Rachel, Owen and Kathryn

It's that time of year again, and after missing all the (musical) fun last year Owen will be playing in Prom 16 tomorrow: CBSO, Tchaikovsky 2nd piano concerto & The Firebird . Funnily enough, Katy was exposed to a lot of Stravinsky even in the womb, as I was rehearsing Rite of Spring just about the time her ears started to work (according to the literature), and one of our last performances as patrons was to see various ballets (e.g. Pulcinella ) at the Lowry Centre - although by that stage I was so heavily pregnant we had to leave early before I was overcome by the heat in the theatre. She is extraordinarily responsive to music - and that's not just us being wishful doting parents. Whenever she hears a tune she likes, she starts making bobbing dance movements, or clapping her hands, or even 'singing along' if it's in a key/register that appeals to her. Recently she's started singing a simple song of her own, based around a descending perfect fourth - wit

It's Iggle-Piggle! The only TV programme Katy even pretends to watch is In the Night Garden , where the tiniest happenings contribute to what passes for a storyline, everyone has their own little song (incongruously and not always very accurately performed by narrator Derek Jacobi), and every episode concludes with the same 'going to sleep' routine. A very successful concept. Three significant tiny happenings this week. A 6th tooth has appeared, without any hassle. For the first time Katy put 'her' CDs back into the box she'd tipped them them out of (quote from the nursery staff: "She's a right one for taking things out of boxes"). As a librarian, I find this reassuring. Perhaps most exciting: she has been confidently pushing her trolley up and down the hallway with all the control of a rally car driver. Surely independent steps can only be days away?

At Nanny & Granddad's allotment the other weekend, and looking rather suspiciously at the (very well behaved) dog - or is it her father's smelly socks that are bothering her?

I know I promised evidence of Katy standing unaided, but for some reason I don't have so much leisure time to take photos and post to the blog these days ... could it be something to do with having a full-time job? So you'll have to make do with this snap of her standing against a comfy chair. She seems to have lost her trousers somewhere along the way!

Katy at the zoo yesterday.

Report just in from the swing park: Katy has been standing up unaided. Will attempt to verify this and provide corroborating photographic evidence a.s.a.p.

This comes in the category of Things That Should Not Happen. The other morning Owen couldn't take Katy to nursery because he had to leave at the crack of dawn to play a concert with the CBSO at Henley, of all venues (it's a tough life being a muso). Not a problem logistically as I had some Time Off In Lieu owing from last Saturday, so could do the nursery run without rushing. But would our lively little monkey be anxious to start her day at 4am, 5am or just 6am? She slept until 7:30 ! And I had a cup of tea in bed !! After I dropped her at nursery I went into town and did towny things, like buying expensive face cream, drinking cappuccino and eating a burger, before going to work in the afternoon. Katy is sleeping very well currently, and what did I notice this morning but a 5th tooth peeping through.

We've all been wilting somewhat in the current heatwave, but the determinedly cheerful Kathryn has been managing very well, despite the alarming appearance of a heat rash over most of her body. She drinks lots of water and I can keep her happy on a sweaty bus journey home by feeding her grapes, or - how cheeky is this - breast-feeding her on the top deck! To my amazement she's actually been sleeping much better of late, which I put down to a) let-up in the latent teeth activity, b) slight reduction in snot quantities [a continuous series of colds seems to be a fact of nursery life], c) feeling much more settled at nursery, or d) all of the above. After some weeks of appallingly disturbed nights I was beginning to wonder if she'd ever sleep through again, but she's evidently not lost the knack completely. Sleep deprivation has such a powerful effect that when you actually get some sleep you're joyfully grateful to be woken only at 5:45, especially if it's by a l