I'd like to announce (because I'm a rather proud big sister) that, after 2 rounds of competitive auditioning, Louisa has been given a trial with the BBC Concert Orchestra!! She has been working towards something like this for years and is more deserving of this big break than practically anyone else I know through her sheer bloody-minded perseverance and hard work. Okay, so this is just a trial BUT this is a massive, HUGE accomplishment. Playing the violin is all Louisa has ever wanted to do, in the same way that all I've ever wanted to do is write. So Louisa is a big inspiration for me, to keep at it. Because I DO believe it - that one day my own big break will come.
Some people have been asking me how Lily is, because mentions of her are admittedly few and far between on Maya's blog. So I've decided that every few weeks or so, Lily will get her own blog. Actually, now is a good time anyway to write about the little lady as the day before yesterday she began to crawl! It's all come as quite a surprise as we've never experienced 'the crawling thing' before: Maya sat like a little Buddha for the first 16 months of her life and went straight to walking. But Lily, 2 weeks off her first birthday, is now zooming around the place, mightily pleased with herself.
Crawling aside, I'm pleased to say that Lily is a very happy, healthy little girl. Her teeth have been giving her jip but that's normal of course, and I've been recommended an amazing homeopathic remedy for teething that lots of people use out here so will be getting my hands on some of that as soon as possible as the calpol has run out - panic! As well as now being mobile, I could have sworn she uttered her first proper word the other day. We were at the park and Maya was about to go down the slide when suddenly Lily turned her face around from within the sling, her little face lighting up, and she looked at her big sister and squeaked 'Maya!' Now maybe I was imagining it. But it certainly sounded like this is what she said and it would come as no great surprise. Lily's eyes are constantly following Maya. She is absolutely fascinated by her and is always trying to get a reaction out of Maya too - reaching out to touch (or pinch) her, stroking (or pulling) her curls and making her laugh. Lily also does the most adorable thing whereby she blows kisses...it's quite hard to describe but she puckers her little lips in and then makes a smacking sound as she blows them out, particularly if we blow a kiss at her first.
I have to say that, aswell as the baby carrier being very comfy for both Lily and myself, I'm very glad she is in it most of the time we are out. Safety asides, the number of people who try and just take her from me is staggering. And yes, we are talking strangers as well. Babies (as well as children) are public property here as I've talked about before. Let me give you an example. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in a park. Maya was on the swing and Lily was on my lap (out of the sling) whilst I chatted to my sister on my mobile. All of a sudden, a woman walked up to us, yanked Lily up by one arm, walked off and put her on the top of a very high slide. I just could not believe it. Poor Lily was absolutely howling - it must have been pretty painful for her the way she was picked up, not to mention that she had no idea who this strange woman was. But here, this is not strange. This is totally normal, acceptable behaviour and if you question this, you run the risk of offending people. Frankly though, that's fine with me in these circumstances and offend I shall whilst retrieving my terrified baby from the top of a slide. Can you imagine this happening in a park in England??! Someone would be consigned directly to a loony bin!
Whilst I am doing my writing in the morning, Lily spends time with Deepa, the ayah. This, so far is going really well and I can sigh a huge sigh of relief that Deepa is a gentle soul and does not grab Lily by one arm or anything like that. Deepa has two little boys and says she always wanted a girl and seems to adore her. Lily is also eating some of Deepa's curries for lunch, mashed in with rice. Hooray - one of my children likes Indian food!
So all's well with Liliput, our little lovely. I can hardly believe she'll be one in 2 weeks - where oh where has this past year gone to?
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