Anna's First Graduation!

Forgive me dear readers (just my mum probably!!), for I have sinned!!! It has been 3 months since I last updated this blog! However, sometimes you just feel compelled to write. Probably because it acts as good therapy if nothing else!

Up until today, I have been coping really well with the whole 'Starting Big School/leaving Pre-school' thing. Anna has been taking it less well. Some of her comments in the past two weeks have been...
"Why do I have to leave somewhere I love. Why Can't I just stay at pre-school forever?"
"It's not fair. Why can't the big children come to pre-school and then I would never have to leave"
"I hate Big school. It has weird food" (After going into school dinners as a transition exercise, and being served Tandoori chicken)
"I love Mrs Heath (Anna's pre-school teacher). Don't make me say Goodbye"
"Noooooooooo".

I was fine when I received her 'End of Year' report and it said 'Anna is a pure joy to have in pre-school. She is a confident, very bright, incredibly kind, thoughtful and lovely little girl. We will miss her so much next year'

I was doing my typical routine of burying my head in the sand and hoping that I wouldn't notice, fooling myself into believing that if I didn't think about it, it wouldn't happen. Even at the Leavers show yesterday, where Anna was lined up as centre stage as she did the 'Bum wiggle Dance' (most enthusiastic by far so had to be centre, according to her teacher) and sang 'Goodbye Pre-school;, Hello big school'. I was fine, more concerned with the fact that Anna's trousers were falling down and showing her pants!

However, this morning, as I watched the clock and waited until 11.30am, when I could pick her up, it suddenly dawned on me that, from September onwards, I will be saying Goodbye to my little girl at 9am and only able to pick her up at 3pm! For the majority of the day from Monday to Friday, some teacher gets to see more of my gorgeous daughter than I do. How is that fair!!! Yeah, yeah, I know all about the whole education and social skills side of things and, as a teacher, I didn't think about the fact that some one's most precious pride and joy was spending more time with me than their own mum! However, as a mum, it is all I can think about!

So when 11.30am came this morning and I watched as Anna, hand in hand with Maisy (who is not going to the same school as her in September) walked in from the playground for the last time, I cried a few tears! I managed to pull myself together just long enough for Mrs Heath to open the door to let Anna out. However, Anna then turned round to give Mrs Heath one last cuddle and Mrs Heath started crying. I was then became a lost cause and wept and wept!!! Anna has developed so much since being at pre-school so I just about managed to utter a 'Thank you for everything you have done for Anna' but, at that point, Mrs Heath and I were both unable to say much else through the tears and snot!!

I was still crying as I got to Anna's music class, which is a whole other story, seeing as though she has been going there since 6 months old and barely able to sit up. Imagine what I am going to be like next week when it is the last music class!!

In fact, I am still crying as I write this. It feels like my baby girl was only born yesterday and it is way too soon to go to Big School. I haven't done everything I want to do yet before I get to spend whole days (Well, 9 to 3) without her! I still haven't spent enough time at music classes,shaking tambourines and pretending to be tractors or singing our lunch time song as we prepare our sandwiches!

Meanwhile, Anna seems to have accepted it all and, today at least, was more brave than I could ever be, as we walked away form pre-school for the last time, she held her head high and walked down the path saying 'Big School next Mummy'!!!

Anna's Second Baby Cousin Arrives!

Anna has another cousin! After a long wait, Baby Gibson was born on the 2nd July to proud parents, Matthew and Ulriikka.

Unfortunately, it feels like she is a million miles away in Finland and, when a baby is as gorgeous as Baby Gibson is (All Baby Gibson's are gorgeous!!), the desire for a cuddle is even stronger than normal!

Luckily, we have been sent lots of photo's and even saw her alive and kicking for an hour and a half on Skype as Matthew held her up to the camera and got arm ache, just so I could get an amazing view and gaze at her for the whole time!! Anna took one look at the photo's and said 'She is so beautiful'. You could argue that she was being biased, being her cousin and all, but I think Anna is also very honest (Too honest sometimes, especially when commentating on my fashion sense) and Anna obviously has good eye for this type of thing!!!

Whenever we talk about Baby Gibson now, Anna keeps saying 'What's her name? I need a cousin with name" but, as is tradition in Finland, we don't get to know that until the 'naming ceremony'. Fortunately, we don't have much longer to wait as it happens on the 6th August. James is going on his hols to Finland so that he can attend whilst I, unfortunately have to stay here. (Cue more tears and frustration). Anna did have the option of going but James thought that Anna's over-excitement at the prospect seeing her Auntie Ulriikka and her many necklaces (and uncle Matthew of course)/going on an aeroplane/airport luggage trollies to push around/going to Finland/meeting her new cousin/escaping from her mother for a couple of days would be far too much to handle and was a two-parent procedure! Has James got no sense of dangerous adventure??

So, along with Isla, Anna finally has a second cousin and what gorgeous addition to the family she is!! We hope to see lots of her, even if it means becoming frequent flyer's to Finland

Huge congratulations to Matthew and Ulriikka (Not that they will ever have time to read this ever again!)

(I didn't want to put a photograph of Baby Gibson without Matthew and Ulriikka's permission but, trust me, she is stunning!!!)