As Bing would say, "It's Been A Long, Long Time"

As my blogs steadily become as infrequent as Luca's visits to the barber, I'm afraid I'm finding it increasing problematic when attempting to recall the events of the previous week or two, particularly those of the more trivial variety of which I'm particularly fond. A simple solution would be to blog more. But then again, would a simple solution to the MP's expenses saga simply be to discontinue the thieving ba***rds right to claim any future expenses? In this life, even the most logical paths often lead to a 50ft high brick wall with an ocean of piranhas on the opposite side.

Above is Luca, in a picture taken a week past Saturday as he, his Mum and I trailed round a retail outlet of the more ceramic variety, in this case "Topps Tiles". Our mission, as accepted, was to locate floor and wall tiles for our upcoming new bathroom. A long overdue job, our upstairs bathroom having always been as welcoming as a fart in an elevator.

Here's the floor tiles above, a slightly surprising but unanimous choice. Who located this particular sample however? Luca! Our 4 year old boy version of Rapunzel found this on one of his many laps around the store (he has become much livelier of late - more of that to follow) and brought it to his parents attention. "Mummy, Daddy, look - it looks like lots of sweeties, I like that....."

Luca's attention span - and patience - wears thin with indelible pace, and due to this (though my Vesuvius-esque rumbling stomach influenced proceedings also....) we left the store shortly after for lunch at a child friendly restaurant near Portlethen. Both he and his Mother looked on in horror as I devoured my rather odd meal of deep fried black pudding in a green sauce. And we think the French are odd for eating horses. (racial stereotype, tick)

This is our kitchen. When? I can't remember. Why is Luca grinning so? I don't know. But would surmise a chocolate based confection played a part in this smile.

I took one of my company's stores vans home with me on Friday night, as with the recent house upgrading of late we've been left with a garden shed packed tighter than Imelda Marcos' shoe suitcase. My car is a little of the compact variety (it's like playing a human version of Tetris every morning as I bend and twist myself into the drivers seat) but the van provided both space - and much excitement for a certain 4 year old. "Is this your new van Dad? I like it, very, very much!" Much like his trip aboard the fire engine of a few months ago, Luca squealed with excitement as he climbed into the high seating position of the passenger side. "Where are we going?" he yelled as we pulled out the street, "Are we going to Banchory? Or maybe even Lincoln! Ooooooh!". Thankfully his general air of giddiness caused him not only to not hear my response to the negative, but also to have forgotten the original question once we arrived back in our street ten minutes later........

Further to my earlier referral of Luca's increase in energy of late, as most of you are already aware, Luca was prescribed an inhaler by the doctor just over a month ago in an attempt to combat the coughing fits that have blighted long periods of his life thus far. They surmised the cause was most likely a mild form of asthma, and appear to have been correct. Since the beginning of this trial his coughing has almost entirely been eradicated.

With this, he's been infused with a greater degree of energy and general enthusiasm. He's enjoying activities such as his football training far more as a result, which is a great relief to bear witness to. Speaking of which, his physical dexterity is increasing week on week, and his eye-to-ball co-ordination has improved greatly too. It's interesting watching him move, and very noticeable that his greatest strengths are his pace, ability to weave and general upper body strength in comparison to his peers. Perhaps, with this is mind, it won't be football he excels at but rugby instead. Watch this space.

I'm tired now. Have I written enough? Time for bed (said Zebedee)

**Useless fact of the day - Possession of LSD in the UK can carry sentences of up to 7 years in prison**

The Luca-a-thon continues (6th Feb 2011)

With greater predictability than that of a snoozing House of Commons attendee, my weekend didn't pan out as expected. On Saturday I was due to visit Perth for Partick Thistle's cup tie against St Johnstone, but due to snow, ice and rain (despite unseasonably good weather in our home town) my trip was cancelled before I even hit the Southbound motorways. With this, and following a trip to the gym on the way home as personal recompense, I arrived home looking for an alternative way to spend my day. Luca, as always, provided it.



He and his Mum arrived home from a birthday party shortly after my return (Amy from nursery for the pedants out there), and following a little coaxing ("No thanks Dad, I want to stay at home and read my books instead") Luca threw his coat and hat on and strode out with me to watch our local Highland League team, Inverurie Loco's, take on Fraserburgh in what was (well, almost) a local derby. Here he is above, posing at the halfway point between our house and the football stadium.




Like time, Luca waits for no man as he strode purposefully on



At the game, where our vertically challenged child found a gap in the barriers which allowed him unobstructed access to the events on the pitch. He held this position for several minutes, until one of the home defenders cleared the ball out of play, only just missing a rather startled 4-year-old. At this point he retreated behind the barrier and stated a new preference to be lifted up instead



Is he watching the game intently here, or was the burger stand in that direction? You decide

With the game won at 2-0, Luca decided it was time to leave and go elsewhere instead. The park proved a popular alternative despite the 20 minute walk to get there. "You should have taken the car silly Daddy" lectured a stern Luca

Yes, he is still rather cautious at times, as he demonstrates above. "I might fall!"

I took this picture on his 17th shot on this particular slide. It's really nice watching your kids play, until your patience wears thin. "Last shot Luca" I called out several times. "Just one more" came the oft repeated fib by a toddler chancing his luck

Different slide, same park. Yes, it does get dark REALLY quickly up here.......

Luca's stomach began growling as loudly as mine at this point, so we took off toward the nearest cafe for some tea at this point. Here he is running as always, albeit in the style of a tortoise having a panic attack.

Today brought the usual early rise, and Luca and I began the now familiar trek toward Culter for his football training. Most of the exercises today were based upon using different parts of the feet, particularly the sole of the foot, and the heel (to backheel). Luca performed quite well - he gets very excited when he does something well - although I am noticing a pattern. He tends to perform quite confidently when I sit at the side of the hall and observe, but less so when I'm right beside him to assist. Parent participation is necessary for many of the exercises so I will have to persist, but it's become very apparent that my close presence causes nerves in the young one, and a faster rate of frustration if he doesn't perform a task well.

It's very apparent that this is due to his desire to impress his Dad, whereas he is much more relaxed the less "hands on" I am. I'm making sure I praise him highly when he does well, and not showing (at least I hope not) any frustration when he shows less aptitude, but it's something I'm going to have to remain conscious of.

I just want him to have fun just now, and not to worry about disappointing Dad. But how do you convince a toddler of such logic?

On a different matter, he's been making frequent mention of his extended family regularly of late. Perhaps it's time to get travelling again! In the past week his utterances have included:-

"I want to go see Granny Jo" (highly predictable!)

"Granda's funny, he tells Granny and me fibs. He does it all the time" (Dad, I'll be having words....)

"I want to go to Lincoln to see Grandma and her cat - it would like a cuddle wouldn't it?"

"Cade and Braeden live far, far away. Can I go and see them?"

"I want to speak to Max on the phone all the time"

These are some of the nicer/cuter/odder (delete as applicable) things he's said lately. However, he has also become inappropriate at times too. Most recently, as a rather portly staff member passed us by in the supermarket he hollered out "That man is really fat isn't he?". What do you do? I waited for a distance to form between said employee and ourselves before admonishing our rude boy and explaining how hurtful his remark was. Was this the correct course of action? You decide - please vote in the new poll.

Finally, I provided a movie for Carole and I to watch this evening. As you're aware, Carole has a strong preference for horrors, so I surmised my choice of "The Tortured" would prove popular. As such, we sat down, snuggled in and started watching......

It turned out to be a film about a young boy, not much older than Luca being abducted from his own garden. Caroles opinion post film? "I really can't stop thinking about it now". What are the odds on nightmares in the Stewart household tonight?

**Useless fact of the day - Only about one in every 10,000 reported missing/abducted children are not found alive**