tonight b4 bed...

Kayla:  "i'll never be 4 again, rt mama?... 

that means i can't grow young again!...

lucky i said goodbye in my head last nite, to my old 4-yr-old self."  :))

exactly a year ago tonight, my little girl Kayla, you were too scared to sleep....

-"will it hurt mama?"

"will what hurt kayla?"

-"will it hurt when i turn?"

"when you turn what?"

-"when i turn 4... tonite while i sleep?"

well my dear, tonight b4 you slept, i reminded you of our conversation exactly 1 year ago. u thot it very funny!... and no, you said yr not scared anymore....  :)

-"but just in case you hear a big noise in the night mama, dont be worried, it's just the room turning with me!"

you chuckled at my qwik response.... "lucky you're only turning 5 then, & not 100!!!"

Kayla, yr mummy is a bit sad to see her sweet little girl growing up.  ...and you know how i always tell u that you're my 'baby'...well 20yrs from now i'll probably still be saying that... with lots of love! :)

u skinned yr rt knee this week...and 3 days later, yr rt elbow too. they went all yucky.... "snotty" was the word u used. :)

so i asked u to wear skirts and shorter tops to help them dry out. (u know you'll usually only wear jeans and T-shirts rt...other than on Sundays when i manage to get u into a dress. :)

but surprisingly you agreed.  (-"it's not like i cant wear jeans forever rt?...rt?" :))  and i know for a fact that tomorrow...on yr birthday, u plan to wear yr new tiara, and yr fuzzy pink matching bag. u cant really match those with jeans rt?... so i guess a dress mt be in order? :))

what a change to see u this last week...prancing ard in little girly outfits once again. (it's been more than 2 yrs since you know!)   now yr girly skirts, combined with yr long long hair and long long legs, it made u suddenly look so grown-up... even yr daddy was surprised at the transformation!  but then you'd behave all silly, loud and crazy... and so totally unbecoming of a young lady!...then we'd know that our little girl is still hiding inside just as playful as ever!

my kayla, u make us so happy! u charm yr daddy to bits, and irritate him no end too!...esp when he's reading his papers or bz with work.

....and yr big brother kynan?  well you've made him laugh the loudest... and you've made him cry the hardest...and what about that recent comment you made that almost made him blush!... i cd almost not keep myself from splitting in two! 

do u remember?... about how the freckle on his cheek "makes him look *very cute*"....

you are a darling my love and we're so happy that God brought you into our family! you have given us joy, and love, and laughter! may u grow into a fine young lady...wise and honest, kind and true. you have won a special place in our hearts, and we all love you to bits! (Tiger included! :))

So Happy Birthday dear daughter... May all your dreams come true!

luv mama & daddy... & kynan too xxx

kay and i went to e zoo this last week. we had a pleasant time together...

this is some of what she learned:

-polar bears at the zoo get to eat fresh fish.  using a large net, the zookeepers catch them from the ponds just before feeding time.

-"when an adult polar bear stands up, it's even taller than daddy. but if i stand on his shoulders then mb i'll be the same height...  and if kynan stands on his shoulders, then mb he'll be even taller!"

-"the snakes eat dead mice. ya mum, they are actually real mice... and they're dead...they killed them!"

-like snakes, gila monsters have poison, but instead of hollow fangs, their poison comes from grooves in their teeth. "so they have to chew and chew on their prey to get them dead."

-"the skink is like a fat lizard, and when it yawned i saw it has a blue tongue!"

-like lizards, komodo dragons and iguanas moult their skins when they grow out of them. it looks yucky when it peels off their frills and spikes.

-the giant tortoise has large feet. it's skin resembles that of the dinosaurs. kayla would like to ride on one, if only they didnt spend so much time sleeping!

-"mama look here... adult kangaroos can jump very very very far!"

-"wallabies look like baby kangaroos, but they're not really... cos if you look closely, u will see that their ears and snouts look different."

-"baboons like to groom each other, and baby baboons are very good at rock-climbing."

-the ibex is "so poor thing...stuck so high up on the rocks all day!"

-the blue whale is the largest animal on e earth today. it's heart is as big as a car.

-"otters like to sleep in a pile."  (that is, the muumy and babies.)  the daddy likes to sleep alone, draped over a rock looking down upon them... or stretched out on the ground a few feet away. he likes his space! :))

1) a few days back kay shares something with me, chuckling...

...."mummy, i told daddy when we were walking at the zoo yesterday, that he must go *slug-slow*. 

2) just today she told this hilarious story on the bus...much to the amusement of e other passengers. (and kay really didnt get what they found so amusing!...which was amusing in itself :))

...."mummy, u are the dog and i am the puppy. all the other puppies were given away except me.  no actually, we kept one other puppy and his name is kynan. no actually there weren't any other puppies, it was just us. oh yes, and a daddy dog."

3) a question she asked ky & dh in the car the other day...

...."why do people go to AKEA? (IKEA that is... but purposefully pronounced the way my dh says it ;))

...."cos they have a tummy-ache!"

a split-second later she continues....

...."why does kynan go to AKEA?

....because he's always got a headache or another ache somewhere else! :b

our dear son was very quiet on that matter... (poor kid... he's stuck with a cheeky sister! :)

kay: mummy, i wish i was a baby eagle bird...

me: why?

kay: then i could learn to fly!

...i would wait 'til my mommy eagle was asleep in the nest, then i would creep to e edge and flap my wings. 

then i would jump and flap and go "cheep cheep! squawk squawk!" and my mommy eagle would jump up out of the nest and fly under me when i was falling, and i would land safely on her back.

then she would fly me back to the nest and use her beak to pick me up and put me in the corner of the nest where i must sleep. i will go in a little corner because mommy eagle is big and needs lots of space.

then i will cuddle up, and my mommy eagle will say to me "go to sleep baby eagle, and dont try to fly again without me! when yr wings are strong enough i will tell you, then i will watch you fly and i will be there to catch you when you fall."  then the baby eagle will say "cheep cheep!" and snuggle up in a little ball and go to sleep.

*this was what my little eagle baby told me tonight when she lay in her bed drinking her milk.  :) 

**it's been a long time since i've heard your stories kay... pls dont stop. ;)

emergent writing...

i never saw this w my eldest. he learned to read and then write words and sentences upon my prompting. they increased in length very slowly. for him there was no real reason behind learning to read n write, except that it was part of the learning syllabus. what was more important to him, was learning to ride bike, skateboard, swim, rollerblade, climb and swing with the greatest of ease and dexterity.

now along comes the second one. she was barely speaking when she started rhyming words, and we remember so clearly how amusing she found it when she 1st realised that the same word cd hv 2 different meanings...  now more than 2yrs hv past since then, and i see her trying to read e signs around us. i know a friend's elder kid who did this before, and it seemed such a novelty... esp cos it's something that ky just never did. you'd think it wd be the rt way to go... but for some kids it just doesnt happen.

so for us to suddenly have it coming from kay...well, it *is* a novelty... something that's quite sweet and amazing... so it's something we want to take note of, to remember...

a few months back kay sat with a remote-controlled car in hand,  muttering to herself... "o-f-f. off!... o-n. on!... no-woooonderrr!!  mama, no wonder the battery's flat!... the switch has been left *on* aaalll this time!!!" we all had to grin at her monumentous discovery! :)

now e last few weeks she's been writing little notes ard e house now and then...

a msg on e whiteboard, left for me, with a rocket alongside, read: "kayla fwom". 

a picture a few days later read: "fr mam kayla luv".   

a few days later it had progressed to: "luv kayla for mama".

yesterday she'd drawn a number-guessing game for us. she'd traced circles with numbers inside, that she wanted us to match up to other circles with number words. she didnt get very far... i was busy in the kitchen and i heard her arguing with ky about the spelling of "1". , she was trying to write it down, but ky was trying to correct her 'spelling' she complained. "he's all wrong mama!... yr so silly! that's not right!...

"no, no, no, it's not like that! you're so silly! how can u spell it 'o-n-eeee'. that's not right ya mama?!"

me: "how do u think u shd spell it kay?"

kay: "w-u-n".

me: "then go ahead and write it!"

ky: "but muuuuum!"

me: "she's doing child's writing, and that's ok" :)

now these last few days she's been writing little armbands for her stuffed animals... "for lion luv kayla".

today she battled over the word "someone", and "why 'is' is spelled i-s and not i-z?"

...after lights-out i found 2 yellow scraps of post-it notes stuck on an old empty McD kiddy-box on the entrance-hall floor...

"it it for sumwun" it read.

so i opened e box. inside was a little yellow washcloth neatly folded, with another scrap of post-it which read, "it is for lion" on one side, and "cub xxxxx" on the other. that is when i spotted her little lion cub lying on the floor beside where the box had been.  e gift was clearly not for me... :) so i re-packaged it quietly and set it back beside it's rightful owner :) ...while e sender sleeps e deepest sleep, oblivious of my discoveries...

i like these....

and i remember doing the same when i was a wee little girl!

abt a week or 2 ago, kay adamently said she was "...NEVER EVER going to school! NOT EVER! not even when i'm 7! ...i'm going to stay home and homeschool FOREVER!!!"

now i was just mentioning this to a friend a day or so ago, wen kay overheard me. "no i never said that!" she complained with a smile..." (which i read to mean "well mb i've changed my mind..." ;))

so later at home when we were alone, i asked her what she thought abt it all... and this is what she said in her shy, smiling manner...

"no mum, now i WANT to go to school, ...but there mustn't be any boys. only girls!"

"like yr daddy's school?" i asked.

"ya!" she replied...  "i think i want to go there."   :>

to which daddy later whimsically replied, "u pls *mustn't* come running over to me when i'm doing p.e. on e field!  ...to which kay added with a grin and a sing-song... "oh yes i wiIIll!..."   :b

*a few nites before ky started school, this brief conversation ensued...

kay: mum, ky's gonna be 7 soon rt?

me: ya

kay: and then he's going to big school rt?

me: ya

kay: i'm gonna miss him mama. (aaaawwww!)

**after he'd been at school a few days...

me: kay, what do u think of ky being in school.

kay: i'm happy!

me: why?

kay: now i get to choose all my own vcd's!   :)  (cheeky girl!)

to my dear little girl,

tomorrow u will be four.

today, as we walked along to gym, u said very earnestly to me, "mama, do u know i am turning 4 in my sleep tonight?"  "yes", i answered. u were silent awhile, then without looking up, u quietly asked "mama, will u hold my hand?" i was surprised by your request...

it seems my dear, that u are a little unsure about what "turning 4" actually entails :)

but with some prodding, this is what i got out of u:

-"i'll be turning about while i'm sleeping, round and round. mb the bunk-bed too... and mb the ceiling!"

-"i'll be counting how many times. it must be 4, but mb it will be 8 or 10! then i'll be 10 years old!"

-"mama, if u sleep on the top of the bunk-bed and it turns around and around, then you'll turn older also... mb you'll turn 32!... cos yr not 32 yet", u added.  :-b (u sweet child, actually i'm way past that!)

-"as i'm counting, my mouth will turn crooked like this, it will turn and turn while i'm counting. i hope it doesnt stay like that!" (and u proceeded to demonstrate how many different angles it cd get caught in!)

after all this talk, i assured u again and again, that tonight will be like any other night, and that you're unlikely to feel any different. 

still, before lights out, yr not qt convinced, and ask again... "mama, tonite i will *turn* 4 rt? and u will hold my hand?" 

u put specific emphasis on *turn*... and that's when it struck me... u saw this "turning 4" event, like some kind of magic-trick... "abracadabra, i wll 'turn' you into a mouse/ a house/ a tiger!"... the kids used to play this game when kay was much younger... thinking up the silliest things they cd "turn" their sibling into... "abracadabra, u are an apple, a truck" etc, or trying to out-do each other with more and more menacing animals. "u are a biting ant, scorpion, cobra, mountain lion, dinasuar!"...  so remembering these silly games while pondering over yr very real "turniing 4" prediicament... i suddenly realise why u want me to hold yr hand when the "turniing" bit happens toniite...  :)

sleep well my precious... in 10 minutes you wiill turn...not into a pumpkin, nor a toad, nor a mouse... but into a more lovely princess than u already are... a princess that's merely a few hours older.

u are the sweetest thing that ever came into our lives. keep telling us yr little stories, shaking us up with your funny twisted jokes, and melting our hearts with your shy smiles and gentle, nurturiing actions.  we all love you dearly!  Happy Biirthday my love!

Kayla comes runniing today... "Mama quick, get yr pen and paper! I have a story to tell!"

so here it is!

"Once upon a time, there was a peacock called Wally.  Then there was another peacock who wanted to find a friend called Bob the Builder.

Then the two peacocks found their friend and they had a party. They got some party hats and some party bags. They balanced their party bags on their backs. It was dark then, and they wanted to go to sleep.  But there was two lions in their home. (They was friendly.)  Then they woke the lions up.

Then they was awake and they said, (in a squeaky voice), "Excuse me these are our homes. Can you move and find your own homes?" 

Then they said, "Ya, we will find our own homes. We just thought these are our homes!" 

Then the lions went away and found their own homes and went to sleep. And the peacocks both went to sleep.

The End!

There was a Mommy and a Daddy fox. They were with their babies. They were walking in the jungle.  Then the Mommy was stuck in a hole.The Daddy keep the babies safe.

Then there was fire on the pathway, and they wanted to go around. But there was more fire there. Then there was a little tree there.  So the babies went on the Mommy's back.  (The Mommy had got out the hole already.)  Then they jumped over the fire. Then the two babies got down from the tail, but there was more fire. Then they jumped again and again and again.  No, make that just, 'They jumped again and agian.'

They keep walking then they found a place where there was no fire.  Then they went to sleep.

The End!

"This story is about a baby kangaroo, and his mummy and daddy kangaroo. The baby kangaroo had friends. One named Flower, one named Jaguar, and one boy named Stuffed Animal.

One day there was a girl called Light. And she said, "Can I play with you?" And the friends said, "Ya, you can play with me." They wanted to play Catch.

Then it was night-time and they wanted to go to sleep. But they had no homes. Then they walked in the jungle and they found 3 homes. Then the girl and the animals snuggled up and went to sleep.  The End!"

about 6months back, kayla started telling us her "dream's"

now she had bn listening in to kynan telling me what funny things he'd dreamed about every now and then... so she started asking if she cd tell us 'her' dream. which of course she did... and somehow these 'stories' she told, are always in great detail, and almost always revolve around some kind of animal and his friends. :)

this last week i realised that our little storyteller was becoming more and more preoccupied with thinking up the plots for these stories of hers, and that ky and myself were really beginning to enjoy them.  i'm starting to think that she has a gift for this, and that is why i've decided i want to write them down. kynan says that at this rate she can write a book. then we can bind all the stories and read them at bedtime :)

so here is one of the shorter ones, in her own words exactly as she told us... rt down to the final "The End! triumphantly declared at the end of each story. (grammatical errors have not been altered.)

"This story is about a snake. It was a friendly snake. He was a boy. It was night-time, but he wanted to play with his friends. But his friends was asleep. Then he went to Zebra's house. Zebra was eating some leaves, And he asked "Zebra, can you play with me?"  ...no, can you make him say "Can you play with me *pleeeeease*?"  Then Zebra said, "Ya, you can play with me."  Then they played and played and played.  The End! "

me: oh i'm so sorry i had to miss gym today...

kay: no i'm not.

me: why?

kay: i'm so lucky.

me: why lucky?

kay: lucky you dont smell like a dog!  :b

*oh my, to be coming from my own daughter!!!

dear Kayla, you have just learned to read your 1st book... it's about Mat and Sam, from the *BOB series.  you found it quite funny as they kept sitting on top of each other.

and what was even more interesting, is that you kept adding to the sentences...almost like you didnt like them so short!

so if it read "Mat sat."...then you wd add, "...on Sam's lap!"  :)  

you're so much like your mama!  ;)  ie. why say it in 2 words, when you can create a much better picture by throwing in a few more?

i love you baby!  you look like your daddy,  but your heart's definately very close to mine...

today while waiting for ky at gym, kay and i busied ourselves with little games, drawings and idle chit-chat.  on the way for a toilet break she asked to be carried down the stairs, and in a very babyish voice. so playing along, i  lifted her up high and swung her around me in an arc....

she squealed. so i told her that if she squealed again,  i'd swing her up higher...

kay: "then i'll come right back to you!" she exclaimed smiling...

me: "then i'll swing you even higher, right up to the ceiling!"  

- then i'll climb back down to you!" she continued... (ah, so it was a game :))

 then i'll swing you up to the birds!

-then the little birdy will say "this is not my child", and bring me back to my mummy!

then i will swing you right up to the clouds.

-then the lttle cloud wiill say "this is not my child", and fly me down to you!

then i will swing you up to the stars!

-then the little twinkling star will come down to the earth and give me back to you!

then i wiill swing you up to a rocket.

-then i will fly the rocket right back to you!

then i will swing you up to the moon!

-then the moon wiill say "u cant stay here;  i will eat you up!'"

"then you'd better come back to your mommy, cos yr mommy loves you!", i say...                            (hugging her close, thinking the game is finally over...!).

-"yes, and you will carry me high!",  ...she continues.

then i will swing you right up to the top of the slide!  (...'so when is this going to end?'...)

-"and i will sllde back down to you!" she grins.

then i will swing you to the tip of an elephants trunk!

-then the elephant will walk and bring me back to you!

then i will swing you to the top of the tallest giraffe!

-and the giraffe will also walk and carry me back to you!

"so can i ever swing you away?" i ask.

-no, cos i will always come back to you, cos you are my mummy.  (...aaaahhhh!...)

***i just had to write this down. it's one of those moments that rarely happen. (reminds me of a book that we gave her last Christmas. we've not read it since... but it's the one about the baby bunny and his daddy. something about the rhythm and rhyme must hv appealed to her and lodged itself in her memory.)  very sweet... my boy has had no inclination to wax lyrical iin this manner. 2 very different kids.... just like my hubby and me :)

'got back qt late last night (well, early this morning ;) from a wonderful ladies' nite over at a friend's place.

and i was enjoying a nice lie-in when kay squeaked open the door and padded to my bedside...

"mama, can u unbuckle this please?" she asked in her sweetest voice...

i opened my eyes a notch to see her standing there in her jammies, with a large chunk of tiny legos stuck together.

she wanted them "separated"... so a quick vocab lesson ensued at 8am on a Sunday morning :)

-Mum, you are so beautiful... like a princess!

-I am so happy:  i am 3 and i can still drink milk!

-I am sooooooo excited!... Soon i will be 4 in August... And after that i will be 6!

we have a special bedtime routine that has gone on for years.

after hugs and stories each night, and once the lights are out...then we each send flying kisses, and say in the dark how much we love each other.

kynan will say ...."more than the stars in the sky/ the leaves in the trees, the sand on the beach" etc.  

and kayla has always been inventive :) here are some of her favourites which i wanted to file in my little book of memories...

-i love u more than all the sleeping fishies in the trees...

-i love u more than all the bunk-beds in the night sky...

-i love you more than all the wake-up fishies lying in the sky and swimming in the sea...

there are plenty more, but they've escaped me for now.

-to Daddy one night, griining, 

     "Desus died on the cwoss!"

-overheard singing in the livingroom while playing with her dolls,

      "Desus loves me! la la la... mmm mmm mmm ...i got happy in my heart!"  :)