Half term fun?

Half term is nearing its end and despite the weather we have managed to keep ourselves occupied.  Here are some of our holiday activities:
- cake making (well, muffins).  With LM's current obsession with lemons (he asked for a lemon instead of a banana in his lunchbox last week - imagine the face of the teachers if I'd obliged!) we went with citrus ones
- shovelling woodchip.  We have building work starting next week & we needed a thick layer of woodchip to protect the tree roots.  It fell to LM & I to move it & I must say he was very enthusiastic, if not effective.  I wonder how long I have before requests for help with such chores are met with a begrudging huff or a flat refusal.
-windy walks along the seafront, LM anchored down by Grandad
-my secret rainy day weapon...Nickelodeon Fit for the WII.  Tires LM out in 20 minutes.  Perfect when the weather just won't cooperate. (And no, I haven't been sponsored to say that)
- making a dinosaur island.  It might not pass muster with  Mr Maker (& it certainly wasn't a Minute Make) but LM is very pleased with our volcanic island
And we shall be ending on a high with a trip to a country park with old friends - the weather has even promised to be nice!

Life skill

LM has just informed me he can multi task.
Obviously he didn't use the term 'multi task'.  He said 'I can do things when I do things'.  And unfortunately he didn't mean he could tidy his room whilst getting dressed.  The gist of it was actually that he could mess around whilst getting dressed (which I have known for some time *said through gritted teeth*).
Still, the fact he thinks he can do more that one thing at once is a start.  I just need to work on what those things are.

Born to Boogie

Strictly is back &, although we've missed it so far, LM & I are all geared up to dance along on a Saturday night. It's something of a tradition now.  Ever since he was a baby, when I used to dance him around the living room to soothe his fractiousness, we have enjoyed swinging each other around to the jive, the chachacha & the waltz (yes, we keep the same tempo for all dances).  Anyone who has had the pleasure (misfortune?) to be here at the appointed time, has been roped into LM's dancing.
I am looking forward to this year - LM is currently developing some very unusual dance moves, mainly involving swivelling & throwing himself to the floor.  I am hoping to get video evidence but he has taken to looming close to the lens, saying "Cheeeese!!!" whether it's for a photo or video.  I shall keep trying...watch this space.

A Battle of Wills

Yesterday LM & I  clashed over the thorny issue of who should tidy away his cars (anyone who has been to our house will no doubt think they live permanently spread out over any available floor space).  I maintained that since he played with them then he should put them in the box provided specifically for that purpose, whilst LM claimed that putting them away was "too difficult" and therefore not his responsibility.  There were tears (LM), stifled giggles (me) and time out on his bed but all to no avail - neither of us would budge.

Until, that is, I came up with a compromise:  either LM put them away or I would, the catch being that I would put them in the garage until he could prove to me he was good at tidying up.  And that's where they are as I write.  I had honestly thought he would have baulked at the idea of his beloved cars being locked away but so stubborn is my LM that he refused even then to give in.

The deal is that we will review the situation on Saturday.  The outlook today has been pretty good & the dominoes he was using as substitute cars have all been put away - without me asking.  Which is pretty cool ('Cool' is LM's new word to describe good things & the varying degrees of coolness are expressed thus: 'a little bit cool', 'cool', 'very a bit cool' & 'so cool).