When did that happen?

Contrary to appearances, things have really eased up over the last six months, at least insofar as my day to day life with the kids is concerned (which is why I am sometimes crazy enough to toy with the idea of having a fourth!) The evidence:

• These days the kids all get themselves up (usually around 7am) and will read/play quietly until about 7.30-8am when either Willow or Poppet will come to get me. It is such a treat and not something I expected to enjoy for another couple of years!
• The kids will happily entertain themselves for longer and longer stretches of time. I find myself able to sit down and read the paper or a book now and again.
• Poppet now talks completely fluently. She is very social and plays well with her sister (they share a lot in common despite the 3 year age gap between them - which is actually more like a 1-2 year gap given Willow's delays and Poppet's precociousness).
• Willow's language has vastly improved and her frustration levels have decreased markedly. Her melt-downs are less frequent now and less severe - so instead of having several out-of-control, collapse-on-the-floor, screaming sessions each day, we now have a a couple of "light" melt-downs once or twice a week.
• These days putting the kids to bed is quick and easy - a bedtime story and a kiss goodnight does the trick (I used to have to do a lot of "backwards and forwards" with Willow especially - endless repeats of lullabies, cuddles, kisses, hugs etc.)
• We can now leave the kids awake when we have a babysitter and the babysitter can put them to bed because they will happily go to sleep without us present! (We used to have the kids tucked up in bed and almost asleep before we left the house due to the dramas/meltdowns if we were not present.)
• We all eat the same meal at dinner and we all eat at the same time (except for Willow who will still only eat honey sandwiches on white bread without crusts...).
• Poppet has stopped napping so we can keep busy all day without worrying about nap time.
• We rarely need to use the stroller as Poppet is a great walker.
• We don't need to use high chairs or cribs when we are on holiday or out and about.
• The children can all sleep in one room (if we are on holiday).
• Willow hasn't had a toileting accident in months and is dry 50% of the time at night. A load has been lifted.
• After two years of pretty solid sleep I seem to have finally recovered from the utterly awful 3 years of chronic sleep deprivation that I suffered with Willow. Admittedly, it did take years to catch up on all the lost sleep but I can now have a late night, sleep poorly (for whatever reason) or even get woken up by a sick child in the night and I don't feel like death the next day.
• The laundry seems to have diminished to a slightly more manageable level now that the kids can usually wear just *one* outfit of clothes a day (so I'm down to a "mere" 1-2 loads each day!)
• I can drop off and pick up Spinner at the school gates (which makes the whole "two different schools" scenario a lot easier to manage).

I figure that once Poppet is toilet trained, I'm not going to know myself (after over 8.5 years of nappies and wipes). I think you'll hear me hollering for joy all over Australia!