Baby steps

Just yesterday it seemed I was breast feeding my little baby every morning in bed with me, changing her heavy night nappy for a fresh one and facing a new day with my sleep deprived eyes. I would gently stroke her baby curls with a super fine hairbrush and she would never be more than a step away from me.

But all that has changed. That little baby girl has slowly but surely grown up. Small achievements have manifest together to shape a grown up girl. From those first independent movements rolling over, sitting up, then her style of commando crawling, Little Miss has been very busy, while we were all looking at screens she has been on a mission to become independent. Be it putting food in her own mouth to putting on her own socks and shoes to coordinating her legs to skip run and even dance...

Manipulating scissors successfully to cut, holding a pencil that can draw something we all recognise...

Very importantly now she can communicate effortlessly her demands desires and needs. Knowing herself and her mind, "I want to wear a pink dress with long selves" she tells me.

Did I turn my back and not notice these changes? No I didn't, I foolishly celebrated every milestone and was reassured by her development. Every one of her tiny achievements over years gradually brings her to independence, and then my job is done. This mothering job rudely interrupts your own life yet fulfils your heart. Slowly you get little pieces of your own life back, but that comes at the expense of letting go and your heart is liable to break.

Little Miss has started Kindergarten. Off she goes, eager to make friends and absorb whatever she can about the world. And I have to set her on her way and encourage her steps away from me.

Heart themed party

For her fourth birthday celebration Little Miss thought heart decorations would be nice. Since we plan on taking the kids to the show this year we didn't plan on having a big party, but that didn't stop Little Miss from having some big plans for her party decorations.

We agreed on pink, green and red as colours for the party since I had plenty of craft material in those colours. I initially just thought about cutting out hearts and stringing them up, but the internet provided so much inspiration and B and Little Miss were so eager to help that our decoration plans got a bit more extravagant. She wanted lots of hearts, big and small ones, all over the house and everywhere.

I found this great origami heart instructional video.

Since it was a child teaching the technique I got B making hearts for me and he did a great job.


We made hanging hearts by sewing the orgami hearts together with ribbon and weighted them down with a wooden bead.

Little Miss coloured in the paper and cut out strips so I could staple these hearts together to make a chain of hearts.



To make a garland I cut out red felt hearts and sewed them with green origami hearts and strung it up over the table. The origami hearts looked so good I also folded the table napkins into hearts as well.

Add some helium balloons, food, lots of lollies, birthday cake and family and you've got yourself a party.

Four

According to Little Miss turning four means you are a big girl.

Today that important change is occurring. I can no longer call Little Miss a little girl. She is a big brave bold four year old. Lets take a look at what she is really into right now.

Little Miss loves to dance and has a very keen ear for music. Ballet lessons are really enjoyed and we consider her to be the absolute best dancer in the class.

She loves to sing away to herself and her dolls. Little Miss can remember a song when she has heard it only once. If she has trouble getting to sleep at night, she can often be heard singing a quiet lullaby to herself. When this happens I am most pleased and very moved.

Pink, purple and rainbow are Little Miss's favourite colours. Lasagne and chocolate are her favourite foods. Lollies are not really enjoyed, but chocolate, particularly white chocolate is devoured and desired at any time.

We often enjoy a visit to a cafe and Little Miss likes to have a bubbachinno with a pink marshmallow. If ordering food "Pasta" is always chosen and very well eaten up.

Little Miss believes that fairies are real. Being real is important to her right now and I am often asked if the Wiggles, Little pony, monsters, bed bugs or unicorns are real. I can't help but get philosophical with my answers stating that if she thinks they are real then they might be, but B dosent like to think that fairies are real, unless its the tooth fairy with some money for him.

Little Miss really loves her brother. She looks up to B like no one else. B is the master of all wonders for Little Miss, he is by far her most favourite play thing. Not a day goes by when I don't hear Little Miss say "Where is Blakey? I need my Blakey."

Barbie has become a new friend to Little Miss and I hope this strong sexy female will be a good role model for my daughter. I have to admit I bought her a Doctor Barbie for her birthday, but her dress is still very short and her shoes are most uncomfortable looking.

Little Miss loves to draw. She can draw all kinds of animals and they are recognisable species. Her artistic skills may have been overshadowed in the past, by her big brother. However she is really coming into her own now and she seems most pleased with herself.

If Little Miss should get upset for any reason (but mostly as I have asked her to pack up a mess) her tears and general unhappiness can be cured by a cuddle. The cuddle cure is often needed at the most inappropriate times, like when the mess needs to be dealt with, but I am more than happy to cuddle a big girl and I hope that my cuddles will be effective for a long time yet as they also do me the world of good. At bedtime she must have "something to cuddle" and she usually picks a pink fluffy toy of some type, but she does not have a particular toy, preferring to spread the love.

Being four to Little Miss means that she will no longer have a milky at night time. A milk before bed has been a lifetime tradition for her in one shape or another from boob, bottle to sippy cup, so it is a momentous occasion for her to let go of this habit, showing great determination to grow up.

For four very short years we have been so blessed to have Little Miss as part of our family. Everyday she delights us with her antics. When I look at my big girl I can't believe that I helped create this wondrous person. It is a joy to watch her grow up and share these precious childhood days with her.

Happy 4th Birthday Little Miss.

Biscuit maths

As much as I hate to admit it, I am one of those people who takes a look at the heavily discounted items in the supermarket. You know the shelves in the back corner that have the dented cans, returned items, yesterday's bread or discontinued stock. I have rarely bought anything, but the bargain hunter in me has to have a look, just in case. Well the other day, while I was there just checking, I came across some very interesting biscuits.

These biscuits were not broken into crumbs, or past their use by date so I put them in the trolley. Best of all these treats were chocolate flavoured, reduced to $2 and were in the shape of numbers.

Yeah I thought.
Isn't amazing how the simple things in life can make you so happy.

So one day after school I broke open the pack and got B and Little Miss munching their minds on these mathematical flavoured treats.

When I opened the pack I was overjoyed to see little plus, minus  and equal symbols as well as all the numbers including zero in the pack. I decided to set up some sums with the answer hidden under a cup. The kids would be allowed to eat the biscuits if they got the sums right.

For Little Miss I made the sums easy and offered her some numbers to recognise.

For B I made the sums appropriate to his age.

B worked hard for his treats.

And really enjoyed them, all at once.


I also had some fun with these biscuits, offering up age related treats to my Dad and husband. But it would seem that men can be difficult to amuse and a little bit age sensitive.