Winter does not work well with SPD

Getting out of the house in the mornings is already a battle. We are all night owls and early mornings does not work well in our family. Little Miss sleeps to 9 am when left to her own devices. But if we don't leave early in the mornings, we get stuck in traffic, and... (fill in the dots!)

But winter is just so much worse. Little Miss  struggles with everything! *SPD does not work well in winter!

- It's cold. She can't get up! Her dad helps her get into a gown and slippers.
- She sits in front of the heater, struggling to put on a next layer of clothing.
- The winter clothes are all uncomfortable. From the vests to the socks and the shoes! We know why it is a fight to get her to put on her shoes, but it makes it soo difficult! It takes ages for her to get all her clothes on that it feels somewhat comfortable. And we have to convince her about each layer of extra clothing.
- Saying it is going to be cold does not help!

We are late each morning!
Sorry, Little Miss! Winter does not work on you!

We try our utmost to be patient and to help you with the clothes. We are not always succeeding and sorry for not always being patient!

It helps to be aware of it!


How do you help your little one with SPD getting dressed with all the layers of clothing?

*Sensory processing disorder

My summer list

We went straight into summer this year, and of course it feels like everything is on fast forward by now...
Heather of One Step at a Time tagged me a while ago with this one.

1. What is your favourite thing about Summer?

The heat and the early sun and green grass and sitting outside and spending time outdoors... I love Summer!! It is my favourite season!

 2. Do you have a favourite Summer drink?

I have one favourite drink: Red Wine. In summer with a cube of ice!

Yes, this! #redwine #capetown #shiraz #Cloof

A photo posted by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Oct 10, 2014 at 11:33am PDT

3. Is there a location you like to go to each Summer?
Any place that's not home, but I prefer the beach!

Next time I am doing this, Cape Town! @ Garden Court De Waal pic.twitter.com/gA8b123pVO
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) October 9, 2014

4. Is there a location you like to go to each Summer?
No, sometimes we go to the bush veld, and sometimes to the coast.
And sometimes we go camping. It does not matter!

5. Dresses or skirts?
Pants

6. Sandals or ballet pumps!
Sandals

7. Do you prefer to wear your hair up or down for Summer?
Always down

8. Deep smoky eyes or bold lips?
No, light make-up on both my eyes and lips.

9. Favourite perfume for Summer?
The perfume I have on my dressing table. It is different each time I get a new one!

10. Last but not least, favourite music for Summer?

It is an old song, but it has been remixed. Love this!




Please feel free to tag along!

How to celebrate the start of Spring?

The best time of the year has arrived!

It's Spring!

I love how Spring has the ability to rejuvenate.

It is definitely my favourite time of the year!
I want to start doing things again.
I want to clean out!
I want to start again: With healthy lifestyle choices, and professional development opportunities, and friendships and relationships.

This is the time!!

The Voortrekkers had a Spring Fashion Parade yesterday to start of the new season.
It was so much fun!

Spring Flower Girl being created

Spring Flower Girl

Spring Flower Girl (Angel?)

"Suikerbekkies" team
Little Missy on the right who forgot her shoes at school 

The time of the year when shoes are not such an issue any more...
(Big "sigh of relief!")

Afrikaans apps by Cleverkiddo: Seisoene and Olke Bolke

I was alerted by Carien van Zyl, the developer of  the Cleverkiddo series apps for preschoolers, about it's existence on my blog post about Afrikaans on the iPad.

As I love hearing about new Afrikaans apps for our children, I downloaded it and Little Missy took it for the test-drive.

Little Missy busy with the Seisoene app in the
Summer dress-up section 

The Cleverkiddo series consists of  the Seisoene and the Olke Bolke apps.
They are both R21.99 (2.08 USD) on iTunes, which is not expensive at all, and luckily I have an iTunes gift voucher that comes in very handy.

Seisoene

Seisoene (print screen)

The "Seisoene" (Seasons) app addresses the four seasons of the year, with each season having four activities: Puzzles, forms, counting and dress-up.
The dress-up sections are especially cute since it  helps the children to identify which clothes comes with which season.

The app is also available in English: Seasons by Cleverkiddo
                                 AND      in French:  Saisons par Cleverkiddo


Olke-Bolke

Olke Bolke (print screen)

The "Olke Bolke" app is an app with 6 Afrikaans songs by Elizabeth Fourie:

* Lekker om te Lees
* Tekkies
* Olke Bolke
* Feetjies in die Reën
* Hondemaatjie
* Haasbek

What makes it interactive is that there are three musical instruments available for each song that the child can shake to add to the music.

"Haasbek" (tooth missing) song by Elizabeth Fourie
(screen print)

This will keep her busy for a while.

Please let me know of any other Afrikaans iPad apps?


Related posts:

- Afrikaans op die iPad

- An Afrikaans app on the iPad: Die Drie Varkies

- What makes pirates being afraid? - another Afrikaans app for the iPad

Summertime

How wonderful to enjoy the glorious sunshine. Our garden is growing and it is even showing up with lovely flowers, although not with much help from our side. (Sigh) We have been neglecting it since I got pregnant the first time in October 2007. The bump and tiredness first got in the way, and now Mieka is getting/demanding all the attention. When I walk past the umbrella thorn tree in the corner in our garden, it is with a sense of sweet remembrance. We bought the tree a day after we discovered that the baby did not grow, and I miscarried. I still think it was a boy. It was sad and traumatic at the time. But now we have Mieka, our beautiful baby girl of 8 months, and we are feeling very fortunate. Strange how things begin and end, and sometimes the endings feel too hard to handle. But after a while we realize we are laughing and smiling again. It was winter and now it is summer again… Thank you, Universe!