Almost 4

LM will be 4 next week.  I can hardly believe it.  He is turning out to be a lovely, happy (mostly) little boy with a real enthusiasm for life (some things he is enthusiastic about are, admittedly, slightly odd.  For example, when reminded earlier this week that he had a check-up at the dentist's today he said "Fantastic! Can we go now?")
To capitalise on all this eagerness (before the apathy sets in & it will be a chore just to get him out of bed) I signed up to a free trial on Reading Eggs - a website designed to help 3 yrs & up learn to read.  LM  loves it (to the point that he pesters me all the time to do some) & is getting good at some activities.  From a parental point of view it can seem a little repetitive but at this early stage in his reading career, LM doesn't mind & he certainly seems to remember what he's learnt.   Is it good enough to pay for?  I'll see if he keeps it up.

Not only is a birthday looming, but Christmas too and this year LM will be a king in the preschool Nativity.  At least that's what the staff have told me.  If I relied on LM for my information I'd be pulling my hair out trying to come up with a train costume!  He does admit that he is carrying a present though.  I'm hoping that by the day someone will have persuaded him of his regal role (& also that he will take part & not sit & scowl like he did for the Easter show)

Can't write any more as I have been informed that "My tummy is getting very rumbling now" so I must get LM some lunch

Splash & Flash

I've said it before & I'm sure I'll say it again but I am very proud of LM's swimming.  He now has his first swimming badge (well, technically it's not his first, he did get one as a baby but that was more for just turning up & not screaming the place down) and is progressing well.  However, this week I was, shall we say, a little less proud, maybe even mortified.  LM needed a wee so got out of the pool (thankfully) & informed me he didn't need my help.  We (the girls in his class, their mums & the instructor) waited patiently for him to return before resuming the racing and he was back in no time at all...

...with his trunks around his knees.

He stood there, legs akimbo, grinning broadly, waiting for me to sort him out.

Fact.  It is quite hard to pull up wet trunks when you are simultaneously laughing & hanging your head in shame.

Necessity is the mother of...

...I hesitate to use 'invention'.  You'll see why.  Building work has commenced, much to LM's joy.  The back of the house is now an awful mess with mud, rubble & a deep hole .  On the plus side, the digger has kept LM entertained for ages.  Who needs Cbeebies?  (not that I am recommending everyone takes the drastic action of commissioning an extension just for a few hours peace & quiet from their little ones. For a start it's expensive as children's entertainment goes & then the work that keeps LM transfixed tends to be the antithesis of peace & quiet in itself).  But I digress.

The building work has meant that a door, which was formerly an internal one, has now become external and, even boarded up, lets in a bit of draft (especially in this inclement weather).  So today's fun after-preschool activity was making draft excluders.  I hope I can be forgiven for their unsophisticated look but I don't know who got bored first, me or LM.  Still, as long as they do the job.

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).