9th April, 2009

I spent so much time talking about the children who are no longer with me, I felt that I should pay equal tribute to my 2 princesses who challenge me daily but bring more joy than my heart can hold.



My highlight this month was watching both Charlotte and Amy play in muddy puddles at Montessori, after a brief but heavy downpour.

Charlotte is becoming more obstinate and determined each day, her latest saying is "I'm not Mum!" in a perfectly cheeky tone. This generally means that "she is!". She is loving having Amy home for the school holidays and especially enjoyed having Evynn and Shaan over for a couple of days this week. She currently loves watching Play School and Franny's Feet on TV and the movie Tinkerbell.

Charlotte has a great sense of humour and really knows how to work the charm when she wants to. She has gone from being a perfectly mannered princess to a very cheeky monkey - never sitting still for any meal and often having to be reminded to "ask nicely" instead of demanding whatever she wants.

Her powers of concentration are increasing on a daily basis and although I still get nervous when she is very quiet, it is usually without reason these days. I often find her sitting concentrating on the latest task she has set herself. She still loves doing puzzles with me and is starting to enjoy having stories through the day instead of just at bedtime. She can sit and amuse herself for ages with play-dough and also when she is painting.

She currently attends Parent Toddler Playgroup on Friday mornings at Montessori and is quite unaffected by my absence when I have to run errands regarding the fair. She also attends Art Playgroup on Monday mornings which she absolutely adores. She gets to do lots of craft and painting and sticking and play-dough, all her favourite things.

Amy is a very grown up Grade 2 girl. She is extremely protective of her big sister role and often doesn't get as many cuddles from Charlotte as she would like (because she likes lots, just like her Mum!).

She has decided to stop Calisthenics as she hasn't really been enjoying it this year, and now her days for Taekwondo clash, and there is no way she would give up Taekwondo at the moment. A couple of weeks ago she had another grading so she is now a "Yellow Belt One Stripe" which we are all very proud of, but no-one more than she.

She also loves doing anything on the computer - using Word or Publisher, surfing the net, email, chat. Jeremy has introduced her to Google chat so she often hooks up with him while he is working, which is very cute. She also loves sending me emails and entering events in her Google calendar, such as tea parties, and then sending everyone invites via the calendar.

She still loves writing and is constantly making her lists - she is currently planning Charlotte's 3rd birthday in June. I keep telling her that it's my job until Charlotte is old enough to do it herself, but she keeps sharing her ideas with Charlotte, who is only too keen to say yes to everything... looks like I've got yet another challenge on my hands.

Amy has recently started playing the crosswords game on Nanna's Nintendo DS and is reminding me a lot of myself at her age, but not quite as nerdy as I was. She loves her music at the moment and has quite broad tastes from Cat Stevens and Abba to Dora's party mix.

Jeremy is still working hard for government departments in Canberra. He is still looking for work here in Melbourne but nothing quite measures up to the conditions and wage that he receives from his remote contracts. The new financial year may bring some expected cut backs, which he is a bit worried about.

His greatest hobby is still computer projects, particularly The Myth - a media server which runs on Linux. We are all very spoilt with being able to tape practically any show that we want and watch it when we have the time, and without the adverts which is fantastic!

I have been very busy this term with helping to co-ordinate the annual Open Day and Fair at Amy's Montessori. There's only 4 weeks to go which is quite exciting but also a bit overwhelming.

I'm still a stay at home Mum, which means a taxi service basically, with a few odd jobs around the house (which I'm not very consistent with). My Creative Memories business has suffered greatly over the last few months but my aim is to put major effort into growing it once the Fair is over in early May.

Well, I think that's it for now.
Take care
Dionne on behalf of The Laidmans