Icy...

Busy day: scraping the hire car free of its carapace of freezing snow... getting a quick blip shot of icy webs by our front steps...and driving across town cautiously to collect Luca.
We spent a good morning and early afternoon together, before picking Frieda up from pre-school just after 3. The cough that Luca had a few weeks ago seems to have come back, and was bothering him a bit. I noticed a slightly hyper quality in him that is usually a sign that he's struggling a little,  either with illness or tiredness. 
Frieda's in good fettle, however, and is very excited about the news of a sibling on the way. It's going to feel like a long 5.5 months, to her, before the due date...
They did have one tricky moment together. On the way out of pre-school, Frieda mentioned that she was thirsty. I reassured her that I had a water bottle in the car, and she'd get a drink soon.  Perhaps this triggered off some thought or memory, because she then said 'It's my water bottle'. Luca shot back 'No! It's my water bottle.' They were both tired, of course, and on quite a short fuse. A tit for tat verbal battle then began: 'it's mine! No! It's mine, not yours!' etc. Seeing this threatening to end with both 3 year olds prostrate and screaming on the snowy ground, I shouted at them to stop and listen to me. I rarely need to do this, and hoped it would grab their attention. It did. They stopped; Frieda in tears, suddenly (yes, I felt a bit of a heel), and Luca suddenly quiet. After that we ambled back to the car, where they shared the water bottle without a murmur while we all regained our composure.  Probably 'bad Nana' for letting them share a water bottle when one of them has  a cough, but on the other hand... we all got home in one piece.