By the power of Pork!

Back again for your weekly update are we? Jolly good let’s crack on then!
Sandwiches, that's where it's at! Just a quick note to Dad, don't bother with all these different dinners, just get the sandwiches sorted out! Especially ham, or cheese and ham, or marmite but mostly ham. If you do insist on cooking, make sure it's sausages or chicken and stuffing please.
Well after all the excitement of the chest infection last week I was really pleased to throw up my dinner on Wednesday night (I blame it on Dad force feeding me carrots that did it). I woke up early Thursday morning, got into bed with mum and Dad and then spewed on mum’s pillow…oh dear! No nursery for me and a morning with Mum it was then. I was a bit subdued all morning, but by the time Dad got home I was pretty much back on it and gave him the run around all afternoon.
I didn’t go to nursery again on Friday either, but I felt much better and was back to my old self again.
Saturday we had a nice lie-in all together in bed watching the early morning kids programmes before my tummy got the better of me and I demanded breakfast. After that we headed into town for a bit of shopping and of course to visit Aunty Chris. Hope you have a nice holiday all upside down. By the time you get back it’ll nearly be Christmas! In the evening, Sue came round to baby-sit. I hadn’t seen her for ages but she bought me a James the engine book…..I was more than happy to wave Mum and Dad off for the night.
Sunday morning we went to see Grandma. She had so much chocolate in her fridge I couldn’t believe my eyes! She wanted me to eat the whole lot I think but Mum and Dad were killjoys and wouldn’t let me. I was allowed a bit to eat there and a bit to take home that mum carefully wrapped in clingfilm. I wouldn’t let her have it and decided it was best to keep it in my pocket…..where it soon turned to a horrible mushy mess. Maybe Mum does know best sometimes? After that we went to Waitrose (posh or what) to get some extra food. I spotted some Smarties ice creams:

They’re lovely and there’s no way I’m going to share them with anyone.
In the evening Nick, Carol, Abi and Andy came round for tea, which was great. I got to play with Andy and make a load of fuss over Abi. She was certainly making herself heard this week, good on ya!
Monday was back to nursery after a four day lay-off, it was good to be back playing with my friends.
Tuesday we met Mum for lunch and it was back to the pasty shop (and about time too!). We went to sit in the downstairs area which was a first for Dad and I and I had my usual jumbo sausage roll and pointed out all the pirates I could see. On the way back to Mum’s work we passed the butchers shop and curiosity got the better of me and I dragged them in for a look around, a masterstroke on my part. The butcher man gave me a lovely cooked sausage and I put that away as well! It was lovely. This was all in addition to my lunch I had had at nursery just before Dad had come to pick me up…..according to mum I’m a greedy gink!

More Poppins!

I took advantage of my car seat being in the front room on Friday morning by getting it set up in front of the telly with my pre-breakfast breakfast (I have breakfast at home as well as at nursery most mornings!).

Mum went to work on Saturday so I helped dad do a bit of tidying around the house before we went to meet mum for lunch. I was banned from the pasty shop this week as mum couldn’t face another one, so we had to slum it in McDonalds instead. After that, we went to see Aunty Chris in her shop afterwards and I made mum late for work finishing a jigsaw puzzle. In the evening, just about everyone I knew turned up at our house to go and see the ‘poppins’ over at the farm. Just like last year, I didn’t like the queit kids ones but loved the full on bangers…..just as long as I was safely strapped in my pushchair. The great big bonfire was really good. After the fireworks we went home and had a barbecue. I loved playing in the garden with everyone and even got to join in with the conker tournament a little bit (congratulations to Nick the eventual winner). I went to bed really late…..
Sunday I had a small lie in before getting the slugs up and out. We went to the Cotswold Wildlife park! That was a nice surprise. This time round I was really up for it, but made sure they weren’t slacking off by shouting ‘Come on’ every time I’d had my fill of the current animal. I’ve also got used to the idea that the animals are quite safely contained behind their glass or bars enabling me to be quite brave in getting more up close than I have before.
We saw some Lions who roared so loudly the ground shook, zebra’s, rhino’s some funny little piggies and best of all the snakes and lizards. Some of the snakes were massive, dad said they could eat a whole Ned, I reckon they could have eaten a whole dad! We made hissing noises and tickled each other!

We stroked the goats as well!

The park was really good too!

The Dad’s got this roundabout going round so fast we all got off dizzy!
The park play was cut short so we could watch the penguins being fed, we should have left earlier as the best view I could get was on mum’s shoulders:

I managed to see the action though, it was really funny to see them zooming about in the water.
Mum was off Monday and I had a big lie-in until mum woke me up at 10. I wasn’t feeling too well so it was off to the doctors again for some different medicine for my chest infection. It’s orange flavour this time and not quite as nice as the strawberry. In the afternoon I got ridiculously excited at the prospect of going shopping in Newbury of all things.
Tuesday bought a bit of an upset tummy and an early exit from nursery. We went home and I helped mum do some washing up.
Even with my ailments I’m still up for plenty of dancing and singing still as well as bundling mum or dad when they least expect it so I’m alright really.

Poppins

I’ve gone all musical lately. I’m constantly singing and dancing these days. I still like the old favourites like twinkle twinkle (which I can sing all the way through) but I’m learning loads of new ones at nursery that mum and dad don’t know. That’s a good thing though, at least they can’t join in and spoil it. We’ve also been having a lot of spur of the moment disco events after tea where my favourite songs dance to are the Bob the Builder theme tune and The Feelings ‘Fill my little world’ which I love to sing along to as well as perform my smart spinning round and stomping dance.
Thursday we went to get Nanny and all went to the library to get me some new books before going home for tea, Nanny ate loads! Later on Chard came round and dad helped him carry out the huge television we have been borrowing since last year. It looked pretty heavy. Dad rigged up our old smaller one, but I can still watch C-Beebies on it okay so I’m not too bothered really. I hope you’ve managed to get the sticky fingerprints off the screen!
Saturday we went shopping in Reading to get mum a dress…boring! It wasn’t too bad actually, but I was having a bit of a mummy clingy day. Dad had the rather unpleasant task of trying to pacify me while mum was in the changing rooms. At one point I made a desperate bid to join her by crawling across the floor of Next trying to get under the curtain before I was rumbled but it was all in vain. There was a merry-go-round in the high street and I fancied a go. Dad coughed up the 80p and I got myself all set up in the drivers seat of a lovely double decker bus. Everything was going well until the thing started turning round and after two laps I was making a hasty exit bid, culminating in mum heroically grabbing me one handed from the speeding carousel. When asked what I wanted for lunch I simply requested a sandwich, they had other ideas and were trying to palm me off with allsorts of other nonsense. I was having none of it so decided to have a right old screaming fit just as we bumped into Kin and Melissa with Fen and Yanna. In spite of my noise level they invited us round to play in the afternoon after we’d finished our shopping and settled the lunch dispute.

When we got there Kin had just finished cutting the grass and he let dad and I have a go in the lawnmower! It was really noisy but great fun zooming around the garden on it. We had a lovely time playing in the garden even though the grown up’s were cold. I’d also like to thank them for the lovely inflatable tune playing alien toy they had got me from Hong Kong, everyone loves it!
After that it was home for a brief pitstop (Mum tried on her new dress to show dad and me, I told her I didn’t like it! That pleased her) and then it was on to Alan’s for a meal in the evening.

Grandad and Anne came along too and we had a really nice time. Alan made lovely roast beef and then dad and I ate so much ice-cream I’m surprised we weren’t ill. At one point I managed to disassemble the poppy Alan was wearing. We attempted to fix it but the black centre piece had gone missing…it turned up at bedtime in my nappy if you want it back Alan?
Sunday was bonfire night apparently. I’d been very aware of the fireworks (or Poppins as I prefer to call them going off for a few nights and thought they were realy exciting. Mum said we’d get a few for later on, so after a quick trip around the farmers market (hi Paul and Lynne) we went and got a load of rockets for when it got dark! Slim and Trace came round in the afternoon which was nice as mum and dad were getting pretty boring by then.
Then it got dark!

Here I am inspecting the ‘Poppins’

And here’s where I ran to from the garden when dad started launching them! It was all a bit close quarters for me I think. Still, Mum and dad seemed to enjoy themselves.
Back to nursery on Monday and I really didn’t want mum to leave me and made her late for work with all my crying…..sorry mum, it must have been a Monday thing but I just wanted a bit more of this I think:

Today Dad and I went out for a walk to see the horses, I patted them all on the nose and they seemed to quite like that. We walked all the way to the park over at Henwick and I set up a pretend kitchen under the climbing frame. I offered dad Ice Cream, Cake and coffee and made him wait ages while I ‘cooked’ it all for him!

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!

Potty!

Hello once again, another busy week to report, so get comfy….
Rich and Kaz (from Rich and Kaz do the world link over there on the right) came to see me on Wednesday afternoon. Apparently they have been back a little while now but they have been somewhat nocturnal by all accounts, what ever that means. It was good to see them again and I was glad to see they had kept up to date by reading my blog. I had a great time doing my Postman Pat stickers with Kaz.
Potty training is going full bore now. Mum went mad and got me some proper pants to wear without the safety of a nappy! I’ve even been going to nursery in them. Dad did get to clear up one particularly messy effort but on the whole I’ve been really good at it. I like to do ‘little and often’ with regards my time on the potty itself, it keeps them on their toes.
Friday was Grandparents day at nursery. Grandad, Anne and Nanny turned up to play with me! It was brilliant fun, Grandad played trains with me while I let the other kids share Anne and Nanny with me. It was nice to show them around a bit so they could see what I get up to. Dad picked me up in the afternoon and we went to watch the golf on telly with the lads (and Carol and Abi). I even ‘helped’ Carol give Abi her bottle of milk, I loved that! Later on after we’d picked mum up we had an Indian takeaway for tea. I had a Keema Naan bread, I loved the bread until I realised there was some nice spicy meat inside, I dragged all the meat out to eat on it’s own. I think I also need to apologise for a small puddle I left on Nick and Carol’s carpet during a potty incident.
Mum worked Saturday so we went to see her at lunch time. Guess where we went for dinner? Yes, that’s right the PASTY SHOP! Later on we went to Amber’s 6th birthday party. I’d never been to such a big party before and when dad opened the door into the hall I was terrified. There must have been 50 other kids screaming, shouting and running round like maniacs. I’d never seen anything quite like it before. Sarah (Amber’s mum) was really nice to me and I soon came round and joined in. I pinned a tail on a donkey (and I didn’t have to wear a blindfold like the others because I’m little) and won a game of pass the parcel on my first ever attempt. I especially enjoyed the party food and sat in the middle of all the girls…..
Sunday morning I went up the park with mum and dad on my bike. Mum was cursing dad for suggesting it to me as she had to push me most of the way bent over double.

Here I am in my pretend kitchen area, serving dad up some food, the menu is simple home cooked fayre, mainly cakes! I rode home really well as it was mostly down hill, but Mum did get me pedalling really well! We went shopping in the afternoon in Reading as Mum wanted some new jeans…..she didn’t buy any, wasted trip! I did however manage to get out of the buggy and ‘walk nicely’ most of the afternoon so that was nice. I even went through a spell of walking backwards up the high street at one point which made the passers by laugh.
Monday mum was off work, so we gave dad a nice phone call at work in the morning. He loves my in depth conversation. Once he was home it was off to the Coral Reef swimming again. Mum and dad are becoming increasingly redundant on these swimming trips nowadays as I’m quite happy playing with the other kids. They can drive and pay for us to get in though.
Tuesday afternoon Grandad and Anne came round which was a nice surprise, they gave us some runner beans form Grandads garden. They’re about the only green thing I might consider eating. After they had gone Dad and I went to a new park we hadn’t been to before by a lake in Thatcham, it was ace. I eventually went down the really big slide after repeatedly saying ‘I wouldn’t’ when dad asked me if I was going to go down it. I had another three goes to make sure I really liked it.
I now need to welcome another new baby on the scene, Leo! Max has got a little brother…how cool must that be? Hope to see you soon Leo.

Vive Le France!

Did you miss me?
Mum and Dad seemed quite organised this time before holiday so we didn’t have the usual rushing around before we went. They even went out for a curry on Saturday night leaving me at home with Aunty Trish, Aunty Chris, Laura and James. We had a great time as always. Better than a curry I’ll bet!
On Sunday we went over to see Grandad and Anne. We went out for a walk in the lovely sunshine before we arrived at the pub for lunch. In the pub garden Grandad and I fed the goats some grass and some apples we picked from a nearby tree. I was even brave enough to feed the beasts with my own hands!
Holiday time!

Everything was packed and we were off. I had my very own Thomas bag on wheels packed with toys and books that I dragged around the airport tirelessly. I drew loads of admiring glances with my luggage that’s for sure, everyone loved it. The time at the airport passed really quickly and it wasn’t long before I took my window seat on the plane (unlucky Dad). I can’t remember much about my last time on a plane so it was new all over again and really exciting what with the speed and the noise. Some of the other kids were crying but not me, I loved it (after I made sure Mum and Dad were okay with it). We didn’t fly for long before we were landing again. This was almost as exciting as taking off.
Once we had gone through the airport and collected our bags we went and got a car from the carpark, this is where things all started getting a little weird. Mum got in the driving seat but didn’t have a steering wheel, Dad had it on the passenger side? After a few wrong turns we were soon at the campsite in Argeles Sur Mer (South of France), I wasted no time getting into the holiday spirit by heading out for some dinner:

Well a nice big ice-cream anyway. After that there was a game of pinball, after which we were all pretty much ready for bed so turned in for the night.
Tuesday morning we went to the Supermarket, a bit like Tesco, but with strange things in it. Not all that strange though, some of the cake looked lovely! I managed to get the lid off a salt pot and pretty much the entire contents of the said pot into Dad’s shoe….he loved that. After the shopping it was down to the pool! It was a great pool, a bit like the Coral Reef but outside. There were loads of slides that I let my two flunkies go down for my amusement (Dad almost broke his nose in an ill advised head first manoeuvre) before the rain came and the lifeguard chucked us out. The rain did lift for a bit in the afternoon and we went down the beach for a walk:

It was great, there were loads of older ladies for me to dazzle with a cheeky smile. We took refuge when the rain started again, Dad felt brave during a lull and decided to start up the barbecue. As soon as he went outside with his burgers and sausages the heavens opened again, the trouble was it didn’t really stop again!
The following day we did manage to sneak out to a little seaside village for an hour or so:


But it soon started raining again and we had to run for cover. As well as the rain, there was thunder, loud thunder. On the way home we went to a smart Café for tea. They had been teaching me ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Merci’ but I was a bit shy about using it. One of the lady cooks took a shine to me and was trying to coax a little French out of me. I played hard to get for long enough for her to try and win me over by giving me a proper Chef’s hat. I wouldn’t wear it but mum did. I expect Dad to have the thing glued to his head next time he has a barbecue or has anyone round for lunch.
Thursday we had a day out to a castle in Carcassone:

We kind of parked in the wrong place so had a bit of walk to get to it, but it wasn’t too bad. It was really impressive and looked like something out of one my books or on the telly.

It wasn’t long before it started raining though, and the walk back to the car gave us ample opportunity to get soaked again! On the way back we dropped in at the local bowling alley….it was broken, so no bowling. It was about this time I really got the hang of constantly asking ‘What doing’ or ‘What’s that’ They answered me at first but they got bored of it much quicker than I did.
On Friday we swapped the hire car over because Dad was worried the wheel was going to fall off. By the time that was sorted out most of the day had gone so we went to a prehistoric museum. It was rubbish. There were a few scary looking cavemen and a stuffed goat….not the dinosaur extravaganza I’d been hoping for! It rained as well. It did ease off long enough for us to venture out to the ice-cream parlour in the evening though.
Saturday we had a bit of a lie in before going to some shops in the rain. They didn’t have any clothes or shoes small enough for me which was obviously a bit rubbish. We went to the Café again for lunch and I ate almost an entire ‘Poulet Rosti’ before having a massive banana split that even I couldn’t finish. We tried another bowling alley in the afternoon but the miserable man wouldn’t let me play as he said I was too small! I got the proper hump about that. Mum thrashed Dad at bowling as is usual. We played Air Hockey afterwards (I was good at that) and then we had a drive on a racing game (I kept crashing into the barrier, think it had a dodgy wheel or something). The rain did actually stop long enough for us to have a barbecue and sit outside in the evening:

Then it was Sunday, our last day. Guess what? The sun came out! We quickly got down the swimming pool:

At least we got another go at it all. The only slide I decided was worthy of my attention was the really high scary looking one, it was great.
We then had to dash back and pack before we headed back to the airport for the trip home. There was an older boy called Josh sat in front of me on the plane. He was proper cool and even had his own DVD player to watch (He had Charlie and Lola on it too). He was pointing out things of interest for me as we came down for landing and we screamed and hollered for all we were worth as we touched down. It was even better fun than the way out.
So that was it, holiday all over and done with. Mum was really great all week and made sure I had lots to keep me entertained, seeing as she had Dad’s whingeing to contend with as well. I’m sure it doesn’t rain like this in Cornwall?
Mum was off work on Monday, so I didn’t go to nursery. We went to the park in the morning. I span Mum round so fast on the roundabout she was nearly sick!
Once Dad was home from work we went off to the pub for dinner (I had a sword fight with a big wooden spoon with the barman) and then it was onto the Beale Park:

They had a train! I was allowed to have a look around the engine shed and even ring the trains bell when we arrived back at the station. I had a deep and meaningful conversation with a snowy owl and saw some piggies, cows, goats and lemurs.

Best of all though was the playground:

Loads of little houses, slides, cars. trikes and a massive sandpit! I took some prizing away from there I can tell you!
So that brings us right up to date today when it was back to nursery. Amy was pleased to see me I think, but when she come up to say hello I did a swift sidestep, got on the trike she was on and took off across the yard…..treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen!