Beddy Byes

On most days Sophia has one daytime nap and Aiesha doesn't. I say most days because sometimes Aiesha will nap and on those days if she naps too late in the day it spells trouble later on. So a couple of days ago Aiesha had a late nap and of course she had trouble sleeping later on. 

Being a full time SAHM I'm pretty relaxed about bedtime. I normally stay with my girls until they are asleep and as long as they're asleep by a certain then I'm cool with it all. Usually Sophia will fall asleep first and within 10 to 20 minutes later Aiesha will follow. But a couple of nights ago Aiesha was still wide awake half an hour later. So I figured I'd have my shower and by the time I'm finished she'd be asleep. I took an extra long shower to be on the safe side but was she asleep after mummy's long shower? Nope still awake. I knew if I opened the stairgate to go downstairs she would call out for me. 

On that night I had to climb over the stairgate and went downstairs without her noticing. About 10 minutes later we hear little footsteps and a cry. I went upstairs and found Sophia standing on Aiesha's side of the bed crying 'I want my mummy, where's my mummy'. Aiesha was lying on Sophia's side. I then asked Aiesha what happened to which she replied 'I don't know'. I then proceeded to ask if she woke her sister up. To which she replied 'I don't know'. My cheeky little girl says 'I don't know' whenever she has done something wrong. She knows that she if she were to call out for me or her daddy she would get a telling off for still being up. So what does she do.....wakes her sister up, mummy or daddy will come up and then deny any knowledge of her actions. She knew that once mummy is upstairs mummy isn't likely to leave until she's asleep. Mummy's soft like that. Mummy will be a little bit cross but not for long. Luckily she fell asleep soon after even though she kept saying 'I'm not tired mummy' in the hopes of getting a free pass to go downstairs.

I seriously need to get Aiesha back into her room again. Oh yes, my girls now sleep on our super king bed and we sleep in the guest bedroom. We got Aiesha sleeping in her own room on her first birthday as I needed space in our bed being 6 or so months pregnant at the time. Once Sophia arrived she would mostly sleep in her own bed but join us around 6am. We then had both girls in bed with us after a bout of throwing up last November. However, we decided a couple of months ago it was too crowded and we left our bed. Now we play musical beds. 

Yes, we are a bit crunchy with our child rearing.

Off To School

This September, Aiesha, will be attending Nursery at the local school which is about 5 minutes away....maybe 10 minutes if we take our time. There are only 3 schools where we live and we picked the nearest one. It's a good school with a good Ofsted report.

Well today was the new parents meeting at her school where we met the headteacher and various other people. Not sure who they were as there wasn't a microphone and they didn't really speak up plus they waffled on about god knows what at which point I zoned them out. :) The headteacher was nice enough and went through what the children will go through at school....curriculum and the skills they expect the parents to teach the children before they start school eg. dressing/undressing themselves (for PE I suppose), recognising their name and going to the loo. We didn't get to meet her actual class teacher as she was ill but from what the other mums who have older kids at the school are saying, she doesn't sound all that bad. Let's hope it's true.

The meeting was also an opportunity to have a look at the uniform. I actually ordered the bits of uniform I thought we needed from the school a few weeks ago when we sent in our acceptance form. Initially I only ordered the school sweatshirt and the book bag as that were the only items I thought would have the school logo on. I figured we could then buy the polo shirts externally as it would be cheaper than buying from the school. Turns out even the polo shirts have logos on them so we ended up ordering a couple of them too. She's only 3, will only go for 3 hours a day and we've spent almost £50 on her uniform! It wouldn't be so bad if the uniform pieces would fit Sophia when she starts nursery but I highly doubt it will. Aiesha, will be among the youngest in her class so I got her 3-4 age pieces. Sophia, on the other hand is an October baby so will only start school in September 2012 and be among the oldest in class. So I really doubt she'll be able to fit 3-4 age clothes as she'll be almost 4 by then. She's already into 2-3 year old clothes now and she's not even 2 yet.

Aiesha is very excited about school and I really hope the excitement lasts. She has many, many more years of school to get through.

Aiesha is 3!

My Aiesha is now 3 years old!!! Where did the years go?? Happy Birthday Sayang! Mummy is oh so proud of you and loves you more than life itself.

Minutes old.

A year old.

2 years old.

3 today!!!

Going Potty

After months of trying to get Aiesha off nappies with not much long term success it looks like it has finally happened. She's been wearing knickers (daytime only) for 6 days and has not had a single accident. Yay! Next step......ditching the binky.

Doodletots

Every Tuesday we attend Doodletots at our local Scouts Hall.  Every sessions starts of with a story time, singing and an explanation of what we can do for the session. The usual set up would be 4 different activity stations and an easel in the centre of the room for the children to do some free painting. The 4 activity stations usually consist of a colouring table, sticking/cutting table, painting table and messy play area all based on the chosen theme for that particular half term. 

We've been going since Aiesha was 18 months and Sophia only 3 months. For the first month or so Sophia would normally sleep through the sessions but as she got more alert I would either let her play in the travel cot provided by Doodletots  or wear her. I must admit those early days at Doodletots were hard going as I was the only one trying to juggle a toddler and a baby. The sessions are run by a group of mums but you must supervise your own child or in my case children. Now that my girls are older it is much easier but still a bit crazy as they rarely want to do the same activity at the same time. So mummy runs around the hall like a maniac so that both girls are happy. Thankfully Aiesha is often quite happy to do her chosen activity without my assistance unless it involves cutting and sticking.

At the end of the session there is 'tidy up time' where they provide little dustpans, brushes, spray bottles and rags for the children so that they know the session has ended and for extra play. The actual tidying up are done by the adults. Aiesha really gets into the tidy up time and loves using the spray bottle and rag to clean up the paint spills around the easel. Sophia is still figuring out the spray bottle and often gets frustrated when it doesn't work. I'm confident she'll figure it out soon enough.

The summer holidays are coming up soon and so will our sessions at Doodletots until school re-opens in September. Come September, Tuesdays will be our crazy day as Aiesha will start school. 12 noon to 3pm from Monday to Friday. We can't stop going because it wouldn't be fair on Sophia. We will have to rush home after the session, have a quick lunch and off to school straight after. May even have to have lunch on the run. I'm sure we'll get used to crazy Tuesdays.

We love Doodletots!

Seeking Puddles

It was a wet day yesterday with intermittent rain all day long. My girls love water so yesterday was puddle seeking day. I love their Togz suit. It keeps my girls totally dry although Sophia refused to wear hers as she wanted to wear the Fifi raincoat. Oh well they want what they want.

Aiesha showing her Adik how it's done.

Late Nights, Little Lady, Rice and Fish.

Aiesha's sleep has been totally out of schedule this half term. I suppose being ill has a lot to do with it although she is rather well now. A busy day was had yesterday and she passed out on the sofa before I could give her dinner and bath. This of course lead to her being wide awake at midnight and hungry!

I'd made spaghetti bolognese but she didn't want that. My first born wanted rice...rice and fish to be specific. Tekak melayu betul anak ku ni. :) So mummy being mummy and wanting her to eat, cooked the rice and fish. She has been quite ill recently and didn't eat much at all so as long as she eats I'm happy to cook. Even if it means cooking late at night. Thank god for rice cookers, freezers and microwaves.