Weeeeeee......

Well, potty training hasn’t been going too well lately. I’ve been averaging three pairs of trousers and pants a day (sometimes even socks as well). Oh dear. The washing machine has been on pretty much constantly just trying to keep me in clean attire. I even had to borrow a pair of trousers from nursery last Wednesday. Dad had to change me in the car before we went into town to meet mum and Owen as they had ‘Pelican’ in massive letters down the legs (it’s the name of my nursery).
Friday afternoon the Emma, Dean, Max and Leo show were in town!

We went down to the park for a bit of a play before we decided drinks and cakes were in order. The kiosk in the park was shut, so we had to seek an alternative. I won’t go into great detail about where we ended up, but I think the grown ups were more than a little uncomfortable as they weren’t ‘local’ Still the cake was nice:

After we picked mum up from work we went to the doctors to get me some tasty medicine, apparently I might have a mild chest infection.
Saturday was Dad’s birthday. He’d been asking me all week what presents he was going to get, I told him he was getting cake and socks! I helped him open his cards and presents and then we went bowling. After the disappointment of not being allowed to play in France I was well up for it.

Check out my size 7 bowling shoes….sweet!
As I’m little I had a little help from the buffers either side of the lane and this lovely ramp to fire the ball down:

Which I used to devastating effect, as bourne out on the score sheet below:

103 scored on my first ever game, not bad (and I beat Mum!) My form tailed off a little in the second game but the ball was getting pretty heavy to lug about by then. I had a great time and really enjoyed it. If anyone fancies a 5p a pin game let me know…. Auntie Trish came round in the afternoon and helped us eat some of dad’s birthday cake as well as playing with my trains with me. In the evening Grandad and Anne came round to look after me while mum and dad went out for a curry, I gave them a rousing send off by shouting ‘BYE’ at them at the top of my lungs out of the cat flap.
Sunday morning we took Grandma out to feed the ducks and have a play in the park. I had a great time being driven around sat on Grandma’s lap in her wheelchair. We fed loads of ducks and swans (I had a few sneaky slices of bread myself). In the afternoon we were all pretty tired and lazed around, I was so sleepy I even forfeited tea in favour of an early night.
Monday and I was still pretty tired and grumpy, again I fell asleep and missed supper and a visit from Chard, sorry Chard, I hope mum and dad entertained you sufficiently.
Tuesday and I was back to my old self again. Just for a laugh, I decided I’d wet myself right in the middle of the pavement just outside nursery when dad came to pick me up. He had to carry me all the way back to the car at arms length, dripping as I went before being changed on the parcel shelf. I haven’t had to endure that for a while and I’ll be in no hurry to repeat it any time soon.
I made sure I didn’t miss out on tea tonight or the last remaining piece of dad’s birthday cake and a mighty haul of raspberries (still my favourite).

Conker Golf!

Conker golf! It’s the new in thing:

Best played indoors with your trousers off with spectators diving for cover.
Friday afternoon I was helping Dad wash the car when the lady over the road came across for some help, she’d been locked out by her son. He’s a little younger than me so had done great work in my book! One pair of pliers and a screw driver later she was back in though.
Saturday mum went to work, we had a lazy morning and then went to meet at lunch time to go to the pasty shop. We were even allowed to eat it in the shop itself, I loved the big picture of a pirate eating a pasty above our table…..a-haaaarrrr jim lad!
Once mum had gone back to work we tried to find someone to visit. Nanny was off radar, Auntie Chris wasn’t answering her phone and Uncle Slim and Auntie trace weren’t at home, what a shame! Dad took me up the woods and put my wellies on and we went for a long walk, splashing in as many puddles as we could find along the way. I also got a ‘kiss’ from a small dog when he licked my face, I’m not sure I liked it all that much. Saturday night the house filled up with the poker playing crowd so I did a little socialising before turning in for the night leaving them all to it.
Sunday was a wet old day but things were looking up after lunch time when we met up with Andy, John and Sarah at Fantasy Land. I had such a good time with them, they weren’t afraid of the slides or anything so I made sure I tagged along on everything. I came out of the big yellow slide really fast due to Mum’s inspired choice of slippery trousers I had on that day. Just as we we’re starting to flag a little Hugo from nursery turned up! It was great, we stood and shouted each others names before tearing off together to play all over again. By the time we finally went home I was tired out:

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Andy for sharing his chocolate cake thing with me, I know how much they mean to you Andy.
Mum was off work Monday, we went to the park in the morning but I was having one of my days. Everything seemed to be a disaster and I cried very easily….poor mum. I had cause during the day to label mum and dad ‘Absolutely annoying’ on more than one occasion, sadly they just found that really funny. In the afternoon we went out in the car and I promptly fell asleep. I don’t know what happened but I woke up to find mum and dad had also dropped off (I should add that Dad had parked the car safely before hand) at Greenham Common. Once we were all awake we went for a bit of a wet and windy walk to see the cows. There were some really nice baby ones with fluffy looking coats. Mum kept trying to get near them but they were giving her a wide berth! After that we went to Pizza Hut….lovely!
Went to see Nanny this afternoon, I showed her how I like to line my cars up and then count them all (well, to ten anyway, I get a bit confused after that).

London again!

Bit of a photo special this week folks so get comfy!
Wednesday afternoon we popped round to see Nanny who was a little poorly (get well soon Nanny) and then it was my usual trawl around the supermarket with Dad. Mum now employs me as a vocal reminder for really important things we need that Dad normally forgets to buy like Chocolate and cakes.
Thursday afternoon Dad took me up to the local Park while the sun was out so that was nice. I had him pretending to drive a tractor around a farm yard saying hello to all the animals. I bet he wouldn’t have if there had been anyone else about (not like Mum, she doesn’t care how silly I make her look).
I got picked up from nursery on the bike Friday and took it into my head we were going to meet mum for lunch. I instructed Dad to take me into town and propmptly started to cry my eyes out when we passed her shop with no sign of her. He did manage to fob me off with the playground in Victoria park for a bit (15 minutes of solid swing action must be a record?) before a chance text message from Mum lead Dad to believe she was on a late lunch and we could meet up for a bit, result! Except when I did get to see her I just cried again because we weren’t going to the Pasty shop! The rotters. After that, Dad took me welly boot shopping as last years are now a bit snug. We settled on a pair of Bob the Builder ones from Mothercare (once I had run riot around the shop) and i’m proper proud of them.
Up early on Saturday morning and off to Croyde with Andy and Owen. Dad set up the beach tent for Mum and I before disappearing off into the sea.

Here I am enjoying part of our picnic on the beach while they were trying not to drown in the grey cold looking water. Dad didn’t stay out that long as I reckon he was scared I’d eat all the grub. Even though it wasn’t that sunny we had a lovely day doing all the usual beach things:

Here’s Dad and I playing ball. I had a lovely paddle in such deep water that it went straight over the top of my wellies, they made funny squelching noises when I walked about!

It really took it out of Mum and I, so we had a lovely kip on the way back. I’m glad I don’t have to drive!
Sunday morning we had a little lie in which was nice then a bit later on Grandad and Anne came over. Mum suggested we go to the park together:

We had a great time playing on the slides and the climbing frames and it was nice to show off my abilities to a new audience! We said goodbye to Grandad and Anne (well, I didn’t as I was too busy playing) before heading home for lunch. Dad very kindly shared his tomato soup with me even though I had my own beans on toast but I didn’t fancy Mum’s ‘Pot Noodle’ very much. After lunch we went to the fish shop thing at the garden centre. I hadn’t been there for a ages and quite honestly last time I went I couldn’t have cared less about the fish. This time was different though! I loved it and got quite exciteable…so exciteable I was marched back to the car in tears because I wouldn’t stop running around the tanks shrieking like a maniac, oh dear.
Monday Mum and Dad were off and there had been talk of trains and dinosaurs for some time now…
We went to the Natural History museum in London on the train! I loved the train. We got on it in town and stayed on it for an hour before we got on another train that went in a tunnel under the ground, Weird or what? Then we walked a really long tunnel with music playing in it and everything before we got to the museum.

As soon as we walked in there was a massive dinosaur (only it bones though) which I thought was great. We then headed into a dark room to be greeted by the biggest scariest dinosaur I’d ever seen and I was terrified. It kept looking at me and growling. It was the growling that really put me off I think and no matter how many times Mum or dad told me it wasn’t real or that it didn’t even have a body I was having none of it. I didn’t even like it when Mum got too close to it on her own. There were another 9 of these ferocious creatures to get past, although some of them were a bit smaller and less scary. After that trauma we went to the Café for lunch, dad spilt his drink and then blamed it on me when the man had to come and mop the floor. Once we were all refreshed we went to see the other dinosaur bit of the museum, this was much more like it:

The moving dinosaurs here were much smaller and cuddly looking and I loved them. I loved them so much I even said hello to the massive T-rex at the end of the hall, even if it was growling and looking at me. I’m not frightened of Dinosaurs anymore. I got a smart dinosaur head on the end of a stick that you can make bite with a little lever at the bottom, it’s ace and if I were you I’d expect to find it gripped around you’re fingers if you see me any time soon. We also saw lots of other animals, but they were all in glass cabinets and not running about so I wasn’t too interested in them to be honest.

It was soon time to get back on the train where mum and I fell asleep. It was a good job Dad stayed awake or I don’t know where we would have ended up! So that’s two weekends running I’ve been to London!
Dad and I went up to Donnington Castle this afternoon:

I found a smart little Ned sized door way….

…That lead into a not so smart looking Ned sized dungeon!

The view was nice though (well, there was a field full of horses that I liked anyway).
And finally I love Granny Flakes (mum calls them Bran flakes, she’s wrong).

Duncan the tree!

Well I think it’s winter now isn’t it? The weather seems to have been pretty wet of late so it’s been lots and lots of train set action! It’s also getting dark pretty early which makes it easier for them to get me into bed at night.
Wednesday we met mum for lunch. I have banned all other lunches in town except for the Pasty shop now. We even managed to sit and eat it by the canal, and as usual it was lovely. I ate it all up (it should be noted that this is a different sort of ‘eat it all up’ to that which I practice when faced with a plate full of veg where ‘eating it all up’ actually means ‘picked at it a little’). After that it was on to the post office to pick up my parcel. I carried it proudly all the way back to the car and then opened it up to find a nice new pair of trainers inside, smart! I love new shoes although they are a little on the big side…..
Thursday I almost exhausted Mum making her play with my train set again and again and again. Even the intervention of a Mrs Goggins figure (from Postman Pat) didn’t manage to hold her attention. There’s no pleasing some people.
Friday was wet so mum took me to nursery in the car, this also meant she came to pick me up which was a lovely surprise. I made a big fuss of her when she came to get me.
Now things started to get a bit busy! Not only has Max got a new brother but he’s also moved to London! How fancy is that? No more country bumpkin, hello fancy big city boy. We went over to see them in the morning, the move doesn’t seem to have affected him and it was business as usual, we attacked Duncan the tree, played with all his toys and I even managed to fill Emma’s washing basket with mud!

Of course the star attraction this time was Leo:

I promise I’m not hurting him in this picture and he is normally very quiet (sleepy). I can't wait until he can join in with our nonsense.
Max and I had our usual rough and tumble session:


As is customary, it always ends in tears but this time Leo upstaged the pair of us with a spectacular spewing session, it was ace!
We came home, packed our things and went strqaight round to Nick, Carol and Abi’s house. The full gang were there and the nibbles were out on the table….it would have been rude not to dig in. I decided to try the twiglets, I shouldn’t have, they were horrible! I chewed it a bit, spat it out onto the carpet and then placed it back in the nibble bowl, I don’t think anyone noticed. Andy and I had a bundle on the bean bag and then I went to bed in my travel cot. I haven’t been in it for ages and it’s starting to get a bit snug nowadays.
I woke up nice and early on Sunday morning and decided that 5:30 am was the appropriate time to burst into a few verses of Twinkle Twinkle little star. Mum and Dad didn’t. I let them sleep a bit longer before we got up, came home and then went out again, this time around to Alan’s as it was Sonia’s birthday. We gave her a card and present and stroked Elvis the cat a bit before setting off for the Café for breakfast.
We went to Marlborough, chasing Alan all the way along the road. I’d already sneaked a couple of bowls of rice krispies for my breakfast, so I was onto brunch rather than breakfast. They ordered me a cake with Raisins in it as they thought I’d like that but mum’s full English breakfast looked much nicer. I managed to scrounge a sausage and a load of bacon from her (two things I won’t normally eat) so Dad and Alan shared my cake between them. Greedy pigs. After that we said our goodbyes and had a wander up the high street. I was allowed a lovely set of five fire engines that I have played with non stop ever since (I like to line them up neatly on the fire station on my road play mat). Mum also got an ‘advent calendar’ ready for Christmas, which she was very excited about this. That evening we had my favourite roast chicken and stuffing before watching the monkey programme on the telly cuddled up with mum, a nice way to round off a busy weekend.

Conkers!

Conkers! We’ve been collecting conkers at every oppurtunity. Apparently they are for Owen, I don’t know what he wants them for…..and I don’t care much either. I just like collecting them.
Friday afternoon dad went back to work and mum looked after me, most unusual. Anyway, mum and I had a great afternoon, we went conker collecting and then on to the park (where I got soaked from all the rain, it was nearly as wet as France!). Dad finally rolled home in a merry state in time to help Mum cook my tea…thank goodness!
Saturday we were up early and off to Fantasy Land. We hadn’t been for a while so it took a while to get back into it. I eventually went down the tube slide and had a great time launching myself into the ball pool from the steps. It all got a bit messy when I wanted something from the café and was refused….. After that we went into town to get Dad some new shoes. Rubbish, none for me again! It was then on to Nanny’s to see Aunty Trish and the other Uncle Al. They had got me a book all about using the potty which is very appropriate at the moment, thanks! In the evening we went round to Ben and Rach’s, it was Ben’s birthday. That means cake of course! Chris, Katie and Owen also came round. There was Chinese takeaway and cheese and biscuits all over the place.
On Sunday, we had the pleasure of Grandma and Nanny’s company:

As always, it was great to have them around. As an added bonus, Uncle Slim and Aunty Trace also came round for a visit:

I hadn’t seen them for ages. I had Slim playing trains with me in no time at all.
We had dinner and I managed not to chuck it all over Grandma’s feet this time. We watched Racing Stripes and then I made sure they were ticking over okay with Dr. Atkins’ medical kit.
Today we had a bit of an ordeal. Dad took the long way home on the bike so we could go to the park with the big slide in Thatcham again. All was going well as we made our way along the tow-path until the back tire went down, what a disaster! We were very nearly at Thatcham railway station and a loooong way from home. Poor old dad had to push the bike all the way back but he still stopped off at the park so we could have a play.
Potty training is still ongoing and aside from a few incidents (sorry Ben and Rach) it’s going well. Like Dad, I like to make an event of it, as can be seen here:

Watching Postman Pat while I go about my business!