The Green-Eyed Monster

We've just spent a lovely weekend up in Norfolk with Auntie Gill and Uncle Peter. After a fabulous roast dinner on Saturday, baby Jacob was still in his highchair and Gill was playing a little game with him, passing a Tupperware lid backwards and forwards and saying "Thank you very much!"

Jacob was smiling and laughing, but Daniel watched them both through gimlet eyes. Eventually Daniel could stand it no longer and he piped up: "Jacob is my brother. You can't have him!"

Auntie Gill, rather taken aback, replied, "Yes, of course he's your brother, Daniel. That's right." But Daniel was not to be mollified.

Giving Gill a piercing look, he added: "And you can't have that lid either."

The Evidence

He's off!

Facepainting for Bonfire Night

A pirate (of course) + "Harry Potter" scar


Caroline was missing Fluff...


That's "blood", not lipstick


Flutterby

Halloween

Brave Soldier

Daniel had a fall at nursery. He cut his face on the corner of a wooden step, and it required suturing under general anaesthetic.

Here he is before the operation.

And after, you can just see the row of neat little stitches underneath the steri-strips.

He also had a cannula in the back of his hand, but in our house we have the coolest plasters going!

Magic Chocolate

Last weekend, we were sharing some chocolate after dinner. By sleight of hand, I pretended to Daniel that it had all gone and then made one more piece appear, as if by magic.

With a two-year-old you often say the first thing that comes into your head, and I found myself saying to him, 'Now, are you sure you want to eat this? It isn't just ordinary chocolate, after all. It's magic chocolate and anything could happen. You might turn blue, you could grow feathers, your head might explode! Are you brave enough to eat it?'

Daniel nodded furiously, so I handed it over and with a trembling hand he put it into his mouth. As he chewed, he was inspecting himself to see if anything was happening ... and he suddenly noticed a blue vein in the crook of his elbow. He gasped, looked up at us with great big eyes and with complete conviction exclaimed: IT'S STARTING!