God bless brothers in law

Val has been to see the family and while there David gave Michael a present - a play guitar.
A play guitar with noise.
Much though I like the guy, and Michael loves his uncle David... I will have revenge!
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Like mother like son

Not that I am saying anything but Michael has discovered both the fridge and his favourite drink

After beer of course!
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Being English

Well someone really enjoys his fish and chips! For health reasons we have no salt and vinegar but we do have ketchup!

Obviously such things as cutlery are not needed - that's my boy!
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Michael loves technology

As the photograph shows someone loves his technology. If he sees something new and expensive he has to play with it.

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Lessons from our surroundings

Recently I have been involved in a little verbal spat on an internet forum - nothing new about that but it did make me stop and think about ways of making Michael be aware of people, history etc.
The thead is at http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166873 and it is at page 3 that things kick off . What surprised me was the intentional racist slurs laid out by the bigot. Not based on colour per se but on culture and history , in this case my own culture and history . This culture and history will also be Michaels, so how do I ensure that he developes the same love as I do but also has respect for other people's as well.
A hard one, but perhaps by openess and encouraging him to explore other people's cultures and beliefs and most importantly by teaching him respect we may get somewhere.

Just perhaps being English is about being open and fair minded - I certainly hope so.


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Like mother like son

There is nothing like chocolate.
Well apparently there is something better - sharing a milky bar with your mummy...
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Feeding time

I am not going to say that Michael is head strong, but let's just say he in touch with his feminine side! Lunch time today was just such an occassion - somebody wa going to feed themselves and that was that.
And even though we have a long way to go on the table manners, our little man is growing up.
He is 18 months old today and it is hard to remember life before him.
Funnily enough the cat says she can remember being numero uno and ...
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Climbing at Grannies

Just in case the british mountaineering team are looking for new talent, Michael is available!
I am not saying how good he is but suffice to say we will be wall mounting our TV next week.
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Rave on

Just had to share. Have just spent a few hours setting up the surround sound in our lounge, and that is not easy with daddy's little helper I can tell you!

Any how all done and time to test it. Popped the new Faithless live DVD on and sat back to enjoy a little dance music. And then Insomia came on.

Was not surprised that Michael started to move with the best - what annoyed me was that he is already a better dancer than me!

Fun times and next we will try Him with some Prodigy...
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image test

Well let's see if images work
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Mobile test

Exploring mobile blogging!
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Where did we go?

Nowhere

well, actually, head over to www.petedean.org.uk for the pictures etc :)

A Weight Off My MInd.......

You may remember that Beccles carnival was a night to forget for me, well this means 2008 gets off to a good start (and thank you to Giles for inviting me to celebrate the news)

http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=edponline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED04%20Jan%202008%2018%3A44%3A33%3A280

Messy Eater

Well - a man cannot remain on milk for all his life....

(Most chaps will have a breast fetish for all their lives, and it is nothing to do with sustenence or nutrition... we just LIKE funbags...)

So, anyway, young Michael is now being weaned. Obviously he is just having things like petit filou and baby rice and the odd ruby.... (No I am not joking - a good dhall is ideal baby food!)

Currently his favourite is Petit filou - raspberry by preference - the only down side is that he thinks it is some kind of body paint as well... and it makes a great projectile.... his recent experiment in using it as a form of feline shampoo was a failure however... Gabby was not impressed.

Having said that, just how far will a small pot of Petit Filou stretch? the answer is a lot further than you think - if I have to redecorate anywhere shortly I will ask Michael to come in for the painting - he is able to get it all over the place.....

(No picture of me this time - especially not after such a loving comment by Ash... thanks mate, I appreciate your candour, wit and charm.... and could you feel the love... LOL)

Marching onTogether

After Eric's subtle post, I thought it best to provide a quick image.

Here we both are on the first day of the football season, when we went to see my parents. My father has always tried to humiliate me by pointing out, in a "reet northern" accent, that I was born in "bloody Macclesfield so where I get this bloody Leeds stuff from...." Having said that he is a Scum fan - sorry, Manchester United follower.....

No matter what team Michael chooses, I will have these photos of him in a proper shirt.... and the shirt I have on is a replica of the 1972 strip - sad man that I am, but I have over 30 Leeds strips....

And yes, he is wearing Nike Trainers :)

Talking Gibberish

Yep - I know I can talk gibberish - anyone who has seen me lurching around the pub after a few ales, especially when football has been on will vouch for that fact.
Indeed, I believe I am fluent in Gibberish, Drunkenese and the obvious "Talking Bollocks" - and according to Val, I do it very well.

But I have caught myself talking baby now. And why do we do it?

I always used to think that parents talking to babys was silly - but now I do it... sound like I am playing golf with Brucie, Tarby et al - its all "Sockies" "Vesties" and "tootsies". Having struggled to pronounce assorted african phrases that friends have tried to teach me, now I am mangling my own language.

You know what - I don't care at all :)

This week coming Michael will be welcomed into the football fold as he sits with a swearing daddy sweating over an England game.... welcome to a life long curse son - you will both get used to it, and wonder why we do it.....

Been a long time

and apologies for that - but, I and we are back.

I sit and watch michael a fair amount these days, and I still have that wonderstruck expression. Actually Val says I look more moronic than normal but.....

Couple of things have occured to me though. Michael likes to sleep with his hands over his head - lying there like some comatose raver, passed out like a late 1980's clubber..... wonder why that occured to me....

Then I realised why. His vision is starting to come along now, and he can detect colours, and shapes and all sorts of interesting things. So - remember the scene in Father Ted where Father Jack drank the toilet cleaner and was hallucilnating? Well - I guess that is what Daddy's little raver gets to see..... I will start monitoring for signs of dancing now....

Also, Today I was actually at home for when he woke up. Val carefully and tenderly brought him into bed and sang him what she called the "Morning song":

Good Morning Michael
Good morning son - and so on - all at a civilised eight o clock

Compare that to the way that he is normally woken up when I am on an early shift. The precursor is the "cat fart" at 0400 - this is our Balines Princess' normal wake up call for breakfast - she just sits there and purrs as I awake choking on the noxious fumes.
(Of course it is the cat that does this - we all know that ladies do not do bottom burps, even if they are lying there with a beautificv smile as I gasp for breath....)

Normall I manage to doze untill the clock radio starts at 0615 - and as we all know what does the 0 stand for - OH my god it is early....
Val, god bless her, likes radio two, so i have that silly annoying bint Sarah Kennedy, mumbling away like some deranged talking advert for the polyfilla school of make up.
So - little Michael hears her quietly burbling away about tripe, closely followed by my rash of expletives aimed at her.

Next he hears me stomping to the shower - and the normal blood curdling cries as I realise that some one, and there is a short list of one on this issue, has turned the bleeding thermostat to cold.... obviously the exact words are difficult to discern due to me having three adam's apples at this stage.
Shower done, he hears me stumbling down stairs, trying to both swear at and negotiate the mobile trip wire called the cat. (I am male - I do not do multi tasking!)
Then back up stairs and drop off another cup of warm hemlock for val, stare and smile at michael then get dressed as it is time to leave for work.

Of course then we have the favourite words then that wake him up screaming every time - get used to hearing them son:

"Honey, can you just......?

sometimes I go to work for a rest.....

Kitten for Sale?

Now I have to admit that I do not have the largest amount of patience in the world - indeed, I do tend to be quite pedantic about being treated correctly at all times; (And no, treating a princess correctly does not involve a late night drive through the streets of Paris either), but this has got beyond a joke now.

The two legs' kitten is starting to take over the house.

I will say that again - the two legs' kitten is taking over MY house.

Before it arrived, the two legs spent a lot of time working on one room, and I did have respect for their efforts on my behalf - the upholstery was exquisite both for lying on and for claw sharpening, and there were many places to nap comfortably - and lets face it, beauty like mine needs to be worked on with beauty sleep.

Then the kitten arrived - and, I know you will not believe me, my Humans started to ignore me - would you believe I have even had to wait to be served anyone of the 6 or so meals a day my coat deserves?

But, I have a cunning plan. I have opened an ebay account, and am going to sell the kitten as cuddley toy - no one will be any wiser after all.

He does work quite well as a cuddley toy.... sniff

hmmmmm has an odour - of cat nip on him...... {ppppppuuuuurrrrrrr}

he may not be auctioned just yet!

Big Love to my many fans

Gabi

xxx

A Rough Weekend

apologies for not updating this recently, but I have been a little unwell - http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=edponline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED24%20Jul%202007%2008%3A57%3A13%3A703 for more information, and yes that is my head!

OK - so we are now into the second month.... and Michaels personality is really coming out - he is now looking at his parents as well as smelling them.... apparently this is normal, but I do suspect that Gabby the Balinese Princess had something to do with it.
He still hates baths... typical boy then! And he has discovered that his sprinkler does work.... I am used to it from work, but at work I am wearing a plastic apron :)
Val says she has had a smile out of Michael.... All I have so far is the odd facial contortion as he tries to get a tune out of his bottom flute..... lots of wind these days!

I am hoping to have some more pictures for people to look at soon

Save Money on Bedding!

you know it makes sense - do not bother buying any bedding for your own bed as there is every good chance that a certain little monster will not enjoy the muggy weather and keep all around him awake... all the time!