There's only two weeks left of the year left, so I thought it was time I wrote a little post about Lilah's experience of starting school. I shared a similar post for Indiana and Parker when they started school, so of course I had to do the same for when Lilah started this year too. It really is surreal that my littlest baby is now in reception and now at home with me all day. But she's absolutely thriving and loving school already!

When Lilah started preschool she really struggled to settle, so it was a big worry of mine that the same would happen with school. But I think most of the worry with preschool was down to a mixture of lockdowns, and struggling to separate from me. So with that now mostly behind us, she really has settled in to school life wonderfully.

Every morning she jumps in to my bed for a cuddle, and then tells me all about her day ahead. Who her friends are, what she's learning, and of course how excited she is for me to come pick her up at the end of the day - she's still my baby girl after all! 

It does feel extra bittersweet this time around though. Lilah is my last baby, and so now she's at school every day too, I feel like I've lost a little part of me. She really was my favourite little shopping and coffee date companion. But I'm so excited to see her blossom and grow over her school journey. She's already got a lovely little group of friends, and although this is my third time around, it's still amazing me how quickly they learn to read and write!

At the end of last month we had her first parents evening, and from the sounds of things she's doing really well, and it's clear she's going to absolutely thrive at school. We have her first Nativity to look forward to next week (she's a shepherd with the iconic line "I'm bored"),  and then we're already a whole term completed of her reception year. Time really does fly when you're having fun doesn't it?

An Interview with my Three Year Old | Lilah at 3 1/2!

After asking the big two this set of questions for the last few years, last year was the first time I got Lilah involved too (you can read her answers at 2 here). She's now 3 1/2 and full of funny phrases and witty remarks, so I know these answers are going to get even better over the years. Here's her answers for this year at 3...

What’s the best thing about being 3?

I liked doing stuff on my birthday

What makes you laugh? 

When you tickle me like that

Who do you love, and why?

I love Parker because I love him!

What’s your favourite book?

Peppa Pig books

What's your favourite food?

Spaghetti!

What's your favourite song?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

What's your favourite outfit?

Dresses and my new tutu (We struggle to get her in much else!)

What's your favourite TV programme? 

YouTube Kids and Teen Titans (she watches the same strange videos as Indie!)

What's your favourite toy? 

Teddy with a dress when we went to Peppa Pig World

What's your favourite thing to do?

Playing with babies

Lilah at 3 Years Old

I haven't written an update on our little Lilah Bear since she was 2 years old, and since we celebrated her third birthday last month, I think it's about time I did! Of course Lilah's 3rd birthday was a much lower-key affair this year due to lockdown, but we still managed to celebrate her special day with a mermaid themed party at home as a family of 5. It was so lovely to see how excited she was for her big day, although she's still not happy she has to wait another whole year for it to be her birthday again!

Lilah has grown and changed so much over the last year. She's super tall now, with beautiful blonde curls and bright blue eyes. I always have comments on her age as people don't believe she's only 3 - it's strange for me too, as both Indie and Parker have always been so short for their ages. She has been wearing 3-4 clothing for a long time now and even some of those bits are on the shorter side. It's been SO lovely to see her in lots of Indie's old bits of clothing though, it brings back all the memories. She's potty trained during the day, and still naps most days too.

In September Lilah started preschool a couple of mornings a week. We originally had a shaky start with lots of tears and trouble separating, but after a few weeks she was running in and absolutely loving her mornings. I love seeing all her little creations and hearing about her day; it sounds like she has lots of little friends already.

Of course a big part of the last year was overshadowed by Covid and all of the restrictions that followed. Thankfully Lilah has only really seen the positives of this though. Having all of us together at home, being able to play with her siblings every day, lots of fun adventures close to home and making those special occasions extra special. Of course she has missed seeing family, but that's why I am so thankful she started preschool and was able to still play with friends and her teachers there.

Development wise Lilah has come on in leaps and bounds. She can count up to 20 and beyond (although just like Indie and Parker did, she struggles with 16), she loves to jump and dance and sing, and she's amazing on her scooter too. You could definitely describe Lilah as a girly girl - obsessed with pink, princesses, dressing up and jewellery... it's a struggle to even get trousers on her most days, it's dresses only!

Lilah loves PlayDoh, Frozen, dressing up, dancing, colouring, scooting on her Micro Scooter, Youtube Kids (Diana Show), and playing small world / role play games. She's still very much obsessed with her dummy and muzzy too, something we really need to work on removing soon (the dummy that is). Lilah doesn't like being left out - if Indie and Parker are doing it then so can she, sharing and still isn't so keen on certain vegetables.

In a few weeks time Lilah will start going to preschool for longer hours and staying for lunch. She's so excited and I am too, but I'm also really sad about it at the same time. I feel like I've missed out on so much time just the two of us! But I know she's ready for this next step, she's definitely not our baby anymore.

An Interview with my Two Year Old | Lilah at 2 1/2

I have been asking Indiana and Parker this same set of questions for the last few years now, but of course Lilah has always been too young to understand. But now she's getting closer to 3, I thought it was time to get her involved too! I love seeing how their answers change over the years, and I'm sure Lilah will come out with some cracking ones.

What’s the best thing about being 2?

Being a big girl

What makes you laugh? 

My bag

Who do you love, and why?

Edie

What’s your favourite book?

Baby book

What's your favourite food?

Gingerbread man

What's your favourite song?

Elsa songs (Frozen)

What's your favourite outfit?

My boots

What's your favourite TV programme? 

Peppa Pig

What's your favourite toy? 

My baby

What's your favourite thing to do?

Play with my Peppa phone

Lilah's #MealTimeMilestones with doddl Cutlery

Written in collaboration with doddl.

If you're a parent, then you'll know first hand the mess that comes with weaning your baby. We followed the baby led weaning approach with all three children, so of course the mess we experienced was on a whole other level! But as your child grows and develops things do get that little bit easier, especially when you start introducing cutlery in to mix.

Lilah is two so has been using cutlery for a little while now, but she still has a little way to go with mastering her knife and fork skills. So when we were invited by doddl to have a go at their #MealTimeMilestones challenge, I thought it would be perfect for us - especially as we have plenty of time together at home at the moment, to practice and develop her skills.

A few weeks ago we were sent the pink doddl cutlery set (also available in blue and green) and the #MealTimeMilestones checklist and we started the challenge! doddl products have been specially designed to help children eat independently from day one and beyond. The handles of the knife and spoon have been designed to fit perfectly in your child's hand, and the knife has an ergonomic handle to support the hand and wrist (and to make it easy to push down onto food). Lilah instantly recognised the doddl cutlery as hers and now only refers to it as 'Lilah's fork' - so sweet!

There are 10 steps in the #MealTimeMilestones checklist, from the simple task of holding the cutlery successfully, to the much tricker 'final frontier' of using the knife and fork together to eat successfully.  We have successfully ticked up to number 8 on the checklist over the last few weeks, and it's been so fun to watch Lilah learn and explore. It's worth noting that the checkpoints are aimed at an age range of 12months+, but all children develop differently, so don't worry if your child doesn't do them all or in a different order.

Lilah holds her cutlery confidently and loves scooping up her food such as cereal, spaghetti and of course making sure she's got every last drop of milk left in the bottom of her bowl - number 5 is definitely ticked off,although we do still have some spillages.. oops! She loves to stab her fork into her food to see what she's picked up before adding some dip dip and quickly gobbling it down too.

Before we were set the challenge by doddl we hadn't introduced a knife to Lilah, so this was probably the most exciting part for us. She was a little unsure at first - it is a big step after all - but after a few tries she successfully cut through some of her dinner! She was so proud of her achievement and I think it really gave her some confidence to try again and again. Of course we still have a long way to go (my eldest is 6 and still struggles with this step!), but I love that this challenge has given us the push to introduce a knife at this stage.

I'm really excited to keep following the steps with Lilah, to help her progress with her skills. Cutlery skills take time and practice to develop, but with the help of our new tools it really can be a doddle. Pun intended!

Have you tried the #MealTimeMilestones checklist with your little one? Why not give it a go!

Lilah at 2 Years Old

The last time I shared an update on Lilah she was 18 months old and just blossoming into a toddler. She's now a few months into her second year, and my goodness has she grown and developed so much since then. She's definitely a fully fledged toddler now - and boy do we know it!

We had her two-year review a few weeks ago where we managed to get updated weight and height measurements. She is roughly 12.7kg (around 27lbs) and 86.5cm tall, putting her on the 50th percentile for both. She's always been little miss average so it's good to know she'll still following that curve. She's still fitting into a few size 1 1/2 - 2 years clothing, but we've mostly switched over 2 - 3 years (although it is still a bit big at the moment), and wearing size 6f shoes. We've nearly finished teething forever as she now has nearly all of her teeth through.. hooray!

In regards to the review she's doing absolutely amazingly. Excelling in nearly every aspect, and developing exactly how she should. Lilah can count to 10 (and knows a few more too), jumps with both feet off the ground, climbs everywhere and everything, and still thinks she can do whatever the older two are doing. I love that she's so independent with her play but still enjoys the company of other little ones - although as with most 2 year olds we are struggling with sharing. Her speech is still surprising me daily too. She can have conversations now and is talking in full sentences a lot of the time. Toddlers really are amazing!

Her routine is still very similar to 6 months ago, except we have stopped her morning beaker of milk and her nap is usually a little shorter. We get out nearly every morning, whether it's to a playgroup, the park or for a hot chocolate and cake (she loves a trip to the coffee shop!), and then use our afternoons for relaxing and naps. She's still in her cot for now as she's sleeping so well, but I think we may start thinking about making the switch to a bed in the next few months. We're also planning on potty training very soon too as she's giving us all of the signs that she's ready.

Lilah loves to sing and dance, do puzzles, watch Peppa and Butterbean's Cafe, dress up, read books, playing babies, gingerbread men (at the coffee shop with mummy), playgroup, her big brother and sister, and her muzzie and dummy. She dislikes a lot of vegetables, going in the buggy when she wants to walk, brushing her teeth, sharing her toys, and getting told off (for copying her mischievous brother!).

I absolutely love this age as they really do grow and change every single day. Yes the tantrums may be strong and she's getting cheekier by the minute, but I really wish I could keep her this age forever. Stop growing so fast my little Lilah Bear!

The Siblings Project | December 2019

Another year of Siblings Project complete, and therefore another 12 snapshots of my three little ones captured. I think the biggest change this year has definitely come from Lilah, she has grown from a baby to a toddler right before our eyes! And although the change in the older two is a little more subtle, I know that they are both so much more grown up compared to how they were in January.

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A post shared by Emily (@emilyandindiana) on Dec 5, 2019 at 11:02am PST

Despite having so many festive activities and outings in December, I actually hardly got my camera out at all. There's just been so much going on that I've been more 'in the moment' than behind the camera. Throw in everyone (apart from a very lucky Indiana) coming down with flu, it's made taking this month's pictures a little trickier too. These ones aren't the best quality or full of cheesy smiles, but I love them all the same. My three festive pj wearing crazies!

And of course now that another year of Siblings Project is over, I thought I'd share my favourite photos from the last 12 months. As I mentioned previously I don't think I'll be joining in every month next year, but definitely follow me on Instagram to watch these three grow with my #threelittlepeachicks hashtag!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

The Siblings Project | November 2019

I absolutely love the photos we got of our three little Peachicks for this month's Siblings Project post. They are so natural and joyous - and were actually a breeze to capture for once too! Taken on one of our many woodland walks this month, I love that they really capture the beauty of Autumn too.

It's crazy to look back on November's Siblings Project post from last year, as they have all grown so so much since then. Lilah was just a little dot in her buggy unable to walk, and now she's able to run alongside the big two. Parker is now grown up and at school (although still able to fit into that puddle suit). And Indiana is just about to turn 6, smashing school, with almost 3 lost teeth and nearly as tall as me! The three of them are such a team now, playing and exploring together, and of course bickering between the three of them constantly too.

I have contemplated stopping sharing these Siblings Project posts on my blog from next year. With the three of them growing up (and running off in three different directions), it's becoming so much harder to take the photo, let alone find the time to sit and write up the post. Of course I will keep posting regular photos of them over on my Instagram, but I think I'll keep these posts to maybe a round up throughout the year instead.

Of course I will complete this year of photos, especially as December is such an exciting month with lots to capture! Indiana turns 6 in just over a week, we have all of the Christmas celebrations and then it's not long until little Lilah turns 2 either. I absolutely love this time of year, and I cannot wait to enjoy (nearly) every moment with this little trio of mine.

The Siblings Project | October 2019

I'm not quite sure where those weeks went between my last Siblings Project post and now... the year is absolutely flying! We took these pictures while out of a little woodland walk Sunday afternoon (when the rain eventually stopped for longer than 5 minutes), and they instantly reminded me of these ones from a few years ago. It's crazy to see how much Indiana and Parker have grown since then.. and that they now have an almost 2 year old little sister!

We've had another relatively quiet month, with the weeks being taken up by school and clubs still. But it's just a week until half term, and I'm not sure who is more excited? I can really tell Parker is ready for the end of term now. He is learning so much at the moment, so he's absolutely exhausted by the time 3pm comes around. Indie has had a really busy term with more structured learning and work to do, so I think she'll really enjoy a little break (although she loves school, so I'm sure she'll be raring to go back!).

Jack is off for half term week, so we have lots of exciting halloween themed activities and days out planned. I just have everything crossed that the rain stays away for at least a few days, as it's really dampening our spirits at the moment!

The Siblings Project | September 2019

 September has been a month of change in the Peacock household. After the long summer holidays Indiana went back to school, skipping into year one to see all of her friends and new teacher. Parker started his very own school journey, and has actually just completed his first full week! He's absolutely loving it (so far), although we're definitely suffering with the after school crankiness and he's ridiculously tired already. Help!

And even though Lilah hasn't got any big milestones just yet, it's the first time it's going to be just me and her for most of the week. I'm already loving having quality time with her, and have promised to go to at least one group with her a week. An idea that probably sounds simple, but actually seems a little scary for me, and I've never really done any with them before!

With the three of them being apart most of the day now. it is so lovely to see them all together in the evenings. Lilah already understands that we have to go and get the big two in the afternoons, and will shout 'Parker! Nana!' until we go out the door - it's unbelievably cute. Although saying that, the bickering and squabbling hasn't really stopped at all. So they can't miss each other that much!