Progress Report

Last Thursday, Daddy, Mama and Jackson went to the parents' evening at Jackson's nursery.

We got to talk to the carers about the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum that state nurseries are implementing. Noname, with her interest in curricula, might like to see how it compares to the US. Nurseries in the UK differ from daycares in the US in that there is this educational/developmental aspect to UK nurseries for under 5s.

Mama and Daddy were pleased to learn more about this more holistic approach, which emphasizes child-led experiences rather than schedules, and each child having a Key Person. We suspect most good nurseries and pre-schools already follow this type of curriculum (and Sunshine already was, for the most part), but it's good to know that it's becoming standard in the UK.

We got to sit down and talk with Jackson's key person, Ida. Part of the new curriculum includes her observing and assessing him in a binder. These assessments aren't like tests, but more observations about the activities and skills that he specifically is interested in and working on. It's great to have a record of this, and someone paying close attention, even if he's only there 3 afternoons a week. He seems extraordinarily happy there, and seems to be very eager to see Ida and even a couple of other familiar carers he has come to know.

Ida also gave us this little "progress report" to bring home (click to enlarge):

After Dinner Fun

We had a fun weekend. We went to Eastbourne and had eggs benedict and strawberries at our former neighbours Mark and Tom's house. Tonight we listened to a re-broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion (that Noname and Granddaddy had attended the night before!) while Mama and Daddy ate roast lamb and roast vegetables and Jackson ate steamed potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Afterwards he was in a FUN mood:



Then we all danced and clapped together to a David Bowie song and Jackson had a bath and went to bed.

Hoodies

This must have been snapped after our snowy day a couple of weeks ago:



Yesterday it was sunny and warm so Mama and Jax went on a big walk and played on the beach in front of the ruins of the West Pier.

You've Come A Long Way Baby

Recently Mama was cleaing out the freezer and came across the leftovers from her and Daddy's last meal before Jackson was born: sea bream and ice cream!



He's come a long way since then!

An Adventure

On Saturday, we decided to go have breakfast in Lewes and then go on a hike nearby. But at breakfast, Jackson didn't eat very much. Then, as we were preparing for our hike, we realised we had forgotten the backpack that he was going to ride in. But before Daddy could drive all the way back to Brighton to get it, Jackson threw up EVERYWHERE!

By the time Jackson got cleaned up and Daddy came back with the backback, Jackson was feeling better, and we were off!


But we were thwarted again! A sudden storm blew in!


We had to seek cover in an old World War II pillbox!



Jackson's pants got wet so he wore Mama's gloves on his feet on the way home.


Everyone had a good time despite the forgetfulness, vomit, and rain.

Snow!

The Sunday after we got back to Brighton (and just two days after Mama and Jackson had a nice spring picnic in the park) we had a massive snowstorm!


Even the beach was covered in snow!

New Friends in Melbourne

This is our last post about our recent trip through the Pacific.

Jackson made a lot of new friends in Melbourne.

Here he is with Nina and Lally, and later, Nina and her husband Tom, who is an excellent baby entertainer.



He met Yilmaz, but his partner Alan was unfortuneately sick with a bad cold!


He met Stuart Craig and his beautiful mother Jenny, who gave Jackson an Easter bunny.


He had lunch on the Yarra with Colm and Marion, who few over from Tasmania especially to meet him and brought him books about Australian wildlife.



Jackson also met up with Peg, who went out of her way to get him a copy of Hillaire Beloc's Cautionary Tales (her sister Wyn was sadly too ill to join us this time).

He also met Vicky and her fiance James, with whom he enjoyed a lovely tea and who gave him a number of amazing books and a Borders owl.

Jackson also had lunch with Ross, who let him play with his Rolex.

He especially loved meeting Lili's neighbours and many friends from the dog park, many of whom had sent him presents and good wishes when he was first born.

The Other Brighton Beach

In Melbourne we visited Angus at home in Brighton, where we went to the beach.

The Botanical Gardens

Another thing we did in Melbourne was visit the Royal Botanic Gardens with our friend Tricia and her 3-year old son Oliver.




We were in awe of the huge children's garden, which has special secret paths of bamboo and native plants, in addition to neat water features that come on when it's hot out.

At Lili's House

We got to meet Liza's samoyed Will, who is three months younger than Jackson.


Pucker up!


The Easter Bunny also found Jackson at Lili's house.



In Lili's pretty garden.

At Granma's House

The Easter Bunny found Jackson (and Daddy and Mama) in Melbourne, thanks to Granma's help.


Jackson loved meeting Oscar and Felix, Granma's dogs. They were very patient with him, despite his penchant for pinching and hair-pulling.


Jackson enjoyed playing on the floor with a new array of toys.


Here he is with Granma, who looked fantastic after a work meeting.

Fun in Singapore

Jackson loved trying a date paste bun at a Chinese restaurant in one of the seemingly millions of connected shopping malls in Singapore during our two-day stopover.


We loved lounging and swimming at the Mandarin Oriental's pool, and Jackson especially loved having a mango smoothie and the little shot glasses of sorbet the nice pool boys brought.




On Mama's birthday, we had a little party in our hotel room in the morning.


Then went out to Sentosa Island, a beach resort and amusement area, where we all swam in the ocean and played in the surf and sand and pretended to be merlions.


(click to enlarge to see Jackson and Daddy in the ocean)




That night Daddy surprised Mama with a chocolate cake, which Jackson sampled.

En Route to and from Singapore and Melbourne

We enjoyed the airport lounges; here we are waiting to leave Gatwick on our big journey.


Jackson's favourite in-flight entertainments were Dumbo on TV, water bottles, and the decorative flowers that came with our meals.


Our layover in Dubai was fun and frenetic.


In Singapore, Jackson was passed from one lounge attendant to the other, and finally returned to us just before our flight to Melbourne was about the leave.


The flight attendants all fell for Jackson's flirtatious waving and took photos of him.