September thus far...

Month 3 of Chris being away

Chris came back at the start of the month for a week and it was a welcome relief to have another person responsible for the kids.

It was quite funny though, initially. I think we had kind of adjusted to being without him and when he came back it was a little bit weird, to be honest.

Liam has been sleeping with me the past 2 months ( and on the master bed too!) and he's definitely gotten used to it.

The first night when Chris came back Liam was gobsmacked when he came to the bed and found Chris there. I think it was a mutual shock. It was hilarious.

I think the girls were definitely relieved to have a parent not yelling at them all the time.

The rest of the week flew past. We met up with friends to have gigantic Sri Lankan crabs, drinks and dinner with other friends and the rest of the time was spent with the kids.

Madison had her confidence camp at school on the 19th. She was so excited and started packing 2 weeks earlier. She didn't have class during the day, and Pa took her to the opthalmologist for an eye check. ( which she passed, just took the better of 2 hours to do!) He dropped her off at 5pm at school, and spent the night there. The teacher was so kind to post pictures of them going to bed at midnight.

Annika is still the child that gives me grief.. Not a day goes by that she doesn't get in trouble. From the first thing in the morning-- taking forever to get ready, dawdling instead of eating breakfast, to bedtime not going to bed etc. She is a highly intelligent and driven child and is actually more aware than Madison. She has a memory of an elephant and can recall better than her sister. But yet she chooses to do things that she knows will make me angry!

As for the baby, well.. he's the baby. He finally got his first haircut yesterday ( 24/9/2014) at the hairdresser. I'd been trimming it periodically at home but it's getting way too shaggy. Too many people have commented that he's a 'beautiful girl'. Actually all 3 kids needed a trim. Liam is still not really talking yet, but he is really good at indicating what he wants ( my handbag most of the time !) and what he doesn't want ( shakes head vigorously-- most things). He's very good at walking now, which is amazing .. for a minute I thought he was going to be delayed walking.

Anthony is here for a 2 week holiday, and I'm so grateful that he's chosen to give up his time to be with the kids. It's such a relief to have another adult to help spend time with them!