Winter Change

Can't believe we're almost in the middle of the year already!

The days are getting colder, it's almost really Winter now. Oh how I love Winter! I love the chilly days of rugging up; grabbing a blanket to snuggle on the couch at night. Scarves, hats, boots - love, love, love.

Preparations are in full swing for two little people's parties coming up in the next few weeks. June just seems to come around so fast. It's a crazy month for our family - so many birthdays!

It's also the time of year I notice a huge change in all of my children. It's 6 months into the school/kindergarten year. They've learnt so much in the first half of this year - and with it, they're a little more grown up, a little wiser, a little less 'baby'.

The age gaps between the three of them is seeming much less than it did last year. They play, quite happily, most of the time so well together. Lex has very few toddler tantrums anymore and can finally do what her older brother and sister are doing. They have funny little conversations that are completely serious to them but have me in fits of giggles.

I do miss their babyness. I really do. Their independence is getting bigger everyday. And in a way, it's lovely. The freedom of not having to remember nappies wherever we go. The pram rarely comes out anymore. But those baby years are gone in the blink of an eye, aren't they?

So that's where we're at. They're growing up and this time of year is often when I notice just how much. In a few weeks, I'll have a 7, 5 and 3.5 year old. In just 18 months or so, I'll have all 3 of them at school, my goodness!

They never grow out of cuddles though - and that's another lovely thing about Winter, lots and lots of warm snuggles!

 - Mem x

Slow down babies!

What's the go with Summer holidays?

It seems to be the time of year when kids do a whole heap of growing up right before our eyes.

Yesterday Sienna lost her fourth tooth - one of the major ones, a front top tooth. And the other is so loose, I'm guessing the tooth fairy may be back again tonight for another visit. But looking back on my own school photos, my teeth (and Boo's) didn't seem to have budged until at least mid through our Grade Two years. Sienna is just about to begin Grade One and it seems a very grown up thing to have so many gaps in her mouth already.

I've also noticed her being a lot more grown up around the house. She's always been pretty good at packing up toys and keeping her room tidy. But these holidays, she's offering to help with so much more like getting the washing in and helping me unload the dishwasher; helping her brother and sister pack up and generally helping them with little things throughout the day too.

Seven years ago, I was feeling like a whale, only halfway through my first pregnancy, eagarly awaiting our first baby, and oh my God, was it a hot Summer that year! And now, here's that little baby girl seeming ever so grown up.

Not just Sienna, Chace and Lex too.

I remember Sienna being a little unsettled before her final year of kinder began, she was just so ready for that extra stimulation and was itching to learn new things. But Chace REALLY needs to go, another week can't come fast enough for him! He's started writing his name and reading really simple words. He's in a mood a lot of days when I can just tell he's bored with the routine at home and has exhausted everything I'm teaching him. He's soooooo ready for kinder to begin!

Same with Lex, she goes off to little kinder next week as one of the younger ones. But there was no way I could hold her back another year! She's toilet trained, the baby-ness evaporated over Summer and she is such a social butterfly. Her bag is packed and ready to go. She tells me stories of what she and her best friend Abby will get up to at kinder.

I've slowly been clearing out the toy cupboard of any baby toys and last week, the last of it all went to the Salvos. It really did tug at my heart strings! I've kept a few favourite little things like Sophie the Giraffe and their favourite rattles. I do love watching them grow up and go through different stages. But I really don't have a baby in the house anymore!

I'm blaming a combination of pool water and sunshine, surely that's what's made my little ones grow up so suddenly over Summer - yes?!

School Holidays

I'm loving the school holidays!

It's not a huge deal in our house yet - I've only got one at school, my other two littlies are at 3 year old kinder and part-time daycare. But last week I booked holidays from daycare for Chace and Alexis too and it's been absolute bliss! No running around getting kids here and there on time; no rushing to get me to work on time; no nagging the kids to get dressed/brush teeth/get in the car. It's been jarmies until mid-morning (ok, until lunchtime some days!) and pottering around doing bits and pieces.

I'm pretty lucky that my boss allows me to work from home from time to time. So last week that's exactly what I did. I spread my work hours across the whole week to work around lots of playtime with the kids. It's been fantastic!

I'm a bit of a neat freak but I've sent my inner-freak off on a holiday this past week too and let the kids get into some messy activities. We've been Masterchefs, Picassos and playdoh extraordinaries! We've built Lego cities that would make New York look boring! (Seriously, where in the world would you find a pink/red/yellow skyscraper with flower-clad wheels on top?!)

I've discovered that no one ever really grows out of the Muppets...and now my kids will be forever fans. Every few hours either myself or one of the kids will belt out a rendition of 'Am I a Muppet or a Man'...! Much like when Boo and I were little - we drove our own parents crazy singing 'Together Again' from Muppets Take Manhattan.

There's been hardly any fights, apart from a running race between Sienna and Chace to get to the first cupcake out of the oven last week...Chace won, Sienna got elbowed into the wall and has a considerable eggy bruise on her forehead to prove it!

Today it's catch up day before I head back to the office on Wednesday. Daycare bags need to be re-packed, routines need to be back in place. And they're still all being so good! Even being stuck inside with a rainy day threatening, at the moment all three are playing dress ups and giggling like crazy. It makes me realise just how fast my babies are growing up!

 - Mem x

The Drop Off Zone...

Parents fear it...kids are drawn to it. It's even a taboo subject in 'Finding Nemo' - it's the Drop Off Zone at school.

I'm pretty new to all this school stuff, Sienna only started in Prep this year. It's a big school of around 800 kids and for fear of her getting lost in the crowds, I was more than happy to keep walking her to her classroom each morning and help her with her morning tasks before the bell went.

Then one morning in the second last week of term 1 as I was helping her get her reader out of her bag, my big girl said to me, "Mummy, I can do it myself. I don't need you to do it." Well! It was like a slap in the face! My first-born suddenly didn't need me for this! I was almost a bit teary walking back to the car that morning. (Luckily, the little man managed to trip both himself and his younger sister up on the way out, so my mind had to be busy consoling the two of them on the walk out!)

Then the biggest shock - on the way home after school that day, Sienna tells me she doesn't want me to walk her in and out of school anymore either. She wants to use the 'drop off zone' (pick up zone at home time I guess) and be a big girl. "I can do it Mummy, I really can!" she cried!

I didn't really answer, but I thought about it that night and talked it through with hubby. We both agreed that in her teeny (almost) 6 years, we've taught her to be a confident, aware little girl. This is proof that we're doing well, we're on the right track!

So the next morning, that's what we did. I had to do two trips around the block because we were too early for drop off...! Then we lined up with the other cars and crept along until we reached the front of the line. I helped her get out of the car and after a quick cuddle and kiss, she was off, zoom! (Yes, the tears flowed that morning! Little brother and sister were bawling in the back seat also because they didn't get to hop out of the car for a play on the school playground...) But you know what? Sienna was fine. Of course she was fine.

But gosh I was so happy at pick up time to get to the front of the line and see her happy, smiling face waiting for me! "I did it Mum!" she said proudly.

So I've got the timing right now (I leave at 8.35am in the mornings and 3.28pm in the afternoons). I still have issues with pick up times - do 80% of the other parents turn crazy at this time of day?! There's tooting, 'pushing in' (hence the tooting), parents who get out to yap to other parents (big no-no, it's a 2 minute time limit there...hence the pushing in), illegal u-turns (cue the dirty looks) - you can imagine, it's chaotic.

But my big girl is always waiting at the gate with the other 'drop off kids' - always smiling, waving and excited to tell us about her day. The only minor mishap we've had so far was when four identical black Territories were lined up in a row (mine included) and four kiddies (Sienna included) freaked out about which one to get into!

So I've come to realise, I'm not 'letting go', it's just another little part of one of my babies taking another big step into the big world.

 - Mem x