M at 5,5 years

M has had a big half of a year again and she has developed so much!

Important

• she has grown so much, physically, mentally and emotionally. She is a pleasure to be around with 95% of the time (and the 5% is when the environment is not optimal, like not enough sleep, not consequent enough with the rules or schedule or hasn't eaten enough/well).

• she remembers everything and is very attentive.

School

• she switched schools this school year and has been going to the bilingual basic school for 2 months now. For this short time, it looks like it has been going well, she enjoyes it and likes to go to school (mostly).

• she also switched BSOs and is at the Eiland at the moment.

• school meeting 1 week ago: is doing very well adjusting, has friends, likes to play in the house corner, look at books, can read a little. Sometimes it can be hard for her when she can't play with some kids but then she comes up to the teacher.

Sleeping

• since we realized in March or so that she needs to be put to bed earlier to wake up later, it got better. Now we need to put her to bed straight after dinner and if we are lucky, she sleeps by 18:30. It leaves very little space for navigating life around work and stuff, but it is what it is. She really needs 12 h (minimum 11 h!) of sleep to do well.

• at times, will come out of her room several times. Latest thing is wanting to eat after bedtime (if nothing works, she gets a banana). When she is more tired, she will get up at 6 or sometimes earlier.

• falls asleep independently with her yoto by her side.

Eating

• still eats plain things and is selective but it is better when there are no sweets around and we pick what she can eat and when and where, she picks what she will eat.

• we try her to eat one new thing a day (at least try!!)

• favorite foods: tortilla chips, everything sweet, mango, bananas, apples

• what she eats in a day:

  • breakfast: oatmeal porridge with some jam

  • snack: fruit (school/home)

  • lunch: 2 pieces of bread with cheese or cream cheese (school), or tosti or sometimes warm food (at home

  • snack: cracker or rice wafel (BSO) or something else

  • dinner: warm food

Cognitive development

• she can read (as of 5y5 months)! I started reading short ABC-books with her daily (after having done it sporadically for a while) middle of August and in 3-4 weeks, she got the hang of phonetic reading. She can read simple text in Estonian all her own! Longer words can be a struggle still. She is very proud of it! It looks like she can read simple text in Dutch as well but we haven't worked on it at all.

• is interested in counting and numbers as well, she can count up to 20 and do simple calculations (plus, minus).

• Multilingualism:

  • Dutch is coming in very very strong again. Estonian picks up only when we are in Estonia and English when we are home with her a lot but she mixes/code switches a lot to Dutch. We always add the Estonian/English word to her and she usually corrects her sentences.

Motor development

• can bike very well now (also in the city and in traffic with guidance), she got a 20 inch bike in the middle of August. She bikes to school 2 days a week. Has biked max 20 km per day already.

• she is learning to skate better and can rollerskate pretty ok now. She enjoys all kinds of movement.

• fine motor skills: holds the pencil better and better, can cut and color with more precision.

Social-emotional development

• the adjustment of being a big sister is generally going well. Her little brother is her big favorite (and vice versa) unless he is pulling her things or causing other kids of annoyances. Then she can be quite cross with him, not always understanding that a baby doesn't have the same mental capacities as she does.

• friendships are getting more important for her. She plays quite a lot with the neigborhood kids and some kids from her class (and has gone for a few playdates), plus with the Estonian kids. Playing together is going well now and she can usually share her things and can understand when someone doens't want to do something she likes to do.

• she is getting more compassionate and can recognize when someone is not feeling well and will go and confort them.

• Feelings are more complex, like guilt or envy, e.g. around her little brother. She really feels bad when he hits his head or something when she is holding him, and this can be a little tough for her.

• When her basic needs are not met, she can be cranky and can't wait, can't repond adequately. She can also get silly when she is too tired.

• travelling to Estonia has proved to be harder with her emotions when the schedule is off and she is in an unfamiliar environment as her mood degrades sadly.

General

• wears size 116 but it is getting short, so we are switching to 122 now. She is about 116 cm tall and weighs about 17 kg.

• She lost her first milk tooth (bottom right middle) on the 14th of September and the new adult tooth is growing quickly. The tooth next to it is wobbly too and will follow soon, we think.

• we are trying to introduce chores (putting her plate to the dishwasher) and not ask us to do stuff for her.