Changes

Lots has been going on over here. K turned 4. She had a big celebration with our nanny and all her friends, and then another celebration with us and many of the same kids. I baked her a chocolate cake at her request, and we had a morning birthday party (after enjoying one that one of her friends had recently). They played, the kids threaded beads together to make necklaces, and then played some more. I baked pumpkin bread for a snack to go with tea and coffee, and then had made 3 different soups and homebaked baguette for lunch. Carrot, broccoli, and cauliflower cheese. K loves all 3. Her friends basically loved none. The adults enjoyed them all, but the kids stuffed themselves with pumpkin bread and chips. Mommy fail. I decided next year would be decorating and baking personal pizzas.

K decided she's not such a fan of the water after all. She's fine as long as she has some kind of flotation device on, but try to get her to float on her own, and hysterics ensue. She doesn't like getting water in her eyes, nor in her ears, and freaks out when she's supposed to put her head in the water. She's also terrified of jumping in, even when there's a person or a pool noodle waiting for her in the water. I think her Preschool swim 3 swim instructor terrorized her by tossing her through the water towards the edge of the pool to give her the feeling of swimming on her own, and ever since then she doesn't have any confidence in the pool. Hoping the once daily lessons I signed her up for the next two weeks will help her get over the issues... Not so sure it'll work though.

What else has been big around here? K has started lying since a bit before she turned four. She gets in trouble for it, knows when she's doing it, and will say something, then when you question it, will say "oh, das war aus versehen" (= it was accidental). She's also becoming very good at troubleshooting. For instance, at bedtime tonight she told me we have to move to Neverland so that I never die. I told her that that would be sad too, because then I'd never get to see what kind of great woman she grows into. She thought for a second and then told me that we could fly together to Canada from time to time to grow up a little bit very slowly. Aww. I told her I ought to be around for another 40 years. And then realized that in 40 years if I die at 80, she'll only be 44. And I can't imagine losing my own mother 4 years from now. I wanted to be pregnant at 31 after we got married, but now I'm really wishing that I'd had her a bit earlier. I continue to wish that I could have provided her with a sibling and us with a second child too...

K is sill pink and purple and princess obsessed. She managed to watch Froz.en with me (after I screened it first and could reassure her through the ice monster scenes) and is now obsessed with Elsa and Anna, just like every other girl in America. Hopefully we'll be able to Fastrack to see them at Disney in Dec without having to wait 2 hours in line.

Her fine motor skills are improving all the time. She's now favouring her right hand for colouring, though she often tries to cut her meat with the knife in her left. She's getting much better at colouring within the lines. She's extremely strong and has good balance. She loves to dance - even danced on the terrace outside the cathedral at Mont St. Michel last month (after dancing within to the sounds of the cello that was being played for the evening tour). She's cuddly and empathetic and generous and stubborn and sometimes slightly mouthy, and I love her to bits.

Our nanny of nearly 4 years left us at the end of June. Her Mom was diagnosed with ALS, so the family reunion trip she'd been planning for 2 years turned into the death reunion trip as she deteriorated rapidly. Initially we thought she'd be coming back to us after she eventually returns to Canada (wasn't sure how long she'd need to stay to care for her Mom), but then she said she wasn't sure how she'd feel when she got back, and that she'd rather work part time and not have early starts. Basically, I think she wants a younger child to look after again (another knife in my infertile heart) and doesn't want to stick around now that K will be starting full day kindergarten in Sept. We were sad to see her go, as despite the occasional communication difficulty and odd disgruntled moment when she would let some issue fester for a few days before asking DH to "talk", she was truly wonderful with K and in setting up a big tight circle of friends for her.

We advertised online again, interviewed a few people, and this time chose to hire someone from Grenada. Her first day was on Monday, and so far she isn't quite living up to the high expectations we'd developed after speaking to her previous employers. The Mom raved about her and how well she'd looked after her 3 kids. Monday she didn't bring her lunch (around here live-outs bring their own lunch typically), nor did she bring her police check, first aid and CPR cards, SIN card or blank cheque. Tues she showed up 5 min late and rang the doorbell because she'd forgotten her key. Today she texted at 6:30am (1.75 hours before work was to start) to say she needed to go get her SIN at a government agency and would be arriving late. She didn't make it till 9:15, though was supposed to start at 8:15am. At 5:30pm after I had joined them at the table while K was having a snack, she grabbed her bag and took off to go home. I had no idea if DH had told her to leave at the usual time despite her very late start, but it certainly seemed so. Turned out he hadn't. K is enjoying spending time with her and is in fact happy that she walks much faster than Tita used to. So I hope that we can work out these flaky kinks - don't want to have to look for someone else at this point!

Travel is getting back to normal for us now that she's bigger. She walks pretty well around cities and is fairly patient for a 4yo. We spent a week at the cottage with my Dad and his family and my brother and his family. Then we flew to Paris for 6 days (enjoyed a concert in Sainte Chapelle that K slept through part of, though she'd rouse enough to clap each time the audience applauded the musicians), rented a car and drove around Normandy and Brittany for 8 days or so, and then had 5.5 days in German with the in-laws. Opa is getting very frail, and though his mood seemed better this time around, I'm not so sure how much longer he's going to hold on. It was nice to spend some time with him and DH's sister. She was a champion flyer, having crossed the atlantic 18 times now in her short life.

4 weeks tomorrow my big girl will be starting JK. I can't believe how quickly time flies. Now she's looking forward to school (which she previously said she wasn't interest in since she'd have to learn to read) because I bought her a new water bottle and lunch bag that she'll get to use then.

Anyhow, that's a disjointed post that brings us slightly up to date. There are so many things that I'm enjoying but forgetting to write down about her. Sigh. Time is a-flying. I love my Kiki Herzchen (a new nickname she picked out for herself) to bits. She smothers me in kisses from time to time which is adorable, and is super proud to be developing freckles just like Mama. So cute. So thankful for DH and her.