Goodbye Threenager Years…

Tomorrow is Erin’s Fourth Birthday.

My eldest daughter, my first born, my baby, is turning four, and ever the cliché – I cannot believe where the time has gone. It seems like only yesterday I wrote last years summary – Toddler to Threenager, yet so much has changed, and when I look back at those photos Erin looks like such a little dot. You do not notice them change when you are with them every day, but blink and you miss it, suddenly life has passed you by!

Daddy has the day off work tomorrow and we are heading off to Thomasland (woop!) before a family party next weekend. The princess cake is made (rustic but she will love it!), the presents are wrapped, and the family tradition decoupage letters have been made!

Being THREE has been quite the year for Erin!

Becoming a big sister

The biggest change for Erin this year was becoming a big sister, when we welcomed baby Neve in September. Neve’s arrival and the aftermath (with me contracting sepsis) was quite a traumatic time for our whole family. What I thought would be my first few nights away from Erin ever, ended up being a whole four weeks away from her. I missed her terribly, and visiting Mummy every day in hospital must have been a little strange for Erin too. At the time I was so worried that Erin would resent Neve for keeping Mummy away, and that she would be upset that we weren’t having our bedtime stories and cuddles, but looking back, I bizarrely think it helped her cope with the transition.

Whilst I was in hospital with Neve, Erin got Daddy completely to herself, with 100% undivided attention (and lots of visits to Nanny no doubt!) 🙂 – Rather than being jealous when everyone came to visit Neve at home, she was more of the centre of attention, and despite missing me, I think she secretly quite liked it. When we finally arrived home when Neve was 5 weeks, she had got more used to the idea of being a big sister, and as such, we didn’t get the jealousy or emotional girl that I was dreading! 🙂

9 months on, Erin ADORES Neve, telling me regularly that she ‘loves her baby sister’ although at times she wishes she was little again. Now that Neve is getting older, Erin loves to make her laugh and play with her, although she likes it less when Neve tries to eat her hair!!

Dry at Night

Whilst I was in hospital (so I cannot take the credit), Mike successfully managed to get Erin dry at night, ditching the pull ups and taking a leap of faith. She now goes to the toilet completely on her own day and night, and it is so cute to hear her flushing and washing her hands all by herself.

Big Girl Bed

When we started our nursery renovation project, we wanted to make sure Erin didn’t feel left out. We were worried that watching her sister get new carpets and painted walls, she might start to feel a little jealous, and so we decided to set Erin a challenge. She had got to the habit of asking Daddy to sleep in her room if she woke up during the night, so we decided to implement a reward chart to encourage her to sleep through on her own. If it worked, she would get a brand new big girl bed – a cabin bed – WITH A LADDER. It went down an absolute treat – despite a stranger questioning whether I was wrong for doing a reward chart.

After a month of sleeping through without Daddy needing to come in, we went and ordered her new bed. We have the odd bad night still, but more often than not she is now happily snuggled up with her Elsa duvet! 🙂

Reading and Writing

Erin’s pen control has really really improved, and Erin can now write her own name and does some wonderful drawings, bringing to life things in her imagination. She recognises letters and numbers and will often say “Look Mummy an E!!” or point out a number 4 and say “I will be 4 on my birthday!”.

With her being a summer baby, she will be one of the youngest when she starts school in September, and this makes me a little bit nervous that she may find reception quite a challenge. I need to invest more time with her on letters and numbers, so we will be putting things like our Alphabet Flashcards to use over the summer.

It’s not all plain sailing…

I’d love to say that life is completely plain sailing but at times Erin can completely push my buttons. She is VERY strong minded (can’t think where she gets that from!) and as stubborn as a mule (guilty as charged). At times, her ‘listening ears’ do not work at all, and I have lost count of the amount of times I have said “LAST CHANCE” or “I WONT TELL YOU AGAIN!!!” – (see Mixed Messages we give our children)

Overall however, I have loved watching Erin grow and change over the last year. She is SO full of life, and such a happy and fun loving girl. I am so excited to see what FOUR brings for Erin, even if its breaks my heart a little that she is growing up so fast!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Mummy xxx