: : : Here is the news for October : : :

Sunday 31st October
Dad took us out in the morning so that Mum could do some special "mum only" jobs. We went for a walk into town and as a special treat Dad bought us a wooden giraffe each - he knows how to live it up. Peter said that he only wanted to buy "sad giraffes" so that is what we ended up with - two really sad looking giraffes. Peter's one looks the saddest.

My words for sweets is "Mia!, Mia!" - No one knows why but everyone has started to copy me - even Peter. I think it roughly translates as "ME! Some for me!" But I'm the only one who thinks that.

I've been really confused by the clocks today. There was a late lunch, a late tea and a late bedtime. The best thing of all was that Dad had a lie in until 9.30 but he got tricked because it was actually only a lie in until 8.30. He is silly.

Saturday 30th October
I went shopping with Dad this morning and we had a lovely time.Dad gave me a lovely apple to eat, I managed to munch about half of it before I dropped it at which point dad had to got and buy me another one to chew on.

I played Trains with Peter, I had to give him lots of tickets so that he could make it go. When I got a little bit bored and I got out (While the train was still pretend moving) Peter said, "We're going to go anyway andrew". I let him.

Friday 29th October
Mum has been ill today and she has been having a nice lie down on the sofa so that she can have 5 minutes peace. I have been climbing on her head and jumping on her tummy. She didn't appreciate it very much.

Thursday 28th October
Today I have been a bit on the grumpy side because I'm not sleeping very well. For some reason I keep waking up in the middle of the night and howling. Maybe its the teeth and maybe it isn't. It doesn't matter much because I all ends up with Mum getting up to sort me out.

Wednesday 27th October
Today I have been trying to string sentances together. I did quite a good one at tea time when I wanted to have two yoghurts instead of eating my tea. I said "another please" which I thought would get me the yoghurt I desired - It was very polite after all. However, it seems that those of us who choose to not eat the delicious meal prepared for us cannot fill up on yoghurt.

I got right into Peter's game of cushion bathtime this evening by taking all my clothes off all on my own. I drew the line at taking my nappy off though, that is forbidden by the strictest of baby laws.

Tuesday 26th October
I been playing some really good "who's this" games. The rules, as ever, are very easy. I point and someone and says "this?" and then I say who it is. So far the answers are not very diverse. Basically there's Mum, Dad, Peter and me. And some bears too.

Mum took us to a farm today and I laughed at a guinea pig when it squeaked. I squeaked back at it too and then laughed and laughed. Guinea pigs are very funny. I went on the roundabout too but Mum made me get off because I kept standing up and trying to walk around.

Monday 25th October
I did a really good job with the puzzles that Max and Aleks gave me all that time ago. I can do them really quickly now and with Peter's expert tuition I hope to be moving up to some harder puzzles soon.

We played a really good game with the chairs in the afternoon. Peter put them all in a line and we wriggled underneath them. Mum joined in too and we played musical chairs. Peter did the music and Mum and I ran around and around. I took me ages to find a chair even though there were four of them.

Sunday 24th October
We all went shopping today and I was very disagreeable. For starters I didn't want to sit anywhere near the shopping trollet so Mum had to take me on the specail car ride that lives outside the shop. Eventually the money ran out though and I had to make do with riding shotgun in one of the special trolleys that has a car built in to it. I've never been in one before so I was more than satisfied for a while.

Mia and Thomas cam eot see us again today and I slightly warmed towards Mark as I gave him an extra special scowl followed by a cheeky grin. I had a nice time playing with Mia anyway. We bounced on the sofa for a while, it was very funny. I even gave her a kiss.

Dad took me to see some fire engines this afternoon and they were great, we watched them being washed, and the fireman made the lights flash on and off. It was great.

Saturday 23rd October
We have had a really busy day today because we drove for ages to go to a far away park but it rained. So we had one go on the slide and then went to graham's house where Mia and Thomas are staying and we spent the whole day with them. I did a fair amount of scowling, even when I was asked too - (when I'm asked I usually don't like to do too much actual scowling).

Karen has got a lovely litlle dog which I was very interested in. It did some very impressive growling but I got the impression that it was just a bit more grumpier than I was, so I didn't poke it too much.

My favourite bit of the whole day was watching graham as he was wathcing 4 small people eating peanut butter, philadelphia and jam sandwichs on his imported italian suade sofa.

Friday 22nd October
Today I have been enjoying turning my sofa into a tiny bed. There's an edge of sofa cover that I like to try and squeeze myself under, and it works very well. I turn my head to one side and snort away for a bit as if I was snoring like Daddy, on not quite as loud. Sometimes I like to put a cusion over my legs to keep me warm.

Thursday 21st October
There have been visitors today and I have been very suspicious. Dad asked me to say hello to his friend Mark, but I said no. Dadasked me if I'd give him a scowl instead so I gave him the very best scowl that I could manage.

Somehow I almost managed with 4 small people in the house instead of only two. I didn't quite manage to share ALL my things becuase Dad and Muym were talking to the other small children and I didn't like that at all.

Wednesday 20th October
I had my very very first ever haircut ever today. I just had a little tiny weeny bit off over each ear. My hair is getting fluffier, but most of it isn't really that long yet. The bits near my ears were starting to look a little bit like wings so Mum decided to get them cut off. She wanted to keep them but they blew away in the gentle breeze never to be seen again. Dad wept tears of sadness.

Tuesday 19th October
We got a beautiful parcel from Mama today. Peter and I both had presents inside. I had a picture of pooh and tigger, a boot, a bag and to my surprise, ANOTHER BOOT! The boots had pictures of Bob the Builder on them. He is one of my favourites! I spent a long time prancing around the front room saying "Bootssss, bootssss" I was practicing my esses again.

Mum has been putting me to bed recently and I have my own special routine with her. I like to shut the bedroom door myself, whereas I usually let Dad do that when he puts me to bed. I also like to encourage Mum to hold my like a baby. Dad gets to just have me sitting on his knee.

Monday 18th October
I've been practicing my esses today (and indeed for the last few days, only no one has really noticed). My favourite "S" words for practicing are Yesssssss, Chipsssss, Pegsssss and MANY MORE!

I tried really hard to put my own clothes on again today. There was an element of what I like to call the strait-jacket effect going on. Mum was very kind hearted and chose not to tell me, I think she thought that I could work out myself that something had gone wrong. It was a bit of a let down after my triumph of yesterday when I tookbig bears jumper off and put it on entirely accurately.

Sunday 17th October
Today I am 1 and 3 quarters, but there were no presents...

Dad took me and Peter out to the big park on our bikes today. We both rode round and round for ages, I was always trying to keep up with Peter or trying to persuade Dad to let me ride my bike to dangerous and out of the way placeslike near the river or by the ice cream shop. Dad said it was shut.

I found lots and lots of conkers today. I was having difficulty getting them all to fit in my pocket though, my new coats have little pockets that can only fit a few small items inside them. When the fourth conker gets put in, the first one always seems to fall out.

Saturday 16th October
I went shopping with Dad this morning and a kind lady gave me some crackers. I asked for one of the ones with cheese on them, but it turned out that I didn't like the roule cheese. The lady asked me and I told her I didn't. Dad gave me a bit of biscuit to take the taste away though.

I Played with Dad in the afternoon because Mum had to go to the hospitak with Peter's ears. I turned him into a climbing frame - he does it very well. There's a whole moutain range of bits and pieces to climb over.

Friday 15th October
My hair is now getting to be quite luxiuriant. It is still very soft and golden but now it is much thicker, there are even little bits poking over my ears that probably need cutting off. I hope someone will keep them for me in case I need them back.

Thursday 14th October
I did a lot of reading on my own today. It's not something i've tried before and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. There's a whole book shelf of books to choose from and it's a job to get them ALL off the shelf so that I can choose one. I love reading but I don't love putting books back on shelves.

My tooth is through! It's torn through the gum in a fairly horrid way because there's a little bit of gum loose. It's very sore.

Wednesday 13th October
I have now perfected my cat impression and can sustain it for several minutes without grumbling. I've been doing a lot of grumbling today because I think there's another tooth nearly through and that's always annoying. Plus, I've not been sleeping very well. Grump grump grump.

Tuesday 12th October
I crawled around on my hands and knees today pretending to be a cat. I even did a good meiow impression. That is the sound a cat makes usually. Except when it's a lion, then, I growl. Anyway, Mum had to dress me in my clothes as if I was a cat. I had expected different clothes, but they were just normal boy clothes, not cat clothes.

When I came downstairs this morning I said "hello, hello, Grandma?" through the stair railings a few times, I had hald expected Grandma to be there, but she wasn't. "oh" I said.

Monday 11th October
I made a terrible mistake today when I decided to do an experiment with some raisins. I only wanted to see how many I could put up my nose before Mum noticed. The answer was two. Mum got one out, but she didn't know about the second one. After my nap Dad got me up and noticed I was eating something. I opened my mouth to show him. It was a raisin. He asked me if I'd found it on the floor. "no". Was it on the sofa? "no". Did I just find it already in my mouth? "Yes". The mystery was solved.

I helped Mum get into the shop today by standing behind her and pushing whle saying "Puuuusshh, Puuuushh". I don't know if he was very pleased.

Sunday 10th October
I've started growling at Dad in the mornings, usually Mum brings me into the bedroom and I will run around (or jump over the bed) to Dad's side. This is when I like to do a bit of growling. "Heeelllllloooooo Dadddddy" I growl in my growliest voice. This gets him in the mood to let me watch tigger on the blustery day video. We watched it as soon as we were all up.

There was swimming today and I was very keen to jump straight into the pool. Dad and Peter were already in and I was holding Grandmas hand. I jumped in and that was quite thoughtless. Luckily Grandma didn't let go of my hand so I just hung in the air for a minute and then put my feet down. I had to get in carefully instead of recklessly.

Lovely Mum took us to Funky Monkeys today because Dad had to have some peace and quiet for being on the radio. He has a perfect face for it. Mum looked after me all the time at monkeys and I made her carry me over the cargo nets because they hurt my feet. Mum was very appreciative of my climbing skills.

Saturday 9th October
We went to the park after my nap. I had to ride my trike very very accurately because of all the other park users. luckily the paths are very wide which allows for a greater margin of error than on a pavement. Grandma gave me some "tentrants". These are small and sometimes shiny things you pick up from the ground and put in your pocket. I got a conker. I didn't have a pocket so I improvised and pushed it inside my shirt. It fell out on the floor, but that's ok, becausei if that happens it's like finding another conker.

I'm very very tired from all that bike riding and I think there's another tooth on the way.

Friday 8th October
I rode my trike al the way around the block today with skill and grace. I didn't even fall off. I still manage to hold the handlebars with my hands over the edge of the end of the bars though and that means that if I go near a wall I stand quite a high chance of grazing my hand. This usually means that I fall off the trike.

I did lots of easy puzzles while Peter was at nursery.

I was asking Dad if I could watch blustery day this evening. I realise that I was already in my bed and that the lights off and that Blustery day is usually watched downstairs during the day, sometimes even when its windy, but I was really quite insistent. I was also a bit cross that somehow my piglet has got lost so I made Dad crawl around on the floor looking for it for ages.

Thursday 7th October
We went to the zoo today. I expect that some more details will be added here soon. Everyone is very tired and mostly all asleep. Except me.

It took me ages to go to sleep this evening, Mum and Dad tried all their usual tricks to get me to go to sleep, but I just wanted a cuddle. I was having a really nice one with Dad when he put me to bed. He had been singing songs and I had been crossing my eyes because he can't sing very well.

Wednesday 6th October
Mum and I went to feed the ducks in the canal after we dropped Peter off at nursery school. I did some really good throwing and got my little bits of bread in or near the water. Some of them may have landed on the ducks. They all quacked at me, I quacked politely back at them. Afterwards I did some good climbing at the baby group and didn't fall over even once.

Dad was putting me to bed and as usual I was trying to poke him in the face with my toes as I like him to kiss my feet at a certain point during the singing of twinkle twinkle. When he covered them up with the ends of pyjama legs I said "bye bye toes" - quite a long sentence I think you'll agree.

I did an accidental sum at tea time this evening. Peter was messing about saying that 1 and 1 were 3, so Dad asked me what the answer was and I said "2" by accident. I revelled in the applause.

Tuesday 5th October
I had music time with mum today. I played the xylophone, the guitar, the piano and some drums and shakers. The guitar was the best one. My tune was beuatiful. The drums were the loudest.

I rode my bike all the way around our roads today. My little tiny legs managed to go all the way at quite a turn of speed. My steering was really good today, I didn't go into the hedge even once. It did make me really tired though and I got really grumpy at just before tea time.

Monday 4th October
I was really sad at brag today because I was missing Peter. I don't want to say any more about it. I did do some nice pictures though I made a tree using hand prints and some artistic scribbling.

My new tooth is arriving slowly, now it has 3 little points poking through. This brings my official total number of teeth to 17. Only three more to go until I have as many as Peter does. He says he has a hundred.

Sunday 3rd October
Another busy weekend day. FIRST we all had to get up, except dad whodecided to lounge around in bed for a whole hour until 8.15. He is so decadent. Anyhoo - after we were all up and dressed we went swimming. Obviously I didn't take kindly to being dressed - I still try to escape the attack of clothes at every opportunity.

The swimming pool was great though - I had lots of lovely little swims and lots of lovely little sinks. I spat water out this time. I went on te slide a few times which was very exciting, but the best bit about swimming today was sitting in the inflatable chair. I found that with a combination of kicking and leaning I could propel myself around the room.

In the afternoon we went to a big new soft play area where I had a lovely time pretending that everywhere was a bed. I even did pretend snoring.

Saturday 2nd October
Dad took us out this morning on our bikes to the park. He actually let us both ride our bikes all the way there which was very brave of him, as my steering is not fully under control. We did get there though, and in one piece, although I nearly fell off once, but Dad caught me just in time. I had a go on Peter's bike while we were at the park, I can't push the pedals all the way round but I can make the bike go in circles by pushing them half way round and then back pedalling.

I stayed in a watched a video with dad while Mum sneaked Peter out for a treat of some sort. I was very tired so I watched while resting my head on his tummy.

Friday 1st October
I ate my yoghurt with a small plastic dog today. There was a spoon available but I'm very keen on experimenting with eating implements. I'd noticed that the spoon that I was using was dripping the yoghurt down my shirt and trousers. so I thought the dog would be a better implement to use. It worked very well.