Return to: BabyworldHi everyone Well, even though I had my birthday party, apparently it wasn't my real birthday. That happened the following weekend. So, Mummy and Daddy took me down to Sydney to see Star Wars with Daddy and then off to Yum Cha with the whole family (including Nanna and an aunt and uncle). The Phantom menace was OK. But it really didn't recapture the thrill of when I saw Star Wars for the first time. It was the charm of Han Solo, the surliness of Chewbacca, the naivety of Luke, the buns on Leia's head that caught my imagination.... Now that it's six months on from the original film, I feel that I have been cheated by Hollywood.... The characters lacked depth and empathy - at one time I was actually hoping that the original Star Wars film was wrong and Obi Wan would quickly meet a gruesome end so that I didn't have to hear Ewan McGregor drone on any more. I also found it curious that Jedi's have English accents, kids are American, alien looking people appear to be Japanese and that in the age of hyperspeed flight the quickest way from point A to point B is to use a submarine to go through the middle of the world. Daddy certainly got excited over the fact that it was in reality a movie about trade tax (and from that perspective probably a darn exciting movie about tax). But, then he got disappointed when it soon became clear that there was only going to be minimal usage made of lawyers and accountants and they really weren't after a simpler, more equitable and efficient tax system at all. His comment was that all they seemed to be interested in was posturing and fighting rather than actually trying to draft a well-thought out legislative compromise. Well, that's Hollywood for you! I must say that Yum Cha for lunch was quite exciting. The drama involved making sure that you have sufficient dishes arriving at the table to ensure a steady flow of food even though the Yum Cha carts aren't evenly spaced, whilst ordering sufficient Pork Buns and eating sticky rice. It's the sort of excitement that Star Wars failed to capture.... Back to matters at hand. Felix has not taken a front seat in these updates and that is the case due to one reason - he's just a little baby who eats sweets (to take a quote from Mr Lydon of Attractive Pistol fame)). Up to date he's basically been width and height restricted. Over the past week or two that has all changed.... Felix is now stretching, squashing, spreading, smearing, soiling, splintering, sullying, sprinkling, sprouting, strewing, sowing and scattering with the best of us. His favourite positions in the house are in the loungeroom (at the video cassette recorder or the blinds), the kitchen (eating raw potatoes or climbing in or hanging from drawers) and in the bathroom (basically toilet bowl work). His expertise at his specialisations is quite remarkable. He can be quiet when necessary to accomplish a task and then burst into a series of staccato bangs and clangs that alert the folks that he may now be captured and returned to a central starting point before choosing another object. I am in awe. I must take some credit though, since I have always tried to encourage the little tike in all his endeavours. I have also showed him that there is more than one way to skin a dog. Currently, I am toughening him up so that he can move onto bigger and better tasks - my favourite way to improve Felix is to ride him in the same way that I ride Roger. Mummy and Daddy aren't keen - but I say "No pain, no strain". The best bit though is that he's even got his head around the concept of playing with the minds of Mummy and Daddy. He will crawl to the television, poise with his hand over the video cassette recorder, turn to face Mummy or Daddy, smile and then tweak. It is absolutely brilliant to watch. But, just when you think the little guy can't improve he goes one step more.... Mummy was painting the front door, whilst Daddy laboured over a huge birdhouse for outside whose construction I'm sure would withstand a hurricane. When Mummy was finished, she left the door ajar so that the paint could dry. Felix noticed that but initially did nothing. He waited until Mummy started making lunch and he was allowed to go visit the Birdhouse of Doom with Daddy in the front room. But, of course, the baby handover was never formally made (you would think they'd learn after the fiasco some time ago at the shopping centre with me - see earlier newsletter). Felix managed to quietly slip past Daddy (I think Daddy may have been sitting inside the birdhouse making technical modifications at the time) and go out to the front yard. Felix just crawled to the middle of the yard and started putting rocks in his mouth. Well Mummy blamed Daddy and Daddy blamed Mummy and Felix and I just laughed. Well, I'd better get back to riding the little feller.... Elliot
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