JallieDaddy's 3 Brilliant Things

I haven't been posting here lately in the last week or so, mostly because I've been focussing more on my main blog, "Whiskey For Aftershave". A lot of the '3 Brilliant Things' that would have been here I have been making a part of a weekly "Things They Say & Do" blog-hop post there. I haven't decided whether or not I'll continue to do a daily post here or not. 

To be honest in all the time I've been doIng this blog I only remember seeing 1 comment. And that's fine, it's mainly for me that I do it anyway. But if it stops being of benefit to me then there's probably not much point in continuing it.

Just so you know!

This morning while the twins were having a play in the bedroom while I was getting them (& me) dressed & ready, Ellie decided to dress herself, in her own unique style. 1 of the Mummy's shoes on each foot - non-matching of course -  a tambourine around her shoulders, the Mummy's pink dressing gown cord & a yellow scarf around her neck & a potty as a hat. Is it still London Fashion Week (NTS: have a camera available at all times!).

Also this morning, back downstairs this time, Ellie grabbed  a number of random objects, most of them plastic food or plates & cutlery, put them inside an upside-down toy plastic builder's hat, put it on their little table -  then announced "Dinner's ready!".

At their church play group this morning they were helped to make pancakes, which of course they later ate. Ellie was given the job of whisking an egg with a fork & she really took to it, as if she'd been doing it all her life! The pancakes were pretty good too.

Just to make sure Ellie didn't hog the limelight, tonight during their bedtime routine the Mummy said to Jake (& I'm not sure why) "B-A-T-H: Jake, what does that spell?". His immediate reply: "Bath!". Now I think he's a bright boy, but...  Although he did repeat it when I tried, he gave the same answer when I asked him what M-I-L-K spells. He's a good guesser, & very intuitive I think.

Yes, I know that's 4 things: it's just been that kinda day.

It's occurred to us that our 23-month-old twins show empathy. We're pretty sure they're not supposed to do that yet! (Some people never do).* Often when one is upset or ill the other will play unusually quietly, behaving impeccably, often offering hugs. When either the Mummy or I seem to have hurt ourselves, or have a coughing fit  - as happened today - or something similar Ellie (whose vocab. & pronunciation tend to be better) very often says, with apparently genuine concern, "Alright, Mummy / Daddy?". Maybe it's a 'Twin Thing'?

Ellie is an amazing singer (& dancer): we think.  She's been singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" pretty accurately for months now, & her repetoire is expanding. She seems to pick up & recognise songs & music very quickly, sometimes even better than her old Daddy -  who likes to think he has a reasonably good head for music! When I used to sing her to sleep with the cbeebies ("The time has come...") goodnight song, she more often than not would join in: adorable! She makes up little songs of her own. Jake has now started to recognize her songs & to join in, if only - as he did today - shouting "Star!" as loudly as he can at the end of Twinkle Twinkle! 

Both of them are now getting pretty good at recognising colours. We were playing with coloured balls & they both identified blue, pink & yellow nearly every time :) 

* If I was being mean I'd say "They're called Conservative politicians". But I try not to be mean.

We went to the park this afternoon & Jallie had a great time. They were particularly fascinated  by a mound of rabbit holes, & especially the rabbit poo all over it, which they took great delight in pointing out.

Jake this morning announced that he was going to have a pee, ran & found the potty, used it & brought it (& its contents) back to the Mummy, looking very pleased with himself. As well he might be. A first: well done little man!

Good to see some snow again, even if it was only a little.

Jake finished a sentence of mine this evening. I said to him "You like blackberries, don't you?" (it was in a book we were reading), to which he added: "and milk", (which he was drinking at the time).

Their vocabulary seems to be expanding rapidly; Ellie especially seems to be pronouncing a new word or 2 every day. Today she managed, really clearly, "blackberries" (we have them, or at least what's left of them, in the garden), & nearly managed "prickly blackberries". It's a favourite food for both of them, especially Jake -  who in the summer was quite the expert in spotting & picking them.

They were in terrific form this evening. After their bath they were dancing madly, I swear in the style of the late great Ian Curtis, in front of the mirror & chasing each other around the cot, laughing hysterically the whole time.  I videoed it all, & if wasn't for the fact that they were nudey it would already be on YouTube!

I had given Jake & Ellie saucepan lids to bang together (yes, I know: I must be either deaf or ridiculously tolerant of their loud noises - probably both). The handle had come off 1 of them & as I re-entered the lounge Jake showed it to me, expectantly. As I went to screw it back on I saw that another bit had come off as well. We talk to them nearly all the time we're with them - whether they understand or not it still helps them to pick up language - so I said that to him, "There's a bit missing". He then trotted off, found the missing bit & handed it to me. I can't believe he understood that!

Ellie saw the Mummy's new laptop on the kitchen table at breakfast. She pointed to it & excitedly yelled: "Computer games!". 

They had a great time this afternoon playing together on the see-saw rocking horse thing; they'd never done that before yesterday's playdate. We also had a great time in the garden, during which Jake grabbed my hand, walked me towards a garden seat & motioned for us to seat there together - which we did.  

Jallie had a terrific playdate (home leg) this afternoon: they all particularly enjoyed the see-saw / rocking horse thingy, & the various toy cars.

We had a secondary motivation for the playdate: both of their playmates have chicken pox, & as every parent I'm sure will know the earlier a child has it, the better! We didn't mind them sharing drinks bottles, flutes etc.; anything short of tonguing really, & even that may have been tolerated.

I managed to cook everyone dinner without anyone losing a limb this time, not too many cases of gastro-enteritis & only a minimum of house fires.

I have a bongo drum I bought from a market in North Africa; I've tried getting Jallie to use it before with only limited success. This morning however they discovered it again & really enjoyed it, banging away merrily: they had a good old jam session!

As it's half-term the activites we normally take them to each day aren't running, & they tend to get a bit stir-crazy. So this afternoon we took them with us for a walk to the local chemist & back as I needed to pick up a prescripttion, & they really enjoyed it. They were in a much better mood afterwards, relaxed & peaceful.

As we were getting ready to go Ellie called out: "Are you ready? Let's go!". That's a 5 - count 'em: 5 - word phrase! And she's only just turned 23 months. I am a proud Dad :) 

Had a great play session with Jallie this morning: mostly rough & tumble: 'sit-ups', side to side roly-polys,  & 'twin attack!' - which basically involves lying on the floor & being piled onto by both at once. Good exercise too, if a little dangerous (for me, not them, that is).

They've both got very good at saying "twin attack!" - a little too enthusiastically for my liking...

We discovered a new game this afternoon: putting toy animals in toy cars & zooming them across the floor. It's hilarious! Couldn't help but think of Orwell when we had the pig in the tractor though. 

The new laptop has finally arrived. My vidcam won't transfer to my PC anymore but the laptop has a card reader, so I can now finally view all the photos & videos I've made since October, & maybe post some online. :)

I gave my main blog a slight facelift & update: a new header - the twins were much younger in the old header photo & they've grown up a lot since then - & a different, although already used, Gravatar; I was never that happy about the one I'd been using. Much better I think.

You know how when you 'friend' someone on facebook who you think you like but who you don't really know &, even though they initially seem very nice & you do find you have some things in common, they mostly post links to loonytoon extremist websites about cod-scientific paranoia-fuelled conspiracy theory hokum, & you suspect that they might have a large armoury of guns & ammo in the cellar waiting for when the big bad guys come to get them, & you try to be nice & find some common ground & try to ignore the claptrap, then you have a row over a stupid video & they become abusive & you have to block them, & *takes big breath* you then feel relieved as you realise that you're now much better off & that your online life just got better? Yeah, that :)