As I still have some time to write, I wanted to document how the last 5, almost 6 months have been going since M's 4th birthday.
Important
She started school in May, maybe went there for 6 weeks before summer holidays because of several illnesses. She doesn't really like it, she is finding it busy, never too happy when she hears she needs to go that day. Now - half October, the classroom is smaller (20 kids instead of 30 end of the schoolyear), she is making friends and it is a little better. We are still seeing that she is very tired from Wednesday (despite having no BSO since the end of September due to my pregnancy leave) onwards, she complains of stomach pain on school days, sometimes shows very strong emotions. She has hard time letting me go when I take her to school. I am doubting if this is a good school environment for her, I wanted to switch her already this autumn but C couldn't have it as an extra factor of stress. We only do hear good things from the teacher.
She sadly broke her foot in July and had a cast for a week. She was a champ, coping very well with it.
Atm in October, she is 95% joy to be around with. She is observing everything very carefully, she is attentive, sharp, has a very good memory.
Sleep has been hard, atm a little better, but in the summer in Estonia it was awful, it being very light. She went to sleep late and woke up earlier and earlier. We also just now had a period of bad sleep. Usually the pattern is that she does okey in the beginning of the week, then starts falling asleep worse throughtout the week and then wakes up earlier too. Finally got the blinds installed just as it is dark early... We see that she needs at least 10,5 h sleep at night, but does the best when it is at least 11 h.
Eating has been hard too. Atm she is going through a growth spurt, eating more. She does the best when she has regular meals and little snacks in between, everything sweet and tempting being removed and just not available, otherwise she will beg for these things the whole day and graze, not really eat meals. At school, eating and drinking is not always going well.
Favourite foods atm: frozen mango (with warm water over it), smoothies (banana, berries, yoghurt), from savory food nachos, pasta with parmesan, milk soup, mashed potatoes. Likes to eat sweet things, preferring simple tastes, her absolute favourites are ice-cream and macarons.
Favorite activities: everything crafty (she likes to color, cut things out, make cards, decorate things), she likes glitter, unicorns, rainbows, everything pretty (ribbons, hairbands etc), favourite colors are pink, white, purple, red.
Started real hobbies since this September (private piano lessons and ballet) and October (swimming lessons). We chose for private lessons or small groups and that seems to be suiting her better. It is a lot of taking her around to places now, but she doesn't have BSO atm and she still has a lot of time to play with other kids like this.
Has in general an enthusiastic mood, is being more compassionate too, eg towards me when I'm tired or on the edge now in the end of the pregnancy. Right now it is the Mommy phase. I feel we have this very special connection :-)
Motor development
Bikes very well.
She is also pretty physical, she likes to run, hang, climb (can climb up a big climbing tower), also very confident when doing it.
Works on a challenge until she is able to defeat it. Very proud!
Social development
Emotional development has been difficult. Since the second part of July (during our summer holidays), she got very very strong emotions, mainly frustration and anger, said things like "Go away, leave me alone!", got very angry or whiny, demanding and bossy. This lasted strongly for 1-2 weeks. We saw that it was partially because of lack of sleep and good eating rythm. I also read A LOT about the emotional development of kids and how to support them without punishing. We talked a lot about emotions, played things through. It started to get better in the end of September. Now, in October, she is doing much better, letting me see her strong emotions that are behind anger, such as sadness or anxiety. It is helping that she is not at the BSO right now, so we can offer her more sleep, more time to connect with us. She is getting more and more verbal about things.
Relationships with peers are becoming more and more important. Wants to play with others, belong in a group, finds it hard when kids leave her out or say they don't want to play with her.
Is learning to let other kids know what is okay and what not. But will play with kids who hurt her sometimes (despite me telling her not to do it).
Finds sharing difficult.
Is worried about the Baby Brother arriving, wants to have baby's things (e.g. stuffed animals, rattles), is concerned about us not having enough time for her.
Language development
Dutch is becoming stronger and stronger, really noticing this since September when she started at school (and was at the BSO for a short time too, not liking it). Lending from Dutch to English and Estonian (was never really the case) is happening frequently. Was expected but still hard to deal with for me. I'm thinking that I'm doing what I can within limitations and she will be spending a lot of time with me upcoming months with not attending BSO. Estonian is probably still the strongest language, English falling a little behind as C is busy wrapping up his PhD.
Uses full and more complex sentences in Estonian and English at least. Thinking is becoming more complex too.
Knows most of the letters of the alphabet. Can recognize the first and last letter in Estonian words, can define phonems like this. Can read simple words in Estonian if motivated. Writes her own name and other letters when told which letters to write (writes atm in capital letters, Dutch schools though use small letters). Is interested in reading and writing. We are doing workbooks and worksheets with her almost every day.
Makes word jokes, rhymes a lot lately. Enjoyes language in general. Sings gladly.
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