"Xander is still in the mix!"

I officially have no more babies left. Xander is approaching three and a half years old now, time is racing by. Due to his tiny stature, as soon as he started moving around, the phrase 'Careful, Xander's in the mix!' became a family phrase whenever Xander approached the girls, especially if they were playing rough and tumble. Due to his size he was easy to scoop up and rescue, one hand in the midst of curls, arms, and limbs, usually would produce a wriggling little man squealing with laughter. 

My little buddy has completed his first review week: 

*Months of the year

*Days of the week

*Counts 1-100

*Counts down 10-1

*Counts in 10s, beginning to do 2x table *Basic mental maths addition 1-10

* Can rip paper, beginning to use scissors *Continents

* Can read 80% of level one books unaided 

*Rainbow colours and mixing

*Recognises animals who live on a farm 

*Beginning to know planets 

* Knows details on service vehicles

He plays on his Fire Amazon tablet frequently, especially when he's in hospitals for days and weeks at a time. Popular games, apps and shows for him include NumberBlocks, NumberJacks, Ryans World educational videos (learning the answers to the comprehensive quiz at the end of each topic), and how to bake cupcake videos. He practices forming letters and spelling games, and loves playing pairs on it too. 

We have plenty of educational games available for them to take and play with at leisure. Xander has recently started to do this. He'll take some flashcards, sit in a corner and go through them reading them, spelling the word and saying the phonic expression. Recently he found a wooden spelling game and played with it, showing initiative, academic knowledge and fine motor skills. The wooden boards are two sided, with a different image printed on each side, with cut out letters etched in the wood. Accompanying these are wooden letters you slot in. Xander placed in the letters, carried the board to his daddy, said the word, said the letters and the phonic sound. If it was an animal he made the sound of the animal. He did this on repeat for several boards. 

He counts everything he plays with, whether it is number of vehicles, or figures, or chips on his plate. One day I saw Xander playing with a leopard and zebra. He was counting their ears, tails and legs, spots and stripes alongside playing an imaginary role play with them. 

He is very good at learning and singing songs now, joining in with the theme tunes of his favourite shows. When I was serving up freshly baked cupcakes the other day, he marched into the kitchen, got himself a bowl and sang the rhyme, 'Do you know the muffin man?', as he held his bowl up to me to place a cupcake into. 

He loves playing in the garden, making dens and disappearing for a little while, playing his tablet in peace, as well as crafting with his sisters. 

Role play games are Xanders favourite form of play currently, he will play equally at home, at the hospital clinic and in his hospital room when he's admitted. He's socially comfortable with playing in front of parents, other children, nurses and doctors. He will include anyone in his creative stories if they will play with him. The clinic reception becomes his shop, he'll chose a parent to be a customer, he'll choose a child to be a doctor, he'll make up paw patrol stories with the nurses who draw his blood. He is very popular in the waiting room, and everyone loves playing with him. 

When he is in his hospital room, Xander will use different locations to act out his stories, which are very similar to the original stories, dependant upon which action figure he is playing with. Recently he was climbing up on to a window seat shouting for Marshall to come and help him in his fire engine. His nurses happily play spiderman role play stories with him. 

He loves playing kitchen and always has a cafe open in his room, feeding meals to his giraffe, Spiderman and Marshall, awaiting  unsuspecting doctors and cleaners to walk through the door. 

When we arrived home from transplant he wanted to be in the thick of it with his sisters. It is great to be able to shout 'Careful! Xander is in the mix!' once more, and now it takes me a lot more effort to rescue him from overexcited siblings.