SHE'S TALKING SENTENCES!

Our near-two-year-old has developed some amazing language skills (that's what should happen I guess from having four teachers as her carers!). Not only has she copied some of our exclamations ('Hear it!' when the grey butcher-bird sings or 'Exciting!' when the Wiggles DVD is about to play or of course 'Peekaboo!') but she can put a subject-verb-object sentence together.

Like: 'Grandpa going to sleep?' 'Mummy eat grapes?' 'Grandpa pick up teddy?' And her mimicking of our commands to the border collie Lockie: 'Lockie, stop it!'

How about this: 'Millie adorable!' 'Mummy adorable?' 'Grandma adorable?' 'Keys adorable?' Which led to an animal/vegetable/mineral lesson...

Richard Rohr in his brilliant book 'Everything Belongs!' talks about 'kinesthetic knowing.' Both our little girls are very secure because they are regularly hugged, and kissed, and taken for walks...

Millie is a natural humorist. She bumped her nose on a door and cried a little. Later, she crawled back to the offending spot, and touched it with her nose!

And she loves dancing - especially to the Dorothy the Dinosaur song (from the Wiggles). Isn't it amazing how little people don't have to be taught to make graceful bodily dancing movements?

Two nights ago she was off her food. Although she'd been nauseous earlier in the day she didn't 'act sick', so we encouraged her to eat, and she bravely tried... and ate half her meal... But later she vomited it all up. We felt really bad...

But the highlight of our life at the moment is when Millie looks up at us and smiles to us - for no reason at all! Magical!

And Bella? She's the most contented, smiling baby we've known. Uncomplicated.

They're both a joy to us, but tire us old folks out sometimes. Which is why a four-day break last week was most enjoyable.

Shalom!

Rowland.