Slightly different type of post today. So, as the title says, I am going to talk about how they are getting on at nursery, with a little intro first.
The twins officially started going to nursery at the beginning of December. Their first official day was Thursday the 4th, although they didn’t start until the 5th. However, they did go quite a few days the previous week as “settling in”. Well, this settling in week was horrendous. The carers created a schedule by which they twins would go on the Monday for an hour, with me there to do some paperwork. Then on Tuesday they would go for two hours, but without me. Wednesday three hours, Thursday four and Friday five. What happened instead was that on Tuesday, after only an hour an a bit there, I got a call from the room leader saying that they had been crying inconsolably from the last half hour and it would be a good idea for me to pick them up. When I got there I was faced with the most heartbreaking scene ever: Both of them were standing right next to each other, leaning against a wall, and crying their hearts out. I was devastated. Wednesday was not any better, and they called me after an hour and a half. Same on Thursday and same on Friday. They were not settling in in the suggested time frame and I was supposed to start working in a few days! We also took them on Tuesday the following week as an extra settling in session and they did much better (3 hours or so). So they were supposed to start on Thursday the 4th, but that day there was a big Christmas do at the nursery and we were told it would be better to not bring the kids, as they would probably be upset with all that would be going on. So we took them on Friday instead, and they did great! Full day, without any issues at all (and I could work the whole day!). To recover the missed Thursday they also attended the following Monday and once again they were completely fine!
So yeah, it was a difficult start. At one point I thought that they were going to take much longer to settle in, as they were only spending two hours max at a time each day at the nursery. But that Friday was miraculous. I must say, though, that Jon drops them off in the morning and I pick them up in the afternoon. They still get upset and cry when daddy leaves them there, but we know that it is a million times better than if I had to drop them off. And Eric cries every time he sees me when I pick them up. Crazy.
Feeding.
They seem to be a tiny bit erratic with the food at the moment. We give them breakfast at home before taking them to nursery and they are eating that well. It normally consists of cereal, fruit and toast (and a bit of milk first thing in the morning, although they are not drinking anywhere as much as they used to. I think we’re going to be able to drop that bottle very soon). At nursery they have a mid morning snack at around 10, which normally is milk and biscuits or milk and fruit, and they tend to eat all of this. They go to play in the garden after that (if the weather is good enough) and they have lunch afterwards. In the reports that I get from the carers, sometimes they only eat a bit… At home they also pick a bit at their lunch sometimes too, so I suppose this is normal. Then they have “tea” at around 4 o’clock. Since we all have dinner together at 6, I asked the carers to only give them a snack. At the end of the day, I also only give them a snack at that time… maybe a snack bar, or a fruit sachet each, but not more than that. The problem I’ve found is that on the days that they go to nursery, they are really hungry by the time we get home (at around 5pm) and they want snacks before dinnertime, which if I give in to, will spoil their dinner. So I think I will ask the carers to maybe give them the full “tea” (I hate calling a meal “tea”) after Christmas and see if that makes a difference.
Sleeping.
Bedtime is being really difficult in the last couple of weeks. First of all, all of a sudden, Elisa seems to hate baths now. She screams blue murder and tries to climb out of the bath everytime we try to get her in. I have no idea whatsoever what has triggered this type of behaviour. I don’t think they have ever loved bathtime, but they got on with it.
On top of this, Eric is consistently waking up every night crying. Well, at least 14 out of 15 times. And we bring him to bed with us and he settles straight away, which makes it very easy, but it’s a terrible habit to get him used to. The problem is that we can’t let him cry it out. One, because he would eventually wake Elisa up, and we would then have to contend with two crying children. And two, because he doesn’t self soothe. When he cries, he cries. It can take him 20-30 minutes to stop crying if he’s really upset and I don’t think that’s fair on anyone. Not fair on him, on his sister or us parents.
At nursery, however, they are sleeping their naps!!! This is a great and pleasant surprise for me, as I was convinced that they wouldn’t sleep. I mean, it takes me so long to get them to nap at home… The times they sleep at nursery vary. I think the shortest nap was about 50 minutes and the longest an hour and a half. But, one of my greatest fears about childcare is now gone!
Development.
Another big great surprise about taking them to nursery is that I thought the problematic child would be Elisa and this is not being the case. Eric is the one that gets upset more often and the one that takes longer to settle in in the mornings when dad drops them off. I really thought Elisa would be the crying and needy one, I mean, she’s always been so shy and dependent on me. Eric has always been the outgoing and independent one, but since they started going to nursery he has been ever so clingy and mummyish. A very big shock there.
The carers at nursery have not mentioned any delays or problems with their development in relation to other children in their class. The age group in that class is around 15 to 24 months, so obviously there will be developmental differences, but I think they are doing ok for their age.
In the last few days Eric has started to properly try to imitate words. We think that in the new year, once they go back to nursery, and they start mingling a bit more with other children, their speech development is really going to take off. At least Eric’s. Elisa is still not saying much. She makes lots of noises but still not identifiable words.
Elisa is an adrenaline junkie. When playing, she loves all the games that involve throwing her in the air, or catching her when she jumps, etc. When we go out for walks, she is the one who likes to break free from my hand and go exploring. When we walk in the bridleway next to our house, she does not keep to the path… she likes to explore everywhere! Eric, however, prefers to walk the path holding my hand. I’ve got a feeling that she’s going to be a bit of a tomboy (*proud mummy moment here*)
Socialising.
At nursery they do get to interact with other children, although the carer was telling me just yesterday that Eric and Elisa always play together in the garden and then mingle with other children during the afternoon activities. This is very interesting, as I have also noticed that at home they have periods when they play together without a problem, however at other times they can’t be in the proximity of each other.
When they are not in nursery we still go out and do some other stuff like soft play on Tuesdays or twins club on Wednesdays (although we haven’t gone to twins club in the last three weeks, due to nursery settling in sessions and illness), but when we are in one of these places they seem to get on with other children and I have never seen them hitting or pushing or attacking another child (Eric has been attacked twice at soft play, though… not nice seeing your kid being punched for no reason!)
Health.
It hasn’t been a good month for health in this household. Big, major, proper colds for everyone. Lots of fevers, snots, chesty coughs… Oh dear. Not nice. But we were warned that it would happen. When kids start nursery they tend to pick up everyone’s bacteria. At least we’re lucky enough that they only go two days a week to nursery. So if they pick up something, then at least they can recover at home and not miss any days (if they were going full time and got ill on a Monday, they would probably miss the next couple of days, that you have already paid for!)
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And this is it for now. It will be Christmas very soon. We’re going to do a Special Spanish Day on Christmas Eve (as it’s traditional in Spain) and then we’ll spend a couple of days with the in-laws. I am hoping that it will snow, as it will make for great photos, although at the same time I don’t want to be trapped in the house!
Have a very merry Christmas everyone, and read you in the new year! xxx
They have had their haircut since this photo. Elisa’s fringe was getting out of hand!
