Update

It's been a while since my last update. Things have just been ticking along here. The girls are continuing to go to daycare, and Playcentre and playgroups most days of the week. Kathleen now goes to daycare three days a week but I am thinking about changing that next year to two days at daycare and two days at Playcentre.

Kathleen has now started going to ballet one afternoon a week. She is enjoying it. I never would have thought I'd have a pre-schooler going to ballet. I always thought that was for once you started school, and that younger children that went were pushed into it by their parents. But I took Kathleen along to watch one day because she loves dancing at home so much, and being the centre of attention. She really enjoyed it, and so that was that. Now she goes every Tuesday afternoon for half an hour. One of her friends from daycare also goes, which is good but they also distract each other.

At the beginning of November I went away for a week to Norfolk Island with my friend Lou. We'd been planning this trip for a couple of years. The way it happened was that when Victoria was a newborn and I was spending countless hours pacing around with her in my arms, I started thinking about getting away, and how Kathleen was just getting to that age when she didn't need me so much any more. I thought about how nice it would be living in the UK and being able to go anywhere in Europe so easily. Then I thought about how we have all the Pacific Islands on our doorstep and why not go there. So I said to Lou "when Victoria is two we're going to Norfolk Island for a holiday". I chose Norfolk Island because we'd both read the book Morgan's Run which is set there, because it is close, and because I'd seen special deals on flights a long time before (although it wasn't on special any more but I had it in my head it wasn't too expensive). It also turned out to have a lot of history, which we are both interested in.

Peter took the week off work to look after the girls, which I would say was an eye-opener for him. Meanwhile Lou and I had a fabulous time. Norfolk Island is a two hour flight from Auckland. It is made up of a mix of Australians, New Zealanders and Bounty descendants. The climate is very mild and warm. It was about 20-24 degrees the whole time we were there. It never drops to single digits and never really rises above 25 either apparently. I'm planning on writing a whole other blog about it.

A week after I returned was Victoria's birthday. She is now two years old. Her speech has really improved lately and she is now speaking in sentences and is able to make herself and her wants understood. Her hair is still very short, about the length Kathleen's was on her first birthday. She knows all her colours (but sometimes gets mixed up) and can count to three "wuuun, tooo, beee". She loves to sing and often sings the rainbow song or the alphabet song to herself. "Wed an lello an peeeenk an geen. Porpul an o-wintz an booo. Rainbo too". She now calls herself Tora.

We celebrated her birthday on the Sunday before her real birthday which was on the Tuesday. It was a bit strange as neither day really felt like her birthday. We got up and watched TV in the morning as we usually do on the weekend, then gave her her presents. Some Dora books (she is even more of a Dora fan than Kathleen was), some paint since she loves painting at Playcentre so much, some 'new' summer clothes (that used to be Kathleen's) and a teddy with two outfits that she can dress and undress herself.

After that we drove up to Palmerston North for a play at Lollipops with some of our friends. I made her a butterfly birthday cake, which turned out really well.

And now we have the busy season just around the corner - Peter's birthday, Christmas, New Year, Kathleen's birthday, plus all the parties and get-together's that go with it. Although I'm still wondering where summer is. I think I left it in Norfolk Island. It's been raining here for weeks.

Love Meg

Growing Up

Today marks the day where Victoria is the exact same age that Kathleen was, on the day that Victoria was born. It feels like a milestone to me, but I'm not exactly sure what the milestone is. It's as though Victoria is now officially a big girl, big enough to be a big sister (not that she's going to be, BTW).

At the time it seemed like Kathleen grew up a lot after Victoria was born. Around that time she started speaking in sentences instead of a word or two at a time. I almost expect Victoria to start doing the same thing overnight. Which is a bit silly really. Although her vocabulary grows every day and her pronounciation is getting better too. Today she said "goggie" for doggie instead of her usual "dadu". She knows so many words, and she's getting pretty good with her colours and shapes too.



But at the same time I also look at Kathleen and marvel at how much she too has grown up in the last 21 months and struggle to remember her being Victoria's age. In my memory it feels like I've been having conversations with her forever but it has only been the last 21 months. She can now draw with ease and can write her own name and many other letters besides. She is learning to read simple words like CAT, DOG, HOT, etc.



Lately I have started hearing things out of Kathleen's mouth that I didn't think I'd hear for years: "Vic-TOR-rii-aaaa", "Mum, Victoria's being a pain", "Give that BACK".

What doesn't help is that they are very similar in their tastes, so if Kathleen has something, Victoria wants it, and (more often than not) if Victoria has something, Kathleen wants it (especially if that something is Mummy's attention). This gets worse on the days when we go to the Toy Library because they are usually both drawn to the same toy and both want to play with the best pieces themselves. This photo actually shows them playing nicely side by side. They both wanted the same horse toys to put in their Duplo stables, and it probably would have ended in tears if Mummy hadn't seen what was going on and made sure they both had two horses each.

I'm sure part of the squabbling comes from the fact that any toy looks more attractive if it is in use - i.e. that doll moving around looks much better than this doll on the floor.

However I fear that some of it is also because they each know how to wind the other up - "She wants this? Well so do I". Case in point...

Last month I took the girls to the zoo. Afterwards we had a good browse around the gift shop and ended up settling on a bag of about 12 small, plastic zoo animals. When we got home they both wanted to play with the chimp. Fair enough, they both had their turn and then it got put away (actually the dog ran off with it).

The next day they started fighting over the hippo. The Hippo. My apologies to any hippopotamus lovers out there ... but really? ... the Hippo? Of all the animals in the bag, they weren't fighting over the chimp (but you loved it yesterday?), or the lion, or the zebra, or any of the other cool animals. But the Hippo.

It was all because Kathleen was playing with the hippo first. Victoria saw her playing with it and then she wanted it too. Kathleen saw that her sister wanted it, so she held onto it even more. And when Victoria did get hold of it, it just made Kathleen want it back all the more.

And all I could do was stand there and watch thinking "Really? Really? But it's the HIPPO!".

Love Megz

Lost and Found

About six months ago we joined the Toy Library here in Levin. I have found it to be a pretty good service. There is a great selection of toys and the price to hire is pretty reasonable (although I'm told the toy library in Palmerston North is even better but too far away for us to really use).

We've had some great toys out of the library. My favourites would be the indoor slide which we just couldn't keep Victoria off of, and the Candyland board game which we enjoyed so much we ended up buying our own copy.

Quite often we will get Little People toys because they are so simple yet so detailed. We've had the Little People Farm, Little People Main Street, Little People Noah's Ark, and currently Little People Circus.

Back in April we got out a Mega Bloks fairytale set with King, Queen, Princess and glittery carriage. Both girls fell in love with the princess doll and played with her all the time. Victoria even slept with her a couple of times because she wouldn't let it go.

However, when it came time to return the toy, the princess was nowhere to be found. We searched high and low, all over the house. I felt so guilty because, really, the toy was boring without the princess doll. The king and queen must have been from a different set because they weren't particularly cool.

Peter returned the toy and paid the lost toy fee (which he told me was $30 but was actually $3). But I still felt really guilty, to the point where I watched Trade Me auctions to see if I could buy a replacement (only saw a couple which I lost the auctions on).

I've always had it in the back of my mind, wondering what had happened to her. Best guess was that it had been taken into the car (even though I've always been careful not to let them take library toys out of the house), and that it had fallen out somehow. Or that it had accidentally been put down on the bench and fallen into the rubbish bin.

However. A couple of weeks ago Peter and I went out for the evening. I put on my nice clothes that I hardly ever wear. And my nice black shoes, which had been sitting in a box for months. And out fell the princess!!! She was hidden inside a shoe, inside a box, in our bedroom, for all this time. I have no idea how she got there, other than a child put her there. What a great feeling of relief it was to finally find her and to set my mind at ease as to what had happened to her.

I was very happy the next time we went to the toy library, to be able to return the princess and wipe my conscience clean.



-Megz

Hibernating

Haven't heard much from me lately? I've been hibernating for winter. It is SOOOO cold.

Apart from freezing we're doing well. Kathleen is now going to daycare two days a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Victoria goes on a Tuesday too, so I have the day to myself and usually spend it working on the farm. They both seem to enjoy it there. It is in the country, near where they will go to school, so I hope a lot of the kids there will eventually go to the same school with them.

As well as daycare we have also joined the local Playcentre and will be going there one day a week as well. Most of the kids there are Victoria's age, so it is more for her benefit than Kathleen's. Vicky loves copying the big kids at daycare, but I want her to have socialisation with kids her own age too. Besides, Playcentre offers such a big range of activities and opportunities for both the kids and for me too.

We also regularly go to playgroups and music groups and the library. I have to get out of the house most days for my sanity. Plus it's warmer to go out than stay home!

I realise I haven't blogged in a long time. The girls have grown heaps. Victoria is one and a half now. She's talking heaps and learning new words every day. Kathleen still just loves to play and watch TV. Kathleen's favourite sayings at the moment: "I'm such a girly-girl" and "pink is my favourite colour". Groan

The girls are starting to play together sometimes (with help from me) but mostly Victoria likes to play with toys on her own and Kathleen likes to play pretend with me. Kathleen has also started enjoying board games and card games, so we will sometimes sit down and play a few games together. We especially enjoyed Candyland when we had it out from the toy library. Victoria has been watching with interest and actually played a game of memory with us yesterday (with lots of help).

I've been a little surprised how much both girls have learnt at daycare. Mostly songs. In the beginning Kathleen would come home and sing new songs for us every week. After a while Victoria would stand up with her and do the actions to the songs as well. Kathleen has learnt all her Maori colours and Maori numbers up to 10. She can now count to 100 (in English).

One thing we've been struggling a lot with lately, over the last several months, is sleep, or lack of it. First it was Kathleen. She'd have trouble going to bed at night, complaining she didn't want to be alone, then waking up in the middle of the night wanting to come to bed with us (which would be fine if she didn't then keep us awake for the rest of the night or hog the bed). After about a month of that we started a star chart, where she got a star every night she stayed in her own bed and once she had 20 stars she'd get a reward. That worked amazingly better than I could have ever imagined and I think she only got up once or twice since then. Her first reward was a trip to Lollipops, and she still hasn't collected her second reward, which will be a trip to the movies.

We had a month or two of good sleep after that, and now it is Victoria's turn. She is going through a major Separation Anxiety phase, where she cries if I leave her sight even for a second. So she'll wake up in the middle of the night and scream for Mummy. She'll usually re-settle for Peter but if I'm the one to wake up and go to her, I end up being there for a couple of hours because she'll just scream the house down if I try and leave the room again.

Things are going well on the farm. Our neighbours are grazing their stock in our fields now, so that is one less thing we have to worry about at the moment. For a really funny story on farm life, read my farm blog.

-Megz

Face the Future

Well I've finally caught up with the times and joined Facebook. I've been meaning to get around to it since Peter's sister Gayle was here last July. But it's been one of those things low on the priority list. I've also been invited to join by a couple of other old acquaintances.

Then last week I discovered (while playing around with www.pipl.com) that my best friends all have Facebook pages and never told me, nor invited me to be their online friend. How rude!

So I've joined up and already have almost 20 friends. I feel so important! ;-)

Still trying to figure a lot of it out though. Not sure if I'll get a myspace or bebo page. Definitely NOT going to use Twitter.

-Megz

Patience is a Virture

If someone has a lot of patience they are said to have the patience of a saint.

So what do you call someone who doesn't have much patience? The patience of a sinner?

No, a three-year-old.

Kathleen has no patience at all. She can't fathom time or how long something will take. Every night she asks how long it will be until morning and then her eyes well up with tears as she says it takes so long and that sometimes the sun doesn't want to come up. Some mornings at breakfast she asks when it will be dinner time (usually this is because she wants to watch television while I'm cooking dinner).

I used to think I had a lot of patience. That's one of the reasons I decided to have kids, because I thought I would have a lot of patience and be good at it. HA! I have since discovered I don't have any patience at all. Not when it comes to my girls anyway. I can lose my temper very, very easily these days.

-Megz

My birthday present

My birthday present ... A 6 week old border collie puppy.



We couldn't agree on a name for him for the first week. It came down to Muppet (Peter and Kathleen's choice), Timmy (my choice) or Doe-Do pronounced as in Doe [Female Deer] - Do [as it Just Do It] (Victoria's choice).

Popular opinion among those polled chose Timmy as the name but I'm still taking votes in the comments section.

Getting him was a mission. We drove 5(?) hours to Rotorua [with questions of "are we there yet" after only 20 minutes] to look at one puppy and decide he wasn't what we wanted, and then another hour to Te Puke where we found Timmy. And then 5 1/2 hours home again that night with the girls sleeping in the car, and the puppy whining for part of it, getting home at 1.30am.

Now we just gotta teach him not to go toilet inside the house and not to jump on or chew on the children. Victoria is starting to show interest in the potty - I wonder who will be house-trained first - Victoria or Timmy?

-Megz

Crime and Punishment

Kathleen is going through a particularly rebellious stage at the moment. At least I'd like to hope that it is a phase.

Everything I ask her to do, or to stop doing, is met with "NO". For example:
"Kathleen, can you come and get dressed please", "NO"
"Kathleen, come and have lunch", "No I'm busy playing"
"Kathleen, it's time to leave, can you put that toy away and come here please", "NO"
"Kathleen, let go of your sister", (screams from Victoria, Kathleen does not let go)

It gets particularly bad when we're out somewhere and it's time to go, but she just ignores me and keeps playing. For example, we're out at playgroup and it's pack up time. All the other kids and parents are putting the toys away and getting ready to leave. Kathleen holds onto the toys and stands in the middle of the room refusing to budge, and despite my explaining "Kathleen, it's pack up time, you need to put the toys away" she refuses to do so. OR it's time to leave wherever we are (creche, playgroup, the cafe) and I convince her that it's time to go and she stops what she is doing. However as soon as I turn my back (to pick up Victoria or whatever), Kathleen runs over to another toy and starts playing with it, and we have to begin the whole "Kathleen, it's time to go" routine all over again.

WHAT TO DO?

Negotiation does not work.

I've tried Time Out a couple of times at home but that doesn't really work either. I tend to only use Time Out for the big stuff like hitting and pushing, or if she gets all wound up and needs to cool off. The problem with Time Out is that Kathleen doesn't learn anything from it. All she remembers is that she was sent to her room, not why she was sent there. I know because I've asked her afterwards what she did wrong and she says "I don't know" and "you need to say sorry to me for closing my door Mummy".

Threats and bribery appear to work, for example "If you come now you can watch TV when we get home but if you muck around we won't have time to watch anything". I don't like doing this because it seems so negative and I don't want to have to bribe her to cooperate. I want her to do it because she wants to, not because she's going to get something.

Is it just a phase? Is there any other way to get through this phase without locking her in her room until it's over?


Lately I've been reminded more and more of my own rebellious teen and pre-teen years (read: "oh $h1t there's YEARS of this ahead of us). I remember one instance when I was 11 years old, when our class was supposed to be going on a class picnic at the end of the year. But it was raining and the picnic was cancelled and our class got taken to the movies instead (Return of the Jedi - boring!). The movie finished much earlier than the picnic would have, so my friend and I decided to go to the swimming pool for a while. Silly me, I dived in to the shallow end of the pool and hit my mouth on the bottom of the pool and broke a tooth. My parents were SO MAD when they found out. No so much mad that I'd broken a tooth (although they were probably mad about that too). But mostly they were mad that I'd gone off to the swimming pool without them knowing where I was. I got in so much trouble and the sleepover that I'd had planned for the following weekend was cancelled. I was so upset about that and tried to convince them that my friend shouldn't be punished just because I was in trouble.

ANYWAY, the point of this is that at the time all I cared about was the fact that my sleepover was cancelled. I didn't really think about why. I thought it was because I had gone swimming. Only now when I look back do I realise that it was not because I went swimming. It was because I went swimming WITHOUT TELLING THEM. Because they didn't know where I was and they were worried. We didn't have cellphones back then so what was I supposed to do? Go straight home of course.

My point is that it's taken me 25 years to realise just what I was being punished for (ok, I'm really not that slow, it's been a repressed memory for 24 years). So if I put myself in Kathleen's shoes and know that all she will remember is the punishment and not the crime, then how am I going to get the message through to her? Any message, be it now or in the future.

How do I teach her that she needs to do what Mummy says, not because she's going to get punished (or rewarded) but because it is the right thing to do. Because explaining this to her is not working.

-Megz

The Honesty of People in a Small Town

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Last night was particularly bad. I slept for two hours, was awake for two hours, then slept for another three hours. And that was it for the night. I put it down to the fact that I drank a bottle of V yesterday to help me cope with the fact that I hadn't slept very well the night before that either.

So today I have been pretty tired. As well I've been cranky, forgetful and found it hard to concentrate.

This morning Peter and I had a meeting at our lawyers so the girls and I went up to Palmerston North for the day. When we were finished at the laywers we still had some time left on our parking meter so we went for a walk around the block, Kathleen walking and Victoria in the stroller. When we got back to the car I loaded the girls into the car and off we went to a cafe in the country for lunch.

It was an hour or two later when I was sick of carrying Victoria around and wanting to put her into the stroller, when I realised that I didn't remember putting it back into the car after our walk around the block. A quick check confirmed that, yup, it wasn't there. Damn.

We finished up our lunch and went back to our lawyers, just on the off-chance that it was still there sitting by the side of the road. It wasn't.

I asked at the laywers if they'd seen anything. No, nothing. I resigned myself to the fact that it was gone. Best case scenario I figured a parking warden may have taken it away. Worst case someone pinched it.

There was a bank next door to the lawyers so I decided to ask in there anyway. And, lo and behold, there was our stroller sitting in their foyer.

I confessed to the teller what an idiot I was and she said that she'd noticed the stroller sitting by the side of the road when she went to lunch at 1 o'clock, and it was still there when she came back at 2 o'clock. She guessed what had happened and brought it inside.

Now it had actually been sitting there since 12 o'clock! Two hours!

The honesty of small town people really does surprise and hearten me.

-Megz

Walking

Victoria took her first steps at Christmas time. Since then she's been practising and getting better at it. Now, as of a couple of days ago, she's suddenly got the hang of it and is walking everywhere. Not all the time but a good 50% of the time. And she can now walk from one side of the room to the other without falling down.



I have enrolled both girls in a local daycare centre for one day a week. They had their second time there today. I think they're both enjoying it. The first week I stayed with them for an hour or two, today I stayed for half an hour to make sure they were settled in. Kathleen has had drop offs at Playcentre before so she was absolutely fine. Victoria is a lot younger so hasn't had drop offs before, but she handled it well. In fact the first week she cried when I tried to take her home and reached out for the teacher so she could stay there! Today though I got the biggest hugs from her when I came to pick them up.

Having them in daycare has been good because it has enabled me to get some work done around the farm. Both weeks I've spent the time weeding the lavender field (which you can read about in my other blog). I've got the next several weeks drop off days all mapped out too. There is so much work to do around the farm and it is difficult because I can't really leave the girls alone. Nor can I take them with me, with the amount of deadly nightshade springing up all over the place. So I've gotten into the habit of when Victoria has a nap after lunch, putting the television on for Kathleen to have quiet time, and then I go outside and work close to the house. I don't like her watching so much television, but at least I know she is safe and pretty much won't leave the couch while it's on so won't get into trouble. I always stay within sight of the house so that if she needs me I'm nearby.



Victoria is now settling into a fairly regular schedule of waking up at 8am, having lunch at 12, a nap at 1, dinner at 6pm and bed at 8pm. Kathleen's schedule is pretty similar except she doesn't have a nap and wakes up at 7. Compared to other country dwellers we're pretty late risers I think. But I just can't get up any earlier than that. Even 7am is pretty difficult.

-Megz

Triathlon

New Years Resolution No 4 has been completed. Yesterday I competed in the MORE FM triwoman event in Palmerston North.

Let me just say this from the outset - it wasn't a race. I wasn't out to beat anyone. I entered it just for the challenge of competing and the thrill of finishing.

I did my first triathlon in January 2005 along with my friend Tess, back when we lived in Auckland and before I had kids. I still remember the incredible buzz I got just from crossing the finish line. It was probably the biggest physical challenge I'd ever done at that stage.

And since then I've always wanted to do it again. But in January 2006 Kathleen was born. January 2007 we'd just moved to Wellington and that's no excuse but I made it my excuse anyway because I was too intimidated to do it without a friend. January 2008 Victoria was only 2 months old. But by January 2009 I had no excuse. Well, I could have used the "I've just moved house and don't have anyone to do it with" excuse, but I've really been kicking myself for doing that last time and I wasn't going to put it off again. So I set myself the challenge and entered.

Training has been a problem. Basically there hasn't been any. I look after the children all day long. And lately if I do get a break I've been busy working outside on the farm, taking care of the garden/weeds mostly, or working inside on unpacking our stuff still. In the evenings after the girls are in bed I'm usually too tired to do anything. A professional triathlete yesterday said she has kids (older), works full time and has a lifestyle block the same size as ours - so she gets up at 5am to train. Well bugger that! I need my sleep.

So I set off yesterday for the triathlon not having done any training at all. I haven't been swimming since the last triathlon I did. I've only ridden a bike once since then, and that was only to the shops and back.

I found I wasn't as nervous as last time. Maybe that's because I kinda knew what to expect.

The swim was six lengths of the outdoor pool at the Lido Aquatic Centre. I expected this to be pretty tough and it was. I can swim well enough, but I don't have much strength so I was pretty slow. Hopping out of the pool and running to the transition area to get my bike, my legs were pretty wobbly.

The bike leg went from the Lido to the edge of town and back again via the riverside drive. There were two laps of this course. Last time around I surprised myself by finding the cycle leg pretty easy and was passing people all over the place. This time around I found it more difficult and people were passing me. I'm wondering if maybe I didn't use the gears on the bike properly. I pretty much stayed in the same gear the whole time and had a very steady rythym going, but it wasn't fast.

Getting off the bike at the end my legs felt like jelly. It was hard to walk, let alone run. But I set off at a very slow jog around the course which wound through The Esplanade to the river, and back along Fitzherbert Ave to the BP and then across Manawaroa Park to the finish line. Last time around I found the running leg the hardest. This time around I was able to keep running for about 90% of the time, albeit at a very slow jog at first as my legs just wouldn't work. I ran the final leg acros the field (500 metres?) and crossed the finish line tired but happy.

I got my results off the web last night. I didn't do as well as I did in 2005 but I guess that's to be expected from not training. I did about the same in the swim, worse in the cycling but better in the running. I'm not sure why that is. I think because last time around I used to regularly do aerobics at the gym once a week, I had more strength. But for the last four years my only form of exercise has been regularly walking around Island Bay, either pushing a stroller or carrying a child. So I think my endurance has increased because pushing a buggy uphill while also carrying groceries is certainly not easy.

Overall though I'm happy with my results.

I would like to challenge my Palmerston North based friends to join me next year. With their buy-in maybe we can find some time to train together and do even better next year!!!

-Megz

Three Years Old

Kathleen is now three years old. This morning we were reminiscing, looking at photos from her second birthday. That feels like so long ago now, much more than a year ago. She has grown up so much since then...

• Physically her hair is much longer, and she has the physique of a child now, not a toddler any more.
• Her language skills are humungous (sp?) (one of her favourite words at the moment).
• She can count to 20 (but misses out 15 most of the time).
• She can read all the numbers.
• She knows her ABC's (the song that is).
• She can read a lot of the letters now, thanks mostly to the letter floor puzzle / mat that Victoria got for Christmas as we spend a lot of time jumping from letter to letter.
• She can run, jump (up and forward), dance, stand on one foot, hop, walk along a concrete wall.
• She is toilet trained and can go by herself (but chooses not to).
• She can undress herself and can dress herself but often gets stuck or frustrated and needs help. Or takes too long and Mummy does it for her.

Kathleen's favourite game at the moment is "Grandma Bunny", a game she made up herself. The game starts off with Kathleen being Grandma Bunny and I am the good little girl coming to visit Grandma. I come in and Grandma shows me the toys to play with. We then proceed to play with the toys. Sometimes Grandma and I go different places and play with the toys there. Sometimes Grandma will cook me dinner and we will eat then go to bed. That's my favourite part of the game ;-)

For her birthday this year, Kathleen got two presents - a dolls house and a castle. The figurines for the dolls house and the castle go visiting each other quite a lot. Kathleen has always loved dolls houses. At playgroup or creche or Playcentre, the dolls house has always been the first thing she goes for. So we really should have bought her one a long time ago. But we waited to get a really nice one and then gave it to her for her birthday. It is a large wooden house with four rooms. She loves it. Every day whenever she has downtime (i.e. whenever Mummy is busy) Kathleen can be found playing with the dolls. Victoria loves it too.

In the afternoon, the girls and I drove to Palmerston North and we had a birthday lunch at Lollipops with some friends. Kathleen had a lovely time. Afterwards we went to ToyWorld so she could choose some dolls to go with her dolls house. We had pancakes for breakfast and her favourite Moroccan "Ramoccan" Lamb for dinner. And a rainbow birthday cake.

So this year the goals are to continue learning to recognise letters, learning to write letters and to read simple words. Continuing learning to dress herself. This is more of a goal for Mummy - stop trying to help and let her do it herself. The same goes for things like cutting her food, buttering her bread, brushing her teeth, etc.

We will also have the challenge of finding a new preschool for Kathleen, and I would like to think that by this time next year she will have a friend or two in the area. It has been hard on her not having any friends. She had friends in Auckland but then we moved to Wellington and had trouble meeting anyone her age. Then when she started creche at the beginning of last year we made some tentative friendships. Only for us to then decide to move house again and so we held back from making more friends. But I would really like for my girls to start getting to know other kids now.

Three is an amazing age. So much a child now, no longer a baby. Someone famous said something like "show me the child at three and I'll show you the man". (Actually I just googled that and it's a Jesuit saying and about 7 year olds so not quite what I had in mind. What I meant was that at three your true personality becomes apparent). It's so true. Kathleen's personality is well and truely set in. She's a quiet, indoor girl. She likes to be entertained, in the form of TV, books or computer games. But at the same time she's a big show off and loves to be the centre of attention, whether it's dancing, telling stories or just being a goofball. Her whole focus of attention is toys. Whenever we go somewhere her only concern is whether or not they have toys there. I would like to hope that this means she will have a happy childhood, as so far she is pretty easily pleased ... as long as there are toys to play with!!!

First Birthday


Second Birthday


Third Birthday


-Megz

Potty Training Part III

Kathleen's toilet training has been going pretty well. She stopped wearing nappies during the day in June and although she still has the occasional accident, most of the time she will announce in a loud voice when she needs to go, or else I will ask her if she needs to and she will say "yes" or (usually) "no".

She's still been wearing nappies overnight though. A lot of the time they are dry when she gets up in the morning. So at New Years I decided to take the plunge and stop wearing overnight nappies. We put a potty in her room and explained that if she needed to go she should get out of bed and use the potty.

The first week went really well and she would get out of bed before going to sleep and use the potty, just for the fun of it I think.

But then she started wetting the bed. Not every night. But in the last three weeks she has done it five times. That's about a quarter of the time.

Should I be worried? I don't think so. I think she'll get the hang of it eventually. What I'm not sure of is if she's losing control while she's asleep or not. Because if so then I don't know how we teach her otherwise.

Luckily we've got a new washing machine now and the weather has been good enough to be able and wash and dry the sheets so often. Our old washing machine broke down just before we moved and was going to cost $6,000 (!!!) to repair or $600 to buy a new one.

-Megz

New Years Resolution

1. Blog more often. At least once a month on this blog, and once a week on my farming blog. Plus help Kathleen and Victoria to blog once a month too.

2. Find more time for myself to relax, play Sims, read, etc. Victoria has dropped down to one nap a day now. Her bedtime is now coming into line with Kathleen's at 8 o'clock. It used to be when she had two naps a day that her second nap would be quite late in the afternoon, waking up around 5pm. Therefore not being ready for bed till 9pm or later. Now she's usually shattered by 8.30. So there is an extra hour in the evenings that I didn't have before and can schedule some 'me' time on a regular basis.

3. Toilet train Kathleen at night. More to come on this in another post.

4. Complete the women’s triathlon in Palmerston North on the 24th of January. I've officially entered, so keep an eye out here later in the month to see how I did.

-Megz