Tooth number 3

Tooth number 3 hanging by a thread

Tooth number three kept us busy until half past nine last night.
She did not want anyone touching it, but simultaneously asking us to help her with the tooth...
There was a lot of crying, some screaming, and lots of tissues used trying to pull the teeth by herself!

In the end she trusted her Dad to pull it with a piece of floss!

She is very proud about this gap today!

She was also surprised today that the Tooth Mouse used her own ribbon to tie around the message.

But luckily we did not have the same adventures with the Tooth Mouse than we did with tooth number two. The tooth was put in a slipper next to the bed, and the money and the message were neatly tucked into it this morning!

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It was a busy weekend, and Little Miss had her end-of-year gymnastic championships, two parties, and a family gathering that left all of us exhausted. (I will try to put up the blog posts this week!)

Masterchef in the making?

Masterchefs preparing the fish

Little Miss always tells us that her Dad is a Masterchef, and why don't he also go on the Masterchef series?
It does not help disagreeing with her about how good one should be...
(Not that her Dad is not very good!!)

We had a less busy weekend this past weekend, and Little Miss could help her Dad with his food preparations, which she was happy to do!

We had buckets of rain, but it did not deter us in doing one of our favourite activities: Braai and braai (barbecuing). South Africans always find a reason (or no reason at all) to braai!
And never ever a pattie...

We also had load shedding on Saturday and Sunday evening! (Who did not?)
But there is nothing like candle light and a little bit of Seinfeld to have made it worth the while!
Thanks, Eskom!

We are now counting the sleeps to

• the holidays, 
• Little Miss' play-play party at school, 
• Little Miss' birthday and 
• Christmas, of course! 

Happy times!

Grade R graduation and future plans!

Little Miss had her graduation ceremony and end-of-year concert last night.

They all had to say what they want to become one day.
It was a toss-up between a veterinarian, a dentist or a singer, but she said that we would have to wait to hear...

We were very surprised indeed!
She wants to be a teacher one day!
(Guess what the best friend wants to be? A teacher also!)

I was very surprised that Little Miss  could go and stand on stage, and do her thing. (She said before the time that she was a bit shy, and I was worried that she would freeze... )

She did her thing on stage!




After the graduation, the ugly ducklings did a great job shaking on "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood and The Destroyers, one of the scenes from the "Fairy tale" concert.

Photo by Dad

Grade R, mostly done and dusted!

Wordless Wednesday #248 - Afternoon walk with the dogs

Last time at Horrorwood

This was our last time at Horrorwood at Brightwater Commons, as the parking is a terrible nightmare. It takes ages to get in, and ages to get out.

But we still had some fun, and because we had booked at one of our favourite restaurants, it made it worth the while.

Little Miss was solely responsible for her outfit. 

No, not a princess or fairy for her! (We tried!)

A zombie with spiders. (?)

Trick or sweets! Lots of sweets!

Plate throwing is a definite highlight at Babylon Again.

And finally the slides...

Adventures with a tooth mouse

I don't know why we are being serviced by the tooth mouse and not the tooth fairy...
But somewhere a decision got us stuck with the tooth mouse, and apparently we can't have the tooth fairy coming to get the teeth now! (Says Little Missy!)

Scene 1:

The bottom tooth, Tooth number two,  has been loose for quite a while, and every now and again it was a whole upheaval when she had bitten on something. But we could not get near enough to it to pull it.
On Saturday the final straw was when there was blood. Dad tried to pull the tooth with tooth floss, but could not get in there for long enough to take it out. Mom was summoned as a last resort. The tooth came loose without even pulling on it! It was a huge relief!

Scene 2:

The tooth was put in a bag, and put underneath her cushion in her bed. I don't know why we did not tell her to put it in a shoe? There is an ad going around now about a little girl with a teeth underneath her cushion, but she only got a coupon the next day.  That must have influenced Little Miss?

Scene 3:

On Saturday afternoon while tidying up I discovered that the ants are marching to Little Miss's bed, and on closer inspection I found a dead moth underneath her cushion. I had to vacuum everything.
As I was placing the bag with teeth back underneath her cushion, I could not see the tooth and was starting to panic. But it was still there! It is just so VERY small!

Scene 4:

It was a very musical-beds kind of night, with Dad and me swapping places in Little Miss' bed. She was keeping on checking the tooth. I got out of her bed just before six. I had managed to secure the tooth and gave it to Dad. Dad was on his way to sort the tooth mouse, when Little Miss woke up. She was very upset that the tooth was gone and there was no money.

I managed to convince her that it is still very early and that we must give it some time...

In the meantime Dad had to go and search for the tooth mouse which might have been spooked. He nearly fell down the stairs when the tooth mouse ran past him, and left some coins and a little note on the stairs.

Dad could take the coins and note to Little Miss. She was much impressed with the R9 ($0.82) in coins, and immediately saved it for her trampoline that she wants in the garden. (Still don't know where we are going to put it?)

We later on found another note by the tooth mouse. (There was a bit of a misunderstanding, and Big Sister also did her part.)
It would have made it a lot easier...

Next time, we are definitely putting it in the shoe!


Do you have special holder for the tooth, or where do you put it?

Wordless Wednesday #246 - Tooth number two

"You spoil me too much!"

Little Hoot: You spoil me too much!

Two months before she turns 6!

It has been a strange year! The year of Grade R that she could not wait for, and that turned into a bit of a bummer... Luckily the meeting with the teacher helped considerably!

It seems that Little Missy is becoming into her own right now. I suspect this will be the pattern for each year. (Maybe not!) Because she is younger, it is only at the end of the year that everything falls into place?

I have also been toying with the idea that she is also her own person, doing her own things at her own opportune time!
Because we try to measure them and place them in boxes (talking about school readiness tests), it should not define them. And I am not going to!

We have spoken with her about going to Grade One next year, and told her about doing Grade R again. She is in agreement (as far as a five year old is able to) that she wants to continue to Grade One.

She got the most brilliant report card last week! Enough said!
She is doing very well!

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They had their end of year ballet concert and certificate ceremony. It was as cute as always. She still wants to continue next year, and I think it is good for them to get the basics of dancing. We will see how far it goes! (I don't have a preference!)

Ballet is tiring

Ballerina

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The only thing that Little Missy is worried about now is her birthday party.
All the "planning" and the "talking" finally had to come to fruition! We could not forever promise an airy fairy party because she has her birthday in December and all her friends are on leave. We have made a booking end of November and invited a few friends.
Huge excitement in her life!

Now it is only the party packs for school that needs to be sorted! (Yes, we still need to do that as well?!)
You do not get anything past a nearly six year old girl!

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I gave Little Missy a Happy Meal toy yesterday, because I had ordered a McD Happy Meal just so she could get a toy.
The response: "We spoil her too much!"

Okay...

Wordless Wednesday #245 - Conquering the "Beast"

I am going to miss them while I am in Cape Town

I am going to a conference in the Cape on Saturday! I can't wait!
We do not get these opportunities very often, and I am really feeling very VERY lucky!

I am passionate about attending conferences, and I love Cape Town.
We definitely don't go there as much as I would like. (Cape Town is on my bucket list - anything and anywhere that's Cape Town).

But I don't like leaving Little Missy and the eldest behind. (The ambivalence of being a working mother.)
I know that Hubby will be there to handle it, and he will do it very good! He also supports me all the way! (Thanks Hubby)
The eldest will be shadowing as well as part of her practicals, and an aunt will cover it! (Thanks to family!)

I am going to miss them!

Hair selfie - Sit still, Mom!

Hair selfie  with a very serious looking
Little Miss

Warning: Prepared to be spammed by Cape Town photos!

Little Hoots of the week

Gr R speech practise

Speech preps

The preschooler decided on Sunday evening to practise a random topic for speech for the next day at school.
It is in Afrikaans about the earth, dinosaurs, meteorites and humans.
They are allowed to do a speech any time they feel like it! Mom just needs to send an IM to the teacher in the morning.


I would never have done this when I was her age. Even much older!


One more thing that makes me think she is definitely ready for school next year!


Related post:

- Two wheels' milestone and a report card

School readiness

‎
We are getting the results of the tests back this afternoon. It really is a difficult decision. 

Little Missy was born in December, and we want to make sure!

I must mention that after this past weekend at the Voortrekker camp, I am less worried. She did her own thing, and could cope without us!

She even instructed us to leave her!

I don't see how we would be able to keep her for another year in Grade R?

Wednesday Words - some random Little Hoots #littlehoots

I have been doing Wordless Wednesdays for years!

Today is a good day as ever to break that tradition...

I want to share these Little Hoots for future giggles:

Pointing to a lady in the change rooms at the gym

Favourite saying of Little Missy when she is "sharing"
(very reluctantly)

Little Missy is fascinated with the concept of graveyards...

Two wheels' milestone and a report card

Little Missy was adamant the previous weekend that her dad must take off the extra two wheels on her bicycle. She is ready for the two wheels!

Her dad had to hold onto her for the first two days, but on day two she had mastered going forward on her own.

First time without the extra wheels!

Making new friends on her bike

Blurry, but there she goes!

Little Missy is five and a half now, and although I don't do the monthly updates any more (who's putting on the brakes now?), we are loving her energy at the moment.
(And getting tired by just watching her.)

She is forever doing cart wheels and hand stands and head stands. And getting better and better at it! She can spin a hula hoop for a very long time!

Little Missy got a very good report card from the school. The teacher is happy with her, and says that she is working hard when she is supposed to be working hard, and enjoy playing with all the children in her class. She can't think of any reason why she should not be able to continue to Grade One next year!

We are extremely relieved after we found Grade R to be a bit of a bummer in the beginning of this year! Little Missy loves her teacher and her class, and misses them when it's not school. With the midweek break she was counting the days to going back to school again.

We even had two mornings in the past month  where Little Missy announced at 6 am that she wanted to do a speech that day and I had to notify the teacher. It is something they are encouraged to do, but not enforced. She grabbed paper and pencils and was off in the car while vigorously sketching on a tray. (Hope it is not a peak into her future studying methods?) Apparently the teacher says it went very well! We can't get her to do the speeches for us as well...

And of course, her teacher knows best and e-v-e-r-y thing, and her commands are obeyed to the letter. If I smuggle in a little sweet in her lunch box (bad mother!), it gets voluntarily dumped in the dustbin! "No sweets in my lunch box, Mom!"

This is a very interesting age!

Mountain climber

Walking down to Bell Park Dam, and back up again. 

It went so well on the first day last week on our Midweek break, that we decided to try the walk from Monk's Cowl to the waterfall on the way to the Sphinx.  

The promise of play at the waterfall helped to keep us moving. The waterfall seemed to be just around the next corner, and the next corner...

We got there, and Little Missy walked there all on her own! (We are impressed!)

Icy cold water

We cannot get enough photos of these mountains.
We did climb Sterkhorn a few years ago!

Ice-cream for a mountain climber

She did tell me afterwards that she would only consider climbing at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens the next time...

This was a bit hard!

Wordless Wednesday #231 - Head stand

A dad's heart got broken this morning

Dad is the one who drops Little Missy off at school in the mornings.

He is used to carrying her to the class, and sometimes even having to put her in the arms of a teacher. She can be very clingy, especially when she is still sleepy...

This morning she announced just before the school building that her dad must put her down and leave her there.
When her dad protested and told her that the class will still be locked, she told him not to worry and that she will wait in front of the class.
She walked away with her bag on her back, and not looking back once...

Hubby phoned me and told me that his heart was broken!
It happened so unexpectedly!

Mammarazzi getting the wing treatment at Rio 2

This is what I get when I ask to take a photo...

We went to see Rio 2 on Sunday at the cinemas. Dad and I had a quick nap while the movie was on.
It does not reflect badly on the movie, because Little Missy LOVED it!

Little Missy decided that she had to dress properly for the movie, and that explains the wings!
It makes totally sense, because it is a movie about birds and birds.

You can definitely take the kids to go and see this one. We could not find a cinema showing it in 3D, because I am sure it would have been even more awesome.

Brave girl's tooth fixed

Dad's hand on foot

It was an anxious week before the time. We were counting the days, but not because of excitement, but because of trepidation...

Little Missy was extremely scared of having her tooth fixed. We got a small calming pill to give her an hour before the time. And told her that she would be sleepy and not feel a thing. (Thumbs crossed)
She told us time and time again that she was scared, and that she did not want to go. It took a lot of convincing. I don't like them having to get anaesthesia for only one tooth!

I was so glad we did! Dentist Chantelle fixed her tooth without an injection. Little Missy was a lot calmer when the pill kicked in, but kept on telling us that she is not sleeping!

The dentist recommended ice-cream as reward. (Strange, but true!)

And she got a new Bratz doll that we promised.

I am very proud of Little Missy for being brave and not freaking out, although she felt like it!

It is a huge milestone since her first visit to the dentist where the dentist could only do a quick peek in her mouth until the fourth time where she finally had a proper check-up!