Dear Esther and William

I just want to write to you to let you know how adorable you are right now. At 14 months actual and 11 months corrected you are just so much fun to be around. You make me smile and laugh every single day. You make me proud with everything you can do and all that you are learning. Your individual characters are really starting to shine through and I love them both. What wonderful children you are! Here are some of the many many reasons that I love you more than ever right now.

When we were in the heat of the Spanish sun you learned to crawl on your hands and feet to protect your knees from the rough, heated concrete. So cute and very funny.

William, you somersaulted head first from a lilo into Grandad’s pool and seemingly loved it. You are so brave!

You both love to eat fruit particularly blueberries, raspberries, apricots and bananas.

Esther, what a great dancer you are, to the cheesiest of pop!

You have both learned to build towers with soft bricks and lego. You understand when asked to build a tower.

You both understand so much now and can fetch things when asked to.

You both understand and are starting to say: in, out, up and down.

You have a very naughty look on your face when I let you try little treats such as crisps and digestive biscuits.

William is growing his hair like Keith from The Prodigy!

Both of you can now say Mama, Dada, up, ball and ta. So clever!

You are making new sounds all of the time and get frustrated when we cannot understand you.

You have started to join in with action songs and seem to love singing as much as me. We do lots of singing!

Esther, and sometimes William too, pretends to be on the phone and says ‘herow’ for ‘hello’

William watches Esther very closely and then tries to copy when she what does, even if it is something naughty like spitting out food!

Both Esther and William have stood independently for a few seconds but seem a bit scared of letting go of the furniture for good.

Esther is starting to show a real love for books and will happily sit and examine a book for minutes at a time. Very cute.

Esther knows the story of Owl Babies so well that she anticipates the moment that Mummy Owl comes home and gets so excited. We pretend to swoop and fly like an owl.

Both babies love In The Night Garden. Esther dances with Upsy Daisy, William waves with Iggle Piggle and claps with Makka Pakka and they both say Ha Hoo when the Hahoos come on to the screen.

Both babies understand flip books and love listening to Dear Zoo.

Esther and William, I could go on and on listing all the magical things that you do each day. For a corrected age of 11 months I think that you are really doing rather well and I am so so proud to be your Mummy.

You are starting to fight more now and I hope as you get older you will learn to share and to be gentle with one another. You are starting to be more of a team too. You love to play together and you make each other giggle so much. You play chase and peekaboo. You are going to be great friends I am sure.

You are so similar in so many ways and yet so completely different in others. I love every bit of you both so much and cannot imagine a world without you in it.

I am excited about what the future holds for you, for us.

What beautiful, clever little babies you are!

Keep growing and learning little ones. Be confident and brave. Don’t be afraid to try something new and know that Daddy and I will always be here to catch you if you fall.