ABCs, Fluffies and Sugar Bowls

Josie's language skills have really exploded in the past few weeks, to where she can get through her ABCs and the better part of Ariel's Song ("Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid) on her own (even while sleeping!)

Combine this with her irrepressibly boisterous nature and the result is our almost-two-year-old belting out her ABCs at the top of her lungs as we roam the streets of Wellington, either from her stroller or our shoulders. It's a new take on an old favorite too, because the last line ("Now I know my ABCs,") becomes the start of a new round ("Now I know my A-B-C-D-E-F-G").

We also have our relocation coordinator to thank for our new favorite thing: The Fluffy. It's apparently a cafe standard for the under-5 set here: warm milk topped with foam and cocoa powder in an espresso cup, usually accompanied by a few fancy marshmallows or chocolates. Starbucks I'm sure would take advantage to price this treat around US$5, but here they're usually NZ$0.50 so other than the sugar-guilt you don't have to feel bad. Most of the cafes here have boxes of toys for kids to play with too, so going for fluffies is their new favorite thing.

In our current two-bedroom accommodations the girls have also discovered the joys of falling asleep at the same time in the same room. They're having so much fun at bedtime I'm not sure we'll want to separate them again when we occupy our permanent residence here. We've been lenient so far and haven't had to resort to Uncle John's patented Sugar Bowl TechniqueTM, but I foresee that in our near future (probably when Uncle John comes to visit.)