Sunday 24 April 2011

Jack's Secret Place.

With the uncharacteristically tropical weather we've had in the UK lately I've been varying the dog walking locations a little to facilitate Jack taking his scooter. He likes riding his scooter and is always asking to take it with us on walks. The more urban setting of the footpaths around our neighborhood makes for good scooting.

A about half-way along the walk there's a section that Jack informs me is secret. In fact it's his secret place.

Jack built this secret place himself, after he came into a bunch of money from some work he did years ago. He thought it would be a good idea to build it here so we could walk the dogs to it.

This is the secret path to the secret place. He made it just for us, though it wasn't easy to make so there are a couple of steep and slippery bits.
He put the steps in because of all the steep and slippery bits a few yards back. They work much better.
This is the pond, Jack is not happy with how it turned out, as you can see there's waaay too much water. Apparently Jack only asked for 50 waters but there was some sort of administration error was given 100,000. He only wanted a little pond and just look at it, does that look little to you? Thankfully they didn't charge him for the extra 99,950 waters, he only paid the upfront agreed amount of £100,000. Which is good because that's apparently all there was in the water budget.
This is the angry goose, the one on the right. As soon as he sees us he drops his head and slowly glides over to us to hiss, even from the other side of the pond. He wasn't part of Jack's design... I don't think.
Jack put this bench here just for me and him. No mommies... It's strategically placed so we can sit on it at the exact moment when we get tired of walking.
He put this bridge in so we can get out. There's supposed to be a river under it, but it's not a very good because it's not got enough water.

Sunday 10 April 2011

The Broken Friend

Jack lives for toys. Much of his time is spend pining for new toys that he can discover.

Like most kids the novelty of a new toy never lasts long. After anywhere from a few days to a few minutes he will return to a select few, often never touching the new toy again.

The top of his toy hierarchy has been the little robot action figure that Jack has named Stormtrooper. This toy has seen nearly as much travel as Dylan, it's taken everywhere including baths and bed.

Stormtrooper is an amazing toy, he's super fast, can fly, breath underwater, shoot lasers and other projectiles from his hands and elbows. Jack considered him a close friend. He's unbeatable and indestructible... Or so we hoped.

One day Stormtrooper's leg just broke off. It was no fault of Jack's, this toy came from the charity shop, so it was old when he got it. Normally I've been able to fix pretty much any toy, a gift I inherited from my mother, but I just can't get any glue to adhere to this thing.

It was truly heartbreaking when Jack realised that Stormtrooper wasn't fixable. We tried to tell him that even with only one leg he could still be a great toy but Jack wouldn't have it. Stormtrooper wouldn't be happy with just one leg. After an emotional debate Jack, sobbing, gently carried Stormtrooper over to the bin and dropped him in. He cried and cried and said a heartfelt goodbye to his favorite toy.

The next day Jack managed to twist the arm off another toy, Ultimate Echo Echo. He took this a lot better and I was able to fix it, to a degree. Silicon compounds don't repair well but his arm is re attached. Even still that toy is easily replaceable and Jack doesn't seem to care.

Jack still thinks about Stormtrooper. He spotted him the other day, we fetched him out of the bin, and wished that he was fixed.

I don't know where Stormtrooper came from, conceptually. I don't recognise from anywhere and I've not been able to find anything even close to baring a resemblance. There are no identifiers on him or even a product code or serial number. I'm keeping an eye out for a replacement and still trying to think of ways to fix him but I'm realistic. Stormtrooper and his leg have found his way into the people drawer and that's probably where he'll stay.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device.

Sunday 3 April 2011

No kissing.

Amber-leigh has lied to him. He was carrying on about much of the afternoon. Jack really likes Amber-leigh so it was unusual that he had anything negative to say about her. She plays with him at school a lot and she doesn't live very far from us so we see her around the neighborhood quite a bit.
Jack attended her birthday party a few months back. It as one of the most highly anticipated events of the year.
He insisted on making her a valentines card, where he didn't make one for anyone else. Several of the boys in school presented her with cards on Valentines day but she only had one for Jack. It must be love.

She said it was just going to be one kiss, but, suddenly another one.

It would seem Amber-leigh has been kissing Jack. When he objects she convinces him by saying it's only going to be one, then using that as an open invitation. Not only does she kiss him more than the previously agree amount but she also insists on kissing him on the lips. This annoys him a great deal.

Kissing on the lips is just for Mommies.

Helen has explained to him that one day, when he's bigger, he'll enjoy kissing girls to which Jack replied,
I'm not going to be bigger for a long long time am I?

Just keep the door open and one foot on the ground.