Crack open the Milo, it’s party time!

The house is in a state of anticipation. Just Dad is in a corner attempting to blow balloons which Big Sister keeps popping, just great  what am I to do with those two? At this rate there will be no decorations up. How can I have my guests arrive to a shell of a house. I look towards the kitchen, Mummy dearest must come to my rescue, but she looks worse than all of us. Sweat trickling down an extremely furrowed forehead, Mummy dearest’s cutlets don’t look very round and is that really a pattie or did a potato and a fish just crash into each other? Rather than test her already freyed nerves with the balloon debacle I quietly grab an unnoticed piece of brownie and inch out of the kitchen.Well folks if you haven’t noticed there’s going to be a party in the house, and in a few hours I’ll be blowing the candles on my freshly iced Spiderman cake. Luckily Mum saw senses and got someone else to do the cake, so even if we can’t eat the other food, we’ve got cake!!

Yeah the year just flew by and I don’t even know where it went. I got better at a lot of things I guess, the walking got steadier, the talking a little bit more easier, I can now sing “Twinkle twinkle lil star”..without a syllabub out of tune..take that!!! You’re looking at a future Got Talent star that’s for sure. Still played mind games with the parents with the crying, cried because I had red PJ’s on, cried because I wanted an apple and not an orange, cried because the dog looked at me the wrong way. Yes it was cathartic, the water trickling down my face, cooling in this heat I tell you, the perplexed look on Mum’s face. Yeah really gave it to the parents with the crying. Also the food they are serving at this place is improving a bit as well, now that the teeth has come, Mum’s not too fussy about me eating some adult food. Roasted chicken legs, honey baked hams, beef pies.. here I come!! That seemed to be in my dreams, I did get some unpureed pasta, a bit of rice and curry still in it’s wholesome form. Can’t complain. So how excited am I about this party I’m going to bust a few moves and eat as much sugary things as I can lay my hands on. Bye ye troublesome twos here comes my thrilling threes!!

What is baby led weaning?

Baby Led Weaning is a method of introducing solid foods that leaves it up to your baby to decide what, when and how much to eat.  While not necessarily a "hands off" approach, Baby Led Weaning does advocate allowing your baby to make all food choices for him or herself.While Baby Led Weaning does encourage the infant to lead the way, parents must realize that they need to help guide and direct their babies through the weaning process.  It might be easier to think of Baby Led Weaning as introducing foods that are not pureed and paying close attention to your baby's cues rather than trying to establish set feeding schedules and set portion sizes.

Watch your baby as she experiments with the food and if need be, show her how to guide the food to her mouth but do not feed her.You will not be spoon-feeding your baby, rather your baby will be feeding (or smooshing and squishing and tossing) herself. When it is time for introducing solid foods and weaning a baby onto solid foods, you must feel comfortable in the methods and the foods that will make up the introduction to solid foods.

3-year-old developmental milestones and social skills

- no longer a toddler.
- has become more independent.
- less selfish than 2-year-olds and exhibits less aggressive behaviour.
- more aware of and sensitive to the feelings of others.
- more responsive to other children and able to develop friendships.
- capable of taking turns and sharing toys.
- will begin to identify with his own sex and traditionally gender-related activities.
- more interested in structured games.
- spends much of his time in fantasy activity and will have imaginary friends (This is actually a very creative way for your child to sample different activities, behaviours and emotions.)
- sense of time has become clearer and he'll know his daily routine and will try to figure out the routines of others.
- will have a capacity to understand his own place spatially amongst the family and is able to view you as a separate person.
- wants to please you — will be less dependent on you because his sense of identity is growing stronger.
- will exhibit a feisty attitude on occasion and resist your requests.

By Mayuri Jayasinghe