99 Weeks

We have had a good week.  Carmen did fairly well at school, but didn't nap, so I picked her up early and napped her here at home.  Today when I took her, she didn't even cry when I left - such an improvement!!  But then she still didn't nap there.  She decided that she wanted to colour in instead, so for the sake of peace and letting the other kids sleep, they let her.  This meant that this evening I had to deal with a toddler who for the first time had missed her nap.  She was fine until shower time, then she turned into a total monster.  She threw the worst tantrum I have ever seen!  She didn't want to take her jacket off, then she didn't want to get in the shower, then she clawed at the door the whole time she was in there, then she didn't want to get out of the shower, all the while she was kicking and screaming and slashing and wailing.  I gave up and left her in the bathroom, and her dad found her sobbing on the floor.  Needless to say, she went to bed early :)  She has also caught a cold again.

Anyway, Carmen's Uncle Sting came down for a visit, but we forgot to take any photos.  The weather has been lovely, so Carmen has been to different parks, and out for walks too.  I am really hoping this mild weather is a foreshadowing of how our winter is going to be!

Slippers on the wrong feet!  Blame Dad for that one.

Pimp Daddy Carmen

Her new friend

Playing Humpty Dumpty

98 Weeks

Carmen went to school on Monday for three hours, and they said she had a good day (despite the fact that she was screaming and slashing like a wild animal when I left).  Then she went back on Tuesday for three hours, and they said she had a fantastic day.  So, it gets better and better.  However, they did say she is very set in her ways and they could foresee a lot of trouble getting her to nap there.  So, that is the big hurdle for tomorrow, to get her to sleep at her school.  But I am so glad she enjoys herself after her initial meltdown when I leave!  It makes the time that she's away much easier knowing that she isn't upset.

We have had a good week, with all illnesses finally over.  The weather has been crisp but beautiful, so we took Carmen on a picnic at the park at Burrill Lake.  She loves that park - she can feed the ducks there.  However, she did consume a lot more of the bread that we brought than the ducks did.  Her speech is improving every week, and she said her longest sentence today: "Carmie's pants keep fall down".  They keep falling down because she lost weight with her gastro, and she is definitely a skinny minnie.  Also, she is pretty much potty trained, during the day at least, with only a few accidents all week.  I never knew it would be so easy!

Making a sculpture (wearing her dad's helmet)

 Feeding the ducks

97 Weeks & Mother's Day

Well, the big news this week is that despite Carmen's bout of gastro (she's just getting better today), she decided it was time to toilet train!  It has only taken a couple of days, and today she had zero accidents.  She is still in a nappy at night time, but that is all.  I can't believe it was all so easy, and I am very happy that it has happened before the baby arrives!  She is going back to school tomorrow, so we will see how she goes there (both emotionally and with the potty training!).  I am still only going to take her in for 3 hours, but hopefully every time will get better and better.  She is going back on Tuesday for another 3 hours, fingers crossed.

Today was Mother's Day, and the little miss was rather fussy.  We went out for morning drinks with my parents, and Carmen was a little grouch.  After a long nap she was much better this afternoon, and we went for a nice walk.  The weather has been amazing, so we are making the most of it.

96 Weeks

Well, this week has been full of ups and downs!  I took Carmen to day care on Monday,Wednesday and Friday just for a little play while I stayed with her.  Meanwhile Jeffrey and I were horribly sick with Carmen's cold.  Carmen seemed to really enjoy herself at 'school'.  So, it was a good week.  Then on Saturday Carmen seemed rather ill-tempered and seemed to have a bit of a tummy bug.  Then I knew she was sick when she threw up copious amounts of undigested food!  We still managed to go out for a walk though.  Then on Sunday she still was a bit sick, but her spirits seemed OK, so we took her to the park. However, she was barely eating anything. Yesterday (Monday) she had her first real day at school (again!), but this time in with the bigger kids.  She was fairly upset on and off, but they said it was nothing unusual or traumatic.  She was only there for three hours.  She refused most foods yesterday (you'd think this would be a clue).  I took her back to school today for another morning, but as soon as I got home, I received a call from them saying she had diarrhea so bad that she needed a complete wardrobe change, and that they had taken her temperature twice with 2 different thermometers, and her temperature was only 34.5 degrees (94.1 for you Yanks), which is hypothermia!  So I ran up and got her and took her to the doctor who said she has gastro. (This was all an hour and a half before I had to go back to the doctor for my anti-natal appointment!).  And to top everything off, while she was at school yesterday, our car broke down, and we had to deal with getting it towed and serviced.  We got the car back already, and it was just a minor fix, so that is one good thing!  I'm hoping the week ahead goes better.

Three short videos from this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDcxK1ziHD4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBvwe7IBmpU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd9bJco9G8U

95 Weeks

This week I took Carmen back to her day care for a play with the bigger kids.  She is starting up again on Monday 6th, so I thought a few visits would maybe prep her a little better.  We went on Monday and again on Friday, and she loved it.  I was there the whole time, but she seemed quite happy playing with the over 2's.  She will only be 22 months when she starts, and she will be the youngest, but we're all hoping that she will fit right in.  The carers there didn't realise that she is younger, which is a good thing.  Of course after our visit on Monday Carmen came down with a cold (which Jeffrey and I have now caught, and we are feeling rather sorry for ourselves).  Carmen is going to go back again for little visits three more times next week, so hopefully she will feel very comfortable there when I leave her again.  

ANZAC day was this week, and we had beautiful weather, so we took Carmen to the park at Burrill Lake, which is our park of choice at the moment.  It is lovely down there, and there are nice alcoves on the water, and ducks to feed.  Today the weather was hot again, so we took Carmen down for a swim at Mollymook Beach.  It was so beautiful, and I can't believe how the weather is holding out for us, however it was probably the last beach day of the season (although I have already said that three times this month).

Carmen is really talking well, repeating anything you ask her to.  She will string three words together at a time too.  It is so interesting (and fun) to watch her develop like this.  Tonight I was telling her that soon the baby would come out, and she kept saying, "No!  Baby!" and patting my belly.  I don't know what she's going to think!

Watching Dora, in her 'pirate' hat.

94 Weeks

This week was easy, no big dramas.  Jeffrey and I are starting to feel like life is becoming a breeze again, and then it dawns on us that in just over two months, all hell is going to break loose, again!  Now that Carmen is talking better, she is so much fun to be around, and a really good girl (barring mealtimes which tend to be accompanied by lots of singing to cajole her to stay seated).  She had a play date with her friend Hunter this week, and they got rather close, as you will see in the photos below.  On Saturday, we had a day of tremendous rain, and we were stuck inside the house all day.  Carmen and I made a pillow mountain with all of the cushions in the house, and we practised learning shapes.  It was a very long day - it is amazing how a trip to the park makes the morning go faster!  Anyway, the weather was lovely again today, so we took a trip to the farm for morning tea and a visit with Grandma and Grandaddy, and of course Whinny.

Two videos from our rainy day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF327gYGMM0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE-Vi1xXbrQ

93 Weeks

It has been a good week with lovely weather, a few trips to the park and even a trip to Narrawallee Inlet today.  We are having such a hot autumn, it has been like a second summer.  Carmen loves to go "wimming" (swimming), so we are making the most of it.  Her vocabulary is expanding every day, with "underpants" being her new word for today.  (It might be time to start potty training again!).  She is talking so much more, and answering questions, even though she doesn't know what she's answering.  For example, Jeffrey asked her if she loved him.  She said yes.  His heart melted.  Then he asked her if she saw a rhinoceros at the park.  She said yes.  I don't think she quite knows what yes means!  As for me, I am getting huge and very uncomfortable.  Carmen has taken to playing with my exercise ball - who wouldn't love a big ball that was practically the same size as them?  She knows there is a baby in my belly, and she kisses her brother, but I don't think she quite gets the concept yet.  But she's going to have to get it, there's only about 2.5 months to go!