Rachel, Owen and Kathryn

Caveman Dave lives in a cave [Katy laughs at mouse] He doesn't wash and he doesn't shave He's smelly ['pooh'] but he's very brave Wild animals don't frighten Dave [points excitedly at porcupine] At bears and tigers he will wave [waves as soon as page is turned] He tells the mammoths to behave [wags finger] He really is extremely brave. But Dave's sister Ava is braver!

Katy's not actually wearing a space helmet, it's a display of butterflies in the Discovery section of the Manchester Museum, where a fave exhibit is a tiny mouse. But she also likes the big aarh and the (real live) sss and gecko. Museums have really come on.

Three quick updates: She's well into that phase of dropping things deliberately, watching with interest for any reactions, and commenting "uh-oh!" Nappy changing is becoming very challenging as more and more items intended to divert her are themselves diverted from changing table into cot. She can say "bee" but calls a spider something like "deadie" - it's either an 'own word' or perhaps she's heard a story about a spider called Freddie? She can sing the tune of "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" all the way through without slipping out of key. Well, mostly not. And I think she's working up to "Three blind mice". When I have more time I'll tell you the story of Caveman Dave (who's very brave).

Eat a full Sunday roast dinner with friends, in two separate houses! A much-anticipated full-on family lunch get-together with the couple we get on best with since NCT antenatal classes turned into a collect-it-yourself meals-on-wheels service. This distributed dining arrangement was caused by little Euan (2 weeks younger than Kate) succumbing to a nasty virus we didn't want him to share with us. Very disappointing, as our mutual baby-sitting arrangement means the two families rarely get together as a whole - we seem to meet in sub-sets. But the beef didn't disappoint - mmm!

That's the motto of the Blue Planet Aquarium near Chester where we took Katy to see some of the 'ish' she knows from picture books. Overpriced entry, terrible tea, and awful tasting Kingcone icecreams that used to be so heavily advertised in cinemas when I was a kid. But Katy enjoyed close-up views of little leopard sharks and enormous manta rays in the underwater tunnel, made from 6cm acrylic which could take the weight of several elephants.