I'm adding an update that I managed to fit in at work today. I emailed it to myself to cut and paste. Got to then dash downstairs to help Gav shift things around. The children are all up very late again. We're dreadful at getting the kids to bed in the holidays. Cerys and Thomas are in their cots in the room behind me and all I can hear is Thomas crooning and squeaking cheekily and Cerys interjecting the occasional,
"No Tayo!"

'I’m sneaking a few minutes at work to do the update on Cerys that I’ve been trying to get round to forever.

It’s funny because in the time it has taken me to update on our youngest she has developed so much.

Physically Cerys is still as robust, round, tall and heavy as ever, ‘solid’ is the word people use to describe her when they try to pick her up. She has an adorable inflated belly which she pats proudly when I ask her where her tummy is. Facially her features are still dainty and really don’t give away her weight at all which is why people are so surprised by her mass if they decide to descend for cuddles. I hasten to add that I’m not remotely concerned by Cerys’s cannonball status. Cara was equally as round as a baby and she is now a healthy lean five-year-old. Cerys does love her food and even though we don’t overfeed her she would happily keep eating and often does as Thomas has cottoned onto the fact that once he tires of eating his sister will willingly polish off the rest of his food. They often spoon-feed each other although Cerys usually ends up eating more!

I’m sure that somewhere along the line I’ve described Cerys as a ‘parcel of personality’ and I have to say that as time progresses and the parcel begins to unwrap the strength of her personality continues to emerge. Having a sibling the same age appears to have given Cerys an extra confidence, as she is able to boss someone around at such a young age. Today in the car was a perfect example of Cerys’s baby bossiness. Thomas was cooingly pointing things out as Gav drove me to work. Hearing Cerys babbling I turned around and found her shaking her finger at Thomas and saying,
“Don’ do ‘at Tayo.”
Tayo is Cerys’s first attempt at saying Thomas. For some reason she had decided that he shouldn’t be talking and was practising telling him off. Poor Thomas! Mind you he was completely oblivious and didn’t have a clue what she was saying to him. He simply grinned back cheekily.

Cerys adores linking up with the girls to play games and is growing especially close to Zadie as they spend a lot of time together when Cara is at school. For the first time yesterday Zadie actually stuck up for Cerys. I was painting the girl’s bedroom upstairs and could hear Cerys crying. I was late making their tea and all the children were tired and grizzly. Gav was tired after a day of dramas with Martin the carpenter (who had managed to put a nail through a pipe again) so he was telling Cerys off for crying. Very reasonably Zadie told Gav off and pointed out that Cerys was just a baby. Gav told me about it later on.

Cerys and Zadie spend a lot of time running around playing simple games of chase. Now that Thomas is finally walking he has started to play too. He sometimes growls and sets off after the girls with his arms outstretched like Frankenstein while the girls scatter with peels of laughter. This new agility is bringing Cerys and Thomas together more now too. They sometimes scamper up onto the sofas together and leap around while I tell them to get down, afraid one or the other will fall off. If Cerys wants a toy she will still go and grab it off whoever has it and squeals with outrage if she can’t get it. Thomas is now learning to stand his ground a little and even get quite aggressive in return. He’s learning to use his hands to whack so when Cerys picks up that talent I’ll have some real fights on my hands. Strangely it is independent Zadie who is being the most understanding about Cerys’s thefts. She often shrugs and says,
“She can have it, she’s just a baby.”
Cara is more inclined to snatch things back off Cerys in exasperation. I can’t blame her but being a Mum I have to try to make her communicate with Cerys which is hard when poor Cara is tired from school.

Verbally Cerys is doing fantastically. She pronounces words like ‘Cat’ and ‘Bird’ so perfectly that you can almost hear every letter. She is stringing together simple sentences as well such as ‘I’ve ‘ot a wet bum’ or ‘I wan’ ‘ood’, or ‘look at this’.

Cuddles are never in short supply with Cerys too. Being the ball she is I often find myself bowled over as she charges to me with her arms outstretched and knocks me off balance if I’m on my knees. It makes me laugh. She’ll then clamber up and give me a big squeeze and often kisses too. Kisses delight Cerys. The other day I had a Tweenie bedspread hung over the art easel in the kitchen and she kept going across to kiss each of the Tweenies in turn!

Right I’d better sign off. It’s nearly time for Gav to collect me. I’m working here tomorrow as well so I can make up for a half hour of slack time then.

xxx '