Bye 2011

2011 whizzed by in a blur. Much of my life is a blur of sleeplessness, sickness and screaming kids. Granted the screaming kids don't scream as much now but when they do, it does feel like it will never stop. But it has been a good year and I have much to be thankful for. I am going to come up with 11 things for 2011.

1. The children and Packrat got sick, much less.

I spend a fortune on vitamins for them and make sure they take their vitamin concoction without fail, every morning. Even Muffin has started the regimen. I complain about how much it costs but Packrat assures me that their getting sick would cost much more. He too, seems to be much less ill, for which I am thankful for. I shove vitamins down his throat too. Without me, he would forget. Whatever works!

2. I finally gathered up the guts to resign.

Since the birth of the twins, I've been humming and hawing. I've been on No Pay Leave because I'm entitled to it. But I've finally taken a deep breath, shut my eyes and said "I'm resigning... despite your holding my bonuses!" Well, I didn't say the latter out loud but I did think it.

3. Muffin is a big boy now.

The little one holds his own against his siblings. He fights with them, he laughs with them, he cuddles them and kisses them. In short, he loves them and he has learnt to be fearless with them around. He climbs, jumps and runs like a 4 1/2 year old because of them. As a result, he is growing up far too quickly.

4. We went on 2 holidays with the children.

One short one in June to Phuket where we survived with all 3 kids and no help and the seriously long extended one that we just came home from. Shared experiences and loads of memories that the twins still bring up. The ship is their favourite topic of conversation. Of course, now they think America is round the corner and we can pop by anytime we want.

5. New job
Packrat started a new job and is doing wonderfully. He loves what he does and hopefully he grows further this year.

6. Exercising together.
Ever since I got a pair of running shoes for my birthday, I've been trying to run with Packrat. We also did some pilates together and realised how much we missed exercising together. Perhaps more to look forward to this year.

7. The children have a routine.
I'm such a stickler for routine. When we were on holiday, at the back of my mind, I was stressed because all semblances of routine were thrown out the window. But generally, they now have some idea of what to expect in the day and it makes things easier. Of course, there are times when they try to go against the routine and incur the wrath of a pissed off mom.

8. Enrichment classes loom
Not so much because we feel the need to send them for extra stuff, although Chinese was something both Packrat and I decided was necessary, we have started the twins on doing other stuff apart from going to school. Having said that, much of it is offered by school and blissfully for us, extends their school day. So our home is filled with their artwork, Jordan puts on an entirely pink get-up on Saturday for ballet and all 3 kids embrace their inner water baby by splashing around the pool (Muffin) and learning proper strokes (the older two). It hasn't made them supremely clever or anything but it has exposed them and given them a great deal more confidence and outlets of expression.

9. Jordan learns to draw
She draws on anything, parking coupons, serviettes, slips of paper, cardboard and glass. Anything that will allow ink to show through. Her favourite objects to draw are mermaids and princesses, gardens, trees and flowers. Her latest was to replicate a fish tank we got a Christmas and she did a pretty darn good job of it. The most impressive, which I wish we kept, was the replica of a scene from a performance we saw on the ship. It had people flying around and dancing and she managed to capture the essence of all of it.

10. Evan learns to read.
Both of them are picking up the rudiments of reading and blending words. While Jordan can draw, Evan can read. Both in English and Chinese, he picks up fast and has a marvellous memory that helps him along. I tell them I cannot wait for the day that they can read me a story.

11. Muffin can speak.
I constantly fear, hearing parents around me talk about slow speech development and learning disabilities, that my children will encounter the same things. Muffin has picked up words much later than his siblings. I do however know that it is because most of his cognitive capacity was geared toward him learning to jump, climb and run like a 4 year old. But he has in the recent months picked up a slew of words so that he can make himself understood and also gives us insight into what goes on in that funny head of his. "Cow....moooo.... Duck.... quack quack... Chicken... UHM!"

















Hopefully 2012 will top this and at the end of this year I have more than 12 things I can talk about.

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