoon/fork but not exclusively
point to one body part when asked
... may possibly be able to:
kick a ball forward
follow a two step command without gestures
... may even be able to:
identify one picture by naming
use 50+ single words
Emotional Development: at eighteen months, most children demonstrate a variety of emotions and behaviours, including pleasure, anger, warmth, assertiveness and curiousity. They understand a few limits, are able to play and explore away from parents, enjoy parental affection.
Intellectual Development: at eighteen months, children are able to communicate their wishes and their intentions and are beginning the imitative and symbolic use of toys."
Wow, our little man is doing all these things! Most times when I do this list there's things for him to be working towards.
At the same point in time with M, I remember being a bit concerned about her language development but she was great physically. A is the reverse. He's very good with words - he's quite the little parrot at the moment. This morning I've heard him use a word for toothbrush, Mickey, bath, shoes, car, train (choo choo) etc. He's really doing well!
Plunket Update
I took the opportunity to pop into the doctor this morning with A while M was at creche and before our Plunket appointment. He's been a bit off colour for the last couple of days and making mayhem overnight. Our doctor has now prescribed him the third set of antibiotics (2 x ear infections, 1 x chest) in as many months. *sigh* Well, hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.
We had a great visit with our Plunket nurse. We discovered that A Bear is now 82cm tall (85th percentile) and weighing about 10.6kg (just above the 50th percentile). A's weight and height are out performing the graphs as you can see a steeper curve on his growth rate than is expected. If you remember, he was 50th percentile for height and 15th percentile for weight a year ago. To compare him with M at the same age: she was 81cm and 11.6kg. Brilliant!
