Left Behind...

There's one little man round these parts who gets an awful lot of loving.... and ever since biggest sister has gone off to school, the attention really has become focussed on him...

Heidi has not found the transition the easiest. While Ava has skipped happily into school every morning, Heidi has been sad, clingy, and just down in the dumps. She's missing her best buddy like crazy, and I'm getting the same questions repeated every day...

"When is Ava coming home?"

"Why can't we go and get Ava now?"

"When can I go to School with Ava?"

And when I can't answer the questions in the way she wants me to, the tantrums start...

I feel so sad for my usually chirpy, fun-filled littlest lady

But yesterday I noticed a switch in our Heidi... she seemed more settled, eager to play with Jonas, smiley and chirpy. I notice with all of the children that when their behaviour's a little off the wall, they usually just need some down days. Days at home where it's easier to follow through on discipline and be consistent... Days where we potter and play and just be. And somehow, those days seem to do a little heart mending.

I still had the string of questions, but yesterday was the first day in a while that we had no tantrums.

I suppose I worked quite hard to prepare Ava for the transition to "big school". I was so concerned and worried about how she would settle in, that I didn't really consider the impact on the younger ones... and now I'm seeing that actually its almost harder for those left behind. Ava gets all the excitement and adventure of school, while Heidi gets the same old routine, just without her big sister around.

So it warmed my heart, and made me feel especially thankful to see her being so sweet with her baby brother yesterday... she's got a new play buddy who is getting more interactive every day.

Even if he does look a little glum in this picture... perhaps he's missing his biggest sister too!

The Ordinary Moments

Adjusting

She loves to come in to our room in the morning to kiss her baby brother... she gets the wipes and nappies for me, and helps me get him dressed. She chatters away to him in German in this little high voice, asking him question after question...
"Are you tired little Jonas? Are you? Is that what you're telling me? That you're tired?"
She worries if he doesn't have his cuddly giraffe that she bought for him with the money she "earned" from clearing the rocks in Grandpa's garden.
She is a wonderful big sister... and I'm so proud of her. Even when I have to tell her off for nearly smothering him in kisses.

This one is in love. She could not be more smitten. She rubs her little chubby cheek across his forehead and I have to tell her to get her hair out of the poor boy's face! The first question she asks me whenever she sees me; "Where is baby Jonas, Mama?" She will sit and stare at him for hours, and hold him and cuddle him for seconds, before she cries out "finished" and removes her arms. I'm a pro now at being ready to catch him.

They are adjusting. Gradually. Heidi is learning not to sob her heart out whenever she hears him cry...
"He's not sad, he's just telling us something"

And my heart melts every night, when from the quiet of our bedroom, on my bed, to the sound of newborn gulps as I nurse our youngest, I hear two little girls praying before falling asleep...

"Thank you God for Baby Jonas"

And I say Amen.

On the Lost Art of Independent Play...

It's a happy little routine we've fallen in to. It's evolved and changed beyond recognition since the early routines of my firstborn, but right now, I'm perfectly contented with our little schedule. Typically, I know it will all be thrown to the wind with a new arrival in June, so right now, I'm savouring every moment of the "calm before the storm"...

The girls were always post-lunch nappers, and from their very earliest days, getting them into a good napping routine was high on my priority list. It meant happy babies. It meant sane Mama. It meant a lot of sacrifices too. I didn't, and still don't, go out for lunch much, and between 12 and 3 is pretty much a write-off for any social activity, unless people want to come to me.

But boy has it been worth it. Our littlest lady heads up to bed around 1pm, and doesn't reappear, often, until around 3.30pm, and my big girl... well, with the help of a gro-clock, she has been learning the art of keeping herself entertained for an hour every day in her bedroom.

I think kids amusing themselves is becoming a bit of a lost art. They are growing up in a world surrounded by high energy, visuals and over-stimulation. Ipads, mobile phones, TV screens and laptops are part of their everyday. I didn't know what a single one of those things was until I was at least ten (excepting the TV!) Children get "bored" way quicker I think, and need constant play dates, activity and entertainment... don't get me wrong. Our girls are well acquainted with all the above, and I think they have their place, but I sometimes wonder if our children are growing up in a world that is over-screen-saturated.

Which is why we've worked hard to teach our girls to play alone. It sounds anti-social, and it sounds dated, but I remain utterly convinced by it. It gives them much needed daily quiet and respite, it teaches them to appreciate silence, it encourages their independence and their imaginations.

And its not an entirely selfless act, I'll admit... an hour of total space every lunchtime is a lifeline for a Mama of preschoolers. I genuinely mean it when I say I don't know how people do the constancy and intensity of it otherwise... its often the first (and only!) full cup of tea I'll drink in a day. A chance to think, space to breath, and an opportunity to have uninterrupted peace too.


And when my big girl comes down after an hour, we have another hour while baby sister sleeps on for Mama and Ava time. After an hour of space, I'm energised, enthusiastic and much more able to spend the hour doing something productive with her. Its our together time. I try to make sure I'm not distracted or doing other jobs around the house (that's what my mornings are for!) That one hour, I am hers - to draw with her, play her games, prepare activities, chat, bake... every day a little bit different. But I'm savouring it all up because I know this golden hour will disappear in September when she heads off to school.

And then, I'm hoping, praying that the cycle will continue as baby sleeps (!!), and Heidi learns the lost art of independent play, followed by Mama time, too...

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Heidi's Frozen 2nd Birthday Party!

On Saturday we celebrated Heidi's much anticipated Frozen Party... I say much anticipated because for the week running up to it, I had a flurry of little high-pitched voices persistently asking me "How many more sleeps 'til the Elsa party?" Needless to say, we were more than ready for it when the big day finally arrived!

I have to admit I wasn't overly excited at the prospect of another Frozen party. It's the biggest fad right now amongst almost anyone under the age of seven, and so the last few parties we have been to have had, for the most part, a decidedly Frozen theme.

But of course, with a little help of Pinterest, a few ideas were born, and soon enough I was possibly just as excited about the party as the girls were!

So in case you ever find yourself needing to throw a "Frozen" party, here's what we did!

The Food
The food is always the fun challenge for parties... tying it into the theme gives you the opportunity to get very creative without actually having to put much work in. I mean, who ever heard of whole mini carrots at a birthday party? But name them "Sven's Reindeer Snacks" and suddenly you have a posse of two-year-olds devouring more fruit and veg than you've ever seen in your life before. I can't take credit for any of the food ideas though... they were all straight from Pinterest, and I tried to find something fun to eat for each of the main characters...

Prince Hans' Sandwiches
Sven's Reindeer Snacks (a platter of grapes, raisins, mini carrots and chip-sticks)
Queen Elsa's Coronation Cupcakes
Olaf's Noses (Wotsits)
Anna's Snowballs (Popcorn)
Kristoff's Melted Icicles (flavoured water in little bottles)

As I said, minimal effort (with the exception of the cupcakes) and yet lots of happy little eaters!

The Costumes
We had encouraged people on Heidi's invitations to come dressed in white or blue, so there were a flurry of little snowy bodies running round the room, and there were no shortage of characters from the movie either! (Children's photographs are posted with parental permission)

 
It was pretty cool to have a snow monster at the party!

The Cake
A simple Victoria Sandwich with butter icing (except that I dyed the butter icing blue!) made this one a pretty easy make (close-up at the top). I cheated on the Regal Icing and bought it ready to roll in Tesco for around £2. I kneaded a bit of blue food colouring through a bit of it to cut out the snowflakes, and Olaf was a simple marshmallow/cocktail stick job. It took me a couple of hours start to finish and there was one happy little lady by the end of it. I'm still very much a novice when it comes to cake decorating (I don't know how people make these incredible creations you see on the web) but we were pretty happy with our humble attempt!

The Activities
This one was good fun as I found there were lots of ideas on Pinterest, but none that were really suitable for two-year-olds... I always think 2nd birthday parties are a bit of a challenge. The children are old enough to get involved in some activities, but there's still not a lot they can do completely independently. I was also conscious we had a good few boys coming, so didn't want everything to feel too  girly... so here's what we did!

* Ice block tower building - a whole stack of white boxes and white foam blocks (the kind you get in packaging) and we were good to go. This kept loads of the kids amused for ages, and they enjoyed both the building and the knocking down. Ava's school class had been doing a topic on "Ice and Magic" the previous half term and had kindly donated me their supplies, so we had no shortage of ice blocks!
* Colouring Corner - a few "Frozen" colouring pages led to happy little artists!
* Hunt Olaf's Noses - This is the only one that I had to prep in advance. I hid eight different coloured carrot noses around the room, and the children had to find them and tick them off when they had each nose. At the end, we talked about which nose was the right nose for Olaf! The children enjoyed hunting them down, and, with a bit of help from Mums and Dads, every child was able to get involved!

The Favours
This was a total Pinterest steal! I had seen these cute little "Do you wanna build a snowman" packs and knew it would be a sweet little gift for Heidi to give her friends to thank them for coming! A few marshmallows, twiglets and raisins and an orange jelly bean was all it took!

We had a fabulous time... Heidi was pretty grumpy for the firs half hour - lets just say no-one ever likes to be woken from their nap... not even for their birthday party! But pretty soon, she was running round with the other children having a whale of a time. It makes all the effort and preparation worthwhile when you see their happy little faces...

... and I still can't believe my baby girl is two!!!

The Wonder of Darkness...

We have had a wonderful weekend celebrating Dave's birthday. Cinema trips and meals out... we have been spoilt rotten (thank you Tesco vouchers!) On Friday night we went to the cinema for the first time in literally years and saw "The Hundred Foot Journey"... we were the youngest in there by about twenty years, but it was an amazing film ... highly, highly recommend it!

On Saturday night we headed out to Zizzi's with the family and enjoyed a yummy meal (that ones another story!) and the girls enjoyed a bit of a late night! We headed off a little earlier than the others as it was WELL past bed time, and bundled the girls up in their coats before heading out into the cold.

We were not prepared for our littlest lady's reaction.

As we stepped outside, streetlights beamed down, candlelight from nearby tables flickered, and there was a buzz of chatter around us. But all of that was not enough for me to notice the little lady in my arms who went completely still as we exited and gasped through a whisper...

"DUNKEL..."

I looked at her, and was greeted by a look of total wide-eyed wonder and amazement. She was drinking it in, her little head turning to see, and just gazing, gazing, gazing at the sky - she was utterly mesmerized by the darkness.

And then it struck me... she probably doesn't ever remember being outside in the dark before. As far as this little lady is concerned, outside is always light!

After a long summer, a lot of which was spent in Norway, a 7am wake-up time, and a 7pm bedtime... I realised Heidi probably hadn't seen it dark outside since about February... at which point she was only 11 months old!

We drove home, she giggled in her seat the whole way back calling out "DUNKEL!" (dark!" around every 30 seconds, and just relishing the big black sky outside the window.

It was just one of those magic moments you want to box up and keep. One of those things that I take so much for granted, but for our youngest, was utterly magical.

The wonder of darkness.

Playdays...

Just quiet afternoons...

where time ticks slowly by...

and little girls can just enjoy the things little girls should.

(We'll not mention the screaming trip round Lidl in the morning, or the disobedient conker flinging across the room at lunchtime, shall we?)

We have had a coldy week... lots of snotty noses, unwanted tissue wipes and general feeling sorry for ourselves. We are just about pulling through the other side of it now. And so an afternoon of long naps and quiet play in the girls room was definitely needed.

Poor little Heidi has suffered the most (look at that poor little nose). She has been a little more tired and grizzly than normal (hence the screaming round Lidl and the conker throwing...!) and has wanted extra cuddles. She's my snuggler... she has been since the day she was born. When she's under the weather, she wants nothing more than to cling on round your neck and snuggle in for as long as you'll let her.

Sometimes her Rosie-dolly will do the trick.

 

 But when she's feeling back to her normal self, no-one is better than her big sister.

These two are two peas in a pod. I just love to watch them having fun together.

Just quiet afternoons...

where time ticks slowly by...

and little girls just enjoy the things little girls should. 

***

 

They say silence is golden... until you have a toddler...

This quote was flying round Facebook this week, and I chuckled to myself... and so really, I should have been prepared, right?

I wasn't.

As I weeded away in the garden, turned over the vegetable patch, moved the scarecrow and emptied the dishwasher, it should really have crossed my mind earlier that it was perhaps a bit strange that I had not heard a peep out of my two-year-old for nearly an hour.

Every day, when Heidi goes down for her nap, Ava goes for her "Mittagspause"... her lunch break. This involves staying in the spare room until her Groclock sun appears and playing with any combination of books, puzzles and games, and her beloved dollies, while listening to a story CD. In her own words to my sister, the day before;

"I like to read, and do a puzzle, and hop a little bit"

If only she had.

The thought first popped into my mind as I washed up the last of the dishes. Its awfully quiet up there. She's pretty good at staying in her room these days, but normally I can hear her chattering, or singing, or generally thumping around up there. But. Nothing.

Silence.

I frowned as I wiped down the table, wondering if I should risk disturbing the calm to check nothing untoward was going on. Perhaps she's fallen asleep, I thought. And then a shout from above made me breath a sigh of relief:

"Mama... my CD is finished!"

I plodded up the stairs slowly, ready to restart the CD, and wondering if she'd noticed that the sun on her clock was due to come up any minute.

I pushed open the door and was blocked. She slid back and then I saw it.

Purple paint.

Everywhere.

Her sleeves and trouser legs were rolled up, and her arms, legs, hands and feet were dyed a marbled mixture of blue and pink paint. Splotches of paint dotted the carpet and a shelf from the bookcase, which was somehow lying on the floor, was plastered in the stuff.

"Don't move!" I whispered... "Don't you dare move!"

I glanced around the room, surveying the damage. Miraculously the walls remained unscathed. The bedcovers had not been touched. Her clothes, somehow, were clean. There was a smear of paint across a set of Horrible History books, but otherwise the damage seemed to be confined to the carpet, the bookcase, and... her.

I lifted her... holding her at arms length... and... with strict instructions not to touch a single thing... maneuvered her into the bathroom where she stood, and uncertain look across her face as she tried to figure out whether Mama was cross or calm, while I returned to the scene of the crime.

Ouch. The only pack of baby wipes currently in the house were shut in Heidi's room with her, fast asleep. I was not going to risk waking her in the midst of the chaos. And so, with no trusty baby wipes in hand, I grabbed a jay cloth and warm water and got to work.

To my relief, everything seemed to clean away.

I returned to the lady in the bath who was, by this point, looking very sheepish.

"I'm sorry Mama" she whispered.

I couldn't be too harsh. After all, it was me that had left the box "Make your own Baby Handprint Keepsake" on the bookshelf. Her willingness to call me because her CD had finished was evidence to me that she had pretty innocently thought nothing was amiss. The minute she saw my face, she knew otherwise.

We had a pretty stern chat about it afterwards.

And so actually, as Dave and I chuckled about it last night, I realised that somehow, miraculously, we seem to have got away with minimal damage.

But then again, if you look very closely, you can see a slight tinge of pink in the carpet.

A tangible reminder for me as my children grow up, that when you have a toddler in the house, silence is never golden...