Winter has just arrived here, and I am still grumbling about the lack of summer and wondering where it went. Summer didn't arrive till mid January, and then in mid March we were hit with a sudden cold spell. I said "it's ok, this will last a week or two and then we'll get one last hot spell before autumn really kicks in". Well 2-1/2 months later I'm still waiting for that hot spell, have stocked up on firewood, gotten the heaters out of storage and am still shivering after the frost this morning.This kind of thinking has left me a little confused - I can't believe it's going to be June tomorrow because in my mind it's still the end of March and I'm still waiting for my hot spell of weather.
We have got a new family member. A new dog. Her name is Skye and she is about 11 months old and is a Border Collie. A girlfriend for Timmy (who is 15 months old now). They have been getting on like a house on fire. Absolute best friends who are inseparable. I have worried a lot about Timmy being on his own so much, so it is great having Skye to keep him company. However I think he's also teaching her a lot of his bad habits.We are now halfway through school-term 2. The girls and I have had some rearranging in our weekly schedules. We now go to Playcentre two days a week, and my day off is now Thursday (when both girls go to daycare) rather than Tuesday. Kathleen goes to daycare three days a week but I will be cutting that back to two days next term I think. She is enjoying both preschools. Originally I didn't want to go to two preschools but the daycare is good because it is near her future school and it gives me a break, whereas Playcentre is great because it gives me adult company and opportunities, plus the kids have the choice to play with me or do their own thing. I am getting a lot more involved in Playcentre now and am working on completing the Course Two training, which I am enjoying.
Kathleen's reading is coming along well. She enjoys playing an online game called Reading Eggs where children play games involving letters and words (e.g. "Click on IS") without even realising that they're learning. I don't know how much of it she is retaining - some but not all I suspect - but aren't too worried about it. I'm not pushing her to learn to read, I don't want her to be too far ahead of her classmates, but she enjoys doing it so I'm not going to stop her either. It's hard to say how many words she actually knows because I think most of the time she is guessing what things say based on the first letter of the word and the context. Another part of Reading Eggs she enjoys is writing her own stories and entering the competitions. She is also enjoying having chapter books read to her at bedtime now (books with no pictures, just story).
Victoria is growing up so quickly. She seems to have gone up a new level recently. It's hard to put a finger on what has changed. She is talking in full sentences (e.g. saying "I want to go there" rather than "want go there"). She is partaking in conversations. She is talking to other adults and being understood a lot of the time. She seems to be coming out of her shell a lot more (although with some people she just clams up and hides behind me for some reason).
And the big news is that in the space of about a week, Victoria has dropped her nap, started sleeping in a big girl bed with no sides, and moved into Kathleen's room. We'd been planning the move for a while anyway. About a month ago the girls and I had a sleepover party one Saturday night and the three of us all slept in Kathleen's room together. Tora was in Kathleen's old bed, and I left the bed made-up afterwards. Now Victoria's been ready to drop her nap for a while. A lot of the time I'll put her to bed after lunch and she won't go to sleep so I'll get her up after an hour. We're at that difficult inbetween stage - when she doesn't have a nap she's usually pretty tired and difficult by dinnertime, but if she does have a nap then she's not tired at bedtime.
Last week Kathleen said she was tired and asked if she could have a nap with Victoria. So they both got into Victoria's cot together and promised they'd go to sleep. I fully expected a lot of giggling and no sleeping. However, Kathleen climbed out of the cot, pulled a stool over and not only helped Victoria get out but taught her how to do it herself. They both came running out of the room giggling. So a few days later I put Victoria to bed for a nap (Kathleen was at daycare) and 10 minutes later Tora comes running out all by herself having climbed out of the cot. So that was the end of that. The sides came off the cot and now it is very difficult to get her to stay in bed. Last Wednesday night Victoria decided she didn't want to stay in bed at nighttime either and came running out. I tried to catch her but she ran to Kathleen's room and jumped into the old bed in there. She refused to get out and said she wanted to sleep there. So that was that, and now the two girls are sharing a room. The logistics of which we are still working out. Kathleen likes listening to chapter books at night whereas Victoria doesn't. So still trying to figure out how storytime should work. And figuring out how to keep Victoria in bed. The other morning Kathleen woke up at 6.40am (very unusual) and called out for me, which woke Victoria up too. So we're still not even sure if sharing a room is really such a good idea after all. The reasons for sharing were: It's winter so we only have to heat one room instead of two; Victoria's room is small and Kat's is big, and Tora is going to want more room eventually, but the only other bedroom in the house is the guest room and the coldest room in the house.
Most days I've now stopped offering Victoria the option for a nap (the exception being when she's at daycare of if she's really tired), so that she will be sleepy at bedtime and go to sleep pretty quickly. The days she has had a nap it has been very hard getting her and Kathleen to go to sleep.
And one final development is that the girls are actually playing together now and becoming friends. They still have very different interests - Victoria loves to play with dolls and the dolls house whereas Kathleen likes creative endeavours. They also both LOVE playing computer games and will fight over the computer or watch each other play. However when there is nothing else to do they'll play with each other. Their games are often physical and involve either running around the room, running up and down the hall, or jumping off things. It's so great to hear the giggles and laughter as they enjoy themselves together. And it has freed me up a little bit too. Only a little though, as I soon get called back to sort out disputes. Lol.Cheers,
Meg
