An eventful month

Jessicat enjoyed our holiday in Weymouth this year. She liked walking round the harbour to look at the boats, the seagulls and the bridge, and she was fascinated by the sand on the beach, though not interested or brave enough to venture dipping a toe in.

We have started our Kindermusik classes, and they are going well so far. I still think Jess likes going on the bus and wandering around Bath spotting the painted pigs best though!

Some of our reads this month are:

Tractors - Felicity Brooks. From Usborne. I do like the fact that although this book is nominally about tractors, there's a lot more interesting things to look at and discuss under the flaps.

Buster Gets Dressed - Rod Campbell.

Elephant Small and the Splashy Bath - Sally Grindley.

Animals Aboard - Andrew Peters.

I'm Not Scared - Jonathen Allen. Sequel to I'm Not Cute.

It's Time to Sleep, you crazy sheep - Alison Ritchie. Great book. Lovely, rollicking rhyme and bright pictures of sheep doing daft things.

Tell Me About the Building Site - author unknown. A non-fiction book from Ladybird. Jessica is strangely fascinated by builder's tools, so this hits the spot nicely.

Jessica has developed a love of playing with little matchbox cars (particularly parking them and making them rescue broken down cars) and her fairy cottage (she instructs the fairies in a variety of activities, such as jumping, going to sleep, making a cup of coffee etc). She is beginning to show some - limited - signs of being able to play independently, and in the mornings, now ventures downstairs on her own to play with her toys whilst we are getting dressed.

Some books that Jessicat is really enjoying

Big Red Bath - Julia Jarman. A rollicking rhyme that is a lot of fun to read. Jess is fascinated by the page that shows the bath flying round planet earth. Not sure she understands the story, but I think the repetition and the pictures help to hold her interest.

Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy - Sandra Boynton. A bizarre book that makes Jessicat giggle. Must work on some level that is only comprehensible to toddlers.

Colours - Shirley Hughes. Beautiful drawings and nice rhymes; a pleasure to read aloud, and I am so pleased that Jessicat loves this book.

Bing Make Music - Ted Dewan. Our first Bing book. Jess enjoys the repetitive refrain and giggles when we read this.

Oh Dear - Rod Campbell. Another classic featuring Buster and lots of flaps.

Baby's New Shoes - Dashka Slater. What I most enjoy about this book is the way Jess can join in when the baby says "uh oh" and mummy says "on no" and the repetition of "go go go". It's very much like We're Going On a Bear Hunt for encouraging children to join in.

This Little Chick - John Lawrence. Stunningly crafted illustrations in this book.

All of these books are enjoyable for Jessicat and me to share. Some of them are so beautifully produced that I would be happy to have posters replicating the illustrations to put up on my wall; they would look great next to Jess's Bookstart certificates. I feel fortunate indeed that there are such amazing books out there for children of Jessicat's age.

Christmas books

Well, we are in December now, and Jessicat is excited by Christmas trees, Christmas lights and the decorations that are hanging up in the supermarket. So, there is a bit of a festive theme with our reading as well at the moment:

Dear Santa - Rod Campbell. Oh yes, a much loved book already.

Father Christmas - Fiona Watt. Big, bright book with cluttered pictures of Santa and his elves doing their business on Christmas eve. Now she is familiar with it, Jess loves it, and we pore over this book together to pick out the details and objects she recognizes.

Poppy Cat's Christmas - Lara Jones. Another big book, this time with pop-ups, so I do have to keep it out of Jessicat's reach, which is a shame, as she loves it. One of the best in the Poppy Cat series.

Some time ago, I also bought Jess a book entitled Christmas Baby by Fiona Watt, and I am looking forward to sharing it with her. We are planning to put our tree and decorations up tomorrow, though not sure how we will be able to Jess-proof them.

As always, lots of tiny developments in Jessicat all the time. She is now cruising round the furniture much more confidently, and has even tried to stand unaided, but is some way off doing this yet, I think. When we are feeding her, she is keener than ever to grab the spoon from us, and try to manipulate herself, though in reality, she would starve if left to her own devices. Yesterday, she signed for "more" when I asked her if she wanted me to continue reading to her, and she seems to be attempting to say "yes" and "there", although not clear.