Almost 3 and a half!

Okay, so I haven't been a very good blogger of late...but gosh whoever said the twos are hard work, didn't know about the terrible threes! Wonderful and terrible really. Wonderful in that they are talking the hind leg off a donkey and the why's and where's and wonderful little toddler conversations have begun in earnest...and their little characters are blossoming out into the little people they are becoming which is wondrous to observe.  And terrible in that in this process of increased independence, there are all the new emotions trying to organise themselves "I want to do that myself" and "I don't want to do that but I don't know why" and "I am going to have a meltdown right now because I don't understand why I am SO FRUSTRATED" etc etc...exhausting and downright draining at times.  These outbursts are also often very amusing, but it is also so nice when they have eventually gone to sleep after a difficult day.

I have to honestly say that I am looking forward to four...although some parents have warned me that four is a little more tricky as this phase includes the "I know better than you" lol! Having said all of this, I still love every minute.  It is not always easy and despite trying so hard to present a calm controlled parental status - to show my kids that I am together and calm and understand that their meltdowns are nothing personal - I lose my cool sometimes - we are only human, right? In these moments when usually Rebecca is really pushing the boundaries, I have to consciously remind myself of the lesson I am trying to teach her when all I want to do is yell and threaten - which as I know now is the most unhelpful thing I could do.  Amazing how as parents we expect a three year old to be as reasonable as an adult when their brains are still developing. And then in response to this emotional toddler craziness, we act like crazy uncontrollable toddlers by yelling and threatening and sometimes giving a hiding - funny right? I do not wish to be this kind of parent so I do not spank them...but this takes conscious effort and reminding oneself when in the heat of the moment. It is so easy to fall into the parenting style of your own mother!

Too precious and loving pushing boundaries!

Anyway, I do not wish time away. Every minute of every day I still reflect on the journey to this point and of the incredible blessing that they have brought to us.

Despite the challenges of this age, I must seriously stress that they are as adorable and delightful as ever. I seldom tire of observing them and I love just hanging back watching them play or interact, listening to their little conversations and exchanges. They do argue and fight a bit but they really get on well, and play nicely together.

First day at Waldorf Playschool 

So small and off they go...

It was a momentous day two weeks ago, as they started Playschool at Waldorf! I really didn't expect them to respond with so much anxiety and I wasn't prepared to handle all the tears and misery - they were really anxious about me leaving them there - my heart! And I only had it for two days! Silvana, their adored Au Pair takes them and fetches them and it took a whole week of tears until they adjusted. Now they love it although Mondays are the hardest as apparently we had a few tears this morning still...but short lived and then they play happily. I can't believe my babies are at school!

We recently invested in some balance bikes - well I have never seen Finn so besotted with anything before - it was so cute. He even had to sleep with it at the bottom of his bed that night! He took to it immediately and they both zoom up and down all around the house without a problem.

So proud of their new bikes!

We decided to take them to see a little ballet at a theatre down the road - Les Silphides as they have both been quite taken by dancing and ballet recently. I bought Becky a little tutu ballet dress and she absolutely loved it. We told Finn that boy ballet dancers wear tights, so he rushed off to get a pair of his sister's tights...lol...too cute! Needless to say, we forgot that a three year old doesn't really know the difference between make-believe and real yet, so when the old male witch came out they both started crying and were absolutely terrified!  So we left the show early. Will wait for something more child friendly next time!

No words for how cute this is...

 

In just six months, we will be celebrating their fourth Birthday! We have lots of lovely mini breakaways planned for this year and our first camping trip in honour of their Birthday in September.
Soon, we will be tackling the night time nappy too but thought it best to get over the school anxiety first. They have not had one dry morning nappy ever despite going to the loo before bed, so I am not sure if they are ready yet.  But I suspect that a few wet nights and getting them up when we go to bed for a midnight wee may be needed to encourage them to have more bladder control - not sure...need to do some research.

There is too much to write about here and I do wish I could remember all the hundreds of special little happenings or sayings so I can record it all here, but too much to do, too little time...

Until the next post...