We go way back

LM & I were playing with Lego & I was telling him how I used to play with it when I was little.  He said "And did you say 'Why?' a lot when you were little too?  When you were talking to Daddy?"  It made me smile to think that to him Mummy & Daddy have always been together and whilst he's coming to understand that there was life before he was born, he hasn't quite got his head round how it all hangs together and who's related to whom.

LM has a new name for Daddy which is 'Smelly raspberry, blackberry pie' - no idea where he got it from but it's quite sweet if you don't count the 'smelly' bit.

We are pretty much ready for Christmas and LM is very excited ("only 2 more bedtimes!").  Here's hoping that a usually fairly decent hour riser will stick to it & not get up at the crack of dawn (although I'm quite sure Father Christmas hasn't got anything noisy for the stocking).

Happy Christmas

Question Time

LM, like all children his age, asks a lot of questions but I was a bit perturbed by today's "What do you see if you chop a seagull up?"  My bumbled answer of "well, blood & muscles and stuff"  led to more questions on why do seagulls eat blood and whether we eat blood and why.  Where is this coming from?
Maybe I should get him to send his question to Nina & the Neurones on Cbeebies.  I'd like to see her remain so cheerful answering that one.

One festivity over...another begins

Well the 4th birthday celebrations are over & I can start thinking about Christmas.  LM's Pirate & Mermaid party (he shared with a girl from pre-school) went well.  The entertainer, Elfic the Juggler, went down a storm (unfortunately I can't take the credit for booking him) & was vaguely reminiscent vocally of Mr Maker, which may explain his success with a bunch of 3 & 4 yr olds who I was sure would run riot whilst the poor man tried his best to carry on with the show, but who were instead transfixed & in fits of giggles.  If you ask LM what the best bit of the show was, he will tell you it was Elfic dropping things & standing on the horn.  Slapstick rules!

My cheeky little pirate

And now we are in full preparation mode for the pre-school Nativity where LM has finally accepted that he is not a train (maybe next time the school could do Polar Express?) and has helped choose an outfit & make the crown & gift (cue much glitter everywhere).  He seems to think he has no singing to do, or at least refuses to practice, but we shall see next week if he is going to get into the spirit of the thing or repeat Easter's non-performance.
That's if I see any of it through the tears of a proud mum.

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!