L A Diary *
*Lily and Amy
This is an occasional report on what our two grandchildren say. As Amy is not yet as verbally articulate as her sister, Lily will feature most for now.
JANUARY 2014
We have been taking first Lily, and now both girls to St Mary’s church on Thursdays. Not out of religious conviction but for sensibly priced refreshments and for Iris to meet her friend Jenny.
We usually sit the girls at the table while we have our coffee and toasted teacakes. A the moment Lily likes to help me unwrap the butter (licking the wrapper) and puts in the sugar in the coffee then carefully stirs it for me. She also likes to have a piece of teacake – mostly to lick off the butter.
After we finish our coffee and chat we all then go off to the children’s play area on other side of the church.
Last Thursday started with the same routine but Lily was impatient and wanted to go and play early and for me to go with her.
I explained;
“I would go with her as soon as I had finished drinking my coffee . .”
She paused to assimilate my statement and then with the logic of a two and a half year old said “Well you can always bring your coffee with you . . .”
I didn’t hear the word ‘Simples’ but I’m sure I caught an echo from somewhere.
MARCH 2014
Geometry, Mathematics and smoke
Over the last few weeks we have been reliably informed that our house is a ‘rectangle’ and that if Granny has three ice lollies to share between Issie, Amy and Lily that is ‘one each’.
We were going into town on a damp and dismal Thursday morning using the park and ride for a change. Looking around at Henlade Lily asked where had all the smoke come from? On being informed that it was not smoke but fog she took this in her stride then asked where had the sky gone?
MARCH 2014 (more)
What’s not to like?
Lily has started play-school at Creech (the third generation attending here) she seems to have fitted in well.
Iris and I collect her at 3.30pm and walk her back to Cooks Close. In the time before tea – now that the nights are drawing out we have to find something (other than TV) to interest and entertain her. So a spot of light gardening was chosen. This developed into a search for worms. In the damp soil we found some and with increasing boldness Lily would take a closer look. First by peering intently at the ground with her nose close to the dirt, then with the worm balanced on the trowel. This moved to tentatively touching, picking up and finally the cold and wiggling creature was held in the warmth of her hand. This progression took a few weeks and several attempts but each time we put all the worms back and covered them up.
last Wednesday we observed this ritual and with a specimen that seemed no different to me. She carefully looked at her palm and said ” I think it likes me . . ”
April 2014
Even the walls have ears.
On our Thursday trips now that we have Lily and Amy we take them into town using the ‘park and ride’. With two pushchairs the journey is much more convenient.
We still generally have coffee in church and a short period in the play area. We do any shopping and at about 1.00pm we all go for lunch. Finding a cafe that can accommodate two pushchairs usually means Perkin Warbeck where we share a simple meal of egg and chips for me, and ham, egg and chips for Iris. We get two extra plates and the girls have an egg each and some chips from ours.
Jenny Evans often joins us and the time is spent feeding ourselves and chatting to the girls. Iris and Jenny share confidences about mutual friends and the people they known. Both girls and I seemingly just enjoying the meal and our surroundings. This view was dramatically shattered when Iris was talking about the dynamic relationships of a particular family.
Lily who was eating her chips suddenly pricked up her ears and echoing a casually spoken phrase, loudly asked “But why do the children have problems . . ?”
Small they may be but they don’t miss much.
#Anything you can do. . . #
April 2014
Amy has not figured too much on this diary. She is still a person in her own right so here is a note about the things she does to balance the entries;
Lily is experimenting at all levels not least in walking and she was demonstrating the fact that she could balance on one leg while holding on to a chair. Amy spotted this and quickly gave us an illustration of her skills – she understood her sister, and not to be outdone imitated the same balancing act easily and with her winning smile she made it clear to us that she is not going to be overshadowed much longer.
May 2014
The Why Chromosome
We are waiting at the escalator in Marks and Spencers.
Subject – Financial transactions
Lily “Where is granny going?”
Me “ To pay a bill”
Lily “Why?”
Me “Because we owe them money”
Lily “Why?”
Me “Because we bought clothes”
Lily “Why?”
Me “To wear and look nice”
Lily “Why?”
Me “Because. . .”
This would have continued for ever but Iris came back down the stairs.
Lily is shopping trolley surfing – I don’t know where she learn’t this skill.
Subject – Tribology.
Lily “Why is the floor slippery?”
Me “Because they keep it clean.
Lily “Why?”
Me “Because it is a grocery store.
Lily “Why?”
Me “Because a grocery store needs to remove the dirt from peoples shoes.
Lily “Why?”
Me “The store needs to kill germs.
Lily “Why?”
Me “The food must not have any germs on the them.
Lily “Why?”
Me “We don’t want to buy food with germs on them.
Lily “Yes but why is the floor slippery”.
In St Mary’s Church having coffee.
Subject – Sociology.
Lily sees a man at the next table.
Lily “Why is that man sad”
Me “I don’t know”
Lily “Why is he sitting on his own.
Me “ I don’t know”
Luckily a churchwarden saw the man alone and sat with him, so Lily stopped.
I am going to have to tailor my responses and turn them back to Lily to see if she knows the answers.
Guess what Amy’s new word is? “Why”.
Amy – Darwin and Newton
Amy is now coming out from behind her sister. While she is still imitating Lily in many ways her personality is making itself known, she is very determined and has her own way of showing it.
As an example we were in town last Thursday and had done a few bits of shopping and Lily insisted on carrying a small bag from Wilco’s. Amy was in the push-chair and all was well.
After lunch on a very hot day Amy decided, like her sister who was still carrying the small bag of shopping, she would walk. Amy indicated that she wanted to carry her own pink back-pack, not on her back but like Lily on her wrist using the top handle.
This was a big struggle for her and all the while I am encouraging her to put in on her back. After about 50 metres or so of very slow progress she stopped and opened the bag and removed a pair of socks which she gave to me. She closed the zip and tottered on a few more metres again stopping to remove another item passing it to me moving on again.
Finally she took everything out of the bag and closed the top up. The bag was now very much lighter and she was able to easily carry it by the top handle so she was able to run quickly to catch up her sister as if to say, “I can do it too”.
She had clearly worked out that making the bag lighter by removing things she could manage on her own. How did she know that?
March 2015
Where has the time gone?
It is almost a year since I last added to this page. It is not because nothing has happened but the opposite – too much is changing in both Lily and Amy. They are now little people in their own right and our view of them alters practically every week.
Swimming.
Lily has been taking lessons for quite a while now and is very happy in the water, she is almost at the stage where she will be able to swim without an adult hovering.
Amy not to be outdone is also taking lessons, sitting at the side of the pool with all her little friends and jumping in and out of the water with ease even if she slips into the water she can manage to get herself back on the side without any fuss. She and Lily have a great deal of fun in the water and just she see them sky-larking is a joy.
Walking and talking.
During this last twelve months we have see Amy blossom under the wing of her sister(s) she has had a tremendous boost in her vocabulary and is able to hold her own again the two elder sibling. She is small against Lily but that does not inhibit her in the least. She mimics Lily and is a very fast learner.
Dieting
Lily and Amy have very different appetites Lily will eat her greens but give Amy chips she is happy. We take them out on Thursdays and usually end up in Dellers Wharf where they both have ‘egg and chips’ using knife and forks like experts. Last week Amy was asleep at lunch so we had our meal without her. She woke up just as we were leaving and she was very upset to be denied ‘egg and chips’ and would only be pacified with a visit to Poundland.
Size isn’t everything.
Amy is a head shorter than Lily but she is not a bit troubled by her lack of centimetres doing everything that her sister does. She is now going to Pre-school two afternoons a week and while she is the smallest in the class this is an advantage as all her classmates treat her as a living doll.
Partners
Lily and Amy play so well together and to listen quietly as they play is magic and the conversation between them is so entertaining.
Amy and the concept of zero July 2015
Learning is a continuous process and this is true at any age.
Amy was eating one of her favourite puddings – strawberries and cream. She steadily ate them and then, without any prompting from us pointed out that while she had two strawberries left if she ate one there would only be one left, and if she ate them both they would be all gone!
This suggests to me that she could think about an event that was about to happen and also image the event at its conclusion. She has this sorted out in her mind without actually doing it.
Words
Amy discovered she could say “Weatabix” OK thats what learning is but Amy also realised that she had learnt a new word and said “I just realised I can say Weatabix. . . “.
She has funny requests – it is late evening and she is putting off going to bed again and she wants something to eat so she asks for “Brioche”!!!