Of bookish bear hunts and monkeys: Penny's current top 3

This has got to be Penelope's absolute favourite at this point in time.



Along the way she also had become quite a friend of Curious George's after we borrowed a few of his books at the local library--"Jorge" (staccato, without emphasis) she affectionately calls him.

We've read about the time he went to space, delivered a pizza, and recovered a baby rabbit. It's also from Jorge that she's really learnt to say words such as "happy", "dizzy", "silly", "naughty" and "proud". It's really cute how she loves to say things that go "Mama, sit", "Pepe, sit", and yes, "Mama, proud."

It may be typical of kids, but for a first time mom who's never really had much experience with kids, I find it amazing how Penny becomes quickly endeared to some of the books and characters we acquaint her with. This post would not quite be complete if I didn't also mention Tom and Pippo, whom she refers to as "Tom Poppo". Three cheers to Helen Oxenbury who is the illustrator of both Bear Hunt and the Tom and Pippo series!

How do we know that these three books/characters are her current favourites? Well, it's largely due to the fact that she's grown into such a chatterbox, quite comfortably and clearly pronouncing even multisyllabic words and phrases, quite expressively too, I must say. "Oright. Howabout cheerios", and to end this post, yes, she makes mama very "pwoud".

NB. Penny's also very clearly entering into her Terrible Twos, with "No" being her most commonly said word.