Favourite things

Little man has just been laughing hysterically at The Enormous Turnip story. Specifically the bit where the turnip finally pops out of the ground and the old man falls on the wife and the wife falls on the boy and the boy falls on the little sister and the little sister falls on the dog and the dog falls on the cat and the cat falls on the mouse, who says 'Eeek!' He's finding the 'Eeek!' part hilarious and has also picked up the hot tip that you need to talk to seedlings to make them grow big. I think we'll be planting turnips at grandad's allotment this year. No idea what I'll do with them in the kitchen; ideas welcome.

Anyway, here are his other favourites:
Film: Cars. He loves it. I think Lightning McQueen is currently his biggest hero. I hate it. Mostly because of the noise. Which is ironic given the noisy sort of music I like to listen to whilst driving.

Song: Jack and Jill. When I ask what songs he wants at bedtime (he first instigated this ritual, possibly a crossover from what happens with daddy), he says: 'Broke his crown.' Although Baa Baa Black Sheep remains the only one he sings himself.

Food: Ice cream. Preferably Neapolitan. With bumps (chocolate vermicelli). At grandma and grandad's house. He never gets ice cream at home (my freezer's too full of last year's cabbage, which I never seem to find a use for).

Toy: His dumper truck. All kinds of things can be piled inside it, pushed around and then dumped in strategic places, such as the doorway between the dining room and kitchen.

Mummy-copying activity: Sewing. With a big blunt darning needle, a small square of linen and his choice of embroidery thread colour. He hasn't got the hang of pushing it back and forth through the fabric instead of wrapping it round yet so his masterpiece turns into a little screwed-up ball. The picture shows it after I have snipped it open again for further use.

Five things...

...that I like about autumn:
1. The colours, obviously.
2. The contrast between warm days and cool nights.
3. Misty mornings and dew on spiders' webs.
4. Fat, juicy blackberries.
5. The drawing-in-ness of it all.

Least favourite things

I've just tried to think of some of Sir W F-P's least favourite things, but they all revolve around me trying to stop him doing things. And I only try to stop him doing things if they are dangerous or there's a significant risk of him damaging something I can't afford to have broken. He doesn't like sitting still, being put in the car seat or being left on the other side of a baby barricade from where the action is. He also dislikes any food that is green, with the exception of peas and olives.

As for my least favourite things, I fear the list could be very long: drivers who appear to be completely unaware of what's going on around them, slugs and snails, coconut, crumbs in the margarine tub, vertical blinds, ridiculous heels, pettiness, romantic films, concrete, crowds, dogs, the bits that appear on laminate flooring seconds after you've vacuumed, loud exhausts, the many shades of grey that one finds in offices, things that break just after you've bought them, British Gas phoning me every month to try to sell me cover for my drains, chick lit, most of what's on TV, everyday life, paperwork.

Favourite activities

Sir W F-P's favourite activities include: counting tractors in the lift-the-flap Usborne Tractors book, feeding fake Cheerios (Tesco's own) to various stuffed toys, waving to his shadow, beeping everyone's noses, signing chicken, distributing sand and stones around the garden and into the house, standing in the driver's seat of the car, cuddling mummy, hunting for breadsticks or blackberries, pressing his belly button, drinking his bathwater, opening and closing the DVD player, brushing up, prodding snail shells, rowing his boat followed by falling in the water upside down (splash), being a tiger.

Mummy's favourite activities include: eating cake, drinking tea or red wine, walking somewhere peaceful and green, paddling in the sea, singing with Sir Whingy, cuddling him, tickling him and generally making him giggle, digging up potatoes, knitting small whimsical objects, cleaning windows, reading half a dozen books at a time ranging from LOTR to The Continuum Concept, baking cakes, collecting eggs from her Plymouth Rock bantams, lying in a tent all cosy while the rain thunders on the flysheet, having a good declutter, gazing absent-mindedly at clouds.

Five favourites

Quick, quick, it's gone 10pm, must get to bed...

1. Flower: daffodils (so cheery), but...
2. Season: autumn (mists, dew on spiders' webs, blackberries, lovely colours, warm days and cool evenings to cosy up on, relief from hot summer nights).
3. Point of the compass: west (sunset, views from British coast, sea, islands).
4. Non-alcoholic beverage: tea (milk, no sugar).
5. Stone: Snowdonia slate (shiny wet mountains, colour of little man's eyes when he was born). This was a close one, sandstone feels more like home.

And you?

Five favourites

Colour: Brown (earth, autumn leaves, chocolate cake)
Hill: Tryfan (got airlifted off it once, have climbed it dozens of times)
Film: Return of the Jedi (I was too young to see it at the cinema, had to watch Mary Poppins instead!)
Drink: Red wine (yum)
Clothing: Jeans (comfy, practical and don't need ironing)


Homework: Tell me your favourites in the comments...


Separation fact: I have now been to the cinema alone twice in my life (Twilight, Wolverine).