Megan is now three years and five months old! Megan started going to kindy within a few days of arriving in Auckland. At first it was a bit of a shock to the system - forty-five kids and only three teachers (plus a couple of parental helpers), but they have a super indoor/outdoor set up, and facilities for many different crafts and activities. The children are all encouraged to sign themselves in, and to be really independent. Megan adores going, and seems to be thriving :-).

Megan seems be growing up so fast at the moment - her speech is improving every day, and I discovered the other day that she also knows her right hand from her left. Within three days of arriving in Auckland, she gave up her dummy!! Given how attached she was to it, I was astounded at how readily she gave it up (we lost it in the move, purely by accident - I found it the next day), and the fact she never requested it again. Wow! Well done Megan!

Megan has also started going to KindyRock - a music and movement class, with lots of instrument playing plus some singing and actions - she adores going! She's also started ballet, gymnastics and swimming classes, so her time is pretty well filled. We've also been meeting up with another ex-pat Mum (from Oz) regularly - we're both pretty new here, and it's nice to find someone else in the same boat!

For more on what we've been doing recently, please check out Aidan's five year eight month page.

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In our Dubai hotel room. We had an eight-hour stopover in Dubai, and were given a complimentary hotel room for that time - what a difference a shower and a couple of hours sleep in a proper bed makes!

Asleep on the plane.

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First night in Auckland. The kids were out like lights!

First day at kindy!

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Look at that hair! Megan, in her camp bed, before her new bed arrived.

Bouncing on her new bed! We arrived to a houseful of furniture kindly organised by Keith's parents, sister, and friends. The remaining items we found remarkably easily and cheaply on TradeMe - New Zealand's home-grown equivalent of eBay. This was a TradeMe item.

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Peekaboo - looking out of Mummy and Daddy's bedroom in our new house!

On the beach at Karekare, a black-sand beach to the west of Auckland, famous for being the setting for the movie The Piano.

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Making sandcakes with Daddy at Karekare.

Tree climbing in Cornwall Park.

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Painting at kindy. Megan does lots and lots of painting - she has to wear "kindy clothes" to kindy because the paint doesn't always go where it should, and there are no aprons!

Swinging at Mission Bay, with Rangitoto in the background.

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Panning for gold, at the Gold Stamper Battery, Coromandel Town.

Walking in the Coromandel, at a lookout just south of Coromandel Town. You can see the Hunua Ranges (southern border of Auckland) in the distance, across the Firth of Thames.

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Cucumber anyone? Picnic lunch on a beach by the side of the road, in the Coromandel Peninsula.

Sanding our new television stand. We picked up this rather nice unit in the inorganic collection, sanded it and painted it with black gloss - the end result was rather nice :-) .

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