Jenerally Speaking,

Home and Away

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This adorable little face is your "brrm brrm" face. You suddenly love pretending to drive. You can say "brrm brrm" and "beep beep"!

First day of our holibobs in Ibiza, and you were all dressed up for dinner! You woke up in the middle of the night in the car and giggled in glee at the novelty of the situation. You were chirpy and curious at the airport while we waited for our flight. You entertained all the people who were arriving for their early flights by toddling around the waiting area, exploring the beautiful butterfly light display at Itsu and trying to get into a shop that wasn't yet open. Cute girl. You found the plane fascinating. More fascinating that Little R, who fell asleep as we taxied along the runway prior to take off. You had some milk and fell asleep. I was jealous, because I'd had such bad insomnia I hadn't fallen asleep in time to get any sleep before our 1am get up. I was awake two days straight without a wink of sleep. Ugh. Grim. 

Anyway... we arrived at our hotel, and went off to explore the beach. I thoughtlessly took you out of the wrap (the ice cotton Oscha wrap I'd acquired specifically for the holiday, as it happens!) and plonked you on the sand. Cue anxious wailing. The waves rushing towards you were just TOO bewildering and worrying. You had to watch from my hip while you got used to them. Soon you were exploring the sand and crawling (who can walk in sand?) towards them. Later, you got dolled up in your amazing dinosaur dress for dinner. Rice and chicken for you. In fact, you practically lived on rice and chicken all week. You're all about the beige. 

Day two in Ibiza, and despite the cloudy skies it was warm so while you played with the sand fortress Little R and I had built, I had a splash in the sea. 

Day three and snoozy time in that lovely Oscha wrap. 

Day four and we visited the Hippie Market, so you were transformed into our hippie baby.

Day five: you'd gone quiet for a few moments. You'd gone "toddler quiet". 

Day six and you had gained a lot of confidence with the waves. The new challenge was to hold you back!

Day seven: sand is apparently STILL tasty. You beautiful girl. 

The return journey. This was at the start of the flight, when we were all holding it together and coping reasonably well. Fast forward thirty minutes and I was throwing food on the floor and swearing AUDIBLY in front of my two precious children and the other passengers because trying to cope with numerous small containers of hot, wet food in a confined space, with you both fidgeting, grabbing food, refusing to eat and needing a wee at the WORST moment was beyond my capacity. Oh dear. Oh dear. 

Home again! And what is more entertaining that a long bit of foil? (We finally took it out from our furniture; it was there from when our carpets were cleaned a few weeks back.) 

Look who stole Mummy's cookie! You were SOOO pleased! With seven teeth, you're able to chomp big chunks off. Little R at the same age had to suck biscuits!

You loved this little skuttlebug at Baby K's birthday party. It'll be your birthday next. This time last year I was waiting for you, so impatiently. We all were. At it's still a week to go!

And here you are, tooting your hooter. What a lung capacity!

Bubbles! You can pretty much say bubbles, actually. In fact, you can say quite a lot for a very little lady. Little R is "Ra-Ra", Rachel and I are "Mimmy", milk is "diddy", for yes you nod and say "da" and for no you shake your head vigorously, saying "na-na-na-na". Bubbles are "bubbaaaa", ball is "baaaalll", Peppa pig is "peppa". You said "tiiiik" once, after I said "stick". You have a good go at copying lots of words. You clap to ask for help (it's as close to the complex "help me" sign you can get so far) and you ask to share things by pointing, then thumping your chest. You often say a little phrase at the same time but I can't begin to spell it!

Your very first time painting the patio with water. I've been getting out lots of different things to distract you while I paint fence panels and the components of your playhouse. 

Watering the plants. Another thing you've got the hang of. Well, when you weren't trying to drink the water butt water from your little plastic watering can. 

Today I was multi-tasking - planting our herbs in our new herb garden while the roof panels I was painting dried. You kept asking for the huge metal spade which hangs on the wall in the garage (ever the optimist), but we found a compromise with this little plastic and wood one, which is still taller than you!

Sunshine baby

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Yep, left for a moment at the sand table and you were having a good munch. You are absolutely determined to eat non-food items. In fact, you seem to prefer them to actual food. For example, after refusing breakfast one morning, I caught you chowing down on a pine cone you'd found in Little R's room. Another day, you picked at your snack, but them chewed on a stick in the garden. You kept dipping it in the stagnant paddling pool water, presumably to add flavour. To add insult to irritation, you usually throw and smear your food all over the floor, table, chair and yourself while NOT eating it. Sigh. I mean, I admire your curiosity. I'm just OVER cleaning up after you. 

Your first taste of a lolly (a 100% fruit, no added sugar lolly, obviously!). 

Unimpressed. Give me a twig any day!

Charismatic little one. You've realised that you can make us laugh, so you deliberately do cute things. This is your necklace wearing trick (I remember Little R going through the everything's-a-necklace phase like it was yesterday!) You blow raspberries on my tummy at least once a day. You initiate games of peekaboo (usually in the muslin curtains) and you say "ro-ro-ro" to get us to play 'Row Row the Boat' with you. The other day, you crawled into Little R's room, carefully lay yourself back onto his beanbag and beamed around at everyone. It was hilariously deliberate. Like a little snapshot of the older you. 

First experience of a paddling pool. You sat down, realised it was cold and wailed a bit. Then you acclimatised and spent a happy ten minutes splashing about. This is more than Little R did. He will paddle with his feet but was NOT impressed when I tricked him into jumping in (knowing he'd slide onto his bottom- I'm so evil!). We also invested in some water shooters. He love to squirt water at us. He hates to get wet himself. That's going to be an interesting dynamic! My little sister was exactly the same. It'll be interesting to see what happens when you're old enough to squirt him!

Exploring the outdoors on a trip to Hollow Trees. Note the super-cute shoes on your feet. Size 2G. Smallest size of shoes they make ^_^

While Little R is at nursery, you get to play at your own pace. You do a lot of imaginative play for an under-one, probably because you join in so many of Little R's games. You are great at pretend eating and drinking. 

I pushed you around on this for a while at toddlers, which you loved. Your legs are not quite long enough to rest on the loops at the front, but you worked out what the handles are for. 

I have to admit, I find you a challenging picnic companion. It's great that the mess isn't going all over the kitchen floor. The problem is, you tend to crawl around and take food from everyone else's plates. I love this little outfit though. Look at those denim shorts. And your legs, looking chunky for a change!

On a walk around Lackford Lakes, Little R had a laminated clipboard so we could tick off all the animals we saw (Canada goose: CHECK, blackbird: CHECK, black-headed gull: CHECK, shelduck: CHECK, heron: CHECK, kingfisher: NO CHECK - diaappointed toddler). He was in charge of carrying that. I  was in charge of carrying you. You were in charge of carrying the pen. You were super proud of your job and giggled and waved cheerily. You are very into birds at the moment. You sign "bird" near your ear when you can hear a bird and say "burr". If you see one you sign and then point to where it is. You can also identify ducks and say "ack ack". And you like trees too. You say "tree", "cheese" and "keys" and they're all subtly different words. I'm suddenly listening and watching you carefully when you're "talking", because you are trying to tell us specific things and ask for the words for everything you see around you. You're a compulsive communicator. 

Tonight I whizzed downstairs to get the camera because your post-bath hair was so fluffy and cute (and blonde! Sun-bleached baby!). I came back up and snapped this photo of you reading yourself a bedtime story. "Baaaah". Sounded like your sheep noise. Strange, because it was a book about a duck!

Stepping out...

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"Risky? Nah, this is fine, Mama!" (I have a photo on another day of you STANDING on the train!)

Bouncing baby in the sun. Eyeing up all the exciting things the toddlers are up to and making plans.

My blossom, looking for blossom at our local wood. Loved this relaxed morning. We took a gentle walk down to the woods, during which Baby O drifted off to sleep on my back. Then we explored all round the woodland. We looked for fish in the pond (no), spotted bees, flowers and ladybirds, adventured down a secret path to find treasure (no), spotted a couple of horses through the trees, had a snack on a handy bench and then trundled back. By then, it was lunchtime! What a wonderful way to enjoy a sunny morning with two small people. 

You love baby Tommy A LOT. Suddenly, you are all into cuddling. Us, stuffed toys and particularly baby Tommy. This started, actually, during the babywearing course I went to recently. You were fascinated and somewhat perplexed by all the very still babies (weighted dolls that we were practising with). Then, you just peered into their faces curiously. Now, you love to play with baby Tommy. You use a special voice when you talk and coo to him and cuddle him into your neck. It's so instinctive and natural. Already you are practising your Mummying skills. 

Admiring some babywearing at the zoo. From this raised walkway, Little R and you could see some lemurs carrying their babies. At one point, one of the mums had two babies on her back, and I'm sure one was a cheeky interloper!

This guilty look is because you have tipped out the pot which Mummy Rachel had put some grated cheese in under the table and kicked it about everywhere. You adore grated cheese, but it is a bit messy to eat. It got worked into the just-freshly-hoovered hall carpet today because you were enjoying a pre-dinner snack (red leicester, on this occasion) and Mummy Rachel let you crawl off, which it stuck all over your clothes. Sigh.

This last week, you've come out the other side of a marathon four-week Wonder Week. Thank goodness. I was getting pretty worn down, let me tell you. And suddenly, as well as developing a whole bunch of new skills and abilities, you have become CUDDLY. Now, this is not to say that you did not cuddle before. You do love a snuggle. A very quick snuggle, during which you would normally wriggle gleefully side to side, then you would scramble down to carry on exploring in top gear. (You only have one gear - it's fast). But now, you are quite content to have a prolonged snuggle. Other people have noticed the change, not just us. On this day, I was enjoying a good ten minute snuggle with you. You just wanted to rest here, head tucked under my chin, hands lolling by your sides. I really relished it. 

Talking of other skills, who is this, taking her first steps? Yup, that's our determined girl! It won't be long until you're charging from A to B on two legs. In fact, we've realised we're going to need to buy you shoes before our summer holiday! At ten months!!! Craziness!

"Why won't he play, Mama?" Little R is poorly. Really, the most ill he has ever been. We discovered on Friday that it is actually tonsillitis, requiring actual antibiotics. Poor little boy has been feverish, coughing, extraordinarily blocked up and exhausted for six days now. It is genuinely hard to understand him, because his throat and nose are so congested his speech is affected. You, Baby O, have been most perplexed by his long naps on the sofa, his loud snoring and his unwillingness to crawl around the floor entertaining you. 

You love to watch yourself in the camera screen (which we can flip around to show you). You've even worked out where the picture comes from - poking your finger at the lens while you watch the screen carefully. 

Ok, so this is an early-on-Sunday-morning shot, because on Saturday we didn't take any photos at ALL. This was because I was flying round like a blue-buttocked flying creature. With Little R still really ill, Mummy Rachel stayed with you two while I whizzed out to do the shopping. Then I took you swimming, leaving Little R to nap with Mummy R. After than we negotiated a heavy flat trolley and the Bank Holiday crowds at B&Q, with you wrapped on my back, in order to acquire some sharp sand to enable us to lay the slabs where you playhouse will stand (and yes, I DID feel like SuperMum, as it very happens!). So amid all that activity, as well as doses of antibiotics and laundry, I didn't take any photos. But this photo from early on Sunday morning shows where you'd ended up after your night in bed. Mummy Rachel has been sleeping with Little R, since he's needed cuddles and water in the middle of the night. I've taken advantage by sleeping with my legs across the bed (lush). On this morning, you had actually snuck a go on Mummy Rachel's pillow! This does not constitute safe co-sleeping, baby girl!

Squeezing through a tight spot in Grandma's garden.

After hours of watching the other children playing from my arms or the wrap, today you finally got to explore the playground, holding onto one of our hands. You were made up! You literally RAN towards the different bits of equipment, climbed up, bounced gleefully and beamed with delight. You're so excited to be growing up, and we're loving watching you. But it's not a race, little one. Take your time. You are only 320 days old, and that's still small. 

 

P.S. I feel it's time for your first "learning to talk" update. You can sign "finished", "light", "eat" and you point at various things to find out what they are. When you'd like sometimes, you point at it and then draw your hand to your chest and touch your fist to your chest. It couldn't be a clearer question. Today you wanted to help Little R with his lunch. You say "aiee" for hi or bye at the door, "mamamama", have a go at Little R's name ("Ra-Ra") and try to copy most simple words that you understand. If we say "light", you'll sometimes say "iiiight". You approximate words which rather startling accuracy. Today we were looking at pictures of sheep around the house and we were making you laugh modelling "baaaa!". Your version was to blow a raspberry. Talking of which, you adore blowing raspberries on people's skin still. And pulling eyelashes, which I'm trying to persuade you is neither kind nor desirable. 

Pocket Rocket

 

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I have so many beautiful photos of you playing with this mirror, discovering your reflection. You were so adorably fascinated by yourself. And by a good bit of clapping, which you love. You clap, wave and dance on demand, and in appropriate situations. I love the way you pause, then turn to face the radio when a song comes on. You consider for a moment whether this tune is speaking to you, then, if it is, you begin to bop on the spot. You gorgeous girlie. 

Helping out with the laundry.

Your first experience of a beach - Felixstowe with Chris for the day. We had a fantastic time beach combing and exploring, and then I let you down to play on the shingle. You loved kicking your legs back and forth and picking up the pebbles and sand with your little fingers. Such a strange sensation.

Dreaming of the days when you'll be able to run round the garden too. The way things are going, it won't be all that long.

More time in the sunshine - this time eating Grandma's slate. I could actually hear your teeth scraping along it!

Another day at Felixstowe. We'd enjoyed it so much, we took Grandma for a trip. 

Ooops... only got this photo of you on this day - nestled at the edge of a photo of Little R with one of his buddies. Watching rather curiously, I think, as they posed. 

So... I think these knitted trousers are a wee bit droopy...

... you kept crawling out of them!

How to create chaos in three easy steps... when Mummy has JUST tidied the lounge. This is why I call you my little Vishnu. Oops. Just Googled and that's the WRONG Hindu deity. Vishnu is the god of preserving the Universe. Absolutely not what you're about! I should be calling you Shiva - my little god of destruction.

You so enjoy playing with your breakfast...

... but I so dread tidying up afterwards. On this day I was foolish enough to think I could get away with feeding you porridge in your day outfit rather than your pjs. Rookie error. And this from a second-time Mummy!

Nobody in our house can shower without an audience of one, flapping the curtain and beaming enthusiastically... or wailing despondently if the person showering is me.

Ooooh... captivating.

Peekaboo! I seem to remember another small person posing like this a few years ago...

Yup! There he is. One month older and with two fewer teeth. You're totally out-toothing your big brother. 

Little lady, you LOVE swimming lessons. It's very hard to get a non-blurry photo of you in kicking, splashing action, but you giggle and beam the whole way round. 

Dear Baby O... your first Christmas

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Dear Baby O, 

Your first (out of uterus) Christmas is over now. It was a bit hit and miss, really, due to the quantity and variety of germs doing the rounds in this mild December (does mild weather mean more germs? Or is that an old wives' tale?) But let's begin at the beginning...

... with some sleepy, snuggly evenings. USUALLY, you settle to sleep on one of our chests for the part of the evening, while we are downstairs, then we take you up to nestle in bed. I say USUALLY, because this evening you are far too awake. You've been having a pretend picnic with Mummy Rachel, making plenty of noise and now I'm trying to feed you to sleep. But you need a fresh nappy... so I'll have to continue writing in a few moments. 

***

Right - nappy replaced, but you're clearly not tired so you can roll about on the floor while I type. 

You love to watch your brother. This day in mid-December, you were content to wriggle on your belly and watch him race back and forth. How much you learn by watching him, and how you LOVE it when he stops his whizzing around long enough to cup your face in his chubby fingers and to sing-song your name to you. 

Then Little R got the sickness bug we'd been avoiding. He spent the afternoon lolling on the sofa watching Frozen and The Incredibles, while you and I played somewhere you couldn't see the screen. So NEARLY sitting. You could balance for quite a while, but would then forget it was your responsibility to balance, and topple gently sideways.

The next day we were housebound, in quarantine, but we got to watch Tim shooting off to the International Space Station. Very exciting. Well, for me. Little R sort of got it. You were fascinated by the moving pictures. 

You are a smiley girl. I think you might already do a "cheese" face when you see a camera. Not sure whether to be proud of worried!

Taking your part in some role-play very seriously. We were playing "Café" and you had ordered some toast. Nom, nom, nom!

"What is THIS, Mummy?"

A spontaneous trip to the zoo. You got a good view from your spot on my chest. You liked the penguins, elephants and giraffes, because they were easy to spot. I think you liked the reindeer too. Little R was very impressed by that. And you saw one monkey really close through a window. Animals aside, it was an exciting day for you anyway, with plenty to see and do. You love a day up and about in the wrap. You're at the same height as us adults, so you beam about at everyone flirtatiously. 

This face says "Excuse me?! Mummy? I don't seem to have any Christmas cake! Everyone else has some! Pleeeeeease!" By this point, Little R and you were both suffering from conjunctivitis, but it wasn't bothering you too much. Bit of boob milk soon put it right. 

Christmas PJs. Just too cute.

It doesn't matter how wonderfully stimulating and age-appropriate your toys are. Your brother's toys will ALWAYS be better. Yum, yum, a metal car! Delish!

 

Sitting up entirely unsupported? Yes, I do believe you are! You went from wobbly to flawless in literally two days. Astounding.

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's and it was present opening time. And what are you playing with, Little Miss O? Yup - wrapping paper. We did eventually persuade you that the fluffy, chick-wearing owl that was contained by the paper was worth some attention, but it did take some time!

Christmas Day at Grandma's. In this photo you look content and angelic, but I'm afraid it wasn't such a lovely day for you. You woke with a shocking cold. Your eyes, still slightly infected, were puffy. Your nose streamed all day. You can bet your head was pounding and your throat was sore too. You were not a well girl at all. You required lots of cuddles, lots of milk, and the odd bit of Calpol that we managed to get into you (You hate medicine. You become so enraged and horrified that we're trying to force delicious strawberry liquid into you, that you scream and thrash, and when some DOES trickle into your mouth you panic and choke and gag. Very little ever gets down your throat. Usually we all end up sticky and stressed. But you were so poorly that we did persevere.)

On the upside, you did enjoy some of your new toys and you looked so cute in your pinafore dress. MY pinafore dress. 

Here I am, at nine months, with your Grandma, on  MY first Christmas. The dress was a little long in the arms, but you're so much chubbier than me that it fits very nicely. It was a very strange and beautiful moment to dress you in the exact clothes my Mummy dressed me on Christmas morning, thirty years ago. 

Boxing Day fun with one of your favourite new toys - a foil blanket! You were puffy and full of cold again, but you demonstrated two new skills; clapping and batting your hand against your mouth to make that funny noise. I don't know how you would spell that, but you know what I mean, don't you? You love to do these tricks and watch everyone applaud and copy you back. You're so proud that you can communicate. You also lift up your arms to respond to my question "Up? Up?" or to indicate that you want to be picked up. I love these first gestures. I'm having to remind myself to model baby signing to you so you learn it. It was such a powerful tool with Little R. I'm looking forward to getting insights into your thoughts and desires as you grow older. 

Another day, some more new toys - your colourful scarves are great fun. They really need a wash now though, because they've got a fair amount of snot smeared onto them!

Check our your new tights! How awesome are they, little lady? And on this day, another major milestone occurred. Now that you can sit, I packed away your babygym and replaced it with a box of treasures. You enjoy rifling through and picking out interesting things, with unusual sounds, textures and colours. In this case, Honkey Donkey. (Hee hee, Mummy Rachel and I are so good at naming toys!)

Sensory play! Your main present from us this Christmas was a Tuff Tray and already I am loving the play opportunities it creates. Our first experience was dry oats. You were fascinated; patting it, picking it up and mouthing it and bashing together the tools we had - measuring spoons, a miniature colander and whisk and giant tweezers.

A winter walk round Needham Lake. You kept craning around to watch Little R bomb around on his bike (and off it, straight into the pavement, on this particular afternoon! Ouch!). You always like to look  up at trees as we go walking together too. 

One of the best sensory toys you can have - a clear bottle of water!

And finally, packing away Christmas, which we traditionally do on 31st December in this house. I like to be ready for the New Year (and Little R's birthday) with a fresh, un-Christmassed house. I've kept out one piece of tinsel though, for your Tuff Tray. I've been doing to Pinterest research, little one, and we are going to have a LOT of fun with this new toy. 

I'm sorry you were ill for your first Christmas. You're still not 100% better now, over a week later. It was a nasty bug and you managed to infect the entire family so we're all coughing and sneezing now. Despite it, though, I think you enjoyed the wonders of Christmas. We certainly enjoyed the wonder of you at Christmas. 

Love from Mummy

xxx

Row, row, row your boat...

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... gently down the river, 

if you see a polar bear,

don't forget to SHIVER! 

(Signing "cold")

... gently down the creek, 

if you see a little mouse, 

don't forget to squeeeeeeak!

(Signing "mouse" and going "eeeee!")

... gently through the swamp, 

if you see a dinosaur, 

don't forget to STOMP!

(Standing up so you can do some proper dino-stomping! Thanks for E's Mum for these extra lyrics!)

 

P.S. You inSISted on wearing a scarf like your Mummies today. Time to knit you one of your very own, methinks!

Messy play

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This afternoon, Little R had one of his EPIC naps. An EPIC nap, most Mums will tell you, is a nap that far exceeds the time you expected it to last, leaving you wondering what to do with yourself!

While Little R snoozed peacefully on our bed (surrounded by pillows for safety reasons!), I managed to:

1. Finish mending my flipflops. (The beads all needed to be sewn back on - very therapeutic):

2. Stitch up the front of my oh-so-nearly-finished-diagonal-crochet-cushion-cover:

3. Mosey round the internet looking at toddler play activities.

4. Set up a painting activity for Little R to enjoy when he DID wake up:

5. Prepare a bowl of bubble-bathy warm water to clean up AFTER said painting activity (I was feeling quite cunning and uber-prepared by this point!):

 6. Scrub the paddling pool clean with soapy water (mosquitos or some such had  laid eggs which were wriggling swimthings by yesterday - yuck!):

7. Get a snack ready lest Little R (who is growing lots of molars, so not really into eating at the moment) be hungry when he woke:

... and yes, even his snack was amazed at how much I'd achieved. 

I even had time to sort out the photos on my phone before he FINALLY roused. And then, I'm happy to report that he loved playing with paint. He painted with brushes, he painted with sponges, he found out what happens when you scrunch paper up in water, he discovered that a painty sponge turns the water a new colour, he sat in his wash bowl, which we decorated with lavender flours and we made hand and footprint art. I do love a bit of sunshine and some messy play with my little boy. He is GREAT fun to play with ^_^

Two communication achievements today - Little R asked me to help him into the washing bowl (with the usual "an!" demand [hand]), then pulled at his pants and said "wet, wet". He looked at me pointedly and repeated himself. How sensible, I thought, and helped him out of his pants so he could sit in the water without getting his pants wet. He was very pleased with that arrangement. The second occured just minutes later. He looked thoughtful a second, then asked "Mummee?" I looked puzzled, to show I didn't quite understand what he was asking (it can be a little confusing, with two Mummees in one family). So he mimed driving and vroomed, still looking questioning. He wanted to know how soon Rachel would arrive home in her car. He's starting to know when it's close to her hometime and looks forward to it so much. I LOVE to see him think creatively about how to communicate his thoughts using the signs and words he does know. He uses intonation and facial expression to fill in the gaps and mostly, we can work out what he is saying. It's is A-MAZ-ING. 

 

Little Joey

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Another delightful day spent at our favourite zoo. Little R enjoyed feeding the goats today (although Mummy Rachel did not so much enjoy being headbutted by one!) and was keen to sprint over to cuddle the wallabies. We were astonished to actually see the leopard. Little R, poked spots all over his body, because we like a song about a leopard having lots of spots, spots, spots, spots...

He impressed me while we were waiting for the bird (and skunk!) display to start, by pointing to a toy dog a little girl was holding and signing 'teddy', immediately followed by 'dog'.  Very astute. He was fascinated by the face paint on that girl's face too. Kept beeping his nose. His development astonishes me. Although toddler-parenting is a lot harder than baby-parenting, he is an enchanting and intriguing person to spend each day with. 

Little Face

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Oh Little R, how I laughed and laughed when I saw these photos this evening. You see, while I was at work, Mummy Rachel let you look at yourself in the camera screen (we can flip it to face forwards), which you love. And you experimented with your face. You explored your ears, your chin and best of all, your mouth and tongue! How fascinating you found the inside of your own mouth! Yup, this is, indeed, a HILARIOUS age!

***

By the way, Little R, your communicating is coming on in leaps and bounds. The other day you were eating some breadsticks in the car, and had fallen asleep a minute or two before we arrived at our destination. You woke as I unclicked your buckle and immediately signed and said "Gone! Cracker. More?" The fast series of signs and words was so expressive, with intonation suggesting shock, disappointment, then hopeful desire. The speed with which you learn is astounding. 

We were hopeful that after enjoying a red themed week, you'd totally got to grips with the colour red. It seems, though, that you've just learn that the answer to the question "What colour is this _____?" is red. The item might be green, blue, purple or black. To you the answer is always red. Oh well. Green week this week. We'll continue to play with colour!

Crocodile! Ahhhhh!

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Dear Little R,

You're really enjoying action songs at the moment, particularly 'Row, row, row the boat'. Today you decided that this old kitchen sink that I'm hoping to turn into an alpine garden, was your boat. Here you are, screaming at the crocodile verse. I can't decide which is my favourite - your high-pitched scream at the crocodile, or your adorable "raah" for the lion, which comes complete with clawed hands.

I could just eat you up at this age. You are 100% adorable. You're talking and signing so much every day. You make little jokes and love it when we laugh. You love cuddles, and pat our backs with one or both of your squishy little hands, often giggling "cugga" into our necks.

The other morning, the first thing you did once you'd properly woken up in bed was to point to the butterflies on Rachel's pillow and sign butterfly, perfectly. For weeks you've just been flapping both hands to approximate the sign, but overnight you'd worked out how to do it, crossing your hands with backs facing me and flapping the wings. I could have burst with pride. Then you pointed to the bluey-purple one, signed "blue" and said "buh". Next you pointed to an orange-yellow butterfly, signed "red" and said "brrr", which for some reason is your word for red. 

You can be a bit tricky at bedtime, since once you've found your second wind you can stay up another two hours, but even then I can't be grumpy with you, as you pull book after book off your shelf, demanding I read, pointing to things you recognise and babbling along. 

I love each day with you, Little R.