Skating

Nikki can now 'skate' confidently and unaided on a flat surface. It still looks a lot like walking, but his confidence has increased so much!

Picking Apples

There is a page in one of Nikki's favourite Russian books which shows a man up a ladder, picking apples. We read this book every night and he has almost memorized it. Whenever he sees the man up the ladder he shouts "kak Kolya's" (he mixes his grammar a little) and points with glee to his climbing frame.

I thought that I might play on this connection to encourage him to climb the ladder - it is still very much a challenge and thus he is reluctant to try most days.

Yesterday, I placed a wooden apple at the top of the ladder and told Nikki he had to pick it, like in the story. Once he had a reason to climb, he was up that ladder in a shot (a slow and careful shot...) and 'picked' his apple with a big grin on his face.

The apple in the 'tree'

Reaching up...

Apple Picked!

Now I can encourage him to climb his ladder at least twice each day. He has become so confident in the last couple of days that he is willing to try and climb down the ladder, too! Before, he has simply let go and let me 'jump' him down.

Just a note to say that I was still holding on while taking the pic of him up the ladder! He never uses the climbing frame unsupervised!

Linking up to Montessori Mondays

Running Update

We haven't actually managed the structured running program I had hoped to implement - the only safe paths to run are made of compressed mud - and we had around two months of solid rain, so you can guess how that worked!

Now, the sun has come out and gone to the other extreme - it is too hot! Well, too hot for me at least! I really don't cope with heat...

Nicholas has taken matters into his own hands. He runs everywhere! The round trip to our local shop and back is just over half a mile and he runs almost exclusively (barring crossing roads). Likewise, he runs to playgroup, and most of the (0.8 miles) back from grandma's, too!

I still want a little more structure (too much pent up energy!!!) but for now, he's still running further than I can!

Climbing Frame!

Once he became confident with the concept of mobility, Nikki suddenly started acting much more like a little boy. Before he could walk, he was happy to sit and play quiet games for ages. Now, he wants me to read his favourite poem whilst he runs up and down the hall!

Due to the fact that we a) don't have a garden of our own and b) live in England, there can be days or even weeks when we don't leave the house for any non-essential reasons. This means that we will go to playgroup or the shops but avoid the play area - too wet/too cold/too muddy etc.

Nikki doesn't appreciate this. He doesn't care that the swing seats are sodden or the climbing frame is slippery - he want's to swing and climb! He also has far too much energy on the days when we go running or walk for miles; if we don't get out he is almost unbearably energetic!

Thus, to burn off some of that energy on rainy days, we bought him an indoor climbing frame for his bedroom. This is something which a lot of Russian families have in their flats, and was surprisingly difficult to find in England (the one we ordered had actually been imported from Russia!) but has been a big hit with Nikki, his monkeys and my little brother.

In this picture, you can just about see our safety mat (or a trampoline, as Nikki calls it). The blue on the ladder is a padded anti-climb device, so that Nikki  can only climb when supervised. It also comes in handy for padding the side of his toy chest when his is playing. The climbing rope and rings are tied up to the top of the frame when I'm not in the room.

Running Program

Now that Nicholas is running everywhere, I have decided to start a Doman-style running program with him. It has been something that I've been thinking about for a while, but the weather and finding a suitable place to run has put me off.

My reasons for doing this are many. The most important one at this point in time involves burning up that endless supply of little-boy energy which otherwise turns into mischief and mayhem! Perhaps even to the point of re-instating the afternoon nap! Running will develop Nikki's gross motor skills, which are still a little behind average for his age. It is also a good way to keep fit (for me!) and will strengthen his lungs, improving his speech and hopefully preventing another winter of chest infections.

The route I have chosen is not quite a mile in total and safe for him to run independantly. Nicholas is quite happy walking a mile - most days he walks at least half a mile, more if we detour to see the ducks. We will start with several short runs over a mile long course (probably no more than a couple of hundred yards in total) and slowly, slowly build it up. If we follow Doman's suggested increase of 250 yards/month then we should be running the full route by the time Nikki turns 3.

To make sure Nikki is super-eager (not that he ever resists the opportunity to run) I have bought him some super-cool Thomas the Tank Engine running shoes, complete with flashing lights! I suspect they will really slow us down when he stops to look at the lights every step... but he will be happy!