I remember when we were exhilarated when the baby started to use his hands; we would convince ourselves that obviously he meant to reach out and touch one of the toys dangling from the mobile. Obviously, it was intentional and not just a random movement of his hand.

Now that he’s mobile, despite not being able to speak, he gives a clear sense of what he wants by how he moves around. He’ll walk a few steps before his balance gets the better of him, but he’ll pretty much walk indefinitely if you hold his hand. Last night after dinner, he demonstrated how well he’d been indoctrinated by our bedtime routine: holding J’s hand he walked to his bookcase, considered a book, then turned, walked out of the living room, crawled up the stairs, then into the bathroom and pretty much asked us to run him a bath. What an utter joy he is to look after.

Still no decision on the big fellowship. Shortlisting is “July”, they say, and we’re almost done with July and I’ve had no rejection email. I’ll take that as a good sign.