Have we really been a family of six for 6 months already?
Writing my monthly update is a reminder of how lucky I am. It has made me more aware of the little things, the small milestones.
Wriggly (6 months)
• You love it when we play “Coucou-Beuh!” (peek-a-boo!)
• We got the Bumbo out of the loft and you love seeing the world from a different perspective.
• Over the past month, you have woken up in the middle of the night more and more often. That is real torture for me.
• You have rolled from back to front a couple of times, but only your Daddy saw you.
• You find it hilarious when I sneeze.
• You have had a cold for the very first time. It has been tough seeing you unwell and coughing so much.
• I love the way you look at me. Your face shows nothing but unconditional love. It makes my heart melt.
• You must be the happiest baby in the world. You are always beaming and laughing.
• You are most definitely teething: red cheeks, sore gums, dribbling for England. You are now wearing your sister’s amber necklace.
• You love being Super Baby! You laugh hysterically whenever I lift you up in the air.
• Since you were born, you have had a couple of baths in the bathroom sink every week. You have definitely outgrown it now.
Jumpy (2 years 1 month)
• There have been a few meltdowns.
• You call playgroup “playbloop.”
• You keep singing “Let it Go” at the top of your voice. The first time was in bed, as your brother and sister were trying to fall sleep.
• You are more and more interested in the world around you. You started asking questions like, “What that noise?”
• Your favourite question is still “Where Daddy / Poppy / Mamie…?” and I have just started reversing the question, which makes you think. You seem happier when you come up with the answer yourself (“work”, “cool” – for “school”, “home”).
• One lunchtime, I gave you real mayonnaise instead of your egg-free one. I realised my mistake pretty quickly as hives appeared all over your face seconds after you had eaten your first mouthful. Never have I reached the antihistamines quite that quickly! You seemed confused for about half an hour, but were completely back to normal after that.
• You had your first long scooter ride after taking your big sister to pre-school, and you were so pleased with yourself you giggled all the way. I am glad I got a strap for it; it feels so much safer being able to keep you close.
Beanie (4 years 2 months)
• We have done lots of baking and cooking together this month.
• You made your first book at pre-school, complete with pictures and story, written by your teacher as you were telling her what the pictures were about. Your creativity amazes me.
• One Sunday morning, you told me I was a bad mum. You were not wrong. I have to chill out a bit.
• You are full of fun. You come up with gems on a regular basis.
Crevette: “Mummy, can you move our bed, Beanie dropped stuff on the side…”
Me: “No.” (They have bunk beds twice as heavy as me.)
Beanie: “Daddy can. He’s the strongest man in the world!”
About an hour later, you started staring at me and declared: “You’re a bit old, aren’t you maman?”
Crevette (6 years 4 months)
• You have experienced stage fright for the first time in your life. Your nativity at school is a Christmas concert and discussion between the animals in the stable. You are “sheep 2”, which at first I thought would be a minor role, but it turns out you have lines all through the play and during the first whole school rehearsal, you did not know your lines. You had not been asked to learn them by heart at that stage so understandably, it was a disaster as no notes were allowed. We talked about strategies to remember your lines, practised together and tried to think about something else so you could sleep that night. Since then, we have rehearsed together every day and we all know most of the nativity by heart. I am proud of you for not giving up.
• You have really enjoyed our little Christmas crafts, decorating our alternative tree, thinking of new activities we could do.
Us
• I am fed up I always have to multitask so much. I just want to slow down and enjoy my time with the little ones a lot more. Any tips and suggestions are welcome!
• We had a visit from Poppy (Hubby’s dad) and the children all adore him. It has been great having him and his cheerful attitude around for a few days.
• Hubby and I were supposed to go out, just the two of us, but Wriggly has not had a bottle yet and despite buying the tickets over a year ago, we ended up not going.
• The past eight days have been really sad. Our niece Philomène passed away before she had a chance to get a cuddle with her Mummy and Daddy. We did not get to meet you but we love you dearly, little one.
Kids come out with the best compliments don’t they? Hope wriggly is better soon, the laughing at your sneezing made me smile 🙂 So sorry to hear about your niece. RIP little one xx
They do! Wriggly is on the mend now but teething so nights are not so restful at the moment.
J’imagine quand tes enfant vont grandir et qu’ils pourront lire tout ça! Ils seront très fiers de sa maman, j’en suis sûre 🙂
Mon petit bonhomme sait lire, mais je ne lui ai jamais montré ce que j’écris. Quand ils seront plus grands, ils aimeront sans doute lire tout ça, tu as raison!
My lovely Mel just want to say again how sad I am for your brother and sister in law. Sending you lots and love and hugs at this tough time xxx
Thanks hun. Tough times…
Oh Mel, I am so very sorry to hear about your niece. Thinking of you and your family at this sad time. Sorry to hear that Wriggly has been unwell and hope that she is much better now. How frightening it must have been for you when you accidentally gave Jumpy real mayonnaise and glad that the anti-histamines kicked in quickly. I did chuckle over Beanie saying that you were ‘a bit old’ – cheeky! Hope all goes well with Crevette’s nativity now that he has been learning his lines. Hope you manage to find a moment to slow down and enjoy the time with your little ones – always love to read your updates x
Thanks for a lovely comment, Louise. xxx
Mel this is such a wonderful way to keep a record of what’s going on in your busy life. I’m so sorry to read the sad news about your niece – sending you a virtual hug across the miles x P.S. Love that Jumpy calls it “playboop”… so cute.
Thanks a lot Michelle. I do love little people’s pronunciation mistakes. I still remember my brothers’ fondly actually, and they are all full grown men now!
Une jolie petite famille :-). Pas facile de s’arrêter et de toujours profiter, il faut bien que la machine continue à tourner et c’est toi le moteur ! Prendre le temps d’écrire ces quelques lignes sur chaque enfant est déjà précieux. Très triste d’apprendre cette terrible nouvelle pour ta nièce. Ca met une bonne claque et on se rend compte des priorités… Pensées à ta famille. Gros bisous.
Tu as raison. L’image du moteur est parfaite pour décrire ce qu’une maman fait! Pas facile pour mon Doudou et sa chérie. Il faut vraiment profiter de chaque instant et apprécier ce qu’on a…
Lovely post to read about your little ones and my thoughts are with you and your family at such a sad time x
Thanks lovely. xx
So sorry to hear about little Philomène. Thinking of you and your family xx
Your updates about Jumpy and Beanie made me smile as my two are very similar in age and I can really relate to some of the things you wrote. My 2 year old is very prone to meltdowns, he’ll shout and wave his arms if he doesn’t get his own way. He also like to do controlled dives in the middle of shops and will lay there for ages until I pick him up. My eldest is 4 years, 4 months and is also coming out with cheeky comments. Fortunately in between the rude ones he gives me some lovely compliments too.
Good Luck to Crevette in his nativity.
Beanie is the same: she comes up with nice things, too, but mostly, she just describes things as she sees them and at 4, I have to say she has high expectations already!
Time certainly flies. Why do all toddlers LOVE let it go?!
Congrats to sheep 2 on his play. We have my sons next week – so excited! xx
Little man’s one is tomorrow… oh and I should go really, his little sister’s Christmas concert starts in 20 minutes!
Oh Mel, I am so so sorry to hear about your niece. You have had a really bad time of it lately. I am sending you an enourmous hug. Please don’t be hard on yourself. You are an incredible mum and I admire you so much. I can’t believe that you need to chill out…you always seem so chilled to me. I need to chill out!!! Sorry to hear Jumpy got mayo by accident…but hey we all make mistakes…I have made plenty! Look after yourself and have a wonderful Christmas my darling.
You are so kind, thank you my lovely. xxx
So sorry Mel to hear about your little niece, what a sad time for your family 🙁 This is an awful thing to read, but you should know that I love your updates, you write so honestly about your family life and you always make me want a big family! I get stressed quite easily and I only have two- I must learn to chill out more and enjoy them, the time goes so quickly. I’m sure you are doing a grand job! Merry Christmas and blessings to your family xx
Thank you so much for your lovely comment Becky. xxxx
Huge hugs to you and your family for the sad news about your niece.
Blooming Let it Go. N hasn’t even seen Frozen but both of his nurseries seem to have covered it/have pictures up of it, so of course he still knows it!
Hope the nativity goes ok after the line learning. N was a king but thankfully no speaking. Given he did the movements on autopilot, with an awestruck look on his face, and refused to sing along to anything, it would have been a total fail.
I went to see the dress rehearsal today and it was brilliant! He remembered all of it, yay!
Gorgeous post honey, I too want to slow down in the 2015, I have lots of quality time with the kids but I want more, they are growing up so fast! Thanks for linking up to #brilliantblogposts x
That will definitely be a resolution to make for 2015!
I do hope you all feel better soon and I am so sorry for your loss
Thanks
Lovely to stop and capture time like this. My tips for slowing down and enjoying your little ones more are just to set some family time aside together and let the mundane chores wait. Often they sort themselves out if you don’t do them, like sweeping the floor can just wait till after the next meal! So sorry to hear your sad family news.
Thanks for your tip, Fiona. You are 100% right. x
I’m so very sorry to hear about your niece Philomène Mel, how terribly sad, sending love xx
Wonderful update as always, don’t you just love the things that kids say?! And toddler pronunciations are just the best 🙂
Going through the notebooks where I record all the funny things they say always makes me giggle!