Settled and Happy

We’ve been back home in New Zealand for nearly a fortnight and it feels good to be back to our regular routines. Charlotte settled straight back in and is so happy. She particularly enjoyed Aunty Claire’s company in our first week back. Sophie took a particular shine to Aunty Claire’s boyfriend, Mike, and keeps saying, ‘Mike, boat, cry,’ and can’t wait to see him again (what a flirt!).

Sophie has taken a little longer to settle back, particularly on the sleep front. She must have missed her Daddy more than any of us realised, as she’s been very wakeful at night and needing his physical presence. The best outcome of this has been her settling to sleep at night for him. She now says ‘Goodnight’ to me and snuggles up on his lap for stories and warm milk from a cup. She then falls asleep in his arms. Tonight is the first evening she’s back in her own bed, but she’ll probably end up between us midway through the night.

Sophie is still enjoying ‘baboo’ (breastmilk), but less and less and I feel she’s beginning on her journey to independence and self-weaning. Charlotte was a little over two year’s old when she kissed ‘baboo’ farewell (literally) for the last time (when I was twenty-weeks pregnant with Sophie) and never mentioned it again. Whilst we were in the UK my menstrual cycle returned and I suspect this has influenced a change in my milk and therefore a slow change in her desire to want it.

Dan and I are really happy and relaxed after our holiday. I am not feeling the need to run out and about everywhere and am really enjoying my time in our home with the girls. Now that Charlotte is at Kindi every morning it is lovely to have one-on-one time with Sophie. Charlotte is really thriving and enjoying learning and playing with children her own age. But she is also delighted to be home in the afternoon with her sister and the strong bond they already had was enhanced by our trip away. They are playing so well together and with Sophie talking more and more Charlotte is able to connect with her on a different level. Sophie is remarkably advanced in her ability to actually interact as opposed to merely ‘parallel play’. She is already role-playing and talking more and more. She knows all her colours and is aware of numbers and able to indicate when there is more than one of something. She loves to scribble and is drawing zig-zags, circles, simple faces and swirls.

Charlotte’s ability to write and draw has taken a huge developmental leap since her trip away. She is now writing her name, drawing houses and people, writing numbers and accelerating at such a fast pace. It reminds me of when she started to talk and all of a sudden she was stringing words together and there was no stopping her. As fast as she is learning to write and read, so Sophie is learning to talk. It’s a beautiful journey to watch and partake in.