Sunday morning wonderings.

Having wandered into a cafe I'm intrigued by a back table. Composition: two couples, three little girls. The two-year old sits between her parents, a five or six-month-old in her mother's lap.

The remaining child - maybe two-and-a-half? - is in a stroller, at eye level with the table. It's not immediately apparent which couple she belongs to, but I guess the family with the baby and the - when she stands up - baby bump.

Miss 2 and baby are centre of attention, and the little girl in the stroller is relatively excluded from the table's interaction, althought she watches intently and smiles into the oblivious ether.

Once or twice Dad leans over to supervise drinking or pass fingers through her strawberry blonde fringe, but her mother doesn't look over until the table rises and begins their exit.

She gets towed out, while the baby takes her place in the phil & ted's. When she smiles at me and reaches for my dress- blue with bright red trim- Mum apologises and corrals her away.

I get down onto the floor, crouching so she can finger the large, shiny buttons and touch the red corduroy ribbon. She's fascinated by the texture and I point out the same trim - green ribbon- on her summer dress. My reward is a dreamy smile which crinkle the epicantic folds around her eyes and a muttered "Thanks." from Mum.

I wonder if baby was an attempt at making up for. I wonder if she's had or plans to have amniocentesis of her current pregnancy. I wonder a lot of things.