I am sitting in a cupboard

While Scott sips chai in the blistering heat of Kolkata and Noah squelches around the football pitch at recess, Octavia, Alex and I have been spending our days enjoying the joys of 3. Alex is barely 3. Octavia is nearly 3. I'm the 3rd wheel. [I acquired permission from Alex's mother to put his mug on our family blog. Good thing since Octavia thinks Alex is part of her family!] These 2 were born into the same birthing pool 6 weeks apart and they take so much joy in one another when they aren't acting like pre-historic humanoids toward each other.

Today we had a journey through the muck and mud of Ormeau park on their bikes. (No photos. Alas, Scott has the camera in India.) Sun shone and the leaves are just beginning to stun me. Alex had to stop every 2 minutes to pick up an acorn, on peril of Octavia driving up his back. "Nuts! And more nuts!" he rejoiced. Octavia showed him that it is possible to lift the feet high and coast through a 9-foot puddle that is several inches deep without drowning. Since he had no bike helmet today I was hoping he didn't fall over and require deep shampooing of the blonde curls.

Later we stopped into the library and they coloured and fought over a book. The book they fought about was....well, I can't tell you what it was because a. it had no pictures and b. it was written in Irish. I tried reasoning with them about the fact that it isn't worth being cast out of the library for fighting over a book you can't read or get your minder to read for you. They looked at me blankly for 3 seconds and started bickering again. Thank goodness the nice librarians were working this morning!

Now the two of them are off on a jaunt with Alex's daddy and I am about to buckle down to work. I leave you with an excerpt from Octavia's (pretend) phone conversations this weekend.

Maybe I can text you if you not in hospital, okay, Alex?

Hello, friend, I wanna go there. Uh, no. Is Gosia there? Having pasta? Who else is there? Mark? I'm going to text Mark.

Hello, Mark. Yes, Debbie, ah, yes. Yes. What? What?! Oh, right. I am just sitting in a cupboard. No, no. Uh, uh. Pardon me, pardon me!