Imagination and predictions

Dear E,

Your imagination is really whirring at the moment. You love to pretend to go shopping, or to the bank or post office. You pack your bag, find your keys and phone and off you go. Sometimes we have to come with you, other times we're told to stay at home and wait for you. It's lovely to watch...and amusing to see what foibles of Mummy and Daddy you imitate.

We also play "Whatcha doin'?" a lot. A simple game, often played in the car. I'm driving us home from nursery and you ask, "Mummy, whatcha doin'?". I then have to come up with crazy things like 'riding a horse', 'cooking sausages' or 'having a nap'. You enjoy giggling at me and telling me other ideas for what I might be doing.

You also love to tell us what is going to happen. So currently your favourite thing to tell me about is that you're moving to a new house. It's a blue house (obviously, as blue is your favourite colour....bright blue that is, you don't like dark blue!) and it's very nice apparently. We're all coming to live with you there too which is kind.

I did get excited briefly, as I thought maybe you could predict the future. I was enjoying the dream with you of a new house, with rooms for all of us. It also had a big garden apparently, with lots of toys (and believe me darling, if I could get you a house with a big garden and lots of toys, I would!).

But then I thought about your last great prediction.....the baby! From the moment we told you I was pregnant, you were convinced the baby would be a boy. There was no doubt in your mind. You wouldn't accept my gentle nudgings that there was a possibility it would be a girl. Admittedly, we knew then that your predictions weren't 100% perfect as there was no way we were calling the baby Five, which was your chosen name for it! But I did start to believe that I was carrying a boy as you were so convinced. When Phoebe popped out (gosh, I make that sound easy!!), I was so surprised that she was a girl. You took it all in your stride of course and the baby brother Five has never been mentioned again!

So maybe your predictions aren't so great. I'll not hold out too much hope for the new house then!!

Love Mummy x

Bookworm

Dear E,

Coming from a family of book lovers, you didn't have much chance. For your first Christmas, at only 12 weeks old, a lot of presents were books, and this has continued. Fortunately, reading is something you adore.

Aged "nearly 3", some of our favourites include :

*Anything by Julia Donaldson. The Gruffalo is a favourite and Daddy loves Stick Man, but you and I both adore Room on the Broom. Julia's southernness is a small issue, as I just can't bring myself to rhyme 'scarf' with 'giraffe', and various other combinations, but the rhyming text and amusing storylines keep us entertained time after time. We also know most of them by heart. I remember Daddy and I telling The Gruffalo in a pub during a rainy camping trip last summer, and you are able to join in with most of the stories too!

* Meg & Mog stories. You love the original Meg & Mog mainly because it contains a character called Tess and it makes you giggle. We also all love Meg, Mog & Og....ok, it's because we get to do the sluuuuurp! But it is fun!

* Dr. Seuss. Fox in Socks is a particular favourite...but only of yours. It's such a tongue twister and drives me up the wall...especially if I'm tired, but I know you love it, especially the tweetle beetles. You also like Green Eggs and Ham which is entertaining, and one day might encourage you to try new foods! Interestingly, I don't think I've ever read Cat in the Hat Comes Back to you though!

* Lastly comes my favourite. Our favourite. Our special Mummy and E book. Always chosen on particularly tired nights. The beautiful Guess How Much I Love You. I adore this book. I love that you do the actions of Little Nutbrown Hare as he tries to describe to Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. (Are they both male? I have no idea how it is written but they are both male in my head...which is odd really!) I now always tell you at bedtime that I love you "right up to the moon and back", but I guess really I love you further than that. Can't even begin to describe how much. I guess for now, "to the moon and back" will do.

Love and literary devotion,
Mummy x