When I lived in England...

Harrison has had a long standing “other life” – probably for about 2 years.  He tells stories about when he lived in England with his new Mum and Dad.  There are odd details like the fact that there was coal between the bricks of his house, it was very cold, there was no dishwasher, and they didn’t have batteries for toys.  His new Mum and Dad were named Jeff and Murray (though they aren’t the real Wiggles – they just share their names).  This other life took on a new purpose on Thursday night. 

We had all been at the shops, and Harrison persuaded Simon to try his luck at a Skill Tester that had Batman soft toys in it.  Simon explained that it was unlikely he’d be able to pick up a toy, and that Harrison had to be prepared for disappointment.  He was not to make a fuss if he didn’t end up with a toy.  Sure enough, Simon couldn’t get the toy, and Harrison tried very hard to hide his disappointment.  A few minutes later we were in the car on the way home, and Harrison starts his story. 

“You know, when I lived in England, there was a toy machine, and my Dad Murray tried to get one for me.  My Dad Murray was so good at getting toys from the toy machine.  He got me one, and I really, really loved it.  So my Dad Murray got me another one, and another one, until I had too many toys!  Do you know why my Dad Murray was so good at getting toys?  He was really tall, and so old.  He was one hundred and one and two!”

Alistair...

I forgot to post on the most exciting news of late... Denis and Tracey had a baby boy – Alistair Bruce!  He was born on Sunday 27^th July at 12:45 am after Tracey spent 3 or 4 days in hospital with various attempts to induce labour.  He weighed a whopping 4.36kg (9 lb 10).  He’s sleeping well and feeding well, and Tracey made an early escape from hospital. 

 

Phone manner

Harrison is probably a late starter on this, but we’ve put our mobiles on speed dial from the home phone and taught Harrison how to call us (for emergency purposes).  (As an aside, he can recite our street address and tell a police officer each of our full names and where we work, but when it comes to telling someone our phone number, he just knows our speed dial numbers).

He’s just decided he can answer the phone himself, and it’s kind of weird ringing home and having him answer the phone.  This evening I’m working late, and he’s called me three times asking where various toys are, and letting me know whether or not he’s found them. 

 

Trauma at PMH

I had to take Harrison for a blood test on Friday, after our visit back to the paediatric gastroenterologist.  Knowing how much he hates needles, I didn’t tell him until we arrived at the hospital collection centre what we were there for.  He was absolutely terrified.  It took me and three nurses to hold him down and take his blood.  Unfortunately they needed 3 vials, so it wasn’t exactly quick.  I think only Princess Margaret Hospital staff would be capable of getting blood out of a screaming (and strong) four year old.  After it was all over, I tried to persuade him that it was all over much quicker than he’d expected, and didn’t hurt nearly as much as he feared – he thought about it for a second, and then announced that it *was* just as bad as he expected...

 

My first video

I have experimented with short video for the E-Learning course I did this year... and here’s my very amateur first attempt...

http://www.jumpcut.com/view?id=4A82ABF061C411DDBC04000423CF385C