Lucia is 4, and is a beautiful, energetic, determined girl. She delights us by observing and talking and chattering.  She dresses herself, and when we go in to her room at night, she often will have laid out the next day’s outfit complete with undies and socks. She’s even understanding the concept of matching colours (although patterns sometimes clash, but hey!).   She is at morning kindergarten in Greytown 2 days a week, which is lovely because it provides social contact for her (and for me!). She also does two mornings at Hadlow Preschool, a private school about 20 minutes drive away. We love the preschool for her because it is very structured, and she does very well when she is focused on and challenged. (Hmmm, reminds me of her mother!)		She’s an independent wee girl, and not as sensitive as I think I was at her age – in a good way. George seems to cry at the drop of a hat, the way I am told I did. I’m glad for Lucia that she doesn’t, as being too sensitive can make dealing with the world a bit hard at times. Lucia went through a difficult stage a few weeks ago, with a good deal of defiance and grotty behaviour. One positive thing that came out of this challenge is that she and I now have a “date” every week.  The gist of it is that we spend special time together, doing whatever she wants to do - usually going to the library to read an unlimited number of books.  I drop everything else and just listen to her, try to tune in with her. It seems to have made a very positive difference, in that there is a bit shared common ground to turn to as a basis. But I like to think she would have come out of the phase anyway!
	Special Girl Time

George is 2 and a half, and getting very determined to be independent. This stretches to him taking his night nappies off (and then wetting his bed, of course. I have the first of 3 loads of washing spinning in the machine now!). He’s toilet-trained himself, although given a choice he will take himself outside to do it. He continues to be pure sweetness and light, and sunshine. I call him my “sun”. He has an effortless charm just like my brother Marcus.  

Louis is a fat, jolly, happy baby. His nickname is “Mr Boo” – probably because it rhymes with Lou. And I call him my “fat fat fat fat fat fat fat fat fat baby”. He is large, vigorous and physically energetic, although incredibly laid-back and calm. I have a feeling he will be a very active boy, and I can see myself sending him outside to play A LOT. But he is really an easy baby, the easiest of them all. He loves his Jolly Jumper and his food. Oh, his food!! He eats more than the other children combined! I imagine he’ll be very tall. You can see in the picture above that he is nearly as long as George, and there is nearly 2 years difference between them!

You can tell from this photo that his sister loves dressing him up, and also giving him toys to ensure maximum comfort on the Jolly Jumper.   He is sitting now, and loves it. It also means he is all of a sudden happy in the bath, whereas he used to just hate it! The children are just gorgeous playing with him, as you can see by the headband on him, and the toys around his Jolly Jumper.

Matt is well. He turned 37 last week. To celebrate we went out for Chinese food as a family…it’s called Dim Sum in the US, but here it’s called Yum Cha. They serve delicacies such as chickens’ feet. Unfortunately the photos of them didn’t come out! We dressed the kids up in their little Chinese outfits for the occasion.

Matt still takes the train to Wellington. The station is 2 kms from here, and he gets home at 7 or 7:30 at night. He’s enjoying work. He is getting involved in community organizations, and enjoying it. He’s the treasurer on the Vestry, the committee that runs the church administration. Also he’s getting involved with the Heritage Trust Board, which aims to preserve Greytown’s cute character. 

I suspect stress from that that contributed, but I had a little breakdown when Lucia was having her difficult phase. I really struggled but a lot of good has come out of it, in the way that happens when really really try to fix something. For me, it was diet…I’ve stopped drinking tea and coffee while I build up energy reserves (which were depleted by 3 pregnancies in 4 years and breast-feeding, not surprising, really!). I’ve also cut out wheat and sugar, although I’m still trying to figure out how to live without bread for the rest of my life!!! ☺ It’s not that drastic…after a few months maybe I can reintroduce it and have it maybe once a week.

And I’m well. I’m in a good space now. I feel as though I’ve come through pregnancy and the young baby stage, and have more energy now. It’s taken a few years to settle in to Greytown, but I now feel that I really belong here. I’ve got a good group of friends (several vastly different groups, actually), and am involved in some great committees. I’m starting a Sunday school at our church for 3-6 year olds. It's called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and it comes from the Montessori movement. 

The house is great. We just love it, and it cradles us and cares for us. The space around us gives us room to breathe, and our vege garden (and our own meat in the freezer, from our paddocks) feeds us!

So that’s us.
I send you lots of love.

Xox
Marina