Its bleak outside

Looking out of the window now I could be in England. It is wet, it is windy and despite the fact that the temperature is 6 degrees it feels cold. Not -20 cold but damp cold that gets into your bones – yuck! That said I am not too bothered as we are off on our holidays on Friday and looking forward to spending a week in the sun in Florida. It feels slightly strange sorting out summer clothes and suntan lotion but we are all really looking forward to it.

We have had an enormous amount going on in the first part of this year and it probably won’t let up until May / June so the timing is perfect. This term seems to have been the hardest for Grace too. Its been long, very cold and we’ve spent alot of time indoors which is something that my children don’t really enjoy. They are outdoor kids and our trips to the park recently have been really appreciated by everyone.

This term has been very successful for Grace personally and she has really turned a corner. Her teacher and I have put in alot of effort but we can see the rewards in her growing circle of friends and her ability to now hold her own in groups in the classroom. Never boys though – interesting how that stereotype has started early! She has lots of playdates with her new friends and it is cute to see how affectionate they are with each other. She is still very creative and will make up stories with her stuffed animals and barbies – yep Barbies, her new friends have introduced her to them and Polly Pockets. I don’t mind the Barbies too much but the Polly Pockets have the smallest shoes – I’m sure Patrick has eaten some already!

Patrick has settled down at nursery much better although the other day they did talk to me about the trouble that he has with transitions. Basically, he gets so engrossed in what he is doing that he doesn’t like it when they tell him to down tools and move on to the next thing. I think its just him so am glad that he goes to nursery so that he can practice this stuff before he starts big school proper. We can see at home that he does get completely absorbed in whatever he is doing – painting, playing cars / trains or doing puzzles. I certainly don’t want to take away from his long attention span – mostly because it allows me to get things done when he and I are alone together!

I am also happy to report that we have been pretty healthy with only a couple of minor sniffles. We are almost out of cough and cold season so lets hope our week in the sun builds up our reserves to get through the last couple of months.