We sat at a little table in Queen Street Café. We shared scrambled eggs and bacon on gluten free toast. I ordered Everly her first (soy) babycino. She loved the little flecks of chocolate on top, but was a little unsure about the rest of the foam. She stirred it with the spoon but left it relatively untouched. Maybe next time. Coffee for Mama in a bright yellow cup.
Everly loves to watch. She watches people talk, laugh, eat, drink. She points to them, then looks back at me, grinning. Every little nuance is a delight to this observant girl. I have to remind her not to point or stare too much.
When we'd finished breakfast, we walked around the corner to Croydon playground. It sits right along the train line, where trains come every few minutes. We hear the bell Ding-ding-ding! as the boom gate lowers to stop the traffic, signalling a train is on its way. The children run to the fence to watch the train pull up. We all wave and sometimes the driver pulls the horn - Choo choo!
Everly's favourite part of the playground is the slide, but most of the time she is simply content wandering around, sometimes squatting to inspect flowers and leaves. Often she watches the other children - she listens to them talk, watches them play. Sometimes she'll wander up to a group of Mums and stand there, staring up at them, listening intently to their chatter. After a while I have to go over and redirect her to something else, a little embarrassed that I appear to have the only child in the whole playground who doesn't like to play on the equipment! My Everly, she is different. But, oh, I love her so!
We had a brilliant morning together, just us two. I know Everly wouldn't have realised the significance, but I wanted to take some photos and write down my thoughts from the day so I can remember it always.
