More Spiderman

I'm still improving my web-crawling abilities. Remember the last example? Click the photo to see me almost life-sized!

The little one said "Rollover"

The guys have been ganging up on me again...

Exterminate

Do you think I would make a good Dr. Who villain?

PS2

Today, we have mostly been playing Dora...

Little Red Riding Hood

As promised, a picture of me helping wash Mummy's new car. And I'm wearing my new waterproof suit and, believe you me, I fully tested its waterproof abilities and it passed with flying colours!

Daddy didn't get nearly as wet this time either. He'd have been drier still if they'd had an outfit like mine in his size.

Dizzy

If you look at this photo long enough, does it make you feel as dizzy as it does Daddy? Or is it just because he was there taking the photo and it brings back the sickening memory..? The effect is better if you look at the bigger version.

Updates

Hiya! Sorry it's been such a long time since I posted. It probably would have been even longer but Daddy has insisted I post something. He says he's added Google Adwords and I'll get to use all the revenue (whatever that means!) for toys. He says it'll be an incentive to post more often. Well, I'm pretty sure that Mummy and Daddy will buy me toys if I insist enough anyway so I have my doubts about its success as an incentive..!

I was thinking of cheating and pretending I had been posting by putting up a lot of little posts and changing the date so that no one would know but I know all my readers (both of them) are cleverer than that so I'll try to tell you everything that's been happening in one post. With as many pictures as I can add. All we need to hope is that I can remember everything that's happened over the past 6 weeks.

Well, we've been up to see Granny and Grandpa several times recently. We do this so that Daddy can cut the grass. And play on the stilts. And so that I can play with the other grandkids. We have a lot of fun together. We also went to the beach and Daddy and me climbed a tree. It's funny how easy it was to get up the tree and I found it quite easy to get down as well. Daddy on the other hand..! Mummy was wishing she hadn't been so quick to put the camera away because Daddy getting off the tree would have been the best photo ever!

I changed classes at nursery in August. Went from the 'twos' class to pre-school. Pre-school is downstairs with better toys and a bigger garden. It's pretty tiring and it's become quite common for me to nod off after a long hard day at the office before dinner.

There's been a lego phase. We've been building houses and towers and monsters and robots and shapes. And this wall, which you can even hide behind!

I know some people will be looking for a gardening update. But there isn't much to tell. We've learned a fair bit. Especially that no matter how much it rains (and it's rained a lot) you still need to water plants in planters every day. This means that you have to go out with your watering can in the rain and get wet yourself. Daddy didn't like to do that much so our plants haven't done as well as they could have. Some things did OK despite our best efforts but the tomatoes that we expected great things from really didn't try. They were Tumbler Tomatoes and we planted them in a hanging basket. Should have been ideal territory for them. Daddy attempted to keep them well watered but they still didn't do very well and out of two plants we only got three tomatoes.

Mummy has got a new car. A very shiny new car. It's a Seat Altea XL and I love it. I have my own door at last. And the window has a blind to stop the sun from hurting my eyes. There are no photos of it yet but it looks just like the one below. And here's a photo showing that it only had 8 miles on the clock when Mummy and Daddy picked it up (you have to take the trip value away from the miles value). Best of all though, the window goes up and down by magic!


And speaking of magic. This month we have mostly been Pottering. I have been watching lots of Harry Potter. I like Harry Potter 3 with the Dementors and the man that turns into a werewolf. I'm a wee bit frightened of Harry Potter 2 - Dobby is too scary! I've been doing a lot of magic. Especially with Daddy. We duel with our wand sabers casting spells at each other. I have made up some excellent spells that cause Daddy to writhe about on the floor. My favourites are 'areckyzebra' and 'protomadonna'.

OK. That'll do for now. I'll try to post more often but I make no promises. I had hoped to post a nice picture of me and Daddy washing Mummy's new car today but Mummy didn't know there was no card in the camera so the fantastic photos she took of me rinsing the soap off the car with the hose and Daddy ending up wetter than the car (not sure how he managed that) don't exist. Shame, I think they would have made folks laugh.

You can't win this argument

Mummy: "Edan, would you please do what you are told, and stop answering back?"
Me: "I'm not answering back."

School Report 2007

I got my nursery report today. It's really a report for the next class teachers' for when I join it. It'll be pre-school. Anyway, I thought I'd show it here so you can all see how I'm doing:

"Edan has a great vocabulary and enjoys and encourages long conversations with staff and children. He enjoys and becomes engaged in all activities. Edan is very good at making choices and decisions and will negotiate with staff and children over activities and toys. Edan is very good at puzzles but sometimes he has problems and will ask for help.
"He will help with tasks and follows instructions very well. He will also help tidy up with a little encouragement.
"Edan is fully toilet trained and has been for some time. He is able to use the toilet as required and pull his trousers and pants up and down by himself and will wash his hands although sometimes needs prompting."

Not bad, eh? Mummy and Daddy were impressed too.

Munch, munch, munch

I dig my garden, I dig, dig, dig.
I dig my garden, I dig it deep.
I plant some seeds and I watch them grow.
But the rabbit comes along, oh no.
He eats my carrots, munch, munch, munch.
He eats my carrots, he eats a whole bunch.
I run out to my garden and I shoo, shoo, shoo.
But the rabbit will come back. Oh what will I do?
Oh the rabbit will come back. Oh what will I do?

What kind of Edan are you?

"Edan, would you eat with your fork please."
"No"
"Good boys eat with their forks. And big boys eat with their forks."
"But not little boys. And not me."
"Why not?"
"Because that's not the kind of Edan I am!"

2007 Summer Holiday Review

Hello again. Very sorry it's been such a long time. We had a holiday up north a couple of weeks ago. It was GREAT! Stayed with Granny and Grandpa for a few nights and with Auntie Carol for a couple of nights.

At least I stayed with Auntie Carol for a couple of nights. Mummy and Daddy only stayed with her for one night. The other night, they stayed at The Cross. They say they had a good time and that the meal was brilliant but it couldn't have compared to the time I had. I had to ignore Mummy and Daddy a bit to get them to leave but once they did the real fun could start! I helped Auntie Carol make pizza for dinner. Unfortunately she wouldn't let me put chocolate on it but we had chocolate for starter and pudding anyway. After my bath we did the usual routine (hot chocolate, teeth brushed, stories, songs) and then played this great game where I would avoid going to sleep for ages. I avoided going to sleep in my bed and on the King size sofa and then finally agreed to sleep in Auntie Carol's bed! Brilliant! It was all great with more games and Play Doh in the morning. All until Mummy and Daddy turned up to drag me away. Unfortunately the ignoring and the tantrum didn't work this time...

Cousin Michael came to visit me that day so it's really just as well Mummy and Daddy took me away. He'd come all the way from London just to see me. It was lucky that, because he was able to go to a friend's wedding as well while he was home. I had great fun playing with Michael, he's very good at all the 'Mike's Games' in Granny's cupboard.

The next day we went to the Highland Folk Museum. Auntie Carol met us there while we played at the park. Unfortunately she had to go home after that but we saw some more of the museum. We went to the old school room where Daddy got to see a Gird and Cleek. The old school teacher showed us how to use it and he was very good. I only found this out later but apparently Daddy was being very careful not to put himself in a position of being offered a go. Didn't help him any when I immediately asked if I could have a go! He had to help me and we really didn't get very far without the gird falling over. Lots of fun though! We went for a walk in the woods and found a great digger toy. Once Daddy finally let me have a go I needed Mummy's help because it was a bit heavy. It was good fun though and I would have liked to have played with it a lot longer but Daddy wanted to try to find a squirrel. He did find one and chased it for ages taking photos. He says it was stopping and posing for him. I would have expected better photos than he got if it did do that!

The next day we went to see Auntie Anne, Uncle Ian, Cousin Andrew and Cousin Michael (again). It's always a good feed there but I'm usually too excited to be very hungry. They've got great toys though and I have to keep reminding Uncle Ian that they're in the loft so that he'll bring them down to me. I really enjoy playing with the zoo/farm. It's important that you put the lion in with the sheep and the bears in with the pigs. Unfortunately we had to leave there eventually and yet again the tantrum failed to convince Mummy and Daddy to let me stay overnight.

Next day we went to see my friends Ellie and Charlie and their Mummy and Daddy, Audrey and Andrew (they're my Mummy and Daddy's friends). This time when it was time to leave the tantrum did work! Although it worked on the other Mummy but that's not the point. I stayed with Ellie and Charlie for lunch and played in their garden in the Wendy House and on the trampoline while Mummy and Daddy went out to a garden centre with Granny. It's great to get rid of the parents for a time.

The next day Mummy and Daddy took me back to the garden centre. They had a wee tea room that served amazing chocolate cake and looked out on a feeding area for loads of little birds and red squirrels (if they'd come here first, Daddy wouldn't have had to chase a squirrel half-way around Newtonmore the other day!). The birds and squirrels were cool but the chocolate cake was the winner for me! We stayed with Auntie Carol again that night and Cousin Heather visited the next day. We went for a walk with the pussy cat together and we found a baby bird that had lost its Mummy. Cousin Heather saved it from the cat and we returned it later where I'm sure its Mummy will have found it safe and sound. It really was a wrench to leave for home. But wrench me away (almost literally), Mummy and Daddy did.

Once home Mummy and Daddy took me to see Shrek the third. Unfortunately it wasn't as good as I was expecting but it was nice to go to the cinema for the first time.

We also went to see Gran and Grandad. That's always fun. Auntie Vikki was there too and we had a great time but as has become a theme during my holiday, Mummy and Daddy took me away, ignoring my protests.

OK. That's a long enough post. Longest there's been for a while I think (maybe ever). Hope everyone reading made it to the end. If you did, I'll tell you a secret. My Babybel Cheddar cheese is "very similar to" Mummy's parmesan cheese. Just thought I would include that as Daddy seemed to be very impressed when I said it. So impressed he felt the need to remind me I was only three. He can be weird at times...

Gardening Update

Hiya, it's been a bit quiet on the blog recently. Not been too much to tell you. Nursery is still the same as ever and I'm still the cleverest kid there - at least that's what Mummy and Daddy keep telling me! Last week we were doing flash-cards and I was the only one that knew X-ray, all my friends thought it was a skeleton but I corrected them: "Noooooo! It's an X-ray!"

Still going to mini-music on a Thursday morning. That's a wee class for half an hour where a nice lady sings lots of songs with us. I've really caught the singing bug from her and sing a *lot* during the day. Often just bursting into new songs that Daddy's never heard (Mummy comes to mini music so she knows them). [Note from Daddy - to the tune of What shall we do with the drunken sailor... What shall we do with the blue banana, try to cheer him up. Oi!]

Anyway, suppose I should get to the title of the post, I said I'd give updates as our garden grew. These photos were actually taken a week or so ago so things are bigger still. The carrots look like a lot of long grass and Daddy and me are attempting to thin them daily. I think we maybe sewed them a bit to liberally! The marigolds are looking great - just hope they do their job and keep the carrot fly off.

The strawberry plants are growing well. We have a few strawberries, one or two looking pretty big but they're still a while away from being eaten. I actually tried strawberries for the first time the other day and liked them. I've been offered them loads of times in the past (and even insisted on buying them a few times) but never managed to commit to putting one in my mouth before. Odd that.

The rocket, lettuce and spinach, following a slow start, have gone MAD. We can't keep up. The rocket has gone to height and flowered. The spinach can no longer be called 'baby'! In fact, just yesterday Mummy trimmed loads of the rocket and spinach back, maybe too far. Their resilience (or lack of it) will surely get a mention in a future post.

We do have a rather unexpected vegetable growing. There's at least one, maybe two, potatoes growing out of the compost bin. Don't know if I fancy eating those! But very curious to see how they get on.

Finally, The Sunflower Competition. Mummy, Daddy and I planted some sunflower seeds. The idea was to see who's grew the biggest. Unfortunately only a couple of the 12 have come up. One of Mummy's which has been savaged by the slugs so badly it looks like a green straw sticking out of the ground. One of Daddy's is still surviving so far, maybe it'll be OK?

There were a few photos so Daddy has helped me make a Flickr photo set. Follow this link to see it.

Mr. Potato Head

Hiya! We went up north at the weekend to see Granny and Grandpa and Auntie Carol. It was good fun. Some would say too good as I did everything I could to not sleep (which resulted in people having to work very hard to amuse me)! I had a nice present from Granny's friend Edith. It was a tent for me and was a lot of fun. No pictures yet but maybe there'll be some on here soon. We went to see Edith to say thank you and had a walk around the duck pond. There were loads of baby ducklings that all came out to see me. Probably had something to do with the bread I was feeding them..!

We saw Auntie Carol a few times over the weekend. When we went to her house I played with the Mister Potato Head. I usually play with this but normally it's with Playdoh. Except the Playdoh had gone hard so we used a REAL POTATO. These old people are really funny: I would never have thought of doing that!

Smiley

Me: "Yeuch! My sticker's all yucky now."
Daddy: "Well, don't put it in your mouth then."
Me: "I didn't! It just went in on its own."

Climb Every Mountain

This is a picture of me on my new climbing frame. It's a present from Mummy and Daddy and Granny and Grandpa. It's really good fun and gives me something to do in the garden when Mummy and Daddy are losing the battle with the weeds.

It's a funny, although slightly embarassing, story about when I got it. Mummy and Daddy brought me home from the nursery and in the back gate as normal. I stomped up the garden path and stopped about half way and turned to give Mummy and Daddy their instructions. They're not very disciplined and it's necessary for me to instruct them into the house at night. They've got to wait until I walk to the door and then I will call them - one at a time - to join me. Once we're all on the top step, I decide who gets to open the door. Almost every night I've got to raise my voice to them as they think they can just do as they please. Anyway, this night was no exception. When I turned around to see what they were doing, Mummy was struggling with the gate lock. Once I'd torn a strip or two off her and she'd caught up with Daddy I turned to head for the door. When I turned and looked up, there in front of me, just two feet away was this huge, great, multi-coloured climbing frame! I think Mummy had been distracting me with that gate nonsense because it couldn't have been there when I entered the garden and walked up the path. I couldn't have missed it... Could I?

Tiny Tim

I had a little turtle,
His name was Tiny Tim.
I put him in the bathtub,
To see if he could swim.

He drank up all the water,
He ate a bar of soap,
Then that little turtle,
Had bubbles in his throat.

OUCH!

I was at a friend's birthday party today. I had a great time. We played in the soft-play area and then had some food and played some party games. Then we went on the tractor around the farm. Regular readers may recognise the familiar routine of Almond Valley Heritage Centre. Some added drama today though. While playing on the soft-play I hurt myself. It wasn't when I was diving head-first into the ball-pool (which appeared to be scaring Mummy quite a lot), but when I jumped off a low wall onto a soft matt... And bit my tongue. I cried for a bit and then got on with the party. I might have gone back into the soft-play but I was getting hungry. Look at my great war-wound. Mummy and Daddy keep telling me I'm really brave. I have to be careful when I'm eating otherwise it can hurt quite a lot. Mummy can't look at it without feeling sick.

Growth spurt

Gardening update. The carrots have broken ground. There are a few of them through and this is the first photo (the carrots are the little green shoots on the right, not the big marigold shaped flower on the left - that's to scare off the carrot-fly).

Shrink Spurt

Mummy and Daddy have been measuring me recently. Against the cupboard doorpost in my bedroom. This is a fairly new thing for them, maybe they've just noticed that I do actually grow?

Anyway, as you can see from this photo, they've measured me three times. But take a close look at the dates on the three lines. First time they measured me was March 28th. Very carefully I might add. Then they kept going on about me growing because I was eating and sleeping more than usual. I was really just hungry and tired, they have to over-analyze everything. Parents, eh? So they measured me on April 10th (my birthday!) and were astonished to see that I'd grown about an inch in a couple of weeks. Mummy was telling everyone she could about this.

So a couple of weeks later they try this again. I think Daddy was expecting to see another half-inch there. And he did, but it was in the wrong direction. He tried again with all his man-handling of me. Making sure my feet are together and then holding my head at the correct angle - it's not much fun for me, you know. And he said "Stand up straight", so I did. I stood up very straight. On my tiptoes. I didn't know "stand up straight" didn't mean you keep your feet flat on the ground.

So... Looks like I'm not growing like a freak after all and I am just tired and hungry. If Mummy would feed me more of the stuff I want (chocolate) and let me have a longer nap during the day instead of hoping I'll sleep in the morning there would be a lot less fretting in this house.

A duck ate my lunch!

This has been the longest birthday ever! Today we went to Blair Drummond Safari Park on another birthday treat. It was really, really busy, but we had a great time. It was very hot and sunny - Daddy says if it's this hot in April he may need to leave the country for all of July and August! I'll miss him.

First we drove round the enclosure where all the wild and dangerous animals like the rhinos and lions and camels are allowed to roam free. After that we had a wee picnic lunch beside the car where we were savaged by a wild and dangerous duck who stole some of my sandwich. We were lucky to escape with our lives. I heard Auntie Carol was attacked by a Nile crocodile this week but I bet my duck was scarier.

After lunch we had a walk around to see what else there was to see. There were a lot of interesting animals like the playful otters, the sleepy pot-bellied pigs and rather uninterested llamas. There was a quite angry bear walking around his large enclosure making sure no people came in to use his nice cool pool in the hot weather. Daddy's favourite was the big elephant standing eating his dinner with his back legs crossed, followed closely by the giraffes. These were all great, but my favourite was almost certainly the dragon that I had a ride on!

I also had a go on the bouncey castle and the rocket ships (with Mummy). There were the greatest climbing frames in the shape of a pirate ship and a fort. Daddy had to help me into the pirate ship and almost had to come in to get me out because I was having so much fun! He also had to help me up to the top of the fort so that I could go down the very big slide. Daddy was too scared to come down the slide.

Home Grown

Today we went to Dobbies and bought some stuff for me to plant my own vegetables. We got a couple of planters and some organic compost and carrot seeds (4 different kinds), rocket, lettuce and spinach. It took all afternoon to prepare and plant everything. That was partly because Auntie Lesley and Uncle Roger came by again. I gave Auntie Lesley a big cuddle after I had been playing in my water-logged sandpit and she got covered in sand!
You can see me preparing a container (not a new one) with Daddy and then planting the carrot seeds. I can't wait until we can harvest them.

Happy Birthday to me!

It's my third birthday today! I'm three! I got lots of presents from loads of the family and they're all great. Mummy made this fantastic Dinosaur Birthday Cake. I picked it out of the cake book and it's just what I wanted. Gran and Grandad and Auntie Vikki and Uncle Ian were here yesterday and after playing in the park on the climbing frame and with the kite (when Grandad let me have a go) we put candles on the cake and I foofed them out and then we had some. It's chocolate cake and very yummy. So technically we had the cake before my birthday but it'll take at least three days to finish it all (at the rate Mummy and Daddy eat it) so that's OK.

After opening all my presents we went to Deep Sea World in North Queensferry. It was excellent! Especially since I didn't want to go after Mummy told me I'd have to go under the water. But it turned out she didn't mean in the water. They have a great tunnel that's underneath all the fish and they have sharks too. Lots of really cool fish and even some Nemos. I had a great time. Shame it's not my birthday every day.

Happy Easter!

Yesterday Auntie Lesley and Uncle Roger arrived and stayed for the night. They're great fun. I love having people around to chat and play with - the more the merrier. Today when I got up, I discovered the Easter Bunny had been and left me lots of chocolate. But the cheeky monkey had hidden it from me. It took me ages to find it all but got there in the end. That's me got a nice stash now that should last quite a while.
Unfortunately Auntie Lesley and Uncle Roger have gone up to Granny and Grandpa's now but hopefully I'll see them again later in the week. I insisted they take me with them but they've left me here. Used the old 'not enough room because of the cat' excuse...

Holiday Part 3: Revenge of the Holiday

On Friday we went to Highland Wildlife Park and saw lots of interesting animals. Unfortunately it was a bit colder on Friday and rain came on so we didn't see all the animals but we did drive around the enclosure and I got to sit on Mummy's knee instead of strapped into my own seat. I wanted to drive but Mummy and Daddy said no. We saw lots of stuff but here are some pictures of a Highland Cow eating a pheasant and a reindeer eating a car. But the best were the baby wild boar. Too cool.

After seeing them we took a walk with one of the rangers to see and learn about some of the other animals. We saw the Wildcat, the Capercaillie and the Pineapple Pine Smartie Pine Marten.

In the afternoon we went to the park and also flew the new kite we got while at Loch Insh. At least Mummy and Daddy flew the kite. I played in the largest mountain of sand you'd ever seen. I think it was for the Shinty pitch (where we were flying the kite) but I didn't care! Check me out on the balance beam. It didn't really need Daddy's help - you know my balancing prowess - but Daddy insisted...

On Friday night we came home again to get ready for Auntie Lesley and Uncle Roger arriving on Saturday. It's been all go.

Holidays Part 2: The Sequel

On Thursday we met Cousin Heather and all of us went for lunch at Loch Insh. It was great and nice and sunny. After lunch we had a play in the sand and on the boats. Check out these photos (the one of me running is Mummy and Daddy's favourite).







That evening, Daddy cut Granny's grass with the petrol lawnmower. Daddy said it was the best holiday ever. I played in the garden with Granny.

Holidays

I've just returned from holiday up north at Granny and Grandpa's. It was great fun and the weather was unusually very good.
We went north on Tuesday night after Mummy and Daddy finished work. They waited until my bed time and then bundled me into the car and I slept all the way, which is good because it's a two hour journey and my hands aren't big enough for a PSP yet.

On the Wednesday we went to see Auntie Anne, Uncle Ian and Cousin Andrew. That was great. All the boys went down to the pub park. I threw the ball around with Uncle Ian and the frisbee with Cousin Andrew Andy. I made Daddy take photos as I can play with him any time.

Afterwards, we went back to the house for a great lunch which Mummy and Auntie Anne had prepared followed by an excellent caterpillar birthday cake that Auntie Anne had made for me. Here's a picture of me blowing the candles out. That evening back at Granny and Grandpa's Daddy made a bonfire and burned all the garden waste with Mummy and I helped a little. Daddy said it was the best holiday he'd ever had!

Beveridge Park

Daddy took me to see Gran and Grandad. It was a lovely day so we went to Beveridge Park in Kirkaldy. They've got a new kids park there with some great equipment. Daddy especially liked the little diggers that really work (unfortunately no photos). Given the weight of them, all the kids reckon they're only there for the dads anyway.
Check me out coming down the tunnel slide. It was great fun but a little difficult for a wee guy like me to get up to so Grandad helped me. Here's photo of him coming down the fireman's pole afterwards!