Hallowe'en

maybe it's because they don't like pumpkin (roasted, in pie or otherwise). maybe it's because no one dishes out free english chocolate, it's all nasty canadian stuff that i can't eat, and they won't. perhaps they just don't like getting dressed up in fancy dress, although mom's doing a good impression of a very fed up, fat person who's clothes won't do up any more. either way, like the truly serving parents they really are, they dressed me up in my fireman's outfit and we hit the streets. actually we went out in the car, since mom can barely walk, but we visited church where i impressed the crowds with my ability to throw rubber chickens, not to mention my skills on the putting green. from there we went to Dunbar Heights church where i got to throw vegetables, something i've had plenty of practise at, although these were plastic. they tried to make me stand very close to the target until they saw just how lethal my throwing arm was. at this point it was time to come home to bed, where i emptied out my bag of goodies and spent some time wandering around the house, trying to decide where to put them. i've never had my own stash of candy before. i know all the places mom hides her's, but it's no good using one of those places is it!

2 at last

for those of you to whom these things matter, at my birthday weigh-in i was 32lbs and 91cm tall. That's after eating birthday cake, if you consider that relevant. 'cake' is my new word of the day. highly appropriate, don't you think? my standard response on hearing the word birthday is 'Bob cake'. It's been a long time since my party, but my Bob cake obviously left a huge impression on me - another way of saying i'm scarred for life?

I got to open a whole load more presents today: some Bob slippers with flashing lights, a Bob truck, a Bob tool belt, a red Bob fleece, two Bob birthday cards with badges on, a transporter lorry with cars a.k.a. Bob.............

mom and dad got me a train set which is really cool. it's got a mountain and bridges and everything. unfortunately mom didn't produce a younger sibling for me, so she's not much help at the moment when it comes to trying to put the train track together. we went shopping on saturday and dad chose (me) some remote control cars, and a new coffee machine for him. i'm not sure which he's had more fun playing with.

boundaries

rarely will i let dad type a blog entry, but you need to hear this one from his perspective - over to you daddy. joel

Liz read this intriguing article about toddlers not straying more than a certain distance from their parents, even if they are given freedom to do so. You see this, of course, with young children clinging to their mum's legs, or trying to get dad's attention, normally by doing something that they know annoys him. Also if you observe in the playground, the child will always be within good sight of a parent and tends not to wander off unless permission is granted.
So, we thought Thanksgiving morning yesterday provided the ideal opportunity to test the theory.

Trimble Park, a beautiful, well-maintained playground, next to a school playing field with great views of the city. There's a good fence around the whole area with only a few exit points. We sat, enjoying some autumnal sun in the paddling pool - sometimes filled with water - currently filling with leaves. Joel has the ball, as you can see from the picture (1). Joel kicks the ball out of the pool and starts ambling off away from us in the picture.

I wonder how far he will go?

Joel dribbled the ball offf towards the goal (2) looked back just the once to raise his arms, shout "goooaaal" and check we saw his score, he then made a beeline directly for the nearest exit (3) a good few hundred yards away, and didn't look back once to see if we were following or watching him.

I guess there always has to be one exception to break the rule!? I sprinted for the exit to meet him just before kicking the ball into oncoming traffic. Bless him.

salad

daddy wasn't feeling so good, he fell asleep on the sofa. i found something very very exciting in mommy and daddy's bedroom. 48 "big ones" - mars bars. i didn't think it was right to keep them hidden away, so i began to transfer them one by one to somewhere much better - the "salad drawer" in the fridge. after i got to 40, i realised it would be much more efficient to bring the salad drawer to the bedroom for the last few. daddy didn't wake up :) rosie will be really upset cos she loves salad, and the mars bars are covered in canadian chocolate

archeology

so i was in one of my favourite parks today - next to kits community centre. it's got climbing walls and all the usual swings and slides and wobbling things, and lots of friends to play with. mom particularly likes it bedcause of a big fence all the way around the outside. she's not quite so quick on her feet these days thanks to a big tummy .. so it's good when i can't run away so far.

anyhow, there i was sitting in the sandbox with other little people, and i did my first archeological find .. i think they call it a sleeve. it's a piece of cardboard in a ring with that familiar green circle thing on it .. the one that you see on storefronts on every street in the city. i recognised it immediately and said "daddy!". mommy and the other moms thought that was very funny.