My babies have started to dance. It is quite entertaining. One of them has a dance for different occasions.

If she is happy about food, then she does a dance well known to my side of the family. I should have guessed that at least one of my girls was destined to be this way.

My grandmother, mother and sister all do this dance when eating a favourite meal. It is part jig, part bop and it is ingrained into their being.

Sometimes it is hard to get her to eat because she is so happy she does not know whether to smile or eat.

Another dance that she does is like Highland tap dancing. Just hold her up when she is excited and let the kicking commence. Quite the sight, not easy on the wrists though. It is not just her legs that get going either. Her arms thrash up and down and she has the most sly of grins at the same time.

My younger twin does more of a swimming/jumping dance. Sometimes we will find her playing in the crib after a nap. If she is rolled over on to her back she will probably be playing with her soother or with her hands, or some other toy. When she sees either mummy or daddy — that is when a smile beams from her face. She cannot wait for us to pick her up.

Then she will just start kicking and flailing and bouncing with that same smile cascading all over the room; it looks like she is krumping or something.

The extent of my dancing acumen is as a support dancer for a friend’s high school ballet showcase (I was the lifter), and the occasional dancefloor foray with friends in university. So I claim no genetic bestowal of artistic co-ordination, I will give that distinction to my wife. She danced all through high school and college in different clubs and groups.

I do not want to get ahead of myself when the girls cannot even crawl yet, but it would be great to have that type of energy around the house. It is very uplifting, the kinetic arts, and lends a certain dynamic to one’s environment. To be around dancers for any extended length of time undoubtedly brings occasion to contemplate the beauty and emotional depth of the art form.

But if the girls decide to never dance in any formal way, I will always have these precious moments of unbridled joy and enthusiasm. Can’t take anything for granted!