Omnibus

I’ve been busy at work for a while, so here’s a bit of a roundup. Lauren and Sam both went to the optician’s yesterday. Sam is doing fine, and really enjoys having his eyes tested. Lauren’s eyes have got slightly worse, so we’re back to wearing a patch for a couple of hours per day to bring things back under control. She may also have to wear bifocals, in part because her eyes are actually pretty good at a distance, and it’s only really close up that she suffers. But it’s not a major concern, as the chances of the patch fixing things at this age are very good.

We got school photos through yesterday, so those of you we consider important will get them on the next UK trip. Lauren looks like she’s heard about smiling but isn’t sure of the technique (but looks very cute), while Sam has his normal “I have no idea what’s going on” expression (but looks very cute).

Last night was the first for a long while without dummies, and as Lauren’s is broken it looks like we’re making a clean break. And by ‘clean’ I of course mean horribly messy and full of bitter recriminations.

Sam has decided he should probably get round to this whole talking lark. He understands pretty much everything, and can actually say quite a lot, but he needs to work on his diction. It’s interesting to compare him to his contemporary Toby in this; Toby has freakishly-good diction (we looked after him at the weekend and he was clearly pronouncing the D on ’round’, and this isn’t a new thing), while Sam excels in comparison at activities requiring dexterity (such as eating, drawing etc.) Comparison isn’t competition, of course, it’s merely interesting to see how they develop at different speeds in different areas.

Speaking of developing, Lauren has recently taken to using the bathroom totally independently. I know this is a good thing, but it’s still disconcerting to be sat in the living room with Claire and hear the toilet flush and see Lauren wander back in.

We found out over the weekend that Lauren’s best friend Ceolla (pr. Key-ohla) may be moving back to Ireland with her parents and sibling-to-be. I record this fact for posterity, and will post later on the fallout.