Story time

One of the things over there on my list for 2011 is to read more books. I love reading, but just don't allow myself enough time for it (which I should now, as the husband kindly got me a lovely swish Kindle for Christmas).

No matter what I do, I can't interest Cara in reading at all. She has always been the child who does things in her own time and not a moment before. She didn't give up breast feeding till she was ready. She didn't start speaking till she was ready. I'm hoping one day - when she is ready - she will sleep the entire night in her own bed!

Anyway - in an attempt to encourage her a little more, I've decided that bedtime stories are going to be actual stories - something which we can read a chapter each night from. So, we trundled off to the library last week and came away with several Rainbow Fairy books. So far, she seems to be enjoying them. She is asking for more than one chapter each evening and has also started asking if we can read it during the day too. I've already started gently saying that when she learns to read, she will be able to read them herself. I can't see this happening anytime soon though - I think she enjoys listening while she is drawing or writing!

So - does 'Pippa: the Poppy Fairy' count as one of my books??

Happy New Year!

I don't really tend to make resolutions as they never seem to stick. This year instead, I am making a list of things I would like to achieve. It's a work in progress, so I'll be adding to it as the year goes on.

One thing I'm hoping to do is to complete a photo a day project. I first started this back in 2007, but made it to the October before giving up. I started again in 2008 and managed a whole 365 photos, which I love looking back on. So...I decided to try it again. I'm not going to beat myself up too much about the quality of the photos, so I'm thinking most of them will probably be 'snaps'.

I was excited to start and even stayed up till midnight to take today's photo. I'm really proud of it!


Happy 2011 everyone.

She makes me laugh so much

It's turning into a roller coaster of a term at work - every day brings new news and challenges and as a school, we are all facing changes. I don't think I've worked this hard since my NQT year!

Anyway - yesterday morning, in the car, Cara was asking about hearing dogs. So we were talking about what they do, who they help, how they help etc. End of conversation. Then, yesterday afternoon, we were in the car again. She said something and I misheard her "you should get a hearing dog" she told me. She just makes me laugh so much.

It was worth going to the gym for

Earlier on, Cara asked me what she should draw. I said to her, "why don't you draw a beautiful house." I then went to step class, leaving her with the husband. I've just this minute got back to a dark and silent house. I crept upstairs and they are snuggled up together, sound asleep. This was on my pillow:


Not only is it an astonishingly beautiful house, but just there, in the middle and to the left a bit is my name 'mummy' (written backwards!). I think my heart may have melted a little bit when I saw it. It was well worth going to the gym for.

School

Cara started 'big' school a week and a bit ago. She has been doing mornings only this week. Next week she stays for lunch and then the following week, she will be full time. Even in just one week, she already seems so much more grown up.

I asked her today if she is enjoying school. "Yeah...it's really quite fun actually" she replied.

New love!

Cara has a new love - the paddling pool at the Strand. We've now been every weekend for the past three - today being no different! The only thing different today was the temperature of the water though - one quick feel and she soon changed her mind, settling for the park instead!

Cousins together

Cara's cousins came to play today and we had a lovely day. Sometimes, if they spend too long together, they get to the point where they start to bicker, so I made sure we got out and about, not giving them much time to bicker.

We started off with a walk to the local library. Then we called in Tesco to get something for lunch. When we got home, they had lunch. Then they played in the garden for a while, then we went to the Strand, a local play area. Despite the fact it's August and therefore Summer, it wasn't exactly too warm. They didn't seem at all bothered though and loved the paddling pool. Cara was the only one to get wet. She bent down to scoop up some water to throw and in doing so, dipped her bottom in the water. Cue soaking wet shorts. She was pleased though as she got to sit on the towel on the way home!