Happy Birthday Luca

When I was young, every year at spawning time I'd take a trip to the Burnett Park armed with a bucket. Said bucket would be swept through the parks pond, collecting as many tadpoles as possible. I'd then trundle home with my new companions, determined that this year they'd live for more than 3 days.

They never did, which makes the advent of Luca's 6th birthday all the more surprising. With Carole's Yin to my rather chaotic Yang the young chap continues to survive and thrive. 6 though? Jesus (sorry Mum)



Taken this morning, the above is one of many poses with Luca strangely keen to record what he views as a landmark day. He still has eyes as large as any of those in a Disney cartoon



Honestly, I was concentrating intently on my son, and not on "Match Of The Day" on the TV in the background



Favourite photo of the day thus far, Luca with his hand up the rear of a fluffy emu puppet. With its built in squeaks we (rather unsurprisingly) haven't seen Yoda much this morning. The worlds most cowardly dog, who trembles even at the sound of bubble wrap being popped. I'm serious.



Ok, 2nd place in the "cutest birthday photo of the day" goes to the above. Received from his Banchorian grandparents, these cuddly bears diverted his eyes from the chocolate strewn around the room. At least for a few seconds anyway.

Plan for the day? A few friends are coming round to see him, with much chocolate cake eating on the horizon. And perhaps, time allowing, he'll be taken to Aberdeen to see "The Hobbit" at the cinema. His dad will find a way to avoid that particular trip though, with such Middle Earth gubbins generally being enough to send me up the clock tower.

I can also use my back as an excuse not to join the movie "merriment" today, as the slight strain suffered on my back from a few days ago having entered into genuine stooped Hunchback Of Notre Dame territory. My trip to Dundee yesterday in the back of a friends small car to watch Aberdeen FC's latest (depressingly irregular) victory has certainly not helped. My next 10k race, on the 2nd January, is looking ominously too near now.

I must end today's entry a little more promptly than intended as Luca's emu attacks on me are showing few signs of any ceasefire. 6 years down the line and we've learnt to expect such little free time. But we did buy the ticket, and now have to watch the movie. But what a great movie it's turned out to be.

**Useless fact of the day - 1 in 100 people in America are in prison**

It started at 11am? You're kidding?

Happy Boxing Day! In addition to a unique blogging date (unless I'm mistaken, this is the first time I've posted an entry the day after Christmas), today's entry is coming to you from the alternative location of Banchory.

I'm currently sitting on the stair in Mum and Dad's house, having kept my promise of checking on their house while they visit Kelly in Australia. A useful first visit for certain, having discovered most of the lights in the house still lit, allied to the printer and computer whirring incessantly away. All now switched off, planet earth will breath a sigh of relief, as will Dad's wallet when the electricity bill comes in.

However, my reason for coming through today wasn't only for entirely unilateral reasons. Today was also the "Banchory Boxing Day Fun Run", a 5k race to run off the copious amounts of Christmas turkey and trifle floating inside your stomach. However - the start time given on the website was wrong,and what was advertised as an 1130am start actually kicked off at 11 o'clock.

Much to the chagrin of myself and around a dozen other runners who turned up at 1115.

However, as we were there myself and 7 others had our own competition, and started together at 1120. Fuelled with displeasure - I'm a grumpy enough sod at the best of times - I ran aggressively, ensuring I not only beat my fellow latecomers (all of whom were running club members in their 20's and early 30's) but destroyed them out if sight.

A satisfyingly fast run certainly, where I also overtook a couple of dozen back markers from the 11am start, but not enough to satisfy my anger. How difficult is it to advertise the correct start time on a website? Frustratingly, I would have been a near front runner had I turned up earlier.

And yes, I now have turkey related indigestion.

A disappointing start to the day, but this is in direct contrast to yesterday. Christmas didn't disappoint, and following Luca's awakening at 830am (yes, you can hate us for having such a great sleeper for a son) we made our way to the tree for exchange of presents. Luca's expressions were highly amusing - "Woooow!", "That's awesome", "I can't believe I got that for Christmas!" - so please rest assured that your presents were highly appreciated. However, our visit later in the morning to the local church was accepted rather than ecstatically enjoyed by the hyperactive hair monster, as you can probably imagine.

We had friends over for dinner which was fun too. Far too much drinking of course, but the meal was delicious. Even Luca ate heartily, including turkey, roast potatoes and pigs in blankets. There were no amateur dramatics when coming across less favoured foodstuffs - is he maturing into a responsible and considerate young boy at last?

Actually, probably not. Even Christmas can't bring forth such unlikely goals.

More will follow tomorrow, and I'll provide a few family pictures too. In the interim, I look forward to Kelly's blog with her "news" (I won't trump her with it) in addition to Lucy's latest entry, with news of the Christmas Day lunatic encountered outside her house.

""Useless fact of the day - Luca owns a Spider-Man hat, which he calls his "ninja", for reasons that entirely elude us""


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Best intentions and all that jazz

To begin (picture below) we have Luca resplendent in his main Christmas present - an Aberdeen FC football kit. He took a shine to their away strip so I didn't take much convincing to buy it for him. In an age of commercialism and global identities it's extremely difficult to convince kids to follow their local team, so his keenness is gladdening.

 

 

Our second, and rather more blurred picture above was taken in the cinema yesterday, during Luca's fourth (4th!) viewing of the Disney/Pixar animated romp "Brave". A terrific film of it's type granted, but it's rapidly losing it's lustre with me now. I'm now at the stage where I'm beginning to mouth along to many of the scenes. Although I absolutely don't wipe away a tear at the films ending on every single ruddy occasion.

Of course, Luca is not alone in watching movies over and over. Much like Lucy with "Labyrinth" and "Grease" 30 years ago, Kelly was also obsessed with a film and watched it endlessly too -  a prize to whomever can put me out of my misery and enlighten me to it's name.

On that theme, I still can't even look at leather trousers without unconsciously humming "You're The One That I Want".

It's currently 11.45am on Christmas Eve, and I'm in the office trying to finish up for Christmas. A depressingly busy end to the year is ensuing, but I still hope to pack up and leave within the next couple of hours. I am, as is standard, running behind with my Christmas preparations although I'm not alone. Carole admitted on Friday that she hadn't sent out cards to any of our friends and neighbours. The first time I've ever known Carole not to be hyper-organised, although of course rather understandable this year.

Although quieter than normal due to the absence of family locally (indeed, this year Carole's immediate family are our closest relatives at a distance of 450 miles from our home) there will be little rest. Carole's in town just now picking up the turkey, while following my finish here (and a run at the gym naturally) I'll be heading again to the shops before making my way home to help Carole/get in her way/delete as applicable.

Tomorrow will bring a morning trip to our local church for Luca and I while Carole lets the horse out. Although not actively religious, I see no issue in encouraging the desire within Luca to adopt a community feeling alongside allowing him access to the ways of Catholicism, or religion in general, for the ethos and standards it purports toward. We then have friends coming for dinner in the afternoon - a dinner cooked entirely by Carole so edibility is guaranteed at least.

Quiet time will of course be observed for the annual televisual Christmas highlight. No, not the Queens Speech (REALLY not the Queens Speech) but instead "Top Of The Pops Christmas Special". However, it won't be the same this year without Dad watching confusedly from an armchair while unconsciously making faces at the standard of music these days.

No rest on Boxing Day either, as I race the "Boxing Day Fun Run", a 5.5km run round Banchory, all the while attempting to not regurgitate the ample portions of Christmas Turkey consumed the previous day.

A Very Merry Christmas to you all, and we'll hopefully speak to you on the phone/Skype/Facetime on the day.

**Useless fact of the day - US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second**

Never give up

Does the title of this post refer to my running, Luca's football or blogging? Out of sheer lethargy I'm simply going to make a claim on all three.

Starting at the former, I'm gratifyingly reaching full mobility again after my recent "incident". It seems the time put in strengthening this injury prone knee earlier in the year (it's been the weak part of my body for many years) has paid dues, and with the swelling almost now clear, the stronger (anterior?) muscles are healing rapidly.

And the latter? Although not quite attaining my initial goals, this is now my 4th blog entry in just over a fortnight. A good average to continue with I think.

Most interestingly, however, it may relate to Luca's football. Following on from some pretty execrable recent performances (as detailed in previous blogs - he's developed a fear of getting hurt), a new, braver Luca appeared at training on Saturday. Or Luca Mark 2, as we'll rather tenuously title him.

He's slowly beginning to understand what's needed. We'd had a number of discussions both previous to the training and also immediately prior to the actual game. The gist was to forget his fears, and become more selfish too. "So I should dribble more Dad?" came a final question from the perma furrowed browed boy.

With the affirmative in his mind the game kicked off. The first test occurred when Luca received a pass from his goalkeeper. In recent weeks he'd immediately passed the ball back to his keeper on each occasion to avoid the threat or someone tackling him. But not today.

He put his foot on the ball and turned. An opponent came running toward him. Luca sidestepped him and began running up the wing with the ball at his feet. Fast. He covered the full length of the pitch before passing inside for a team-mate to shoot (badly, and wide)

A grin now appeared on his face. Four more times during the game he burst up the pitch with the ball in tow, and though he was eventually tackled or crowded out on each occasion it mattered little. The boldness was back.

As much as I'm over-egging the Luca pudding here (does this turn of phrase even make sense?) I'm in turn doing him a discredit by not mentioning another event of note - Luca can now swim!

Almost

I've re-begun (ah, I'm in one of those "make words up" modes today) Luca's swimming lessons. We ventured to the pool yesterday, where we continued the "let go of him half way across the pool and hope he doesn't sink" method. This time he didn't sink.

I just Googled it. "Rebegun" is actually a word. I guess my education continues. As feasible as it is, it just doesn't sound right though does it? Much like eating ice cream in winter, or having a hot bath in the summer, or watching "Strictly Come Dancing" when in possession of the XY chromosome.

I had to Google again for that latter piece of information. My memory is way past the stage where you can adequately describe it as a sieve. It's more like a thin paper bag filled with soup.

I won't report too much on the horse situation. Astonishingly grateful for the insurance cover (HOW much???), Harvey is being treated and it's a genuine case of wait and see. Carole put rubber mats down at the stable yesterday in preparation for the horses return, although there's also the alternative of moving it to the vets stables. A viable alternative, but not preferable - it's double the distance from our house compared to the existing.

Allied to this is that Luca enjoys the current farm. One of his school classmates is always there (who has her own pony. I know........), and he's almost made friends with a boy who lives on the farm too. It's nice to watch the three of them play together. Well, I say play, but I actually mean Luca odering them what to do while they do as they're told.

The bossy gene. Wonder where that one came from.?

I saw that traditional Coca Cola advert on TV today. You know the one, "Holidays are coming, holidays are coming........". With this, the festive spirit is entering our home. That, and I'm now quite thirsty.

Photo's now, by the river in Dyce. It was reeaaalllyyyy cold:-

**Useless fact of the day - Advertising uses subtle suggestion commonly to sell. The following standard statement being used in various forms by all agencies ""The first fact to note about suggestion is that statements which rely solely on suggestion for their acceptance must be simply expressed , confident in tone and repeated often if they are to be effective. A single, halting statement is not at all persuasive. A confident statement, often repeated, is immensely persuasive""**

3 blogs in a week? Nearly..........

Much like the running goals I set for myself, my plan to post 3 blog entries within the space of a week proved unsuccessful. However, I'm not far out, and unlike my running schedule my blogging plans can continue unabated.

Why "unlike my running schedule"? Because I've knackered my knee. Again. How did I do it his time? Was it running, or football, or even just slipping about in the snow with the dogs? Nope, I fell down the stairs.

Yep, like the old man I so very much act like, I had a stumble down the stairs this morning. Knowing immediately I'd need assistance I called for a hand. Unfortunately, Carole was at the farm so the only other resident of our house responded - Luca. He jumped out his bed and joined me at the bottom of the stairs. "You weren't looking at the stairs were you Dad?", he immediately scolded, "I ALWAYS look at the stairs".

Having accepted the chiding from a child 31 years my junior, I'm now sitting with my leg up and working from home today. Not something I enjoy (too many distractions) but needs must. One of those distractions is the absolutely appalling "Star Trek Enterprise", currently playing in the background on the TV. Daytime TV is really bad isn't it? Though I must say, "Homes Under The Hammer" earlier was actually rather involving.

Jesus, I really am a natural pensioner aren't I?

During my convalescence Carole is using my car, which in these snowy conditions she's grateful of. She's bouncing to and from the farm to keep track of Harvey's progress. It seems the issue is that he's allergic to something on the farm, so new livery may be needed. Updates to follow.

Photo's now:-




Luca with Tyler, his best friend. Taken last night, this brief 4 second pose is the only time they weren't perpetual motion.




What do you think I bribed them with to convince them to pose so nicely? A clue, it's sweet and rhymes with "bocolate"




A photo of a photo now, the above being Luca's official school portrait. Good job eh?

**Useless fact of the day - There is no mention of 3 Wise Men in the bible. No number is ever given, they're just mentioned as "wise men"**

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See, I told you

A day later than anticipated, but I'm back again with another journal detailing Luca's misadventures. A question always preys on my mind though. For how much longer will the Internet remain a dominant constant in our lives in its current format?

I only ask as a key reason for doing this is to allow Luca to rediscover himself when he becomes an adult. Will this blog survive the decades? How will Luca remember his childhood? Indeed, how will we?

A minor annal was added today with his appearance at his schools Christmas Play, his 2nd in two days. Othello, however, this isn't. Essentially they send up each class (20 or 30 kids) who'll do a "turn". Luca's class sang two songs. It was riveting. Or perhaps just the exact opposite.

Luca himself yawned through the performance, albeit likely down to tiredness from the previous evening. To explain, they have 2 performances of the play, one on a Wednesday night, the other on a Thursday afternoon. Obviously, my preference was for the evening performance, but as the parents on the parents council snapped up all the tickets BEFORE the performances were even announced I never stood a chance.

You really do appreciate how self serving people are as you grow older. Cynicism is as natural to me nowadays as farting in bed.

To briefly continue non-Luca related information, Carole got herself a new job this week - the one she'd already been doing for years. To explain, with the massive cuts across council services all employees have had to re-apply in order to continue their employment. Huge numbers have been made redundant so as perverse as it sounds this status quo was actually excellent news. Carole hasn't quite got her head around it all yet, but she will. Of course it's easy to comment when you weren't the one in that situation.

And me? Little of note with few issues. Granted, with certainty I am in need of a break in the sun, and from previously being dubious of its existence I'm now a firm believer in S.A.D. In the interim, however, running is keeping me sane. Even with the absence of competitive runs (why are there so few over the winter? Are we all really so soft in Scotland?) training runs are becoming ever more pleasing. I'm starting to up my pace over distance, with the health benefits proving a bonus. Back problems, an issue since my teens, have disappeared entirely. My former smokers wheeze has gone as my lungs expand, and I no longer even remotely crave cigarettes.

Actually, scratch the last statement. The psychology of suggestion.

Photo and video time now:-



The above was Luca's first ever taste of Red Bull. Someone call social services.




Carole and Luca fell asleep after his bedtime story. Oedipus anyone?




You'd never know he was actually innately evil

As we weren't allowed to photograph or video the School play (sigh, from so many different perspectives) Luca instead gave a solo performance of both. My fatherly bias dictates my opinion that he has, of course, the voice of Cliff Richard gargling flowers. Unfortunately, the blog account clearly disagrees and refuses to save the videos tonight. I promise, however, they'll be on he next.

**Useless fact of the day - Owls are not actually nocturnal, despite popular opinion. It's just that their favourite food generally comes out after dark**

Location:Rae Circle,Inverurie,United Kingdom

No excuses

I deleted my Facebook account a few weeks ago. I'm certain this is of little interest but please bear with me. The reason was twofold. Firstly (and primarily) I discovered someone with access to my Facebook profile (a Facebook "friend") was a suspected paedophile. Naturally this brought home, like a punch to the face, the issues with e-privacy in the modern age.

There was a secondary reason however. I came to the realisation that my blog output since joining Facebook had decreased dramatically. Although both formats share a similar purpose - to report the vagaries of daily life and post pictures - my personal preference is for the blog. Facebook is a medium viewed by many, yet digested by few. The blog, however, is aimed directly only at those you wish to target. Your family.

Additionally, my general opine is that my life is too workaday, and (frankly) boring to report widely. What do I do? I spend most of my life working. With what I do for a living being of little interest even to me I rather suspect the more intricate details of my dealings within an office in an airport industrial estate would, perhaps, be just enough to make you pull the socket from the back of your PC and hurl it unceremoniously out the window.

With this said, I can now unapologetically concentrate more on Luca. Who creates a new story seemingly every minute.

Since returning from Edinburgh (my last post), we've since witnessed him terrorise his visiting Grandma Liz, discover that his best friend (Tyler) is moving away from Inverurie after Christmas as well as attempt to combat his more "careful" tendencies. 

As anyone who has regular contact with Luca already realises, he isn't the most bold of children, from all angles. From an unwillingness to try new foods or eat any food he conclusively knows that he likes (I've had near 2 hour dinners with him before) through to a nervousness at the thought of getting hurt.

The latter issue has proved an issue at his football training of late. It was exacerbated recently when during a training exercise he dribbled past an opponent who unceremoniously kicked him to the ground. As sore as it appeared, during the sessions since that incident it has caused a noticeable change - he no longer tackles or dribbles during games, and generally stands away from the ball.

Handling the issue has proven difficult, as you'd expect. As mature as he is for a 5 year old, there's still a lot he doesn't understand, or can't comprehend. It left me with a difficult task - I had to take him out to a park and toughen him up. I explained what (and why) we were going to do before we started (basically, I was going to trip, push and kick him continuously while he ran around with the ball at his feet), and gave him the choice whether he was willing to do this or not.

Surprisingly, he was willing, and the big test came less than a minute later when I tripped him, resulting in him falling flat on his face. I picked him up and watched his lip quiver. "Are you good?" I enquired. "I'm ready", he replied, holding back the tears, "lets go again". He then put his foot on the ball and turned to face me again.

I have to say, I was as proud as I was surprised. There's been a marked improvement since then, and at one point during his game on Saturday he dribbled past 3 opponents, using his body to hold them off. He finished the game with blood puring off a cut in his right ear, with no complaints. Progress.

With this being a "comeback" blog of sorts, I shan't overdo the Luca details (I'm certain even grandparents have a limit). Instead I'll briefly describe the (depressingly few) photo's I've taken of late instead.

 

Terrible photo, but at least evidence of Carole's first horsey event on Harvey, a recent "dressage" competition. Initially there were more of us there to support her than there were other eventers.

 

Here's the judges marks for Carole's ride, where she came a creditable 2nd place. I won't, for the sake of my health, mention how many competitors there were in her group however.

 

Luca with the 2nd place rosette. He's becoming ever more like his Mum, insofar that he's proving difficult to catch willingly on camera.

 

Although having said that, here's an exceedingly rare picture of his Mum actually posing. The last time Carole posed for a photograph must have been the wedding.

 

The above was taken this morning, when we visited Cove Harbour on a depressingly cold, windy and wet North Eastern day. It was, however, more pleasurable than the movie we'd visited the cinema to see just before this - the remake of "The 3 Stooges". Bleakly depressing.

 

Luca looks cold here, and rightly so. We'd just been hit by the spray from a massive wave hitting the wall.

 

He loved it though, as demonstrated by the smiles above and below. "This is one of my favourite things ever" he surprisingly crowed as a soaked father and son climbed back into our car to be greeted with sodden and squealchy car mats to accompany our sodden and squealchy shoes and socks.

**Conundrum of the day - Luca and I spotted an ex of mine in Aberdeen this morning at Starbucks. What do you do? Do you be polite and say hello, introducing the fruit of your loins and "enjoy" that infamously awkward ex chat? Or do you pull your hat over your eyes, raise the collar of your coat and avoid eye contact just like I did?**

Edinburgh!

With little time for conjecture or indeed pleasantries, I'll instead dive straight into my account of our "Edinburgh Adventure" last week. With Luca on school holidays I took a week off myself, not realising what I was letting myself in for.........

 

 

This is Stonehaven Train Station at 0730am in the morning. An appallingly early hour to begin our travels, but begin in earnest it did nonetheless.

On the train now. Locomotive travel is a genuine treat for our easily pleased 5 year old.

In Edinburgh now, at the "Butterfly and Inspect World". Thankfully I quickly convinced him that the object of the centre was to view the creepy crawlies and not stamp on them. Though it was a close call.......

Now at Edinburgh's Discovery Centre, a scientific education for the young chap.

It rained A LOT during our visit.

Edinburgh Zoo now, and for Luca the real deal. This is what he'd been anxiously anticipating for weeks, and he almost exploded with excitement as we walked through the gates. I think these are pelicans. I really should have paid greater attention. Let's call them "big birds" just to be safe.

Panda's! We had to queue for nearly half an hour to see the panda's. Rather underwhelmed to be perfectly frank.

For Mum, Dad and Lucy's benefit (Kelly being perhaps a little young to recall), above is our first picture taken in Balerno, where we lived between 1979 and 1983. Or in literal terms 27 years "BL" (Before Luca).

Outside our old house in Cherry Tree Loan now. Luca actually hugged the house! "It grew you Dad!"

Of course he found a poor animal to attach himself to. It's a gift.

Luca atop "Big Rock", where Lucy and I spent many hours, days, years playing. We were easily amused in those days.

Luca took this picture. He's a better photographer than me already.......

In Edinburgh City Centre now. We have many such pictures, as Luca took every opportunity to climb and pose.

Edinburgh Castle now (this is becoming exhausting now). The drop behind this small wall is around 100ft. With my fear of heights I found it almost unbearable every time Luca peered over the edge.

Action pose below the gun turrets!

Crazy mirrors and a hilarity infected child make easy bed fellows.

Edinburgh Museum. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.............

And finally the journey home, exhausted. The one and only time during the entire trip he stopped talking. I'm honestly not joking. I wish I was.

**Useless fact of the day - JK Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter books, wrote her first novel 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' in a café in Edinburgh**

I commonly look for alternative angles from which to approach each blog post, but more frequently the entries are becoming more formulaic. Granted, part of the fault lies with my ever diminishing grey matter (what's my name again?) but Luca's preferences are also a cause. Why? Because his fascination with Scotland's national sport has reached fever pitch.

Is he improving however? Slowly. He suffers from the same unfortunate lack of balance as his Dad, and hasn't grown much of late either - he's now one of the smaller boys in his year at school. However, at least now he is one of the elder members of his current Saturday coaching sessions which is proving beneficial to his confidence.

He does still often compete against older boys however. I've been taking a number of holiday days lately (I'm utterly determined to use my entire years allowance for once) which has allowed me to collect him from school very often. As gratifying as this is, a permanent bruise has now formed on my thigh from his "greetings" - he rather overenthusiastically sprints from the school door to his waiting Dad, and hasn't quite perfected the stopping part yet. His concrete-esque skull seems unaffected by it's contact with my upper leg, but I'm having to work hard to stay on my feet and suppress my "Oooofff" noise as he pummels into me. He may still be small, but is becoming more powerful by the day.

I digressed again didn't I? The point I was going to make was that on each day I pick him up he begs for a game of football in the park before we go anywhere else. No problem there, but as my appearances in the schoolyard become more common, as has the begging of other boys from various years to their parents/guardians to follow us to the park and join in our footy related shenanigans.

Luca, of course, prefers the rare occasions when it's just he and I, but has shown diligence when playing against boys 2/3/4 years older than him, and (so far) has only flounced off in frustration once. He's very quick which is to his advantage, but we're still working on the bravery. Will that come? I have my doubts (he is the worlds most "careful" child) but hope springs eternal.

Perhaps, however, the beatings he's receiving at school will toughen him up. Yes, he's had a couple so far. A common "game" that seems to be becoming more frequent is play fights, where his "gang" take on other gangs. Worryingly, it seems to be older kids they're taking on, and Luca has been sent to the headmaster once so far for walloping one of them. Because of his lack of size it appears he ends on the ground more often than most, yet keeps coming back for more.

I am suspecting this aspect of his personality originated more from his Mother than his Father.

On the subject of gangs, one of his closest friends is Sky, who you may recall has been his girlfriend for years. This, however, is now past tense. Luca was dumped a couple of weeks ago. Sky is now Tyler's girlfriend. You may also recall Tyler's name - he's Luca's best friend. It was actually quite sad when he told me on the way to school one morning. I stopped the car to give him my attention, and at the end he muttered "I don't know what to do" and lent his head against my own. One day they'll write an opera based on his tragic story.

Some pictures would be good now wouldn't they?

Chocolate ice cream. I'm quite unsure as to how he's procured this without the intervention of a hungry Dad (perhaps my absence from this trip played a part). Carole emailed this to me on the insistence I add it to the blog simply to make Liz jealous that the chocolatey goodness was being consumed by her grandson rather than herself. There's a look of torment on his face in this picture too, so perhaps he was already aware of the pictures future teasing purpose.

"Luca, who's your favourite - Mummy or Daddy?" "Yoda!!!" His love for that poor little dog really does grow by the day.

The finish line of my recent 10K. More amusing would have been a picture taken once I'd stopped. I was so dehydrated by the boiling hot day (combined with the fact I had never ran that distance in my entire life - not even on a training run!) that I contradictorily couldn't find a way to get any fluid down my throat. I've rarely been that knackered in my whole life, but it's a wholly satisfactory experience. I returned to a shorter race on Saturday (a 5K) in which I finished 10th out of around 200 runners which was highly surprising to say the least. The standard of the runners that day was poor and the race was slow, but I do admit to feeling a little proud of myself for that one. Next up is another upcoming 10K, followed by a 3K competitive sprint against a "friend", who is an extremely quick and experienced runner. My dodgy knee (as you'll see in the picture above is strapped up as always) is already gulping in fear.

This is better, back to Luca again, albeit accompanied by a horses a*se (no obvious jokes please). He's really enjoying his farm visits with his Mum, and with there being other children his age commonly in attendance the benefits are clear. Mum and son really, really stink on their returns however. I almost wish Carole would take up smoking again to mask the smells somewhat. Almost.

Almost as large as Harvey is the latest love of his life, big Lion. Purchased by friends for Luca online for (allegedly) a mere £4. Pound for pound you won't find better value than that - other than the cheap, raggedy Tessy Bear he's had since the day he was born and still carries everywhere in the house. It's now so worn that it can't have more than a few more months before it finally disintegrates. It will be a genuinely downbeat day when the inevitable occurs.

**Useless fact of the day - On top of the physical challenges during Lucy/Scott/Kelly/Chris' visit next Christmas there will now also be an event day at Lochters - see link for the events (http://www.lochter.co.uk/page.cfm?main_ID=2), and may the the most competitive Scot/Englishwoman/American/Aussie win!**

If it tastes good don't eat it

A brief entry tonight, as my legs continue their recovery from their first 10K run on Saturday. I say run, but it was more of an amble. And I say recover, but I'm actually completely fine. I like to pretend I need time to recover as it gives me the excuse to sit on my backside, watch TV and eat Smarties Ice Cream. Self delusion, where would we be without it.

 

Of course, not all types of kidology are delusional. For example, where would we be without the wide eyed excitement of a 5-year-old? Pictured above, Luca adoringly hangs onto the arm of a robot at one of the science exhibitions held in Aberdeen this past weekend. This Robbie-The-Robot-alike was functional and intriguingly operated by remote control by a chap in Yorkshire. The latter information remains a mystery to young Luca however, who is convinced he conversed and played with a real life robot. I will never quash his glorious fantasy.

The (very young) staff were all REALLY good, incredibly lively and helpful, completely dispelling the myth of sulky teenagers. The Daily Mails reactionary stance has a lot to answer for. That, and it's innumerable typo's. Honestly. Pick it up in the newsagent tomorrow and have a flick through. It's almost like they're trying to make mistakes.

A rubbish picture granted, but a millisecond before this Luca was encased inside a giant bubble. So if I'd been quicker off the mark you'd be looking at a rubbish picture with the addition of a bit of washing up liquid.

A better image is that of Luca lying exhausted on the grass outside after his football training on Saturday, during which he won "King of the Ring" for the first time. This competition, entirely unrelated to a similarly named game commonly played in Manchester's Canal Street, involves every player (usually 12-14 of them) entering a circled enclosure in the sports hall. Each player is given a ball and has to dribble, defend and shield his ball while simultaneously kicking his opponents out of the enclosure. An excitable Luca then took the confidence gained from this victory into the actual match at the end of the training session, and produced his most dominant performance in some time. A clever dribble and goal by our scruffy rapscallion won the game for his team (1-0), and he almost topped it with a rasping shot just before the final whistle too. "I'm so getting a bag of sweeties now Dad, aren't I?" was his chortled question as we walked out together at the sessions end.

To finish tonight we have more pictures of Luca atop Harvey. There will be many more of these to come I feel. Until he falls off. Then Yoda will regain her position as favourite pet.

**Useless fact of the day - The common horses ancestor was called a Hyracothrium. Curiously, it had toes**