: : : Here is the news for August : : :

Tuesday 31st August
Despite my still pox ridden body, we went out this morning for a go on th eboats with Grandma. I wasn't allowed to row, even though I didn't much feel like it. I have tried to remain cheery and brave throughout my extended period of illness.

There was a terrible night last night with much howling and wriggling, due to all the itching. Eventually I got into Mum and Dad's bed and spent the night rolling around between them. I think I kicked Dad in the head a few times.

I think my spots may be fading very slightly. Mum has got some new medicine for us so we'll see what happens tonight.

Monday 30th August
I've still got the pox and it's even worse than yesterday and I have a whole host more spots. We didn't go out much because first it was raining and then Dad and Mum were finishing off the painting in the kitchen.

Eventually Mum and Dad finished and then they took us out. Peter was being a stinker though and he didn't want Dad and I to go to the park with him. Dad took me to the other park, and although we didn't go on a boat we did go in the playground and then we had an ice cream. All the other children shunned us because of the pox.

Grandma appeared! I sang her a song. When Dad put me to be I told himn that I loved him. It was my first three word sentence.

Sunday 29th August
My pox is much worse today and I have many more spots. I am being unspeakably brave about the pox though and didn't even complain even once all day/ I was a little bit grumpy a few times though. I have a very impressive collection of spots about my body and head. I've also had two bicarbonate of soda baths and been swabbed with calamine lotion a few times. It's going to get better soon i hope.

I did go to the park with Mum this morning, we played on all the usual bits of park equipment and then went on the boats. I got to drive one of them and we went round and round and round in circles for ages. It's really east to drive in circles. Much easier than in a srtaight line.

Dad and Mum are painting the kitchen. It was blue, now it's yellow and I told them so

Saturday 28th August
It's now official. Although I haven't actually seen a qualified doctor I do have the chickenpox. There are some nasty looking blisters on my tuuny and apparently some behind my ears and on the back of my head. It'sall very uncomfortable.

I didn't really enjoy my shopping trips today because I was feeling very floppy. On the plus side (for Dad) I wasn't constantly asking to get out of my pushchair. I was feeling so sick that I didn't want a taster of olives in the new olive shop.

Friday 27th August
I think that I may have the chicken pox as I have several raised blisters about my person. Apparently they are going to itch. I was a bit restless at bedtime. Maybe they were itching me in my sleep, and maybe they weren't.

I did manage to play a face making game at bedtime with Dad. I copied all of the faces that he made. Tongue sticking out, teeth showing and I even had a go at closing only one eye. It was really difficult but I sort of managed it.

I had my first star chart today and I did quite well. No stars for tea time because I was feeling chickenpoxy, but lots of good stars for the rest of the day.

Thursday 26th August
We went to the park today. It's full of pesky children that should be at school but we managed to get lots of goes on the slide. I did my monkey impression by hanging onto the bar at the top of the slide and then Peter sat me on his lap and we went down the slide together. I also walked across the plank bit of the slide all on my own.

We played the frog game in the afternoon. It involves flicking little plastic bees into a gaping rotating frogs mouth. I can't do it really but I did enjoy putting the plastic bees into my "pocket". I didn't actually have a pocket in my shirt today so I had to put them down the neck of my shirt. I was a little surprised when they all fell out when I stood up.

I spent quite some time sitting in my box.

Wednesday 25th August
We went to the toy library today. I played by myself in peace and quiet while everyone else got on with whatever they wanted too.

Mum has been doing a lot of tidying up today. I think that the mountain of toys in the corner will be getting a little bit smaller today. I've been out growing lots of baby toys recently and I think I shall be moving on to Peter's toys soon. There's a shock coming for him.

We've got boxes to sit in. They are both yellow and mine is a little bit smaller than Peter's. They both have cushions in them and they are really comfortable. If i'm sitting in a box at least I'm not climbing all over the furniture.

Tuesday 24th August
It was the most boring journey ever today. We left Mama and Dada's house at precisely 11.07am and arrived home at exactly 6.32pm. There was a problem with the car because the intercooler pipe became disconnected. I told Dad how to mend it. Then I showed him that the Exhaust pipe had partly burned away. Eventually the AA man confirmed my points.

The diversion along the M53 and M56 to connect with junction 20 of the M6 took an extra half hour or so, probably just as long as Peter added to the journey with his infernal bladder. The trip to IKEA didn't help much either as we saw that the southbound sliproad was closed when we came off the motorway. A small detour to J10 and back set us on our way home though.

I was really moody for the whole journey home. It was all very frustrating and I was very pleased to see my bed.

Monday 23rd August
Today I was a bit grumpy. We went for a walk to the park in an effort to cheer me up. I was pleased to see a big puddle there which I sat down in. Later on I discovered that any item of clothing can be turned into a "wiper" (a wiper is a wet cloth that can be sucked for comfort). To turn any item of clothing into a wiper you just have to suck it enough until it gets wet enough to qualify.

Sunday 22nd August
I went for a walk with Mum today, we went down the same steps that Mum took Peter down the other day.He counted 32 steps. I counted 10 steps three times with a couple spare. I did manage to count to ten though.

I liked the big play barn we went to. There was a lot of lifting that had to be done my mum and Dad, but I managed all the across bits on my own and even some of the sloped bits. I could also manage some of the downs by doing a bit of falling.

Saturday 21st August
I was very grumpy today because I haven't been sleeping very well. I woke up lots in the night and of course that meant everyone was disturbed. Especially Mum.

I didn't like the pier very much as no one would let me climb up on to the precarious edges over where the water was. Eventually Dad took me back to the car so that everyone else could enjoy themselves. Dad sang me a song and I fell asleep, mostly through ennui.

Friday 20th August
There's more rain today so I had to busy myself with playing with cars on te special car carpet that Mama gave to me. I don't stick to the roads much though. I also like to roll the cars around while I have my head on the floor. There's a much greater sensation of speed that way.

Mum took us to the beach in the afternoon and I sat in the sea and got very wet. I also flew my first kite which was very nice. Eventually I got bored of it and let the kite go. Mum had to go running down the beach after it.

Thursday 19th August
There was a very long journey today which I pretended not to notice. I noticed us stopping for an icecream though. The best bit about the icecrema place was the big hollow tree that I hid away in. Oh - and the goat. The goat was good, if a little lumpy in the middle.

It's pouring with rain at Mama's house. I stayed safely inside with Dad whle Mum took Peter for a walk. I even got to watch some teletubbies which was very nice. Dad took me up to my cot too because I was very tired. There's a new going to sleep technique - I snuggle up under his arm until I decide it's bedtime.

Wednesday 18th August
We all went to the zoo today and I saw many new and exciting animals. There were lions, rhinos, zebras and even some camels with wobbly humps. The most exciting thing though was when it rained so much and I got to swim in the muddy puddles. By the time we got home my legs were coated in a layer of mud.

I fell asleep on the coach on the way to the zoo and on the way back so I missed all the fun of travel by coach. Peter told me that it was brilliant.

Tuesday 17th August
I've got a brand new bedtime routine. I insist on Dad actively rocking me while I drink my milk. If he doesn't I kickstart him by giving a littletwitch to one side. That reminds him to rock. Then I like to rest my head against his chest and listen to him humming. The tune is not important which is just as well. If he forgets to hum I say "HMMMMMMM!!!" until he remembers.

I had a lovely time swimming and got Mum all to myself. I did quite a bit of kicking and swimming practice. I'm getting very good at it now. I only drank some water today.

Monday 16th August
A wasp landed on my drinking cup today while I wasn't watching. Luckily Peter's sharp eye spotted it in time and he informed Mum. Mum threw the cup out of the door and then shut it firmly. Apparently I'm not allowed eat wasps.

I went for a long walk on my reins today - it would have been a long walk only I decided to sit on the pavement and stay still for ages. In the end Mum put me in the pushchair and Peter had to walk.

Sunday 15th August
This morning Mum got the padlding pool out and Dad connected the hose pipe. Sadly I wasn't the one in control of the hosepipe. It was Peter. His lack of control is legendary and I got a little bit splashed. Dad rigged up the slide so that it went into the water and that was great fun until I fell off the steps.

Later on we went swimming. I did a lot of paddling around with Mum and Dad and even went on the very big slide with Dad a few times. He made sure that I didn't go too fast by pressing his feet against the side of the slide. We still entered the water very quickly and Dad had to hold me above his watery head so that I didn't get too wet. I didn't drink too much swimming pool water today.

Saturday 14th August
I played a really nice game of dolphin-ball with Dad and Peter today - just before bedtime. Dad rationed the number of balls to two each so that he could keep track of how many I'd tried to eat. You have to ping theballs into the cup in the middle bit. It's very easy.

I ate olives for my tea. After I'd eaten all of mine I ate all of Dad's. THen he got me some more and I dipped them into my humous.

Friday 13th August
I can now pretend to be asleep. I've been observing Dad sleeping for some time now and it seems that you have to make a funny noise in your nose. I've managed to copy it quite accurately. I tuck my selve into Mum and Dad's bed, pulling the covers right up to my face. THEN I make the nose noise.

Thursday 12th August
It was a sad day today. My pushchair collapsed a little bit. It's the one that Grandad and Grandma bought for Peter a long time ago. Apparently camping didn't agree with it or something. I was in real danger of being folded up inside it for a while. Peter had to get off the buggy board and help Mum push it home.

I missed the thunderstorm today because I was asleep.

Wednesday 11th August
It's another outing! This time with lots and lots of children! To Warwick Castle! Land of expense! There wasn't really a lot for a lad of my age to do at the casle but I did enjoy the coach trip. I sat by Peter all the way there (under Mum's ever watchful eye...)

The people at the castle had thoughfully provided plenty of roped off areas for me to invade and also, to my delight they had left just one muddy puddle in the middle of the courtyard. I sat right in it. I also found a smaller puddle contained in the top of an upturned barrel, so after Mu m had changed my clothes I lay down in it. Twice.

Later on I ran away because I was chasing a peacock. After a lot of running away We had to go home on the coach. Peter didn't want to sit by me this time. Oh no - he was to busy with Tilly, so I sat next to mum.

Tuesday 10th August
Mum went to a special toy sale today and bought us lots of new toys. My favourite was a blackboard and some brightly coloured chalks. When Dad cam home he insisted on drawingme a tractor. I corrected hisdrawing by re-doing the wheels. He had used orange and the colour for tractor wheels BLUE. Also it's good to make the wheels reaaaaaally really whirly.

Monday 9th August
Today I have mostly been falling off things. I've got a big egg on my noggin from falling over and at tea time I suddenly fell off the kitchen chair for no apparent reason. My toasted cheese went everywhere. There were many tears but it was all right in the end because Mum gave me a great big cuddle.

We went to Bath Place today and sang lots and lots of songs. I impressed everyone by being able to do all the actions to all the songs.

In the afternoon Mum lets us jump up and down on the big camping mattress. Because I weigh much less than Peter I got bounced off a lot.

Sunday 8th August
We're not camping today but I was still allowed to roam naked and free around the garden. Mum even put out a basin full of cold water - camping style. Aparently I getting ready for potty training because I know what a wee is. Dad says I can't sit on the sofa bare though.

I did a little bit of drawing today - in chalks this time and on the patio. Mum drew a face and I traced over it.

Saturday 7th August
We drove to Grandma's house today after packing everything into the car. I tried to help Dad by emptying a bag of stuff out. I had the wrong end of the stick though.

Had another lovely unexpected bath while Mum was doing the washing up today. I was of course, fully clothed and there were some bowls and cups in the washing up bowl. Mum pretended not to notice and carried on with the drying up. I had to have a change of clothes and almost didn't get ou of the bowl because my nappy had soaked up most of the water.

At Grandma's house I ran around and played all the pianos. It's nice to be able to run between three things playing a little bit of tune on each of them. We also played lots and lots of water games. Grandma provided many basins of water and some cups and I emptied the water onto the garden, taking a little sip of water each time.

Friday 6th August
Today was ANOTHER magical mystery tour! A splendid time WAS guaranteed for all! Today we went out to a special place with lots of slides and wasps. There was a gaint soft play area which I liked very much - except for the giant balls which were ten times higher than me. Dad and I didn't queue for the water ride, instead dad took me to see lots of animals. First we saw about 20 horses which seemed to be arranged in size order around 2 very smelly goats. Maybe it was a living art installation.

After that we went to another BIGGER soft play area. There seemed to be an area that only I was in. Dad cleverly sealed the only exit off with his body so that I couldn't escape from it. He seemed to be having a sneaky lie down though.

We went back to sidmouth where i was surprised by grandma! We all went for tea during which I made a lot of noise about nothing. I also met a great big dog which i stroked very carefully as he was very much bigger than i was.

I had another lovely bath in the toy box.

Thursday 5th August
We went on ANOTHER trip today. It was to some deep dark caves. They were also very cold so we had to wear our coats. It would have been exciting if I had been allowed to roam freely around the miles and miles of uncharted caves, but Dad wouldn't let me. I had to sit in my pushchair. I didn't like caves very much so I spoilt it for the other cave dwellers by shouting. Eventually we left and got our money back.

I was much better behaved at the Mill place. Dad explained about the road so I sat very patiently in my chair and ate my cake and Sandwiches. The best part was the little house of sticks because Mum told me a very unlikely story about three pigs and a wolf.

Much later on we went to the beach again, we couldn't stay for long so I only licked my red spade a few times and there was no actual eating of sand.

Because of all the sand that was all over me I had a bath in a tiny plastic toy tub. It was very comfortable.

Wednesday 4th August
We went to a donkey place today. There were 499 donkeys there but we only saw ten of them. Apparently they come in different sorts but they all looked pretty much the same to me. We went to a nice secure picnic area and I chased a girl around. She wasn't very interested in being chased though and I was forced to use my grumpy face.

Later on we had another picnic. I tried olives and humous which I have to say were delicious. I saved someof the olive in my hair for later and then spent the rest of the picnic time running away from Dad. I got a bit lost though, but luckily Mum found out where I was. I suspect that she had her eye on me all the time.

I get put to bed first now and peter gets to stay up late. It's very unfair.

Tuesday 3rd August
I had a lovely time today at the train place. Although it was raining I was perfectly safe with my all in one special red raincoat on. The little trains were a bit boring because they were all so high up. Peter was ok because there was a railing around the trains that was specially designed for toddlers to stand on. I'm not a toddler though. According to Peter I'm only a tiny tiny baby. I did enjoy the big train ride though. I especially liked the long tunnels.

We went swimming in the afternoon and I was very grumpy. I haven't had a lots of sleep recently because of being in a tent. I'm not very good at keeping my covers on, so I keep waking up. Eventually Dad got me interested in doing some splashing at the top of some steps and that kept me happy for a long time.

Monday 2nd August
In addition to my new found campsite sandpits I have also found some tiny weeny hills to run up and down. They are quite a bit further away from the actual tent but if i wave to Mum and Dad to let them know that i'm away on my travels I can usually get there before being carried back to the tent.

I've selected my very own campsite chair. It's Grandad's orange low down chair. It's ok though because he's got two chairs.

We went to a really good cake shop today but sadly I was asleep for almost the whole duration so I missed the treat. There were a few bits of Grandad's cake left which I munched allll up. After that treat we all sat on the seafront and ate some delicious ice creams. As usual I got more cones than anyone else because they are my favourite bits.

No sleep for me tonight.

Sunday 1st August
We went to see some weird dancing today. I was more impressed with the dancing that I did before on the big wooden floor. I did ring a ring a roses with Mum. I didn't even have to wear any silly costumes to perform my dance.

Later on I watched a band with Dad. I was particularly impressed by the bass player as he was closest to me. He was too loud though. While Dad was watching the band I stole a sip of his beer. It wasn't very nice.

The campsite has a really good bit. It's right near the tent and it's a bit gritty sandpit. I ate a bit of the sand today. It's a bit different from the beach sand, it has a lovely big grittyness.

 

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