The month that has been

As promised... an update on the girls and basically what's been going on over the last month plus

For the most part its been the same stuff, different day type situation. I can totally relate to the movie Groundhog Day.

We've had 2 weeks of school holidays, or actually closer to 3 weeks by the time A finished at lunch time on a Thursday and didn't go back until the Tuesday of the third week. We spent the first week away at mum's and all had quite a nice break. Just having different surrounds can make such a difference and I never get sick of the freedom of being in the country with open paddocks and limited traffic.

While down there A had a life lesson. My mum's dog woke up on our first morning there and started yelping. It continued for a bit with mum saying that she was battling fleas and scratching at them was upsetting her skin and making her yelp. After it going on for a bit mum went out to check and it turns out her back end wasn't working. She couldn't stand on her back legs. The mornign was spent finding her nice sunny spots to rest in her box and talking gently to her. At lunch time mum commented that she was sure this was going to be the end of her and I thought it a good idea to have a discussion about death with A. The last time she was close to a death situation was when my grandmother passed away - the funeral was the day before A turned 2 so she won't even remember the feeling of loss. Of course, mum was visibly upset so one of the major parts of my discussion with A was to tell her that it was ok to feel sad and that if she had any questions she could ask either of us.

Mum had visitors during the afternoon and A kept asking if she could go out to talk to Jess. I kept trying to distract her with other things but eventually relented but was unable to go with her. She came back in a few moments later saying that she thought Jess was dead. When I asked her why she told me that she couldn't wake her up and that she didnt make any yelps anymore. I quietly slipped out with A and confirmed to her that she was right adn that nan would look after Jess when she was finished with her visitors. My amazing beautiful little girl was upset but held herself together and made sure that nan was ok. She gave her big hugs and spoke openly about Jess being dead and that she wouldn;t be able to see her any more. The next morning we buried Jess and A put a flower in the grave on top of her. She has asked a few questions and made a few comments since and I've just continued to encourage her to be open with us if she has concerns. I'm truly amazed with how well she has coped with it all.

On our return home we brought colds with us. Unfortunately for G this turned into croup in the early hours of the morning after we got home. It was so bad that I was debating calling an ambulance but decided it was quicker for me to take her in. Of course, this meant waking all three girls and going in but my beautiful little ladies were all wonderful. None of them slept while we were there but none of them got upset either. We were home again 2 hours after leaving. This time she was given a definite medication instead of being given something from the trial as they wanted to be sure that she responded. Since then she has had normal cold type symptoms but its again mucked up her sleep and I've been up and down to her a number of times on many nights. Hopefully now things are returning to normal *fingers crossed*

In amongst all of this S has turned 4 months old and had her needles as well as coming down with the cold and an associated cough. Today I took her to the doctor again as she's been coughing and gagging until she vomits at times. Of course, at the time of her appt her chest was clear although it has been quite rattly at other times. Nearing the end of hte consult the doc decided to check her ears and it seems she has an ear infection in one ear so onto antibiotics for her. She's also had a nasal swab to test for whooping cough (must do some research on this too) and he did mention chest x-ray to make sure nothing else is going on but changed his mind once he found the ear infection. We go back again next week to make sure she's improving and may end up having a chest x-ray after that.

On the wonderful news front.... A went to a trial session of gymnastics with her cousin in the second week of the school holidays and came home with a note about State Development group. I rang the number on the note and took her along for a lesson last Monday. I had my reservations as I thought it almost an odd way to go about doing it but when I rang I was told that out of about 80 children only 8 went home with notes so its very much not an every child has special skills type of situation. She loved the trial session and loved her lesson last week so she's now enrolled to continue at least for this term. At this stage I have no idea about what is happening with the development group - she was supposed to be tested last week but I wasn't told if it was done adn whether they were interested in her for the group. I did watch a little bit of her lesson and the kid has freaky elbows - they bend funny ways! the funny part is that we had talked at the start of the year about things that we should think about her doing and gymnastics was one of the options. We'd just not got around to doing anything about finding somewhere for her to go!

I know I can ramble but having spent so much time not blogging I have to make up for it somehow. I would really like to get an accurate record of what's been happening in my girls' lives to look back on in years to come. I really need to collate the posts I've done on forums so that I can keep a good record of their achievements at what age etc

On that note, S has decided she adores the bath at long last. She has been going into the big bath with her sisters and now loves to be let loose! This evening she was kicking herself around the bath and waving her arms. She was also making delighted little noises and grinning at anyone who looked at her. Far too cute. She has been blowing very wet raspberries for the last week or more - they're no fun unless there is spit hitting her between the eyes apparently. If they're not juicy she stops and builds up a supply of spit before starting again!

We've been having video calls with daddy and S has started to show an interest in being involved. The other girls fight for attention and now S has started to lean forward to look more closely at daddy. The look on her face is beautiful - she's so delighted to see her daddy. I wish we'd been able to do this for the other girls when hubby was working away and they were tiny

So even though my life seems like Groundhog Day for the most part, I can sit back and look at it in detail and think of all the amazing things I get to be a part of every day. The things the girls learn and say amaze me and I can't believe how quickly they are all growing up. I'm so grateful for what I have even though at times it all seems too much