Wow.. 2 posts in one day? Incredible for me. Just wanted to update. I was told Isabella felt much better after lunch today at school. She seems to like the arts and craft, and reading and listening about animals. She was very happy to see me when I picked her up this afternoon. She was doing some drawing at that time, and continued to draw after giving me a big smile. Guess she is feeling better about being at school.

Tomorrow, we have a big day. We are off to Movieworld. I have packed the drinks and snacks for tomorrow to take with us. Hopefully we won't need to purchase too much junkfood or drinks. And hopefully the weather is dry tomorrow.

God bless and protect all those people in North Queensland who will be encountering Cyclone Yasi tonight. May the cyclone die down or move away. Good nite!

Dropped off Isabella at 'school' this morning, stayed for a few minutes. When I left, she was crying again. Hopefully, she will have a better day this week. My heart still hurts to hear her cry, but it is getting a little easier to manage. Though, it must really be affecting me, because I had a dream the other day that I had to leave her somewhere, and she was crying and I remembered feeling really bad in my dream.

So, now that Isabella is at school, I have the whole day with just Charlotte. The house sounds soooo quiet. I have hubby at the other end of the house in the study room working, and I am at the other end of the house in the bedroom with Charlotte. We will just have a lovely laid back day today. I will do some cooking later on before I fetch Isabella from school.

Tomorrow or Friday, we may go to Movieworld with the whole family. Isabella turns 2 next Thursday, and grandma and grandpa will be coming down the day before that.

Congratulations to Isabella! Today she has been promoted to the next level in swimming. She is now at level 3. The first level was 'Squirts', the second was 'Splashers'. From next week, she will be in the 'Squids' class. I will still have to swim with her in the pool, but after this level, she will no longer be part of the babies group, and will be swimming with only the instructor and 1 or 2 other kids. Charlotte on the other hand will probably start swimming at the beginning of March.

Another day of 'school' tomorrow. Will have get up bright and early. I have already prepared all her food and drinks and her bags for tomorrow. So, we will only have to have our breakfast and get changed.

Here is Isabella with her swimming certificate

Charlotte is getting really quite strong on her legs. She can stand up quite well whilst you are holding her. She will put all her weight down, and doesn't get wobbly on her legs when you stand her. At this stage, she seems much better at standing than sitting. Whilst she's good at her head and neck strength, she still gets quite wobbly when she is sitting. Not far to go though, she is learning at such a lightning speed!

Also, yesterday, I assembled Charlotte's new bed. As she is outgrowing the bassinet she was sleeping in, and Isabella still needs the cot for a little longer, we put Charlotte in the toddler bed. She has these baby bolsters on each side of her to stop her from rolling around. These bolsters are connected by flat fabric and velcro - this is the bit she sleeps on. The width is adjustable as the baby grows. I have used this for some months now, and Charlotte sleeps on her sides.

Here is a picture of Isabella using the bolster in her cot when she was 39 weeks old.

Did I forget to mention that Charlotte had her 1st attempt in the pool yesterday? Well she did and she was extremely good. It must be that this time round, I've introduced Charlotte to water on her face and also the shower much sooner than with Isabella. At 5 months, Charlotte is already almost too big for the baby bath and therefore we either shower her now or bath her in the big bath when I have a bath. We will probably be starting her swimming lessons in the near future - perhaps when she turns 6 months.

Also, Isabella has been really good at learning her 'please' and 'thank-yous'. She is also so good at picking up words that she is almost having decent conversations with us. She astounds us everyday with all the learning she is showing us. My little girl is growing up! Here is a cute picture of Isabella.

Happy New Year!

Wow another new year. Already a month has almost gone by. Isabella will be 2 years old in just under 2 weeks. Charlotte is now 5 months old.

The terrible twos are here and I expect it will stay for a while. Some days are better than others. I just try my best to try and occupy Isabella as best I can so she stays in a better mood. Apart from her development, there are a few things that she is probably going through that tends to upset Isabella nowadays. It is unavoidable that I have to spend extra time with Charlotte, with feeding and putting her to sleep and carrying her at times. Isabella has also started attending an early learning centre once a week. So far, she has gone 3 times.

The first day, she didn't know what to expect. Eventually, when I left on that day, she was a little shocked. Then she realised that I had actually left, and started to cry. I did peep through the windows for quite a while. By the time I left and went home, I felt my hurt being torned. I felt bad that she was feeling bad.. that I had actually caused her to cry. However, separation is inevitable, and she has to learn this at some stage in her life. I suppose better earlier than later.

Second time round, Scott actually took her to school (the early learning centre). But unlike me, he just said goodbye, told her he'd be back later and then left. This time, she did not have her afternoon sleep.

Third time, it was my turn again to take Isabella to school. I stayed for a while and then told her I was going and that i was going to pick her up later. She cried immediately. But I don't think it lasted as long as the first 2 times. By the time i had gotten to my car, I couldn't hear her crying anymore (usually i can hear her as they have outside time during that period). She didn't have a nap that day either. I was told that she just sat there and held on to her bag waiting for me to come. Poor thing! Hopefully 4th time round will be better. I have tried to take her in a few extra times for an hour or two with me staying with her so she gets a little more used to it.

Swimming wise, Isabella is doing great. She is getting more confident every time. Hopefully it won't be too long before she moves up to the third level.

Charlotte is now starting to crawl.. slowly. Wow! I think she'll be an early crawler and walker. She has also started solids. It has been much easier to feed Charlotte than Isabella. Even now, Charlotte is a better eater than Isabella is. Isabella is quite a picky eater, where as Charlotte just seems to eat mostly anything and she eats faster.

And not that you needed to know, but I am so glad that her bowel motions are now more solid. No more runny poos! Yey!

Charlotte is also developing really fast. Already she is using her hands lots. This week she has started grabbing things with her hands.. especially my hair! She loves to laugh a lot and talks like there is no end! She is so loud at times, it sounds like a cat meowing, and Scott can hear her from the other side of the house with the doors closed! Her reflux has also vastly improved. She still spills at times, but mostly she is safe without a bib nowadays. Now I can take more pictures of her without those ugly bibs.

Ok.. getting late.. but I thought I'd better do an update before I leave it again for a while. So hard to find time, but I must do it. Looking back at my posts, it is like a diary. Now I have Charlotte, I find it nice to look back and see what has happened with Isabella as well. Good nite! And Happy New Year to you all!

It's almost a week until Christmas. It will be Charlotte's first and Isabella's 2nd Christmas. My Christmas presents are already here and what better presents to have than my 2 beautiful girls! I am really blessed to have both of them and can't imagine my life without them. I look at Charlotte and she makes me clucky all over again. But I don't want to push my luck and 2 really is enough. Though I can't stop wondering what the next one will be like.

Last night, I was playing with Charlotte, and for the second time I heard her give a proper laugh, not a coo. The first time was when she was sleeping and dreaming, so that doesn't really count. She has such a cute laugh. Makes me feel tickled all over.

Isabella is growing at lightning speed. Everytime I look at her, she seems to grow another inch. Her vocabulary is increasing everyday. She is communicating with us much better and already has 2 and 3 word sentences. She knows what she wants and clearly states them. For example, if she wants to swim, she'll say "schwimming", and for the sand pit "saan". She even knows how to say Playdough. Isabella is clearly and outdoorsy person. She loves being outside and learning about what's out there. Today, we'll go to the museum. I'll try and remember to take my camera with me so I can take pictures of her. Stay tuned for the update! Oh.. and a Merry Christmas to all!