Mike's musings

More beach - and a boat

Up at the usual time, I'm afraid, but we had a lovely time at Walberswick again - Jo in my backpack this time. We caught the little rowed ferry across to the other side (Southwold) at 1000: the very first time that Jo had been in a boat. She loved it, particularly when we explained that it's the same as "row, row, row the boat...".

Wandered round Southwold, and then Moo found somewhere that would do her a pedicure. We'd already agreed that if we could find somewhere she'd have it as a holiday treat. Jo and I wandered around Southwold: they've closed the beach! What a ridiculously ungenius idea: close one of your two main tourist attractions in July, one of your two major tourist months. I was so incensed that I went into the tourst office and complained. I got the feeling from the defensive answer I got (before I'd even finished the question) that I wasn't the first person to have asked.

I was sitting watching the sea around 0800 this morning, while Moo and Jo played in the sea, thinking how lucky Sally is living by the sea and being able to experience it every day. Moo said, this morning, "I'd forgotten how much children enjoy the seaside." She's right - Jo loves it, and not necessarily for obvious reasons. She's got some new words ("wave" is a particular favourite), and loves throwing stones into the surf. You don't realise how complicated the act of throwing something is until you watch someone learn it. I've been very impressed with how quickly she's learnt it. Not perfect, yet, but most times she'll let go of the stone in such a way that it actually goes forward, rather than backwards, to the side or just falls down. And she doesn't often hit one of us, which is good.

Bad news this evening - though expected - Nana's been to the plaster clinic, and needs to spend another 4 weeks in her cast.

Last, and slightly weirdly, Jo's started calling me "Mike" and, on occasion, Moo "Moo". It's only when she's calling one of us, and it's clearly because she's noticed one or other of us doing it, but it feels very weird, and although we konw that some parents encourage it, we've never had any intention of getting her to call us by our Christian names - particularly at 16 months.

There's one word that we don't understand: "dabba". She seems to use it to express a concept, rather than as a verb or noun (she uses both, and does the odd concept). We just can't work it out, though. We're noticing more sentences or near-sentences, including "I want a...", "I don't want a..." or even "Am I allowed a...?". So far, pretty much everything's focused on her wants and needs, but why shouldn't they be? She's getting very, very good at asking for the loo ("wee-wee"), which is pretty impressive, and certainly helps our lives along.