On Wednesday, while Lady was gone, we took the boys to Pickie Park in Bangor. Duncan and Gordon went on the little Pickie Puffer train while Thomas played on a bouncy castle. Duncan had quite a wait before the train got moving and he was great. He was so excited; his eyes were shining and he kept waving to me 'Bye bye Mummy!' He waved at people as they went by. This is another new thing. Then we all went on the swan boats, Duncan with Gordon and Thomas with me.
We took the boys' swimming stuff and they played in the big paddling pool. Duncan was running around, splashing and jumping and laughing and squealing with joy. Thomas was more cautious and delicately picked his way around the edges. Every so often, Duncan would dart up the steps and run to the sweet shop, right by the pool. He would be looking in our direction as he ran; he knew he wasn't supposed to do it but he thought it was worth a try. Gordon and I took turns to observe Duncan. He can move so fast that we couldn't take our eyes off him for a second, especially in that crowded environment, and with all the little half clad children looking quite alike. It was usually easier to hear him than the other children though, he was certainly louder! At one stage, he tried to engage a little girl in a splashing game and I had to intervene, and another time, he blew water out of his mouth at a group of teenage girls. Thankfully, they just laughed.
(I saw a woman walk through the pool, fully dressed with her trousers rolled up. Two little boys were playing as she passed and they splashed her front a bit. The old biddy then poked one of them on his shoulder and scolded him for wetting her! I tell ya', if that had been my child, she'd have been wet all over.)
I couldn't believe how great Duncan was at dealing with all those tempting bags of candy-floss and ice-lollies right out on display. I kept telling him '1st paddling pool, then lollipop', and he managed to wait. They got their ice-lollies to eat as we walked back to the car.
Later in the evening, I was helping Duncan on their computer when a wasp stung me in between my toes. It bloody hurt!! Duncan was most interested and after volunteering to 'kiss it better', he asked me to draw a wasp!
Some of the other things I have had to draw recently;
- Ice Age nut
- Bug's Life false teeth (from the Geri's Game short film after the film on our video)
- Bug's Life nasty grasshopper (hands go down)
- 4 Magic Roundabout characters
- Lots and lots of Snow White Grumpy pictures
- Thomas the Tank Engine lighthouse
- and many more!
6 comments:
You're a far better artist than me----I can't draw to save myself. We tend to put Charlie in very brighly colored swim trunks to make him stand out---there's also something about the way he holds his body that makes his silhouette distinct.
Does Duncan have a visual dictionary? If not, you should buy one for him.
I have the Macmillan Visual Dictionary at my house. Very useful for pictures of wasps and such, although it wouldn't be much help with the cartoon characters!
Oh ouch. I hate wasp stings. Sounds like you are having a good summer tho.
Kristina, I tell you, I am no artist! I have developed a talent for whipping up a quick drawing of whatever the latest request is though.
Duncan has a few bright orange tops to wear when we go out. Then he is easier to spot among the usual blue/green clothes most boys wear.
Bonnie, it isn't that he wants to just look at the picture; he will turn the computer on, open Google and type (when he can) the name of whatever he wants to see. What he wants from me, is to draw a very small picture of the item/character, cover it with sticky tape (to laminate it), roll it into a cylinder about 1-2cm in diameter, and trim the top and bottom of excess paper. Then he carries these little pictures around, playing with them and carefully examining them.
I often have to draw the same thing a few times in one day.
Ruth, we are having a nice summer, thanks. I can always find something to complain about, but it is good right now. Hope you are OK.
Oh, I see, he wants to play with homemade action figures. I remember doing that as a child. I usually drew my own pictures though! I think it's good that Duncan wants you to be involved in his play.
You're right Bonnie. He instructs me when we're making the pictures, tells me what size to make them, what colours and patterns to use etc. He enjoys it, likes the finished product and he's learning and using lots of language to get his ideas across.
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