School – Day 2

Well Kirsten had her second day of school today.  I put sunscreen on her put not on her face and neck and the teachers kept a closer watch on her than last week.  When I picked her up she was a little flushed but that died down within minutes of collecting her and she had no reaction anywhere else so it looks as though her face is just way too sensitive to put anything on it.  I checked what they had eaten for snacks last Thursday and that was apple juice and saltine crackers.  She’s eaten both of those before and definitely no allergic reaction so I’ll continue to keep an eye on her but will also continue to put no sunscreen on her face and keep her out of direct sun.

When I dropped Kirsten off this morning there were a lot more tears.  I know Kirsten cried last week but today so did all the others.  It was day 2 and they knew what to expect.

For those of you who haven’t followed the link at the side of the page to our shutterfly pictures here is one that I took of Kirsten when she lined up outside school last Thursday for her first day.  Yes her face is a little white, but that was the sunscreen.

Yesterday, Monday, she also had her 3rd week at gymnastics class.  When getting her ready at home I’ve realised that if I tell her we are going bouncing she knows exactly what is going on.  It tires her out which was one of the aims and she loves the access to a large gymnasium with all the trampolines, rings, etc.  She slept for 3 hours yesterday after lunch and 3 hours today.  I’m continuing with my sewing and have made a start on my Christmas gifts!  Don’t laugh.  With all our guests starting to arrive I want to make use of the free postage and of course if I am going to post things they also have to be ready by middle of November.  John and I have even been discussing Christmas cards.  Need to work out our annual picture.

Talk to you all soon.

Class Size

I forgot to mention in my previous post about Kirsten’s class.  There are 2 teachers, Mrs Buchanan and Mrs Varley and the class can hold up to 12 students, but right now there are only 7 which is great. I was concerned as Kirsten doesn’t integrate well with children her own age that she would be a shrinking violet, but by starting with a smaller class I think this is going to help.  She’s in the “young 2’s class” which is for children who turned 2 after February 2 and before end of August.  Next year the classes will merge and then will have the option of 2, 3 or 5 days a week and also a choice of 9-12 or 9-2.  Back to this year.  There are balloons put up on the wall showing the children’s birthdays and it looks as though Kirsten is right in the middle of them all.  There also appears to be a pretty much 50/50 split of girls to boys (well I realise this isn’t possible with 7) but there are 4 of one and 3 of the other so again perfect.  If you have any more questions let me know.

First Day of Preschool

So this morning was Kirsten’s first day at preschool.  We had the meet and greet with her teachers on Tuesday morning from 9.30 – 10.30 and were sent home with a project to make what would be her placemat for snack time.  I’ve taken some pictures and will aim to get those posted on the shutterfly in the next few days together with her pictures that I took this morning.  We arrived at school just before 9 and waited with all the other parents.  I signed Kirsten in and left her screaming in the arms of the teacher so I made a run for it and went off delivering Avon products and books.  I walked into the local Curves as I had some deliveries and they asked me where Kirsten was at which point I broke down and cried.  Hey did you expect anything less.  After running those errands I went home and scrubbed the kitchen floor and called the vets to make an appointment for the dogs during next Tuesday morning.  That way I only have to cope with 2 dogs and not 2 dogs plus a toddler.  So I collected Kirsten at noon.  Apparently they had done painting of hands except as I presumed Kirsten had refused.  I’ve tried to do finger painting at home with Kirsten but she doesn’t want to get her hands dirty so she’s always painted mine.  The teacher said that would explain why she asked for Mummy.  When I walked into the room Kirsten was actually dancing with one of the teachers to some music that she had put on. 
 
Kirsten was coated up in suncream before she left this morning as they do have a covered play area outside their room.  Unfortunately when I picked up Kirsten her face (all round the mouth area) was red and sore.  John and I have noticed that this is a problem area and have recently changed her facial suncream to a factor 60 for sensitive skin but this morning that doesn’t appear to have worked even though she wasn’t in the sun.  I don’t know if it is a reaction to the heat (it’s 47C outside plus about 60% humidity at the moment).  I’ve washed her face down with cold water and stripped her down to her nappy plus put some vaseline on so will see how she is when she wakes from her nap later this afternoon.  She is absolutely exhausted so it will also be interesting to see how long she sleeps for.

Just to keep you up-to-date on the modelling.  Kirsten was due to have her pictures taken for the calendar/head shots this saturday but the agency called yesterday morning and have pushed them back a week.  We’ll see how it goes and let you know.

Modelling

Well the big news for this week is that as of this afternoon Kirsten has been signed up for a 2-year non-exclusive contract with The Young Agency which is a modelling/talent agency.  We took Kirsten to an open call audition last Saturday morning.  We had to call and schedule her in but on arrival discovered that there were about a dozen children in that time slot.  We had been asked to just dress the child in a normal dress and keep them looking as they normally would.  We had also been asked to bring a recent digital photo.  I couldn’t decide so took about half a dozen.  The Children’s Director then took a digital photo of each child and then told us all to call back on Monday between 1-2pm which we did.  John and I had only taken Kirsten along on a whim not expecting anything out of it but felt that it was a way of proving that people only told us how beautiful Kirsten was because it is said about all children.  I called back soon after 1pm on Monday and left my name and number and received a call back at around 3.30pm informing me that they would like to sign Kirsten up.

This afternoon Kirsten and I drove down and signed a 2-year non-exclusive contract, which means that should we wish to sign her up with other model/talent agencies we are free to do so (we have no plans to do anything of the sort).  We will be taking Kirsten back again on 8 August for a photo shoot at 9.15am.  The best shot from this shoot will be used as her head shot and also used in a corporate calendar that the agency puts together to use at Christmas for clients/prespective clients.  We will get the opportunity to purchase extra copies.

Not it’s just a matter of seeing if there are any clients out there who also think that Kirsten would be perfect for their advertising/film etc.  We will keep you posted.  We will be more than happy if Kirsten just gets 1 to 2 jobs, but you never know.  As we said we didn’t even expect to get this far.

Kirsten

Well this week the heat is up and has been so hot that trying to explain to Kirsten that she can’t go out as even with Factor 60 on her she still gets patches of bad skin on her face, apart from the fact I have no wish to go out either.  She’s also still suffering from constipation and this week has been a severe week.  She and I have just been across to Target and topped up on laxative for children and also some gripe water.

Kirsten had an extra swim lesson this morning after which she was exhausted but she did not want to go down for a nap.  She kept telling me that she had a soggy nappy but nothing there.  Then I realised that her tummy hurt.  I gave her some gripe water and we cuddled on the rocking chair in her bedroom and I read her the story of Clifford the Big Red Dog going to School whilst the gripe water worked its way through.  She then settled down and slept for 2 hours.  I woke her up as I don’t like her sleeping past 4pm.  I think her constipation maybe another reason why the potty training attempt was a disaster.  I think we need to get the constipation under control before we give the potty training another go.  The question is how as she eats plenty of fruit, veg and yoghurt as it is…well in comparison to other kids.  This week my plan is to at least rid her of this bout.  The other thing today, which as yet she has not noticed but will at bed time, is that all bottles are now gone.  They have been removed from the cupboard so if she asks to see it they won’t be there.  I think the biggest problem will be when I settle her for bed but over the last few weeks she has drunk less and less milk at bedtime which has been the plan.  Today I’ve had her on prune juice anyway.

I’ll keep you updated.