My 'baby' is a kindy kid!

*wipes away tears* yesterday Gaby had her first day at Kindergarten!!!!  For those of you who aren't from NZ, our kindergarten is between ages 3-5, and (generally) on a child's 5th birthday, they start primary/elementary school.  Regardless of that, it is still Gaby's final stop before being a school kid - and that is such a scary thought!!!  She was so excited all day about going to kindergarten, and when we arrived, she wanted to go straight to the playground - of course!  We spoke to the head teacher & she showed us around again, and explained more about the daily routine, after that Gaby was off outside, I followed her around for awhile, but it was pretty clear she didn't care if I was there or not!  I took the obligatory 'first day at.......' photographs, then told her I was leaving - she gave me a kiss and then yelled out "hey guys, my Mummy is going now".  Very cute!

I picked her up at 3pm and the teacher I spoke to was thoroughly impressed, at how Gaby had reacted to her first day!  She was very 'confident', played with the other kids freely, helped to tidy up at the end of the session - and was in general a 'treasure'.  I had a feeling that she would have reacted that way, but you never do quite know!  It made me feel so wonderful, that MY kid had been such a 'treasure', and that the teachers were impressed with her - I figure that surely it must mean that over my 3 years as a Mama, I have done something right!  She is still going to be attending Ready Steady Play (her preschool) 1 day a week - because she loves that place, and the teachers - and the kids, but if she seems okay with kindergarten this time next year (when she will start going 5 mornings a week), I might cancel her enrolment at R.S.P... which is a bit of a sad thought really!

It really is a crazy feeling - knowing that she is going to be THREE in 13 days time.  It's making me reminisce and remember 'the way things were' - we have BOTH come a long way in that time!  I have been so blessed to have such an amazing little princess, in my life - and it really has been an honour to watch her grow & develop into the wonderful almost-3-year-old, that she is today!  This time three years ago, it was a day past my due date, and I was wondering if Gaby would EVER decide to arrive - somehow I KNEW that she wouldn't be coming of her own accord, and of course my Mummy instinct was right!  That said - I don't care that I had a caesarean - I don't feel like less of a woman for not having a vaginal delivery... my baby was born healthy - and to me, that was/is the most important thing...

20 days to go!

Only 20 days now until my 'baby' turns 3!!!! We have decided to not really have a party for her - we'll just have a special afternoon tea with immediate family & perhaps Sarah & Rikki, and Gaby's boyfriend Josh & his Mummy - Serena. It's going to be so exciting to see how she reacts this year, now that she seems to understand the importance of birthdays (well, that birthdays=presents & cake!)... I just hope she likes what we got her!!!

Terri was up on Saturday for around 24 hours - before flying out to Thailand! Was good that Gaby got to spend some time with her - they made a tent (though not as extravagent as last time!), went out early in the morning & played at the playground, then got Macca's for breakfast... Gaby was at Stu's for the afternoon, so Gab didn't get to go to the airport with us to see Terri off - but that kind of made it easier! Well, less stressful!

Under a week now until Gaby starts kindergarten! Exciting!!! I can't wait to see how she is after her first couple of days there, whether she has found some new friends, whether she likes the teachers, whether she adjusts easily - I believe that answer will be a YES to all of the above, but I guess there is always a chance for things to go a little pear shaped huh...

It's so cool to see her growing, and having all these new experiences - though I'm sure the time will come where I will wish I could stop time & go back to when she was still little & depended fully on me. Bittersweet to think that in two years time, I will be saying "only 20 days until Gaby is 5 & at school".. gosh, it seems so far off - yet so close at the same time.

One month left as a 2yo!

Today is September 26th - this time in one month, Gaby will be THREE!!!!!!!!!!! How the heck did that happen? Seriously?!

Being completely honest, I'm having a hard time dealing with Gaby's behaviour lately - she's so... stubborn & ignorant, and at times she is just plain obnoxious. I know it comes with the age, and Gaby isn't the first child in the history of the world to drive her Mama a bit loco - but once again THIS WASN'T IN THE MANUAL! Heh... Luckily she seems to be fine when she is out with OTHER people. Jason took her out y/day morning & said she was perfect - but when she got home.. wham bam psycho girl... Obviously I just need to figure out the best way to deal with her behaviour, and then be consistent with it.

On the flipside, when she is being good, she is very very good. Her manners are coming along perfectly, sometimes she asks for something so sweetly, I have to battle the urge to give her 10 of whatever it was she was asking for! Guess this is what being a parent is about though, the good, the bad & the ugly... Mum assures me that in 15 years time, she'll start being nice again! Oh-so-reassuring!!!

Not too sure about what we'll do for her birthday yet, might just have afternoon tea with Mum, Dad & Jason, it's labour weekend so everyone will have plans to go away for the weekend, and Aunty Terri will be in THAILAND (! how exciting!). I'm going to make her a Nemo cake - I think, but she is also quite a fan of Mickey Mouse now as well, so am thinking of a Mickey Mouse cake - guess it'll depend now creative I feel like being. Jason suggested we take her to Lollipop's or Chipmunks (massive indoor play area's for kids) - which I think is a good idea, and probably something we could do in the morning - if they're open over the long weekend. I ended up getting her the LeapFrog Scribble & Write, so her birthday present is out of the way, but we might get her a couple of small things over the next couple of weeks....

Searching for birthday presents...

What do you get a 3 year old for their birthday, when you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars, want to get something that will keep their attention - but that isn't *just* a toy, and is actually somewhat educational??? I can't find the *perfect* 3rd birthday present for Gaby, and it's driving me a tad nuts! I wanted to get her her own toy digital camera, but the cheapest I've found is $180.00, which seems a bit exorbitant to me - especially for a 3 year old.

Jason & I searched around KMart & Farmers, on Thursday, but nothing really jumped out at me as being the PERFECT gift, howeve I THINK we might get her a new LeapFrog [educational] toy - the LeapFrog Scribble & Write http://www.leapfrog.com/en/preschool_toys/scribble.html - it looks like it'd be a really good tool for helping her learn her alphabet, which is something I'd like to start teaching her. My other idea was the LeapFrog Tag Reading System, but it may still be a *little* bit too old for her.. it says on the box it's for ages 4+, so perhaps that will be an idea for next birthday, or even for this Christmas.

I am thinking of asking people to buy Gaby clothes for her birthday, rather than everyone getting her toys - because she already has toooooo many toys, and she has grown out of ALL her size 2 clothing, so we really need to get onto the size 3 clothing. Pity that size 3+ clothing is about twice the price of 0000-2 clothing, it was actually quite a surprise to me, you don't seem to be able to buy just PLAIN tshirts, or PLAIN shorts, or PLAIN dresses, everything has print & frills - and adds an extra 50% to the price of the clothes, if they were just PLAINNNNN. Beggars can't be choosers though huh - and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think all the pretty, bright, frilly stuff is cute!

Gaby had some time with her big cousins today, well, her 2nd cousins - and it was so cute seeing her running around, keeping up with them . Geordie is closest in age to her - he is just under a year older than her, but there was still quite a big difference. She had fun following Livi (12) around, and playing with Will (the birthday boy - 10), they played with a soccer ball, with bubbles, wrote on the concrete in chalk, and explored Aunty Sally's garden (hopefully not too much trampling was done!). A huge difference from when we were there for Will's birthday last year!

My kid is ahead of her time

See her grow!
photos all taken between 26 August & 2 September

2007

2008

2009

I think Gaby is really a 16 year old in a[n almost] 3 year olds body. Why you ask? Because of the following conversation...
Mummy: hey Gaby, your birthday is coming up soon!!!
Gaby: can have a birthday cake!
Mummy: yes you can
Gaby: and candles!!!
Mummy: yes Gaby, you can have candles
Gaby: and I blow out the candles!
Mummy: yes, that's right. What do you want for your birthday Gaby?
Gaby: WANT TO GO SEE BLACK EYED PEAS!
Mummy: you want to and hear them singing?
Gaby: yes! Got got get get boom boom pow!
... my three year old doesn't want a Barbie, a doll, a teddy, a book or anything age appropriate for her birthday - she wants to go to a Black Eyed Peas concert! It made me laugh so hard - which is rather dangerous while you are driving, but it just sounded so cute - and so grown up! I can almost hear her now when she's 16, grumping on at me about wanting to go to a concert!

In other news... Mum is down visiting Terri, in Queenstown - and she's coming home today, so Gaby & I are going to pick her up at the airport. I think the airport is one of Gaby's favourite places in the world, so I'm sure that she isn't going to mind having to go there. It was sad yesterday though, Gaby started crying - out of the blue, and I gave her a cuddle and asked what was wrong & she said "miss Nan, want her come home"... it brought a little tear to my eye. Not long after that she started putting things in a bag, and when I asked what she was doing she told me "packing my bag to go pick Nan up at airport"... awwww!

We seem to have the sleeping problem all fixed now as well - thank goodness! Most nights she stays in her bed all night, hopping in with me around 6 or 7am - and it's lovely - I didn't realise how badly I was sleeping, with her in my bed! For the first while that she was sleeping back in her bed, I would rub her back until she went to sleep - she would cry if I didn't, but NOW she goes to sleep without me sitting beside her!!!!! Yay Gaby!!! She seems a lot happier as well, and doesn't seem as grouchy during the day. Yay for us both getting decent sleep at night!

Gaby is now 2 years & 10 months old - less than two months & she'll be turning three! SCARY! I was looking at her old baby photos, and it is amazing to see how much she's grown, and to think of everything she has accomplished in that time... makes me feel pretty good as well, to know that I am part of the reason she's such an awesome little kid!

Grandma time!

my little princess, gorgeous as ever

Grandma & Arthur are up for a few days, and Gaby is loving being able to see her Grandma!!! I think last time we saw them was in April?, when Stacey came back from Aus, so it's been a few months. It's nice that Gaby has time to spend with her Great-Grandmother, not something all little kids have the chance to do. She is off to her fathers today, I would have preferred him to have her on Saturday (so Grandma could have all Sunday with her), but he had 'plans' - which turned out to be going whitebaiting... awesome to think he'd sooner spend time outside in the wet, cold, muddy weather, than with his own daughter!

finally, sleeping in her own bed

Everything is going great with Gab sleeping in her own bed! Yay! I think we've finally broken the curse of the not-wanting-to-sleep-in-her-own-bed-ed-ness! It's lovely to see her sound asleep in her own bed, and knowing that she's getting a better sleep than if she was in my bed - and it doesn't hurt that it means I also get a good nights sleep! She's had a few nights where she's slept right through in her bed, but usually she hops in with me in the morning at some point - I think usually around 6-ish? She hops in and goes back to sleep, so I don't really mind!

Only really 2 months + 1 week until Gaby turns three! I'm absolutely flabbergasted, as to how she has gotten so big, so fast... It doesn't feel as if she should be approaching three - two maybe, but not three. Then I look at her - and listen to her, and it's undeniable that she's going to be three... She is getting pretty tall now, all her size 2 pants are getting too short, whereas about a month ago they all fit fine, and she's just starting to look more like a child (as opposed to toddler), in general. Of course one of the biggest giveaways as to her age, is her language - that child can TALK!!!!!!! I don't know if she's 'advanced' as far as language goes, or what - but sometimes I wish I could find the mute button... 99% of the time I love it though - but it does get to the point that S I L E N C E would be nice!

Close to three...

In 4 days time, Gaby will be 2 years & 9 months old - it blows me away, because it still seems as though she's the little bubby I brought home from the hospital all those months ago... But she is almost THREE... It seems so old to me, so grown up - so un-baby-like, and well, I guess it is! I'm going to either get her a bike or a LeapFrog Tag Reading System for her b/day - whatever I get her for her b/day, I'll get the other thing for her Christmas present. I'm starting to think about her birthday party - where & when to have it, whether she's old enough for a 'themed' party. I wanted to make her a Thomas the Tank Engine cake for her b/day - but she seems to have started getting over her little Thomas fad, so I'm pretty much back at square one. She does like Nemo & Happy Feet a lot, so perhaps I could do a Nemo/Marlin/Dori cake, or a Penguin cake. I'm not creative, but I LOVE making & decorating cakes!

I've been reminiscing a lot about what it was like when Gaby was a little bub, and about my pregnancy with her. The up & down of emotions, the joy at feeling movements, the anxiety before ultrasounds & m/w appointments... all these memories kind of scroll through my mind, like a slideshow - sometimes there is even music playing in the background.... Ahhhh dear.. I'm getting so soppy in my old age!

Gaby is 2 now!

Welcome to 'Lots to do When You're Two' - Gaby's new blog!!!!

Gaby turned two on Sunday, October 26th - and if you want to be specific, she turned two at 1.01am! We had her birthday party on Saturday, and I think everyone had a great time - Gaby certainly enjoyed being the centre of attention - and all of the cool presents she got!!!!

Her first 2yo molar has come in today, so she's been a little grouchy, but I guess that means only 3 more to go!!!!! Yay!!