Two of her favorite things at the moment are picking rhubarb and singing … oh and chatting; to herself, her toys and pretty much anyone that will listen.
Her singing, already perfect pitch, has an extensive repertoire now, everything from Baa Baa Black Sheep to Grandma’s Feather Bed, Frere Jacques to Born to Run. Not only does she sing along with the music, she just sings, on the swing, in the back of the car, while she’s doing a puzzle, on our walks, after supper, just before she falls asleep when she’s trying to stay awake and in the morning when she’s rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She’s also been adding in her own versions of songs, which she thinks is hilariously funny … we don’t sing about Sleeping Bunnies anymore but Sleeping Frogs / Elephants / Lions and so on and then we don’t sing about sleeping animals it moves on to Dancing Lions and she makes up words that scan and that rhyme.
It’s interesting how her taste changes, the old favourites like 3 Little Speckled Frogs or Row Row Row get a perfunctory “no” or even a “NO Mummi” when they come on in the car, she can now sing the whole of I Can Sing a Rainbow (and does, often) and likes the song about Jumping the Wriggles Out which we listen to over and over again. Then suddenly she’ll change and say, “Hero comes” and we’ll listen to “See How the Conquering Hero Comes” (Handel) and she’ll hum along and applaud wildly at the end. She also uses everything she can get her hands on to beat out rhythm; today we had a kitchen orchestra with a ladle, wooden spoons, an egg poaching pan and 3 bottles which was huge fun.
The rhubarb habit started last year when she really enjoyed eating it poached or stewed, fresh picked from the garden. We’ve so much of it this year that she picks it most days … initially hiding behind leaves the same size as she is, and now using the leaves and stalks as imaginary brooms and sweeping up the rose petals that have fallen along the route from the rhubarb patch and the front door, “Mummi, Hopey tidying”. The other day we were out for a walk and she pounced on a large doc leaf and shouted “Rhubarb”, it wasn’t, obviously, but looked the same. She is increasingly interested in plants and flowers and knows her stamen from her petals, her pollen from her prickles.
Insects continue to fascinate, slugs, snails, caterpillars and spiders (trying so hard to avoid handing her my fear of the 8 legged harbingers of doom), but her favorite critter of them all is “Mr Skinny Legs” … which is Hopeish for a daddy long legs.
I could go on, and on and on about all this … so many new words, so many funny expressions… but I won’t, in stead here are just a few of them, those that I can remember, I forget them so quickly.
“effelunt” … elephant
she calls several of her ‘Uncles’ ‘Aunty’ which amuses me no end
“me scared me” … when she pulled the bath plug out and it made a huge gurgling noise
“doggy did run way with my nappy” … when we went out for lunch with friends, I changed her wet nappy and folded it up and left it outside by the gate and the dog grabbed it and ran off much to Hope’s rage.
“balloon in moon” after her post party helium filled blue balloon escaped and drifted up and away
“most booooooful Mummi in whold world” when she saw me after a day apart (made me go all teary eyed), immediately followed by, “milky NOW”
She’s also building in confidence all the time, happy now to march up and down the paddling pool, to bounce on the bouncy disc on a net in the local park, to swing on the ‘big swings’ and to climb up ladders … all incredible but at times nerve wracking, and her running speed is increasing too!!!
I could blah on all afternoon about everything she’s doing and achieving, but instead of going rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, I need to go and stew some for supper tonight.
rhubarb harvest
