Speed

Things change quickly round here at the minute. Nathaniel is powering towards being a school-goer rather than a pre-schooler with gusto and seems to grow in abilities, use of logic, and size on a minute by minute basis. Bus drivers have started giving me a hard time when I expect not to pay for him (he's free until he's five), and Nathaniel explaining patiently and eloquently why they are mistaken in thinking that he is five because its only becuase he is quite tall doesn't really help.

Dorothea is more like a person everyday and is currently calling everything "Daddy". Nathaniel is predominantly "Daddy", but so are other men, nice books, Granny Janni and Grandpa Beard, and desirable cakes. "Daddy" is definitely a good thing, and is normally followed by "Yeah, yeah, Yesss" with firm and exagerated head nodding.

But the most useful developments are our increased options for transport. Nathaniel can cycle pretty much anywhere, and happy cycled to his friend Beth's house and back (a good 6 mile round trip) and wasn't too tired for heart-felt playing. Bike is now our favourite mode of transport, and if it wasn't for the lack of quiet roads/cycle tracks into town, we'd probably always cycle together because Thea loves the bike seat. However, because there is no way of avoiding the bit of busy Holgate Road over the railway (with added steep hill for extra blood-pressure exercise), at present I normally walk so that I can grab him if necessary (not so far!).

Thea is enjoying walking at speed everywhere and we've had to start being really careful about the back gate as she notices immediately if it is not bolted, and the next thing you know she's off round the corner on an adventure. She seems to have understood the road issue, and so far (jinxing it now), I've not had to drag her back from a curb. The face I see most often when outside is her grinning cheekily over one shoulder before taking off at rate of knots. I thought she was particularly keen to go a specific way down the road and was therefore pleased when we needed to go that way yesterday, but no, its just the wrong way that particularly interests her. How she knows which way we're going is a mystery to me (more of that in the next post).