still trailing ...

really can't write much today, still trailing behind with all my work. :( but i did find time to set up a flickr account, trouble is, there's not much to see on there yet, but at least i'm ready to go! :)

had a lovely w/e playing grandmother to Ellie. she is walking now, and talking - if we only understood her language. still, no mistaking wuf wuf everytime she sees a dog, including the sculpture on our sideboard. at 13 months she is now interested in everything around her. she loved watching ducks and pigeons coming to eat bread from my husband's hand. and having arrived able to walk just 4-5 steps before halting or falling, 24 hours later she could get up to 10. i never cease to marvel at the speed at which a healthy child acquires skills and knowledge. if only a) we knew how to educate them in such a way that we didn't kill their interest, and b) we kept those abilities ourselves. too often i have watched the light of curiosity in a child's eyes dim as some pompous adult crushes the pleasure out of learning and prowess. and i know many adults who regret 'not having paid attention when i was younger', castigating themselves in the belief that the fault lay with them, not with inadequate teaching. sorry, i feel an orangebox rising beneath me, but since i'm not at Speaker's Corner, i'll quit!

when Ellie went off with mum and dad, fed, watered and freshly bathed before the long drive home, husband Peter and i collapsed into the nearest armchairs with a drink, ruefully acknowledging our declining energy. we have decided he is to be called granpeter by the new grandchildren, since he is technically a step-grandparent. he is quite funny really. having pronounced vehemently and often 'i don't do babies' he is frequently to be found playing ardently with one or other of them, or explaining things to them in great detail. then much embarrassed huffing and excusing when he realises he has been discovered!!! ;) but no matter, we are enjoying our life together and with them, so why worry?