Little people

I always feel that character is fairly obvious from early on - though I'm just really going on how I felt I was as a child and how my children were.

I wonder if this is true of the grandchildren.

The other day Granddaughter plodded purposefully out of the sitting room and when I pursued her, she was half-way up the stairs. After a very short time she reappeared, having gone into the bedroom where Daughter 2 normally sleeps when she comes to stay. Daughter 2's slippers were firmly clutched in Granddaughter's hands. She likes putting on other people's shoes and the slippers have been on her feet before.

I helped her downstairs (her arms were rather full) and she put on the slippers. Then she decisively marched back into the sitting room, sat down on one of the little chairs and began to scribble in a colouring book. (And yes, she's got another dunt on her forehead - she seems to be a bit accident prone at the moment.)

So far, she seems quite an organised little person.

Grandson isn't much of an artist yet but he likes drawing numbers, occasional letters and - can you guess what this is? - traffic lights. These are quite complicated ones, with green arrows to left and right - they probably don't show up in this small picture on my blog, but they're there all right.

Our way here from his house features a lot of traffic lights and also, at this time of year, crocuses on The Meadows - a park we drive though. "Look," I say, "at the pretty flowers. They're called crocuses."

He glances briefly at them. "Mmm," he says. "Why do those traffic lights have a big green arrow and the traffic lights back there just have a little one?"

Umm.... .

Gratifyingly, Granddaughter looks out of the car window and says, "Flowers!" in a tone of amazed delight.