Lucas @ 38 months

I found out that taking Lucas out of school for a whole month was a terrible idea even though he is just in the petit section at school, he has missed out on a lot and when he got back to school again in November, Lucas has had to readjust himself and start everything new as he'd forgotten everything he'd learnt in September.

Fred & I had a chat with his teacher and found that while Lucas is great when it comes to one on one interaction, he is lost in a group. The teacher also told me that as a parent I have been too indulgent and with Lucas I need to set strict boundaries and not give in at all. He needs to spend time by himself, and not be with me 24/7. To distance myself a bit, we decided to leave Lucas in school for lunch last week.

The first day, he was confused and asked for me repeatedly; didn't eat anything but bread in the canteen. On our second try, Lucas ate absolutely nothing at all and threw a mother of a tantrum in the canteen. When I went to pick him up after school, the teacher says we should try another day. So, on our third try, Lucas didn't eat anything (as usual, he doesn't eat much at home either) but this time there was no tantrum.

In the past week and a half, we have also noticed differences in Lucas - he has started to listen more; he definitely understands when we talk to him and he is now differentiating his languages when he speaks to me, his papa and his teachers. I also noticed that he is picking up french very quickly.

Last Wednesday, for the first time I was able to sweep, vacuum and mop the whole apartment, clean the bathroom and cook lunch without having Lucas underfoot! I told him to stay in his room and play, which he did. Periodically, I would check in and find him singing and playing at the same time.

While we are still having problems getting Lucas to go to sleep at night, he's been sleeping in his bed throughout the night the past 2 nights. Yesterday he didn't come to our bed at all.

At 38 months, Lucas loves Dora The Explorer, Pat the Postman, Oui Oui, Handy Manny and Chloe Magique. He loves balloons and bubbles, he now refuses to pee into his diapers at night (yes he still wears diapers to sleep) and he's still asking for ice cream no matter how cold it is! He is also fascinated by falling snow, he likes to taste the snow and he likes to pretend he is a cat at home, playing under the dining table and eating without hands...

Lucas is now on Christmas holidays for 2 weeks, going back to school early January. He is asking for Eliane (the teacher's assistant in his class) everyday and wakes up thinking he will go to school. Its a shame that when he is making so much progress we have to have a break from school but then there is always January to look forward to.... :)