With my increasingly erratic updates to the blog, I may have neglected to mention that Olivia can talk. Boy can she talk. Her current favourite word is, rather infuriatingly, 'why?'. This is her standard response to any statement, and especially, to and demand. It's amazing the linguistic minefields that this single syllable can lead you into.

Take last Sunday. We're en-route to Nana's, but first must make a stop at the garage, because the car needs petrol.
'Why?'
'Because it does?' (If you detect a note of weariness there, it's becasue I was very, very weary).
'Why?'
'Because it needs petrol to run.'
Still not satisfied. And now unsure as to why cars run.
'Why?'
Is she taking the piss?
'Are you taking the piss?' (NB in case social services are reading. I didn't actually use the word 'piss'. But i was that close.)
By now I'm fishing around in the glove compartment for some kind of manual that will explain a cars need for petrol in full mechanical detail. But her attention has wandered. It's started to rain and Olivia wants to know why.
'Because it has.'
And the whole thing starts again.

And that could explain why it looks like Mummy is strangling her in the above picture.