Cool dude

The girls are keeping us very busy of late.

Alexa is testing boundaries by being a bit naughty and also not staying in her 'timeout' spot. This has meant a trying time of an hour spent continually putting her back on her spot until she did her time (2mins). Most of this was spent with her giggling and thinking it was a great game to run away and be dragged back. Eventually she saw that she wasn't going to get off and succumbed with sobs. Since then I have begun a star chart (thanks to Jane) and she gets a star when she has been particularly good - good listening or helping etc. When she has filled up the row with stars she gets a 'treat' - the first of which is a trip to the pools and a swim. The idea is that together we will think up each new treat and work towards it.

She is a fairly bright girl and recently had the girls at daycare laughing. A new boy had started, his name Donato. Alexa immediately began calling him Donato Tomato, to which pretty soon the rest of the children followed suit. They ended up calling him Donnie in an effort to stop the vege link.

Meanwhile Isobel has begun to move her hands in that lovely way children do - rolling them at the wrists with the movement getting busier the more excited she is. She is just beginning to get her first tooth through which today has caused her to be off form and quite grizzly. I have her wearing Alexa's old amber necklace and I use a teethmed naturopathic spray that seems to calm her. Hopefully this will see her through.

Both girls have developed a recent habit of waking at between 5 or 5.30am. Isobel can be convinced back to sleep by lying her against our chest, but Alexa is more reluctant. She will stay in bed reading for half an hour, then if it is still too early we have resorted to putting on the tele and going back to bed. I am horrified that it has come to this but it seems the easiest way to get a few more minutes of sleep.