Erin's First Day in Year 1

Erin had been asking all week when school would start. The day finally arrived. The night before everyone was very excited about putting out their school uniforms and new shoes. Bags were packed with sun hats and jumpers. Snacks made and in the fridge.

It took no encouraging to get Erin into her uniform this morning. She was ready and waiting at the door with her backpack on just after eating breakfast. We had photo's, prayers and cuddles before we headed off to work and school.

Erin was very excited to see her friends Lydia and Myra. Lydia is from UK and was in Erin's class in Reception. Myra is from Lebanon and has been in Erin's class since Nursery Buttercup. Myra is the friend in the picture.

This year Erin is in Year 1 Lilac with Ms Petrovic. Again I used to work with her when I did some TA work. It is nice to personally know the teachers. Erin sits next to a South African boy called Luke. Luke tells the most interesting stories which Erin tells me. He has a big imagination!

I hope Erin has an excellent year filled with fun, challenges and learning. I am really enjoying seeing both Erin and Owen growing into little people with their own personalities. Such a special time.

Dress up

Erin loves to dress up. She has a lot of outfits that she chooses herself. In Oman she was in her element in Muttrah Souq when she got to try on all sorts of bling and then take one home with her. There are various poses that go with the different outfits now, depending on her mood.

Erin the Ballerina

Erin is a real little ballerina. She loves to get dressed up in her ballet outfit and go and dance with Ms. Arlette and Chloe each Monday for half an hour. Erin shows me what she has learned during the class and most of the time it is about characters and stories that they are familiar with. Ballet continues through the week in our villa with Erin being the prima ballerina and the rest of the family being the audience.

Little Miss Messy

Erin loves to play with her toys and really enjoys it when Owen joins her to do role play. They set up a camp, cook breakfast, feed the dolls, doctor the stuffed animals and the list goes on. Unfortunately when the end of the day comes she does not like to participate in the clean up and often there is wailing and finger pointing that Owen did it! Owen and I end up doing 90% of the tidying and Erin does as little as possible in between her seismic meltdowns!

Erin settling into school

The first week of school was very exciting for Erin and she was very happy to explore her new environment. On day 3 she showed signs of a bladder infection so I kept her at home and took her to the doctor instead. She had a 2 hour nap that morning so either she was not feeling well or school was tiring. Week 2 was a little less exciting and she was a little tearful. It did not help that there were other littlies wailing on the top of their lungs when their mums left them. Week 3 has been much better and Erin has been very happy to sit with Owen and do puzzles before we leave her class. She showed me her painting and loves alternate Tuesdays which is baking day. Her phonics skills are coming along and they have learn't "s" and "a". They have also done the numbers 1 and 2 and started on the months of the year. I asked Mrs. Bexon how she was doing and her reply was that Erin is quite and just gets on with it. I snigger because I know when Erin gets into the car each afternoon she grows horns and a tail and let's me have it! 

Erin, the persuader (to put it mildly!)

When we are out at the play ground Erin always find children (known or unknown) to push her on the swings or roundabout. She has a preference for little boys as they are keen to help and can do it physically!

The first dummy has been thrown in the bin!

Erin does not have a toy that she is attached to, she has numerous dummies. Today on the way back from parachute play she did not like something on her dummy and said that it was "yucky". I inspected it and suspected that it did not taste right as it looked fine. I told her that when we get home she could throw it in the bin and get the ones in her bed. She agreed to it and because she is a challenging child I asked if I could have a picture of her doing it and she said yes! So just in case she has a melt down later I have proof that she did it all by herself.