Melrose

Loved it. Had a really good time. Much easier than last year, as Jade was actually able to leave my side and go off and play quite a bit. And I could even leave both of them in the Playroom while I went and had a nap, one day. Wow! How I longed for that last year! But I'm not in the mood to blog lots about it as I'm too tired by this stage of the day, and I can't blog coherently while the kids are around. So that's yer lot for now.

Getting ready

Going to Melrose is great, but it does mean you have to catch up on a huge pile of washing and ironing beforehand in order to have any clothes to take with you! As I stand at the ironing board (a very unaccustomed place for me) with the children playing at my feet, I'm imagining all my fellow-hostellers doing the same thing. I normally do very little ironing, but having been trying to avoid using the tumble dryer recently to save money, stuff has been left hanging over radiators and getting very creased. We'll be setting off some time tomorrow as we're staying with T-bird on the way up. Jade is very excited!

It seems like the right moment to record just how lovely both girls are being at the moment. Jade seems to go through phases of difficult behaviour sometimes (or maybe it's me!) but she's just being totally fantastic currently. She is a delight to be with and watch. She's funny and bright, and I'm loving to notice how her mind and thinking are developing, and her interesting use of words as she learns to use descriptive language. And of course she's very affectionate, wanting lots of cuddles during the day, writing notes to DH and I saying "I love you" and telling us she loves us "a hundred and billion"! Her reading is absolutely astonishing (she made a good attempt at "anesthesiologist" yesterday), although she is a good deal more reluctant to do much with maths. For anybody going to Melrose who hasn't met her before, please be aware that she will not speak to adults and don't take it personally! She will probably take a while to warm up to the children too, but will be fine once she's had time to settle in.

Shannon is totally adorable, apart from about 6-8 times per night! She is so funny, with great facial expressions, and she seems quite aware of her comic ability too. Her speech has come on in huge leaps and bounds over the past couple of weeks, with new words and phrases arriving every day, and she is very polite, saying "pardon me" after every fart and "please" when she wants something. In fact, she often just says "please .......... please" and it's a bit of a struggle to work out what she's actually after. Some of her lovely words are: "Bampa" for Grandpa, "butoo-hly" for butterfly, with the 'f' as a little blowing sound a bit like an 'h', and "bed-dik" for breadstick. She can count pretty well, being mostly reliable at 1 - 10 (occasionally missing out 8), quite good at the 'teens', and on one notable occasion recently she counted from 24 to 30, all on her own! Even Jade still sometimes can't remember what comes after 29, so I was astonished at Shannon, at age 2y 2 mo!

Anyway, I guess that's enough procrastination from the ironing/packing task, so I'd better stop there! See some of you on Sunday!