Exciting times ahead - by Rosalie Warren

This will be my last post on Authors Electric for a while. Life has got busy recently - busy in some very happy ways. My grandson Sam Zachary was born on November 9th - a little brother for Daisy, whom some of you may remember from my previous posts about her linguistic progress.

This is Sam!

First smile from Sam
 
So far, his literary accomplishments include gazing with deep interest at a book of black and white patterns. Good going for only three weeks old! He is also very keen on the horizontal grey and white stripes on the living room wall. (Daisy, at that age, was fascinated by a wardrobe.) I can't help wondering whether it's all the edge-detecting neurons in his visual cortex getting to work. Whatever it is, he gets engrossed, and he's also, like most babies, intrigued by faces. When I pick him up he frowns ever so slightly, as though he's thinking, Now, let's see, who are you? Ah, yes, Nana... I remember. Now, could you please ask Mummy or Daddy to get me some milk?

Intrigued by the stripes on the wall
Feeding Sam from his bottle is sheer delight. Thirty-odd years melt away, just like that. Suddenly I'm back at the centre of the universe again - the only place that really matters, doing the most important thing there is.

Nana (me) feeding Sam
Daisy is delighted with her new brother, and I've just received a WhatsApp video of her playing a game with him, popping his dummy in and out of his mouth. He was on the edge of laughing, I'm sure. He'll be chuckling at her soon. She has suddenly become all maternal, at least some of the time. Her reading is also coming on apace, and she is loving school.

Another reason for excitement is that my daughter is getting married in Vancouver next July. It will be a beautiful occasion, I'm sure, with a backdrop of water, trees and mountains, and I'm very much looking forward to meeting my new relatives.

Just to bring this post round to writing, at least for a paragraph or two... I have begun a new novel and am still trying to work out what to do with the last two. I'll update you when I return to this blog, I hope, in about a year. I'm also getting a fair bit of editing work to do. My little book on copy editing is selling better than any of my novels, which doesn't mean it's exactly a bestseller - but if you're looking for a stocking filler for a writing friend, the paperback is only £2.95.

It's on Amazon, as an e-book and a slim paperback, here


Anyway, many thanks to all of you who've read and commented on my posts for the last couple of years. Hope all AE readers and contributors have a wonderful Christmas/ holiday season - and a happy and peaceful new year.

Happy reading, writing, and everything else
Ros

PS Here's a link to an interesting article from the Guardian about babies learning to see: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/11/vision-thing-how-babies-colour-in-the-world


Follow me on Twitter @Ros_Warren
  





Comments

Enid Richemont said…
What a wonderfully happy post! Did you watch the 'Babies' programme last night on BBC 2 (I think)? And a wedding on the menu for next year, and the beginnings of a new novel -fantastic!
Rosalie Warren said…
Thanks, Enid, and yes, I did watch it. Fascinating, though I hope they did a 'control' experiment where the babies had to choose a yellow or a blue face without seeing the little 'story' first. I can't believe they wouldn't have done this, but I wish they'd said! Apart from that, a brilliant programme, and I was very impressed by the social skills and empathy of the little ones.
Congratulations on your grandson! I had my first one in September and it has been very exciting! Ours seems to have been keener on flashing lights than anything else so far - and music. I remember my younger son used to gaze for ages at the patterns of bricks in a wall where we waited for the older one to come out of school. Not sure what it signified though he has always been an enthusiastic writer.
Umberto Tosi said…
We're going to miss you! Congratulations on sweet little Sam, from whom you obviously derive great joy. You certainly have your priorities straight. Best of luck with your family life and your work as well, and please come back soon!
Rosalie Warren said…
Thank you, Cecilia and Umberto. I will definitely be back!