Esther and William’s vocabulary seems to be exploding at the moment. They are talking all the time. To themselves, to us, each other and to their toys.

Their capacity for imaginative play is growing by the day.

I am so so very proud of them.

Their day begins with breakfast. They let us know when they are ready to eat, help to set the table and choose their cereal. They then commentate on the entire meal. Who is eating what, how they are eating, what they are eating with. They comment on what we are all wearing, what they can see in the playroom, what the weather is doing and what they can see out of the window. We talk about what we will be doing that day and who we will see. This prompts them to go on to say what they know about the places we go and the people that we see.

In the car we generally have music on, children’s traditional music much of the time. Esther and William are starting to be able to sing along but mostly in the car we talk about where we are going, what we might do when we get there and who they might see. We also comment on the journey they tell me when we are going up hill, down hill, through a tunnel, over a bridge. They describe the vehicles that we see using colour and size. They love driving through the woods near our village and talk about the deep dark wood and searching for The Gruffalo.

They are starting to use pronouns correctly and love saying ‘on your …’ and ‘I’m coming with you.’ This is usually as they follow me to the loo!

They are beginning to understand plurals and talk about peoples a lot.

They can count up to four now and recite and recognise numbers from 0 – 9. They understand that zero means nothing.

They are starting to ask lots of questions and very funnily question themselves. What are you doing, Esther? Where’s William going?

They like to role play real life scenarios and can often be found breastfeeding teddy bears and changing toys’ nappies.

They can confidently name shapes including ovals and pentagons and know lots of colours with their current favourite being purple.

They know lots of animal words and food words and love to be dramatic in their descriptions. They are also great mimics and I am sure in the future at least one of them will be on the stage. Esther is always pretending to be The Grand Old Duke of York at the moment from Show Me Show Me, though she marches more like John Cleese!

They are becoming a tight team, a funny double act, the cutest comedy duo that you ever did see.

I love my children so much and am immensely proud to be their mummy.

What wonderful little communicators they have become.

Thank you Esther and William for making life fun!

October is an exciting month for Matilda Mae.

She is now 5 months old and is definitely ready for weaning.

She needs to be weaned on to solid food and out of our bed!

With all the changes ahead of us I have started shopping around for products to help us make the transitions we now need to make.

Through my research one brand seems to be sticking out to me more than any other and I think I have fallen a little bit in love.

I’m a little bit in love with Stokke!

I have been talking on Twitter and Facebook about how we need a new stroller. Until now we have used our Chicco Nunu but most of the time I end up wearing Matilda and pushing an empty pram. She does not like lying flat and she hates being in her car seat. Even in the car. She is not a good traveller. The only way she will go anywhere in a pram is if I am bent right over with my face close to hers and talking to her. It seems to me that the creators of Stokke understand my baby and have raised the seat of their stroller up high so that babies can connect with their parents and get the attention that they crave and the security that they need. At the moment Matilda and I have a problem. She does not want to be lying flat and I do not want her to be facing away from me. We need a parent facing pushchair and I think that the very clever, simply stunning Stokke Xplory could be just what we need.

Whilst browsing the Stokke website and admiring all the clever concepts of the Xplory I was also drawn to the details of their carrier. At the moment I carry Matilda in a Baby Bjorn Miracle which we both love but I am suffering from back problems as I am petite and Baby is not. Other mummies that I meet suggest that now Matilda is bigger I could carry her on my back. And actually I think she would love that! The Stokke My Carrier would make it possible to give back carrying a go and switch back to being on my front if either of us is at all unsure. What a great idea!

Once I had started admiring some Stokke products it would have been rude not to peruse them all. And guess what, each one made me fall a little more in love.

When your Baby is the best thing in your world you want the best of the best for them?

So add to the list above the fabulously funky and functional Tripp Trapp.

Wouldn’t she look cute?

Holding Out for a Tripp Trapp!

And the bed fit for a princess the Stokke Sleepi Bed.

That should see us through the upcoming toddler years.

Now to convince the Daddy!!

Today sees the launch of a wonderful new book compiled by Gemma Elwin Harris.

Big Questions from Little People is a collection of genuine questions asked by primary school pupils and answered by a range of ‘very big people’ including Sir David Attenborough, Bear Grylls and my personal favourite, Jarvis Cocker!

The opportunity to review this book has come at a great time for us. Esther and William are now two years old and are becoming very curious about their world.

I no longer, for example, go to the toilet alone because the wonder of mummy on the big potty is just too much to ignore. So off to the loo we all go with questions from my adorable children including, ‘What’s that sound?’ ‘What’s Mama doing?’ and ‘Where’s that wee gone?’

Last week we lost my husband’s Grandad and we deliberated for a long time about whether or not to take our children to the family funeral service. In the end we decided against for many reasons including that they would just have too many questions that we might not want or be able to answer at that time.

Children love to ask questions and they have no sense of what is appropriate and when.

I have very crooked teeth and I will never forget one of my pupils asking me when I taught Year 2 why my teeth were all broken. I will also always remember a young year 4 boy asking me why Jesus’ disciples were eating his body and drinking his blood.

Esther and William are just beginning to question what goes on around them and I am looking forward to helping them to learn and to learning alongside them too.

The Big Questions book I am sure will make a great starting point for preparing me for the years and questions to come.

I have just received the book today and am about to start reading so please do come back to the blog for our full review.

In the meantime, can you answer any of these? Jarvis Cocker can!!

How do you fall in love?
How far away is space?
Why can’t we live forever?
Why is space so sparkly?
Why do we have music?
Is it ok to eat a worm?

If you would like to read the Big Questions book for yourself then it is available to buy online from Faber at just £9.99 with at least 67% of royalty fees being given to the NSPCC.

So on Friday I did not win a Mad Blog Award (Congratulations to those who did!!) and I also became a year older.

I am 36 years old.

How is that even possible?

Birthday Girl and Bekenscot Bear!

Today I had my very special birthday outing with the family. Often for my birthday I choose to go to the zoo but this year I wanted to do something different.

While watching Show Me Show Me with Esther and William earlier in the year I saw one of the characters, Miss Mouse, exploring a model village and from that snapshot I set my heart on going there, to Bekenscot, as I had a feeling that Esther and William would love it.

And guess what? They did!

We all did.

We had a wonderful day out.

It was the most engaged Esther and William have ever been on a day trip. They loved exploring the miniature village, were so excited by the mini railway and loved the toddler playground.

Bekenscot provided the perfect setting for a relaxed family celebration.

The village is beautiful, taking you through life as it would have been in the 1930s.

It made me yearn for the simple life especially when looking at the old fashioned fairground. Not a flashing light in sight!

Esther and William loved spotting the animals in the zoo and listening to the music coming from the church.

We walked around the village three times in all. Esther and William loved looking at all the little people and loved spotting buses and trains and planes. Matilda Mae loved the trains too.

The cafe was lovely and clean, it was also very reasonably priced and I felt a little sad that we had brought a picnic as I quite fancied most of the healthy and wholesome foods that the cafe had to offer. We did enjoy some coffee and hot chocolates. They were delicious too.

When we did eat our picnics there were plenty of sheltered tables to choose from and lots of clean highchairs too.

Around the picnic area there were signs painted on the floor which made a great game. Who can stand on the tea cup?

While we drank our hot drinks Esther and William explored the toddler friendly play area. They had a wonderful time climbing and sliding and meeting Rupert the Bear!

Most of all though Esther and William enjoyed being giants exploring the miniature world. We all loved the ride on train too!

The park was bustling but not overly busy. I was thrilled to see Rob Brydon and his family there but was too frightened to say hello.

We really did have a wonderful day and it was well worth the 90 minute drive from home. There was plenty of space for our double buggy including a covered buggy park and picnic storage area. The baby change area was bright and clean. Everything was designed with thought and care for young families making a good day a great one. I was really really impressed.

The Bekenscot Model Village is a perfect day out for young children. We all had a wonderful time.

I cannot wait to go back again!