Growing up fast

I have been really amazed of late just how much the kids have grown and developed - Ben is reading lots of everyday words and even some more unusual ones such as 'aubergine', and his writing and drawing are also very advanced for his 4 yrs. Jasmine is starting to recognise her letters and is attempting to write more than before. They are both excellent at riding their scooters, and are getting really good at riding their bikes (with stabilisers of course!) But one of the things that has amazed me the most is the way they have begun to play together. I have heard it said that children don't really learn to play together until they are 3yrs and upwards. Before this time they often play side by side and can appear to be playing the same game, but in reality will actuallly be lost in their own individual play. Well all that has certainly changed in our house. I guess it had to wait until Jasmine was ready too, and she definately is now. Both of them have such vivid imaginations and they make up endless games that entertain them for hours sometimes - although admittedly they still have the odd argument, but that's siblings for you! One sunday they watched Powerangers on the telly and then spent the rest of the afternoon whizzing around the living room pretending to save the world and eachother! Another favourite is 'mum's and kids' or 'mum's and pets'!!! This is where Jasmine plays the mummy, and then either Ben is the pet dog and the dolls are the babies, or Ben is the baby. This gets a little confusing when he cries for 'mummy' and I answer. I am then met with an exasperated 'not you mummy, Jasmine mummy'! Sunday morning whilst me and Nick were trying to have a sneaky lie-in, Ben wanted to put his stereo on to listen to his songs, but he couldn't plug it in because the plug (purposefully) is behind Jasmine's headboard. Between the two of them, they moved the toyboxes from the foot of Jasmine's bed and pulled the bed away from the wall - I could see them from my bed and it really warmed my heart to see them interacting like that and working together to achieve something. Needless to say I stepped in at the last minute to stop them from getting to the plug.

Also, today on the park they were playing on the slide which has a kind of turret at the top. As it was rather damp Jasmine was having difficulty climbing up the slide - she prefers to climb the slide rather than the cargo net at the back. So Ben waited at the top of the slide and when she got close he hauled her up to the top. This then became a game with Ben hauling Jasmine upwards and then both of them slipping down the slide - Jasmine backwards and Ben face first laughing all the way, even when they bumped heads at the bottom! It was so cute to watch :-)