It doesn't seem to matter how tired or grumpy the girls are, bath time is always full of laughter and quick retrievals of Halle who tends to find herself face down in the water at every bath. No, not because of Anneka - Anneka is quite vigilant. The other day she charged across the living room to stop Halle from throwing herself off the couch! Halle is always covered in bumps, bruises and scrapes. When will she give up?
These days Anneka isn't napping much. She's got too much work to do. Her pictures are quite interesting. They are often map like and sometimes from a bird's eye perspective or a combination. They are full of patterns and hieroglyphics and also real letters. Anneka can recognize the majority of the letters in the alphabet now and can print more than a dozen. She will print ANN and then usually asks for the order of the others. We don't actually work on it much - she'll learn when she learns - but she's obviously interested and when she's asks I'll help her.
Her imagination continues to blossom. The other day we were cuddling on the couch and she told me to close my eyes and then tell her what I saw. We took turns doing this over and over, adding on to one another's pictures and making up fantastical scenes. She is often singing. I think she has a really lovely voice and can effortlessly carry a tune. She makes up stories. She will often tell me she has a "secret story" to tell me "from her heart". Every night a bed time she asks Paul and/or I tell her a story "from our mouths". Usually the stories we tell her are from when we were little, but I am also beginning to dig up fairy tales and fables from my memory.
Halle is now 10 months old. More and more she is able to play with Anneka. They are really starting to laugh and be silly together. The last few mornings they have been rolling around on our bed together before they get up for the day. Halle just wants to be part of everything.
Physical skills still seem to be her biggest focus. Not that she's not developing in all other ways, she is, it's just that she is such an active little critter it's hard not to notice. At Anneka's gymnastics Paul said that during circle time when the kids were doing donkey kicks, Halle was right in there doing donkey kicks too! The teacher thought she was a child prodigy, but I know better - haha. Halle is right into everything. She "helped" Paul whenever she could when he was redoing the floors and wants to eat whatever we are. She gets so angry if I take away something she is playing with, so now I am sure to make an exchange instead. She is climbing on me and giving me kisses and when she really wants me she utters a string of mamamamamama. This afternoon when both girls must have had low blood sugar and Paul and I were cleaning the kitchen, unpacking groceries and making lunch, they were both loud and whiney. At one point the resounding sound was a symphony of whiney Mum and mamas and mummies. It was something else. Paul and I just looked at eachother and laughed - what else can you do?
Other news with Halle is she is teething pretty hard again. Her 8th little tooth just broke through and I think the eye teeth are annoying her. She was sleeping a long stretch that took her till sometime between 2-5 am, and then would go back to sleep until 7, but now she's back to waking up after 4 hours or so. I can really tell the difference in my overall energy when this happens. She is resettling easily so it's not bad, but the broken sleep has an impact. I've heard that some people who meditate heavily are good with 5 hours. That would be awesome. Imagine only needing 5 hours sleep!
The following shots are the Waldorf Hallowe'en in Paradise Valley (pre trick or treating), a fall day in Porteau Cove, and the evolution of the floors. Enjoy!
