1.  Ma Ma

2.  Dadd-deee

3.  Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

He said it.  He definitely said it.  Ma Ma.  Son 2, aged  9m, sitting on the bathroom floor, playing with the Duplo trains while I dried myself post-shower, looked up, gazed at me with his big round blue eyes, smiled and said “Ma Ma.”  He was DaDa-ing for ages, and calls Son 1 aged 3 and a half A-Da.  But no mention of mummy at all.  Till today. I love the way language comes.

And goes.  Weirdly enough, since The Man went off on his trip, Son 2 hasn’t said Da Da at all.  The first thing Son 1 said when he woke up was ”Is Daddy home today?”  And then gave a long wail when the answer was no.  He has been playing up a bit - they both have - but it must be hard for them.  I have been making big allowances for Son 1.  Unfortunately  I told him that I knew he was being naughty because he felt funny because Daddy’s away.  And then this morning he was swiping at Son 2’s head, snatching toys off him and trying to tow him along by the ankles.  I picked him up, sat him on my knee and said ”Why are you behaving like this?” He said: “Because my daddy’s not here.”    He doesn’t understand my concerned reasoning… he just thinks he’s got a Get Out of Jail Free card.

In the car on the way back from nursery  Son 1 and Son 2 were laughing and making noises at each other.  Son 2 cackled, Son 1 and I cackled back.  It was great.  Son 2 kept making his cackling noise to see if we would copy him, and when we did he laughed even more.  Which made Son 1 and me laugh even more.   Son 2 was just so excited that he could make Son 1 and I do something together.  A very lovely journey home.