Albert

We've had just a gorgeous day today. We went out to a nearly new sale at the Pregnancy and Parenting Centre and then wandered along the canal where there was a bit of a fair/celebration going on with bouncy castles and boat races and stalls and music. So much fun!

Audrey was most entranced by the canal itself. Water! Right there! It was a bit terrifying, as she liked to go right up to the edge and stare down at the water, pointing and exclaiming "oh wow!" at it.

While we wandered round looking at everything we bumped into some of the folks from the home ed network we belong to, and since they lived right by the canal they invited us back to theirs for a while.

These are some seriously awesome, friendly people and it was great to spend time with them. Ian was in his element talking about computer games with a bunch of the kids (and some of the parents!), while I got to ramble on about poetry with some other poetry enthusiasts who were there.

Audrey mostly followed the dog around and ate gingerbread people. This was her idea of heaven.

The weather has been really changeable, pouring rain one moment and sunny the next. It's too hot to wear a sweater, but check out the above photo of our local park, totally flooded and full of gulls!

While we were at the nearly new sale Ian took Audrey upstairs to the little room full of second hand toys and baby clothes. There, on a cluttered shelf, in a big pile of tatty soft toys, her little eyes fell on a little soft, brown toy dog. With many loud "woofs" and much pointing, she launched at him. She clutched him ever so tightly in her arms and refused to let him go even for a second. "Woof," she said, over and over again. After parting with fifty whole pence, he was ours to keep and Audrey kept him close by her all day, hugging and hugging him.

Ian's called him Albert.

Magnus

The weekend of my dad's wedding we stayed with my sister, Audrey's Aunty Kate. I'm a shockingly bad sister, and so this was the first time we'd visited her at her place. We had such a wonderful time, and Kate went out of her way to make us feel welcome and at home there - no easy task, with a toddler who can get into alcohol cabinets, delicate glass ornaments, balconies and glass coffee tables!

We enjoyed spending time in the garden, and we went out to see a local river side festival in the warm Sunday sunshine. Audrey was in her element.

She fell asleep at the festival, and Ian and I took turns carrying her sweet little sleeping self back to the flat. There's something about how absolutely vulnerable and trusting she seems when she's asleep in your arms, I could hold her and watch her sleeping all day. Even if she is getting a bit heavy!

We tried to make the transition to sleeping in a strange place as easy as possible for the little lady, by bringing lots of familiar objects and trying our best to stick to her routine. She was still pretty unsettled at night by the change in surroundings, but it was easier than it could have been for sure.

Seeing family with her is always amazing. It's strange to see such a blending of my own childhood and hers.

The weekend was full of good company, and really good food! Audrey got to try all sorts of yummy things, like croissant.

And to spend time with some of the most important people we know.

Plus she got to hang out on Aunty Kate's cool balcony.

Thanks for being such a great sister, aunty and all round awesome person, Nodule!

Sometimes, a developmental exercise...

... can be as simple as a bucket of water, a cup, and a ladle!

I find bath times have become an important time for Audrey, really helping with her development. She learns lots of words from her "bath friends" - the toy sea creatures we bought from Deep Sea World (one of the best purchases I think we've ever made, as far as Audrey is concerned!) and can correctly identify all of them now. She says "fish" and "turtle" and "duck" and quacks a LOT with that one, and just recently she's been trying to say "octopus" - which is a really big word when you're only 14 months old! She's also getting really good at splashing, and we use words like hot and cold, slippery, bubbly, waves, pour and spill, full, shallow, deep.

Since she responds so well to this type of learning, I thought it might be nice to play with water during the day. Since we live in a flat, we don't have a paddling pool or water table. But a little bit of improvisation goes a long way!

We practiced pouring and stirring and scooping, and had a fabulous time.

Audrey has spent the rest of the morning helping with the housework. And when I say helping, I mean genuinely rendering assistance. I sorted the dirty laundry in the living room, while she took the sorted stuff through to the kitchen and loaded it in the washing machine, then shut the door. Then I put the detergent in the drawer, and she closed it. I set the program, and she pressed the start button. For a 14 month old, I think that's pretty amazing!

We unloaded the dishwasher together, with her passing me each item (I removed sharp knives first) while I put them away in the cupboards. Team work!

She's coming on in leaps and bounds lately, doing and saying and understanding new things each day.

She's the most fun.