Dear Chloe,
another year has passed, another year older. This year is going to be a big one for you. You are finally stepping into your brothers footsteps and will be attending junior infants this coming September. We decided to keep you back for another year to grow your confidence. When you start school, you will be 5 years and 7 months old which means you are well able for it. You do show signs over the last couple of weeks that you are ready. You have asked us to create a lunch box for you, like Matthew, to bring into creche.
You have turned into such a little character now and you definitely know what you want. Sometimes you can be a bit bossy. But I suppose that’s what girls are like. You are a strong willed girl. Looking at the letter I wrote to you this time last year you are definitely a lot less angrier. The banging of the kitchen doors have become less. In fact I can’t recall you banging them at all in months.
Trips to the toilet are going well now and you are very much in a routine. However, I still haven’t started you on the going to the toilet at night. The nappy ( or you like to call it pants) is still full in the morning. At this point there is no rush and we might actually get cracking on this during the Summer. It’s not that you drink a huge amount of water before you go to bed.
Within the last year we managed to take you on another trip on the airplane. This time we all went to my hometown in Germany. You had an absolute ball. Your favourite part was the day trip to the strawberry park. You keep talking about it even now when something travel related comes up in conversations. This Easter you will be going on another airplane. We will be off to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. You will get to see a real volcano but the most you are excited about it is the beach.
Our bedtime routine hasn’t changed much really. We did attempt something new. We started sitting further away from the door and closer to the stairs. This did not go well for too long. Quickly you realised you can’t see mammy or daddy anymore. It was causing confusing and you were getting upset. We didn’t want to see you upset and so we went back to our normal routine which is sitting beside the door. If it keeps you happy, we don’t mind. It’s only twenty minutes of an evening anyway. You still like to sneak into our bed at night at some point. You do really like the comfort and cuddles.
Your favourite TV programme at the moment is Peter Rabbit. I have lost count how many times you watched each episode. We also watched the movie numerous times. Luckily there is a second movie coming out next month. And I will certainly bring you to it. For your birthday you got a new bike. The weather hasn’t been the best in the last few weeks but we are trying to get out and about every weekend whenever we can to bring it for a spin. You are so fast on it. The next step will be to take the stabilizers off it. I think you will do just fine after a few attempts. Imaginary play is still your favourite thing to play.Whether that’s setting up a shop with your brother, making play-doh ice cream or having a picnic with your dolls. Also you love anything Paw Patrol.
Slowly you are starting to get into music more and more. You like singing and listening to songs with mammy. Your favourite song is Dance Monkey and Repair. (but you do call it your head is broken which is one of the lyrics in the song). We went to see a panto over the Christmas period with the cousins which involved a lot of singing. You absolutely loved it. Dance Monkey was one of the songs they performed.
Let’s talk vegetables. They aren’t your best friend. It is a bit of a struggle at the weekend when we have our family dinner together. You do know that mammy is trying to sneak in a bit of veg but you are too smart. Somehow you are able to find the smallest, microscopic piece of veg which will put you right off your dinner. Sweets are your favourite thing. Whenever we open the sweet press in the kitchen, you can hear it miles away and shout “sweets“. It’s quite funny.
At the end of January our poor little cat Molly went missing. Unfortunately she hasn’t returned. You keep telling me how she will have a big cake on her birthday once she comes back. Thankfully you don’t miss her too much otherwise.
One milestone we reached during the Summer, was we finally got rid of the dodie. Many approaches were tried but just throwing it in the bin was the best approach and you haven’t looked back since.
Our biggest challenge for now, is to get you to wear your hair in a bobbin, ready for school. We managed to have it in for a full day one time and we are very proud of you. We know it is a weird feeling to have something in your hair but we will break through it.
Love you
Mammy and Daddy xxx
