Setri at 18 months

2 days until setri hits 19m. Yesterday we were outside and Setri again started talking about his friend 'Lee' (our friend's 8yo son, Liam). They were going to 'go Buh-bah' (Bunya mountains) and 'go up-dair. Look lan' (go upstairs to look at fans). Setri then proceeded to say 'Liz. Nic' (Liam's mother and almost-step-father), and when I asked him if he remembered who else went to the Bunya mountains he replied 'Jaye' (another of our friends). When I asked him if he remembered who else went to the Bunya mountains he paused and thought long and hard before coming up with 'Lulu' (Lucy). I was pretty impressed. Not only that he can talk about an event that occurred over 5 weeks in the past that was not mentioned until Setri brought it up a couple of nights ago, but that he could state the names of 5 people outside of the family who were there with us. It's no surprise that he remembered the names of the people who engaged with him the most, I suppose, but that is pretty amazing for an almost 19mo.


I've probably mentioned before that one of Setri's favourite pursuits is smelling -and sometimes tasting- spices and sauces and other condiments. He asks me to help him do it multiple times a day, although I usually only acquiesce once a day. These days if I tell him something is even a little bit spicy he will go right off the idea of tasting it, and need a lot of coaxing to do so, e.g. with sweet chilli sauce (which he loved, after I finally convinced him). He is really fond of fish sauce (!) and the different vinegars we keep in the cupboard. Not just balsamic, which just about anyone would like, but malt vinegar, apple cider vinegar and white wine vinegar too. He also enjoys tasting the rose water and orange blossom water, despite the fact I think they taste pretty awful on their own.

Just remembered another synonym he has been using frequently, 'close' for 'shut' (he says 'lut'), and vice-versa. He always signs it with his hands too. Don't know if I've mentioned that he these days always says 'fini' as well as signing 'finished'?

One more funny thing Setri has started doing in the past few weeks is tell us that he is drawing/writing an object, person or number/letter when he is scribbling. Before it was 'daw-daw' (draw-draw), now it's 'daw bus' or 'daw Mam-ma' or 'daw cat'. We always make sure to take Setri's efforts very seriously, while inside LOL :)

Setri hasn't yet (perhaps surprisingly) started asking 'why' questions, but he can answer them, which is pretty cool. Actually more than his verbal abilities, his comprehension of questions that are supposed to be completely beyond a kid his age is something I find really enthralling. Something might be answered with a one or two-word reply, but it could take a complex series of mental calculations to come up with it. I love finding out what's going on in the brain inside that curly little head.

This afternoon I also was awarded my very own verse in Setri's 'Wheels on the Bus!'. Setri has long asserted that the 'Daddy on the bus says "No! No! No!"' (Daddy buh. No! No! No!), and as mentioned this morning, the Grandma on the bus says "Don't do that!" Well, apparently 'Mumma buh. Not now!' (the Mummy on the bus says "not now, Setri!"). Worst of all it appears to be true- Gam pulled me up at least 3 times this evening for saying 'not now' to Setri!

Setri was wearing his hat when he and mum walked to meet me on the way home fro the bus. Sometimes he is good about wearing a hat, sometimes not. When I mentioned it today, he said "Mam-ma", in an ever-so-slightly accusatory tone. "Oh, grandma made you wear it, did she?" I asked. "Yeah", he said. He was probably just telling me that mum had helped him put it on, but that way was funnier. I told Setri I was going to buy a hat soon (I never wear one and really ought to set an example):

Sarah: Where do we go to buy a hat, Setri?

Setri: Lop

Sarah: Yes, a shop! Very good. What do we do to buy a hat when we go to the shop?

Setri: Man. Lady.

Sarah: Yes, we take the hat to the lady or the man at the counter. What do we give to the man or lady in order to buy the hat?

Setri: 'At.

Sarah: *pause to process unexpected answer* Yes! That's true! Can you tell me what we give to the man or lady in exchange for the hat?

Setri: Muh-muh (money).




This morning, after waking at the ungodly hour of 5-something-am, Setri ordered me to sing WOB. He made up some lyrics I don't think he's used before. He is very fond of making me sing "the daddy on the bus says No! No! No!"... The new verse Setri requested was "Mam-ma buh. Don' do dat" (= 'the Grandma on the bus says "don't do that!"). More good news- 2nd dry night in a row!

Tonight Setri asked for my BlackBerry. When I asked who he was going to call, he said "Man". Gam and I asked what the man's name was- this is a pretty routine conversation, and Setri usually says the name of one of our friends, tells us he is going to say hello and give the person a kiss. Tonight he said 'Lee', referring not to a man but to our friend's 8yo son Liam. Setri last saw Liam 5 weeks ago, when we all stayed in a house at the Bunya mountains. We asked Setri what he was going to say to Liam. "Go up-dair. Lan" (= go upstairs to look at fans, something he wanted to do with Liam). This is indeed something Setri spent a large proportion of his time on while at the Bunya Mountains, accompanied by Liam!

This is actually the second time Setri has done this, I didn't think to mention when he first did it a month or so ago. Mum frequently takes Setri to op-shops to buy him clothes and toys. She did it today, and when I got home and saw Setri's latest new toys I asked Setri "Did you say thank you to Grandma?". Setri said thank you. A few hours later, just before dinner, Setri brought another of the new toys into the kitchen. "Ahnk-oo", he said. Having no idea what he was saying thank you for (and knowing it just as often means "hand that over!"), I asked him. "Mam-ma ahnk-oo", he said. "Thank you for what, Setri?", I asked. Setri pointed to his new toy. After telling Setri what a lovely boy he was, Mum whispered "Did you tell him to say that?". Nope.

Today Setri started using the word nice. I often tell Setri he's nice/sweet/lovely etc, because he really is, but he has never used it himself. This afternoon, though, he told me that Feifei was a 'nice cat', before saying 'luddle', and giving Feifei a cuddle. That reminds me of something else Setri has being doing- using synonyms. The other day he lay his head on my lap and said 'ug'. Had no idea what he was on about, as dumb as that sounds now- we nearly always say 'cuddle', and he'd never said it before. I asked Setri if he'd said 'up', and a couple of other words, quickly running out of options. 'Ug!' he said, more and more insistently, ever-more exaggeratedly laying his head in my lap each time, until I finally got it. I remembered that in one of his recent favourite books, a 'Pip and Posy' book, the two main characters had given each other a hug. That wasn't his first use of synonyms though. A week or so ago, Setri sat on the kitchen floor with a large bowl, pretending to pour something from the bowl. Each time he tipped it he would say 'em' (empty), 'dip' (tip), or 'dump', evidently having sussed out at some point that in the context of tipping something from a bowl they meant very similar things. Just when I think I'm getting used to how clever he is, he comes up with something like that, and blows me away yet again. Oh and I think in some cases he has been trying to put an 'ing' on some of his verbs. One of his first words was 'dan-duh' (stand up) and he still says this. But lately he has occasionally said 'dan-duh' before he actually stands up, and once he is standing proudly states 'dan-dan-duh'. There have been a couple of similar instances, but this is the only specific one I can recall atm.


While outside gardening yesterday, Setri told me there was a "Mess in-lide (inside)". This was a bit unusual, normally he tells me about a mess 'out-lide', of which there has been quite a bit on and off with Gam's landscaping efforts. I asked Setri who made the mess, expecting him to say 'Daddy' or 'Mumma' or even 'Mam-ma', as white lies along these lines have been a feature of recent jokes of his. "Chiki", he replied. Oh! The chickens never go in the house, as much as they might wish that they could. "What kind of mess, Setri?", I asked. "Leelee. (F)loor", Setri replied. "Are you saying that the chickens did weewee on the floor inside the house?" I asked, pretty sure he must be making some new kind of joke. "Yeah", said Setri. "Did they do poo too?". "Yeah", he replied, straightfaced. "Setri," I said "Is that the truth or a lie?". Setri looked taken aback by my question. "Looth", he said, looking as if he felt slighted by the implication. "In 'owth". He gestured with his hand and looked in the direction of the chickens' yard. Suddenly I realised that he was talking about the (not inconsiderable) mess inside the chickens' little 'house', and no doubt their yard too!

Also while gardening outside yesterday, Setri planted his first seed, a zucchini seed. He looked very excited (it's one of his favourite vegies) and followed me up to the garden, but when I gave him the seed and told him to stick it in the hole in the dirt he refused. It was only after I explained that no zucchini plant would appear unless he put it in the hole that he agreed and popped it in. I helped him cover it up with dirt. Hopefully he will be patient enough for me to not have to explain why there is no green plant with yellow flowers and zucchinis on it by this afternoon.

Have taken a few videos of Setri just recently. I take them on Gam's BlackBerry because if I do it on the proper camera Setri thinks he has more of a right to use it than I do. We have been prompting him to talk about/to 'Grandma B', Gam's mother, who we primarily take the videos for. She has not yet met Setri and just about dies of happiness every time she gets one, and addresses most of her emails to Setri :) Most of the videos involve me asking Setri questions to prompt him to talk and are nothing spectacular, but I also really enjoy watching them again and again, and quite often Setri does too!

Setri had his first dry night last night. I got up at about 7, busting to wee, and I was on the toilet when Setri said "Mumma, leelee". He waited for me to finish, then did a massive wee in the toilet, whereupon I noticed that his night nappy was completely dry. Pretty impressed.

Setri will 'sing a song' about almost anything we ask him to, these days. It's never quite as tuneful as his previously-mentioned effort with 'write it down', but it is really cute. He has started replying to "What's your name" with "Leh-li" again, as opposed to "Me!" or "Loo (you)".

One week away from 19m. Said to me this morning when I gave him a shower, "Mumma, in lauer", then when I stepped fully clothed into the (large) shower cubicle, he said "Off". I asked him if he wanted the shower off, and he replied "Lort (shirt) off"- telling me to take my shirt off! Then he pulled up one of the non-stick pads from the shower floor and was counting the holes. He got as far as 5 and stopped. I asked him what comes after 5 and he replied 'lic' (six). What comes after 6- 'lehleh' (seven', what comes after 8? "Don' late", he replied- a reference to "One, two, buckle my shoe"! I kept going and asked him what came next. "Nine". "What comes after nine?""Len". "And what comes after that?" "Home, (s)leep". Not quite 'home again', but very funny.

Setri was doing one of his dinosaur roars. I asked if the dinosaur was happy or angry. "Angy", was the answer. Why was the dinosaur angry?, I asked. "Eat", Setri said. "Lood". The dinosaur wanted food? What kind of food did the dinosaur like to eat? "Cat lood".

Took Setri to 'The Smoke' (formerly Blue Smoke) in New Farm for some american bbq with our friends Nicole, Dave and Cass. Setri was very good- boisterous, babbly and wriggly, with the occasional request to "Go out door" or "Go out-lide", but he never once did a runner or threw a tantrum. He did screech/shout loudly a couple of times after dinner, and only shushed briefly on request before doing the same thing again, but considering it was 7.30pm and we had been in the restaurant for an hour and a half, we considered him to have been extremely well behaved. Before we left home in the afternoon I told Setri we were going to a restaurant and that Auntie Nicole (our friend, a work colleague of Gam's) would be there. Setri brightened and said "Dave!"- Dave being Nicole's husband. I thought that was interesting, because although he likes Dave he doesn't appear to like him any more than Nicole or 'Kaa' ('Auntie Cass', another friend/colleague who we nearly always see at the same time as we see Nicole and Dave). When we were there, Setri actually paid more attention to Nicole (because she is very animated and engaged him a lot). When Dave had a seizure (epileptic) lasting 5 seconds or so I didn't think Setri had even noticed, because he was babbling away and smiling while it was going on. As soon as Dave was back on his chair, Setri slipped off my lap and walked over to Dave and patted him reassuringly on the leg. Which is characteristic of Setri if Gam, me or Mum need some sympathy, but pretty much unheard of for Setri to walk over to any other person (good friend or otherwise) and display that kind of behaviour. It was really sweet.


Since he was about 12-13 months old, Setri has enjoyed joining mum for some 'exercises'. Mum was prescribed a set of exercises for a severe intermittent back problem, and every time she gets out her mat, Setri hops on too and does something that looks like a downward-facing dog yoga position. Lately he has been getting the mat out himself and saying "Ek-ek-lie" (exercise), before doing his downward dog and a few other 'exercises'. Yesterday, I did the exercises myself for the first time. Got out of the habit of running when Gam and I got the flu followed by several colds in a row and have gotten horribly unfit. Haven't gotten back into it because Gam has been spending all his spare time single-handedly landscaping the backyard (his fitness is better than ever as a result, but all his shirt sleeves now look 2 sizes too small! *drool*). I spend my time keeping Setri out of mischief while Gam does yard work. I don't feel comfortable about leaving Setri with Mum while I go for a run these days because I'm back at work full time and really need to spend as much of my home time as I can with Setri and Gam. So I plan on doing Mum's exercises until I get back into some form of cardiovascular fitness regime.

Given that Setri's production of phonemes still comes nowhere near his vocabulary, a week or two ago I tried looking up charts to see whether he is behind in producing certain sounds. Pretty much there is no expectation at all for a kid his age, because as long as they are saying a word or two they are doing ok developmentally!

Lies! Setri has been telling little baby lies practically ever since he could say his first words. But the other day he did this, after making one of his beer jokes:

Sarah: Who drinks beer, Setri?

Setri: Daddy. Me!

Sarah: Oh VERY funny.

Setri: Lie *grin*.

He has since told us a couple more times when he has 'lied'. I'm not 100% sure if an 18mo could understand an explanation of the nuances involved in different kinds of lies. The ones he tells are either harmless (e.g. Telling us he hasn't done poo when he in fact has) or humourous (e.g. saying something we both know is obviously not true for the purpose of having a laugh). Don't want to venture into the more serious territory yet even if he is cognitively able to process it- it's an introduction to a world that Setri hasn't entered yet, one I suppose every parent hopes to fob off for as long as possible.

Gam reminded me of something else Setri does that's pretty funny, no doubt normal for his age. Not sure if I've mentioned it before. He will pick a flower (usually even if we say not to), then say 'back' and try to reattach it. Or break something and say 'brek', then motion putting the pieces back together and say 'back'. He has held off picking some purple flowers Mum planted in the garden, and keeps telling me "Lurllul lauer (purple flower). Die", because Mum told him if he picked them they would die! He loves gardening. Yesterday he ran around with a plant pot and a little garden fork saying "Gargar. Olp Daddy", and I asked him if he was going to grow flowers or vegetables. To my surprise he said vegies (vehveh), specifically tomatoes, and every time we have gone out since then he has spent time plucking grass from the lawn to put in his plant pot while saying "Gargar. Go vehveh (grow vegetables). Ah-mah-mo. Led! (Tomato. Red)". Lord knows what the grass-plucking has to do with any of it, but it is so cute.

I think I subconsciously forgot to blog about this when it first happened a number of months ago (13mo?) because it's a bit embarrassing! Setri suddenly seemed to realise one day that I don't have a penis. I saw him peering at me oddly when I was wiping after peeing in the toilet. "Uh-wun" (other one), he said, pointing. He briefly checked his own (frequently uncovered) bits. "Nee-nih". As I hastily pulled up my pants, worried he'd move in for an exploratory poke, Setri pointed again and stated with a satisfied authority: "Uh-wun". He seemed so happy with his conclusion that I actually didn't bother to try and teach him the right word! He has done the same routine infrequently since, so I suppose I will have to teach him sooner or later.

Setri has learned to peer through tiny cracks in doors. He also loves to 'hide' in his pink Disney-princess tent and peer through the mesh vents in the top corner, before being spotted by whoever he is playing with and shrieking in delight. He knows full well he's not hiding, mind. He also likes to 'hide' by pushing his face into my boob, before popping up to 'surprise' me when I make the requisite inquiry as to his 'disappearance'. When someone puts their eye up to the mesh and looks into Setri's little face pressed up against the mesh and says "Who's in there?", Setri says "Me!!!". He is also really good at spotting himself in photos now. He will nominate 'Mumma', 'Daddy', 'Me' etc. He has even gotten his head around the fact that the 10 week-old 'baby' in the sling with Gam on my BlackBerry screen is him, something he seemed reluctant to acknowledge for an awfully long time. He does have a little trouble with the concept of babies. He not infrequently requests one of his own (preference girl, but as long as it's a baby it will do, apparently). Yesterday he asked me for one, and I told him to ask Gam, who was not at all impressed! Whenever we have told him that Aunty So-and-so is having a baby, he asks '(to)day?', and we have to explain that babies take a while and it will come not today or tomorrow but 'later'. He definitely understands the concept of today and tomorrow, and we have started extending ourselves as far as talking about days of the week. We know he knows 'tomorrow' because if he is upset and asks for something (usually at bed time) and we tell him that he can have/do X tomorrow, he wails "Now! Nowwww!".

On a similar front, can't remember if I mentioned that we were trying (opportunistically) to teach Setri left and right, but he appears to be reasonably proficient! He gets his 'baby' trolley at Bunnings and will generally turn left or right on command, and will nearly always hold up the correct hand when asked which is which. Bunnings visits are a bit traumatic for us these days though, ever since Setri discovered that Bunnings not only has fans on the ceiling/mounted on aisle shelves but also sells a wide assortment of fans. And not just in one section, they seem to be spread out all over the bloody store! We have not managed to leave the store without a tantrum the last 3 or 4 times, all because we won't give Setri an indefinite amount of time to stand there flapping his arms while saying 'Lau! Lau!'!

Setri no longer seems to 'perform' on any 'what letter does this word start with'-type tasks. He usually keeps doing whatever he's doing and offhandedly replies 'bee', before ignoring me. I began to write his name yesterday, getting as far as 'Se' before saying "Setri, I want you to look at this word I'm writing and tell me what it is". Setri, too soon, took a sideways glance and said "Leh-li"(Setri), before wandering off to rat his toybox. Gam laughed while I proclaimed it was unfair and Setri had to try again with another word. I wrote 'daddy'. "Daddy", Setri said dismissively, before toddling off again. I'm not even sure he looked at what I was writing, I think he just guessed! Next I wrote 'grandma', but by then he was just ignoring me altogether. I tried several times to get his attention, and received no reply (even though he was only a metre or so away). "Setri are you ignoring me?", I asked. "Yeah", he replied casually. This is not the first time we've had that particular exchange where he off-handedly acknowledges ignoring me after I have made repeated verbal and other attempts to get his attention. Occasionally we will resort to dropping a word or phrase that is almost guaranteed to catch his attention, like 'fan', 'bus video' or 'chocolate'! Ever since about 5 months of age Setri has been adept at ignoring us. He is so successful at unblinkingly failing to acknowledge us, to even twitch a glance in our direction, I have to admire it as a cultivated skill. He is good to the point where we felt the need, in those early days, to check whether he could actually hear properly or not!


Well, people we know are getting pregnant left right and centre, it seems! Another couple who are good friends of ours are expecting a baby in May, another pseudo-sibling for Setri. Hopefully we can hook them up with our lovely neighbours who are expecting in April. Oh and in this post congratulations are due to Lynn and Patrick, two of my favourite people in the world (even though I've never met them in person) whose little girl finally arrived right after my last post. I am so sure Quyn Anh will grow up a really beautiful little person and an even better adult. I hope Setri grows up as insightful and thoughtful as Patrick and Lynn :)

Figured out today that Setri's 'bear' roar is quite different from his 'dinosaur/'tiger'/'lion' roar. Instead of a 'rarrrrr' it's a 'crrrowllcrrrrowll' I'm not even sure why he thinks bears roar, mind. I guess they might?

When Setri pretends to sleep he no longer says 'Leep... Up!' as he pops his head up and pretends to wake up, he says "Leep... Lake!"

Setri was on fire this morning, I was pointing out house numbers and car numbers as we walked to the bus stop... I said "Do you know what comes after 19?" And he said "lenni". Then he spontaneously held up 5 fingers and said "lie", and I told him very good. Then he said "lic". I asked him what came after six. "Leh-leh". "What comes after seven?" "Nine". A good effort for an 18 (and a half) month-old :)

Tonight Setri pointed at the raw chicken mum was cutting up and said "Raw chiki"! Last time we'd cooked chicken he's pointed at the chicken and asked for some of the 'ham'. We explained what it was and why we only eat it after it has been cooked- and he obviously remembered!


This afternoon we were all in the yard pottering around (or rather I was pottering while Gam and Mum did some real gardening). Setri picked up a small gardening fork and announced "Gargar. (H)olp Daddy". Ahhhhhh I just died of cute overload all over again just writing that down!!!!


Sarah: Setri, what happens to the cup of tea when we put it in the microwave?

Setri: 'Ott.


Setri was picking his nose while he drifted off to sleep tonight, something I've never seen him do before (he has stuck his finger up the 'nose hole' in both my nose and his before, but nothing more than as a basic curiosity). It shouldn't have looked so cute... He's had a very mild cold or virus over the past few days and his nose is so grotty and snotty over the last few days it probably needs a good dig around, I think it would surely be uncomfortable to have that many dried-up boogers in there! He has gotten a lot better at wiping his nose with a tissue and also letting me wipe. It used to be such an ordeal but now he doesn't mind much at all.

Setri seems to have developed an even more deep attachment to my mum just lately. He regularly goes looking for her even when I'm home, and frequently engages her by shouting "MAM-mah!!!" and running up to her with arms outstretched to give her a big cuddle. He has been leaping from my arms into hers for a bedtime cuddle too, instead of just leaning over to rest his head on her shoulder and give her a kiss. Mum loves it, and it's so lovely to see. I just worry about how sad both Setri and Mum are going to be when Mum goes back to NSW. We are all going to cry a lot, I think.

Read an interesting article about kids' screen time in the NYTimes today. Talks of an 'app gap' between rich and poor. We don't have an i-anything, but we have utilised Mum's iPhone (which she uses for an alarm clock and nothing else) as a means of bribing Setri to stay seated on the toilet during our fruitless efforts to teach him to poo there. Mostly for 'wheels on the bus' videos... We still have cause for worry about good old WOB. Setri frequently asks for WOB ("yellow buh", sometimes "Geen buh") videos first thing in the morning, which we have never said yes to. Evenings still result in tantrums if a request for WOB is not aquiesced to immediately. He hasn't had an interest in TV lately, maybe because it seems like the same thing over and over again, or maybe because he realises that he can get whatever he wants on the computer? I would say he gets quite a lot of screen time overall, between half an hour and an hour a day, but even if we have the TV on 'for Setri', he has never been the kind of kid who just sits and watches, he comes and goes and potters around. It's quite evident from the way he has picked up new words and things from TV, and when he expresses concern about someone on TV having an 'owow' that he takes an awful lot in, to the point where we do have to worry about what he sees.

I had to teach Setri the word 'dimple' tonight, after he pondered over the back of his hand, then showed me the 'hole' in his chubby little hand where the skin over one knuckle was indented :)

This is a typical conversation I've been having with Setri just lately. Tonight's version:

Setri: Zuszhi

Sarah: What? What are you saying?

Setri: Zuszhi.

Sarah: (remembering he ate a sushi roll earlier) Are you saying 'sushi'?

Setri: Yeah. Zuszhi *gone*.

Sarah: What happened to it?

Setri: Eat.



Setri has stopped replying to the question 'what's your name?'- just as other people have started asking it. If we ask, he either says something nonsensical and laughs maniacally, or gives a cheeky grin and says nothing at all. Meanwhile he can rattle off 'Gam', 'Deen', 'Lairuh' and 'Lerroll' (Gerald) in response to the respective questions about our names. He hasn't stopped saying his name ('Leh-li') altogether- e.g. if asked whether he wants mummy to do something or Setri to do it, if he doesn't respond with 'me', he will say 'Leh-li' (assuming the answer is not 'yooo' or 'Mumma').

Physically, the most noticeable change in Setri is that his stumpy little legs have been growing longer and longer. In the last week or two, Setri has developed the ability to stand on one leg unaided, which he seems pretty proud to be able to do. He can run 'properly' now, with both feet being off the ground at the same time. It still doesn't look like proper running, probably because he still has fairly chubby little toddler-legs :) He is also a little bit obsessed with jumping, but he can't quite jump. Every now and then both feet will leave the floor but mostly he winds up on tippy-toes and teetering as if he is about to fall over backwards. Gam showed him how he (Gam) could touch the light on the kitchen ceiling by jumping, seemingly sparking a realisation that jumping can be used to reach things that cannot otherwise be reached. Setri has modestly set his sights on our (high) door-knobs. He has been telling us if things are high or low, so I have been trying to explain the difference between tall and short. He already knows the difference between big and little/small. Setri surprised us the other day when our friends Nic and Liz came over for dinner and he roared like some kind of animal (one of his favourite tricks- sometimes it's a lion, a bear or a 'liger', or a 'daggo'- dragon). It was either a bear or a dinosaur that night. He told us it was a little one. We then asked him to roar like a big one, expecting the roar to be exactly the same (it was already a very impressive roar). Instead Setri let out this massive loud roar, practically enough to induce collective pants-wetting among the adults seated at the table. Clearly the boy understands a bit about the difference between big and little.

Since Setri's two poo-on-floor incidents, he has actually told us he wants a nappy on prior to doing his poos. He doesn't say why he wants the nappy, and I suspect if we asked him if he wanted to do a poo he would say no, but it's a step I'm happy with. No-one likes a poo on the floor. Night time wees are a bit of a trauma. Setri wakes and asks to wee in the toilet, but he is so floppy and sleepy that it is really a 2-person job to get him there, remove his nappy and pants and support him while he does a wee. It's so great that he tells us (he's still not dry at night, but from the look and weight of his nappies it's only a little bit of wee going in there), but so hard that he's not capable of helping us out like he does during the day.

Since my dad has come to visit, he has had a bit of a grumble about a couple of things relating to how we communicate with Setri. The first was how it was bad that we refer to incidents that result in pain, as well as the pain itself as an 'ouchie'. Apparently Setri will have to unlearn it, he will find it confusing and embarrassing one day, blah blah blah. We told dad that Setri also knows the meaning of the word 'hurt' and the word 'pain', and it's actually not confusing at all for him, but he wouldn't be convinced. The other thing dad got a bee in his bonnet about was Setri frequently asking for a 'big bit' of something. What spurred the mini-tirade was Setri repeatedly requesting 'chiki, big bit', when Gam smoked a chicken in the drum-smoker he'd just built. It was delicious, and Setri, who'd hardly eaten anything all day, was very enthusiastically consuming bits of this fantastic meal. Dad said that small children are all inherently greedy and we shouldn't give him big bits of anything if he asks for them because it only encourages greediness. I admit to having a similar preconception about small children before Setri came along, but in Setri's case it just isn't true, he doesn't seem to be greedy about anything! I know I am (!), but Setri seems to have this inherent restraint when it comes to anything edible, except maybe breast milk. I told dad that this wasn't true in Setri's case and he got quite grumpy. I pointed out that quite frequently when Setri requests a 'big bit' of something he doesn't get it, usually where doing so will result in a mess, and Setri seems to accept without fail my explanations for his receiving a smaller piece of whatever food item. I didn't think to also point out that his ability to specify verbally what food he would like and whether he would like a big bit or a little bit is damn advanced for his age and I would rather err on the side of further supporting Setri's precocious verbal development than get precious about some imagined problem with his manners based on Dad's observations of other children.



It still blows my mind to think that most kids Setri's age can't use enough words to tell their parents simple things like the water in the shower is too hot or too cold, whether the food they are eating is hot, cold, sour, spicy, salty or sweet, whether they'd like to stand in the sun or the shade, if they have an itch or an ouchie and what body part it is that's itching or hurting, that they saw a car drive up or down the street, what colour it was and if it was a man or a lady driver... Gam says to me if we had another baby there is no guarantee it would be as bright as Setri, which is true. I wonder how we would cope? We have had it very easy indeed.

Beautiful/gorgeous: A day later, he's also learned the reverse (see below) without me teaching it to him separately- I asked Setri if he could tell me a word that meant 'gorgeous', and he replied "bue-bue" :)

Such a quick learner. He parroted me when I called him 'gorgeous' earlier today, saying "gorgor", and I explained it was a word that meant 'beautiful'. Later in the day I told him he was beautiful, and he gave me a knowing grin and said "gorgor". Still can't help wondering how much of his apparent brightness for his age is just down to us paying attention to what it is he's trying to say, where a lot of people seem to dismiss their kid's attempts at communication until the child can produce perfect speech. Some kids probably just learn to stop trying.

My dad has come to stay with us again, after a heart scare. Setri actually seems to look forward to his visits these days. He still hardly talks to dad over the phone, except for 'hello' and 'bye bye', though he often spontaneously offers kisses, kissing the phone. He will answer questions about what he has been up to, etc. though.

He seems to have hit another milestone point in his verbal development. Not so much in his vocabulary, because it's so big already that there isn't a whole lot more he can learn until he starts reading, but in the way he strings 2-3 words together fluently all the time instead of a minority of the time. His pronunciation is still pretty crappy but getting better. He has started saying 'pig' instead of 'gih', and last night he said 'purple', before immediately reverting to 'lurlull'. Gam downloaded Angry Birds for him, a game he described as 'pig owow' (ouchie), which I thought was pretty cute.

Interesting, despite his obvious cognitive abilities, Setri will still look at pictures in a book and demand that they change (e.g. A light be turned on). He thinks pictures are interactive. Last night he opened an 'In the night garden' book and tried to board the Ninky-nonk by climbing on top of the book...

Toilet-wise, he's doing great with the wees, still no progress with poos. He wees last thing at night and hops out of bed and takes himself to the toilet first thing in the morning. His night nappies weigh half what they used to. He will quite happily poo on the floor if he doesn't have a nappy on, then tell us there is a mess. He won't wee on the floor. Mum bought him some undies and initially he seemed to behave as if they were nappies and do a wee in them within a few minutes of getting them on. That seemed to resolve pretty quickly though. We all wish the poo thing would!

The 80s Sesame Street song 'write it down' that Setri is so fond of singing, he moved a step closer towards proper singing when he sang "Light light light light Down" rhythmically *and* in tune!

Counted 3 again today. I was clutching some beans I had picked, and Setri pointed. "Beans. Looo". Two of the thinner beans were held tightly together, separate from the third, so I spread them apart. "It looks like two, I said, but how many are there really?". "Reee!"

I came across a YouTube video of a song for English language learners tha other day. Looks Japanese in style. It's called Good Morning. The very first time I played it for him, as soon as it finished, Setri piped up with "Good! Mormor!", and demanded I play it again. And again etc etc. A few days later, Setri said to me "Good day". And yesterday he said a perfect "Good morning" (only it was evening), and when prompted said something that sounded very much like 'good evening', and at bed time he told everyone "Good night". This morning, when Gam left for work he said "good night" to Gam! When prompted he said 'good day' instead. I find it really interesting that he managed to extrapolate a phrase like 'good day' from a song called 'good morning'. It's certainly not a phrase he's ever heard us say in greeting, although he would have heard me say 'have a good day' to Gam. As a greeting it's quite archaic.

So many words being strung together, these now form the majority of his communications. Geen bohboh (green bottle), brown zhugu (sugar), ice leam, mahmo lor (tomato sauce) etc etc.

Last night Setri parroted Gam. Gam said to Feifei "get out!" And Setri immediately started pointing at Feifei and yelping "Get out! Get out!"...And tonight Gam said to me over something "Stop being silly". I went to ask Setri something and he was grinning at me and repeating something I didn't understand at first: "Dop lilly. Dop lilly"- little monster was parroting his father again. Oh dear!

This afternoon Setri was running around with the cover of one of the Xbox games. I picked him up and we walked back to the lounge to return it. While we were there I thought I'd give him a pop quiz. "Setri", I said, "Can you point to an 'O'?". He touched the 'o' in XBOX. "*Very* good", I said. "Can you point to a zero?". Really, I didn't expect him to get it right. They pretty much look the same, they kind of even sound the same. I would think he's super-smart for pointing to an 'o' when I asked him to point to a zero. But Setri immediately touched the '0' in 360. I was so darn impressed.

Still day 1 of 18mo. Tonight while I was feeding Setri to sleep and singing songs he filched my BlackBerry. He pretended to make a phone call, saying. " 'loh... Bye", but mostly it appeared he just wanted to clutch it as he drifted off to sleep. Because I kept trying to pinch it back when he relaxed, he sat up again and spontaneously started reading aloud the numbers on the keypad. Not in any order, and his pronunciation is shite, but seriously, numbers from 0-9 and he can read them aloud. He also pointed to, and named, letters B and V. He makes my brain hurt :)

Tonight Setri and I played 'chase' for the first time. Setri went to tickle me, as is routine, and instead of submitting I announced "Run run run!" and took off (returning the favour for what he does to me when he has a pooey nappy that I want to change). Setri thought it was such great fun, I was sick of it long before him. He seemed to prefer it when I was chasing him, however. It probably appeals more to his massive naughty streak :)

18mo today. This morning Setri said "Up. Looo (you)", to indicate very specifically that he wanted to be picked up by me. This is because he's been thwarted a few times, most recently yesterday evening, when he's asked me to be picked up and someone else has picked him up instead. Yesterday Mum picked him up for me because I was gardening, and he wailed "Nooo! Mumma! Mumma! Up LEEZ!" And mum and I told him "You are up!". This morning, when I confirmed with Setri the intent behind what he had said, he repeated it in the reverse: "Loo, up". [Update: he now asks this way almost every time. Instead of asking "Up, leez", it's nearly always "Up. Looo". It doesn't sound very polite, but I can appreciate why he's doing it!