Watchful

An interesting day with Simone - she's really moving on, in terms of communicating her preferences. We set off towards the library, for the weekly Tuesday morning music session. But as we walked she got more and more unhappy - unusual for her - in fact, she started saying 'Stop!' and trying to wriggle out of the buggy.
We paused, and I asked her if she wanted to turn round. 'Nai' was the answer (Greek for 'yes' - S's emerging speech mostly occurs in English but there are Greek words too).  'Would you like to go to the park instead?' 'Nai!'.
So we did.  The railings around the playground have several cast metal  figures of animals attached to them: we spent a while inspecting the owl, along with the hare, the fox and the bear. S also found a scooter, perhaps forgotten or abandoned by an earlier visitor. This was a real source of delight to her, and leaving it behind later involved lengthy negotiations.
On the way back to Jack's house later, we stopped off at a local shoe shop, one where the staff measure children's feet properly.  S has been in need of some sandals for a while, and I decided to give a shoe fitting a try.  Courtesy of a timely snack, Simone was fine with this and we came out with a suitably rugged pair of closed-toe sandals (this is what she needs at her Forest School nursery).
In other news... what a relief to hear that Carney and the LIberals have won in the Canadian elections.  Standing up to Trump's threats can work (K Starmer please note).