“Where Did That Come From?”

Regular readers will know that Martin, our skilled and knowledgeable garden helper works in all kinds of weather. Current renewed gales were, however, enough to keep him away today.

When Flo and Ellie returned from two weeks with Becky and Ian we were struck by how animated and engaged she had become in that short space of time.

Here she utters sounds akin to speech of sorts, and waves her hands and feet about, tracking her elephant with her eyes as Jackie moves it backwards and forwards across her line of vision.

Parents of a certain age will recognise the introduction of the repetitive earworm “Stick”, associated with Hey Duggie!’s stick insect character. Ellie’s response to him is an indication of how in tune with the needs of their audience of pre-verbal children are the creators of the TV programme.

This morning, as I rose to my feet to fetch my camera to photograph her playing in her recliner,

she turned to give me a smile. Despite all her mother’s best efforts to keep her nails short she has managed to scratch her face for the first time – always distressing for a parent.

I well remember https://derrickjknight.com/2022/01/06/a-knights-tale-89-sams-first-cut/ (The two missing photographs should be returned to that post once my WP site becomes managed by my computer advisers.)

At the foot of Ellie’s recliner is fixed a panel which relays various sound effects.

When she triggered these with her own kicking feet

she looked bemused, as if she wondered where that had come from.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s penne pasta Bolognese with grated Parmesan cheese, green beans and broccoli. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank Mendoza Malbec 2020.

85 comments

  1. Oh my gosh, she just gets cuter and cuter, guys! So adorable! ?❀️?? Jackie’s dinner sounds so delicious, you are a very lucky man, Derrick. ☺️

  2. A lovely series. My favourite is where she’s turned to smile at you. I think we’d all have been bemused by a foot triggered noise at that age.

  3. AW! Ellie is growing so quickly! She is such a beauty! So intelligent! Everything is new and exciting! Soon she will be speaking her thoughts out loud! πŸ™‚ Her smile just for you is so precious! πŸ™‚
    (((HUGS))) for Ellie! ❀️
    And (((HUGS))) for everyone else! πŸ™‚

  4. Such delightful photos of Ellie. They made me smile.
    I don’t know the TV show, but I understand the comment. I imagine her parents were concerned about the scratch.

  5. What a delightful series of photos. Watching a baby develop is one of the most fascinating things in the world. They become responsive so quickly — as her smile for you proves!

  6. Children develop into little people with personality so quickly! Ellie is a very beautiful, bright child, Derrick and Jackie. I remember that story of Sam’s first cut, too.

  7. I am a couple of days behind Derrick … My computer has had the ‘go-slows, and internet hic-ups … I rang my computer-wiz brother this morning for HELP!! … he gave me lots of helpful hints and advice … and mainly my problem seemed to be that the computer needed a good dust down … he told how to detach the removable cover, and my neighbour had a small garden blower, which was perfect for blowing “all” the dust buildup out of the comupter … well I put it back together and rebooted the computer, and here I am writing to you tonight … The ‘thing’ seems to be going ok and tomorrow’s restart up will be the test … Oh … Ellie is looking gorgeous, and has a delightful smile … cheers …

    1. Ivor, I regularly cleaned the inside of the school computers when I managed IT. I used a soft makeup brush and a vacuum cleaner hose to suck up the spreading dust. Computers suck in the dust and then generate more dust every time they’re switched on. I blame working in two suites of computers for the start of my asthma.

      1. Thanks Sue, and it’s probably been over 3 years since my brother set me up with this Dell computer … so you can imagine how dusty it was … ??

        1. My computer needs a service it’s running very slow, I’ve done all I can but it needs someone with heavy-duty skills! ?.
          I have a newer laptop but you can’t beat a proper computer. ?

  8. Adorable!! (I wrote a longer, involved response and lost it when I tried to post ?) … let me try again to let you know how much I enjoyed this post. Thanks so much for all the precious pictures of that darling, alert, obviously bright little girl ?❀️

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