Letter 22 / 11 / 83
Its early Tuesday - the kids are up but Peter lingers in bed under the effects of an antihistamine (his old mango allergy - not that he has eaten any!) A certain boisterous baby has just crawled to me and is standing, swiping at my paper (which I am holding in the vicinity of my left shoulder as I write). She's so much livelier than James was at this age, and full of little clevernesses. Some of these we appreciate - like we can leave a bottle in her cot and she'll find it and use it without calling for me. She has her first tooth at last, and now she is thoroughly good at sitting, crawling, standing - and even makes a fair go at pulling herself along things.
As for her big brother - he speaks Torres Strait Creole quite well for his age. We'll have to spend the summer holidays teaching him English too. Alison thinks he's wonderful, even though he frequently hits her or knocks her over. They are so funny together - they look so alike and they have so many private giggles.
Later
I've just taken James to kindy - he was very reluctant today. I haven't made him go the last couple of weeks because it seemed something there was frightening him. We're not sure if it was stories he was being told, or whether something was happening when all the kids are sent to the toilet. Anyway, with only 1 1/2 weeks left this year I thought we'd give it another try - see whether he sleeps well tonight or starts screaming again. Next year there will be 16 grade one kids - most classes are only 6-10 - so I guess there's presently rather a lot of 'big' kids in kindy, it will be a lot nicer for him next year when they move on.
We didn't get our boat on the last ship after all. We had been told it was on TI, but when Peter rang around no one had seen it. Finally they admitted we had been "short-shipped" - it was off-loaded and left on the wharf in
The ducks continue to grow rapidly. Whereas 4 could swim around in their crisper of water, now there's only room for one to "duck" in, but no room to actually swim as such. We've searched the island dump, but can't find anything bigger, and don't feel they're big enough for the ocean yet. We have to admit to not knowing a great deal about ducks. We are wondering how soon they will lay. And how can we tell male from female? And how much should they eat?
We now have water on tap! Its really hard to get used to, I still reach for a jug to dip into the barrel. Peter has put a pipe from our tank to the laundry sink, the kitchen sink, and a tap by the back steps - isn't he clever?
