Do bears like hundreds and thousands?

That was a question Mattie asked a couple of weeks ago. Both kids are currently going through a fast period of development. Today Mattie announced to Tina "I've got a friend called Modgy who lives in my head". Riiight. Cue a frantic bit of googling to check that this is normal development! Apparently you can learn about potential problems by what they say about their imaginary friends. The main thing Mattie has told us so far is that Modgy has lots of hands. I asked who did the most talking and Mattie said "me", so no surprise there. Maybe Modgy is just someone prepared to listen because Mattie talks and talks and talks.

Eleanor doesn't talk yet but boy does she let you know what she wants. She's absolutely gorgeous at the moment, incredibly animated and affectionate. About three weeks ago she quite suddenly "got" television. Up till then it was just a box of lights in the corner that she paid no attention to. But now she's become transfixed by the Night Garden. She jabbers away whenever IgglePiggle and UpsyDaisy appear on the screen and waves her hands about and dances etc.