Sneaky Little Helper

After lunch today, when I was taking the dustpan full of breadcrumbs out to the bin, Nikki decided to help...

I'm not sure whether he cleaned more with his legs or the cloth, but I appreciate the thought, even if I had to re-clean the table once I pulled him off...

Little Boy Lost!

I just popped into Nikki's bedroom to check on him and found his bed empty. I could hear him sleeping, but the bed was most definitely empty.

I checked the tent under his bed. Train set - check. Little boy - no sign.

Guess where I found him...

Sound asleep on the windowsill!

Of course, by the time I found the camera and turned on the hall lights to take the picture, he'd woken up a bit and was most annoyed by the flash.

If I had realised that all he needed was a couple of bars across the bottom of the window, I could have saved a fortune on that new bed!

Summer Heat

We've been suffering through this infernal heat wave for weeks and I just haven't been up to much of anything, so despite having several posts planned this blog has been ignored because it has been too hot to bother.

Sorry about that.

Nikki and I have been struggling with a temper-clash, too. He seems to have inherited my quick temper and with the combination of EVERYTHING stopping for the summer (nursery, playgroups, Sunday school...) and staying in out of the sun as much as possible (I really really can't cope with the heat and I burn within minutes - literally!) we have had to re-learn how to get along with one another. Slow progress, but essential for the new school year as I have taken the plunge and not registered Nikki with a preschool for September. I like to think of it as a homeschooling trial - if I am still sane when school registration opens in November, my dream of homeschooling might become a reality...

In the meantime, here is some of the mischief Nikki has been up to this month:

Felt-tip Nail Varnish

Chilling in the sun on Grandad's Lawnmower

Mischief with his favourite cousin

Too Many DVDs!!!

A New Space Bed!

Great Big Tardis Box

"Mummy, when is the postman going to bring my Great Big Tardis Box?"

False Perspective with a toy Tardis

Making Breakfast More Interesting...

Sitting on top of the sofa with his cheerios - the milk now has to be separate (in a cup with a straw on the table!) because otherwise the cereal won't stay 'crusty'. 

Painting Snow

Wow. How easy it is to get out of the habit of blogging, and how hard to get back into it!

I meant to post about this when we still had snow, but as it is still winter I guess it doesn't matter too much!

Nikki had a wonderful time 'painting' the snow with Uncle Harry. The 'paint' was simply water with food colouring in a spray bottle. I think I diluted it too much, as it took a bit of effort to get a strong colour on the snow, but it was great fun!

We had to wait for Harry to get back from school, so it was pretty dark (despite being only 4pm) but the boys didn't seem to mind!

Time To Clean...

My little nudist floor-sweeper

Nikki decided that rather than get his pyjamas on after his bath, he would sweep the floors. I can forgive him thinking that the mop-without-cloth would do the job, but sunglasses at 7pm when it has been raining all day?!

Pennies in my Pocket!

Nikki is currently obsessed with pennies! He has to have all his pennies in his pockets at all times. This morning, I counted 20.

It all started when he learned how to put things in his pockets and take them out again. When we were shopping, if there was a copper coin in my change it was given to Nikki to put in his pocket. At first, I would later re-claim the coin when he took off his coat/trousers. Then he noticed...

Although I periodically re-claim coins (from wherever he has dropped them - we have a constantly money-stewn floor!) he is accumulating more and more and seems to have a rough idea of how many because he gets upset and starts looking for them when I take too many... He refuses to put them in a money box... or rather, keep them there - he's quite happy to put them in so long as I take them out again straight away! It has got to the point that his pockets are so heavy with coins that his trousers are falling down! Either that, or he takes a small funnel from the kitchen and carries them round in that - which means every time he turns around or runs or simply stops concentrating there are pennies EVERYWHERE!

About ten minutes ago, after again picking up handfuls of coins from across the floor, I gave him a small box and a lipstick-pouch (the type that comes with a new handbag) which closes with a popper. He has managed to keep the coins in the box and seems happy, for now, to simply put the box in and out of the pouch and practice closing the popper.

Hopefully soon he will get over this penny-obsession and be content to keep them in a money box!

Why We Are Running...

Little boys shouldn't wear mascara!

This little monster visited this morning. The temptation of my handbag was too great and he turned it out. Other than eating the few bribes (small, wrapped chocolates) loitering in the bottom of the bag and (I suspect) my lip balm, he decided to try and put on my mascara. Unfortunately, it was brand new and came out a bit thick...

Peek-a-boo!

Later, I found this cheeky monkey in my tumble dryer! He was very helpful (see the emptied lint trap in his hand - that is usually Nikki's job) and insisted on playing peek-a-boo before eventually being persuaded to leave.

Later still, a rather naughty imp broke his way into the stockpile of Easter eggs. Fortunately, I found him before he had done much more than unwrap and smash one of the eggs. Unlike the one that broke in last week and ate through half the chocolate before he was caught!

Messy Boy!

Why are boys so messy? It seems that no matter how innocent the game, Nikki creates an incredible amount of mess! I only need to turn by back for two minutes... The day before yesterday, he managed to get my dish of seed beads off the table and pour them across the floor, yesterday, he got hold of a pot of glitter (again from the table, I should have learned from the bead-incident!) so I am now doomed to months of green sparkles on my floors, furniture, clothing...

This morning, it was blue ink all across my new white desk. Arg!

It's times like this I wish I had a little girl - they aren't nearly so destructive, right?

My Cheeky Little Monster

A Reluctant Bather

Upon finishing his dinner, which had been spaghetti with tomato sauce, Nicholas approached me. He was, as is typical after such a meal, rather orange. Looking him over, I asked whether he would like a bath.
"No!" said he.
"But you are covered with pasta and sauce," said I.
"Pasta," said he, "Nikki eat pasta!"
And from somewhere on his person, he procured a length of spaghetti and popped it into his mouth.
"Bathtime," said I.

When Drawing Gets Boring...

What do you do when you are fed up of simply using your pens for drawing?

This is what Nikki did: