Our wee Lad!

Having spent thirteen weeks away from home, the changes in MacK are very obvious, and really rather impressive. I know that I, along with every other Dad think that their child is a prodigy, and the most prodigious at that. So please feel free to measure MacK’s progress against your own experiences – just don’t spoil my illusions!

He is a big lad – 75^th percentile for height and head circumference, but off the charts in weight. His hands and feet are Labrador in nature, and we can only assume that at some stage he will grow into them.

He has a huge amount of words, and is now parroting Jane and I. So last week we had an ‘oh crap’, and ‘shit’. Just lucky that we didn’t have a ‘@$%& **&^%...’ as well, so we are counting our blessings. He is starting to put sentences together, and has a fine level of visual comprehension. Jane watched an episode of West Wing with MacK commentating. He pointed at objects on the screen, and clearly told Jane what they were. Most of his words are really clear, but he does have one unique word – “GUP!” I hadn’t been home long, and was lying on the floor playing with MacK, when he pointed at me and called “GUP”. He repeated it, and when I didn’t move, he threw a ball at me (perfect shot – pegged me in the head). It turns out that “GUP” is MacK-shorthand for “Get up”, or “Get up you lazy sod”, depending on how forceful his delivery is. Jane couldn’t help herself, and collapsed into paroxysms of laughter.

When you sneeze, he immediately responds with “Bless you”, and he is getting better at asking with a please (or ‘pease’). He is very forceful in his opinions too. When he wants you to stop doing something, it is very clear – including the outstretched hand, with palm out.

He still loves to read, and is now finishing some of the sentences in his favourite books. He knows what he wants to read, and will ask for the books by name. As far as counting goes, he is starting to get the gist of things, with his favourite numbers being 2 and 5.

He is going to be particular about language too, we think. I wish we could remember the exact circumstance, but a couple of days ago, MacK corrected Jane in something she had said. Jane’s response was to tell him he was a pedant, just like his father and grandfather!

He loves to help in the kitchen. He will regularly stand beside me and stir a pot with me, and today spooned sugar onto everyone’s porridge. He didn’t sprinkle it, just dumped a spoon of sugar in the middle of the bowl – but it’s a start. The other day I was cutting onions and garlic for dinner when he pointed at the garlic and asked what it was. I told him, and he picked up the clove, and bit it in half. The look on his face was priceless, but a little curiosity goes a long way!

It reminds me of a story from my distant youth, that I am sure my mother would vehemently deny, regarding tomato relish. I have two memories of summer relish making as a child. The first is making a double batch with Dad, and later discovering that we had quadrupled the salt in the recipe. For a lot of effort, it was sad to have to throw it away. It was just inedible. The other story is from a time I was ‘helping’ Mum to make a batch of relish, and I asked her what cayenne pepper tasted like. She told me to try it, so I dipped my finger in the jar and licked it clean. I don’t remember what happened immediately after, probably because the top of my head blew off and into a million pieces. I just hope I didn’t rub that finger into my eyes.

As I write this we have another six weeks in the tropics before we move south towards Brisbane. We are looking forward to the drop in temperature and humidity, and the proximity to family, beaches, good food and live entertainment.

The next post will have an updated set of photographs - Promise!