Stand-up Comic

LM has started telling jokes.

I say jokes but they may not be recognisable as such to anyone else.  In fact I only know he's told me one because he always follows with "Was that a funny joke?  Did you laugh?"  And I, of course, obligingly laugh long & hard.  An example of a LM gag: "What did the cow do? ...He rushed down the hill and back up again!" Delivery includes much eye-rolling, loud laughter and bouncing up & down.

It seems to be a bit of an obsession with LM at the moment to make me laugh (I must be looking miserable, or old, or both).  Everything he does is accompanied by the question "Is that funny?"  Little does he know that he makes me laugh just by being him; from the Ministry of Funny Walks that he's developed to the funny little words he makes up - the other day he called me a 'hottie' and whilst I was flattered I soon realised that to him it was just a silly word and not a comment on how great I was looking : (

In praise of chickens

But please don't mention "roast"!
We have 6 chickens - ex-battery hens that are hopefully having a better quality of life in their retirement.  I'm sure they appreciate the space to roam & dig about even if it means putting up with LM wanting them to play.
I have got very used to a steady supply of eggs (not 6 every day, they are retired you know, but more than enough) and am grateful to our girls for their contribution to my culinary repertoire.  I am never without the wherewithal to throw together a quick lunch, I am ready to bake a cake at the drop of a hat and am slowly becoming the queen of the mini quiche (the perfect size for LM & ideal freezer stand-by for picnics & packed lunches).  The girls' contributions don't end there - I have an extremely steady supply of manure for the veggie garden & shells for creating little cress-haired people-but most important of all are the lessons for LM.  He knows where eggs come from, he understands a little of the dangers of the fox (we lost 2) and is learning slowly the responsibilities of looking after them.  Of course, if you asked him, he'd say the best bit was playing with them (although I'm not sure the girls would agree).

Listen! Can your hear it?

That sweet sound of ... nothing.  No  racing car noises, no random questions, no sulky refusals to co-operate.  Just peace & quiet.
We have survived the summer holidays and LM is back at preschool and very excited to be there too (he is desperate to show his friends his new roly-poly skills).  And whilst this calm is very welcome, I must admit the holidays weren't too bad.  Yes, we developed a slight attitude problem when it came to tidying our toys away but all in all we had fun and 6 weeks actually flew by.  So much so we didn't get to do some of the things I had planned.  Of course, the weather wasn't as perfect as I would have liked but when is it ever?  I'm sure LM has happy memories of walking in the woods, going out on Pop's boat, climbing hills, (and let's not forget playing hide and seek) so I think it was an overall success.
With LM now at preschool 4 times a week I had grand resolutions of making the most of the time being productive - however I've already failed on that score by sitting down at the computer.  This term's report will read "Must do better"  - for me!

Hide & Seek - A Cautionary Tale

There's nothing LM likes more than a game of Hide & Seek and now he's learnt to keep quiet & not jump out, shouting "Here I am!", the game lasts a bit longer.  This weekend he was playing a variation on the theme with his older cousins: they took turns to hide LM for the other to find.  One particularly inspired hiding place was the laundry basket in the bathroom. LM just fit and was quietly awaiting discovery when his father decided to use the bathroom for, shall we say, a sit down.
To his credit LM stayed quiet for some time, then his father heard a little voice from the basket informing him "I am hiding".  In other circumstances I would have loved to see the look on his face on hearing LM.

Anyway, when hiding in the bathroom, particularly if it's a good spot, always make sure those not playing are aware of it.  It might just save you from a fatal inhalation

The facts of life

We went to the little animal park yesterday with some other parents & kids (first day of holidays & we already were meeting up for mutual support).  There were some very cute fluffy chicks which reminded me of something funny LM said a few days ago on the subject.  We must have seen some chicks somewhere as he turned round to me and said "Our chickens won't have chicks will they?  We need a cockatoo for that"  It made me smile and, on reflection, he could be on to something - a cockerel that actually says "Cock-a-doodle-doo" instead of crowing at some ungodly hour of the morning!

Parents Evening

Despite knowing that for a 3 1/2  year old, parents evening was never going to be that bad, I still felt apprehensive  sat in front of 2 'teachers' from preschool.  What if they told me LM was a monster with no discipline and that it was ALL MY FAULT!  It didn't help that LM hadn't been that day because he had got really worked up about going (he said that someone hit him but turns out that when he wrestles his BF he doesn't like it as he doesn't come out on top) and I'd left a garbled message on their answer machine.
I should have known they would have nothing but nice things to say about him, not least because it's preschool & how hard can it be for LM to knuckle down & play?  It's not like he's going to fail at that.  Still, being sat in front of a desk was daunting.
What was nice, was getting a sneaky peak at how he is when we're not around.  Their file on LM (how very CIA) was full of photos of him playing happily, with aforementioned BF mostly, and generally taking part in loads of fun activities, including visits from a whole menagerie of animals.  Rocky the Raccoon rocks btw.
Keen to show how good I though preschool was for LM (extra days please!) I mentioned how much more independent & confident he had become since starting as evidenced this evening when instead of his usual "Off! Off!" that constituted his idea of telling someone off, he turned round and said "Come ON Daddy!  You don't have time to mess around!"

Cooking with Mother

LM asks on a regular basis if we are making cakes - he seems to be under the impression that it is a daily occurrence.   "But we made cakes yesterday!" ('Yesterday' being any day in the past up to a few months previously).  From time to time I give in and we do the whole redecorating the kitchen in flour& sugar thing.  This time it was Strawberry & polenta cakes - well, they count as 1 of the 5 a day, don't they?
Patience is not my strong point, particularly in the kitchen, and I have to stop myself from taking over when LM is doing something a) very slowly and /or b) very messily.  To be fair, he does try to clear up after himself - mainly by eating  the mess, be it butter, sugar or even flour.  He finds it hard to believe that something that tastes so good cooked (hopefully), won't taste good when  eaten in its component parts.

Anyway, the aforementioned strawberry cakes may have looked a little 'homespun' but they tasted great.