February always seems to come and go so quickly. The new school year starts and the adjustment period takes up the rest of the month. Nicholas is in year 3 and Catherine is in preschool. And they are finally at the same school along with their cousins. This is the first and only year all four of them will all be together. The three older kids are able to see Catherine on the other side of the preschool fence from time to time.
Nicholas seems to be settling in well and is more comfortable with the school environment. He likes his class and teacher. One time, he pleasantly surprised me when he went up to his teacher to ask a question by himself whereas last year he would often want me to ask his teacher for him. He has a small group of friends and usually says that school was good at the end of the day.
Catherine seems to be enjoying preschool and loves interacting with the big kids. Preschool is only 2 days a week with an additional day every 2 weeks. She still goes to childcare 2 days a week. So on those 5-day weeks, some days she comes home begging to go to sleep. She has a new friend at preschool whom she made friends with on the first day. Dropping her off in the morning is sometimes a challenge. On bad days she cries and holds on to me when I leave and on rarer good days she happily says goodbye and gives me a hug. In a way, her world is getting bigger and it must be overwhelming and daunting for a four-year-old to process all these new experiences.
When Nicholas and Catherine are at school on Thursdays and Fridays, I use the time to read, exercise, craft, organise, run errands, take care of the house, get groceries and/or catch up with friends. The first couple of times it felt different to have so much time to myself. I didn't know what to do and before I knew it, it was time to pick the kids up. It's nice to be able to have some decent time to sit down and read now.
We have also been brave and energetic enough to join the masses in attending various summer festivals around town. The Multicultural Festival was as popular as ever. We had fun enjoying the children's corner and eating food from around the world. It wasn't as hot as usual as there were a few showers the day we went.
Enlighten has also been a hit with us this year but a lot more stressful than the Multicultural Festival. It wasn't fun when Catherine wanted to run off into the dark. The Noodle Night Markets were the newest addition to Enlighten. Although lines were long, we managed to be there early enough to taste some decent food. BBQ pork belly skewers from Hoy Pinoy were tasty and wet noodles from Morks were equally satisfying. Not sure how long we waited in the end, but Catherine was patient enough to wait for the (gimmicky) gelato. They were served with syringes filled with sauce. Kids loved that bit, of course. Most impressive images were on the National Portrait Gallery, Questacon and Old Parliament House (when all the sections were lit up and working).
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