August 22, 2008

Hello again.
Charlie and I have been making the most of his last couple of weeks of 'freedom' before he starts school!
We went to see Space Chimps on Monday, which he really enjoyed - he loves going to the cinema... we're waiting for some more U-rated films to come out soon so we can go again!
Yesterday we went out with Charlie's friend Seren and her mum, and we had a fab time. First we dropped in at Crazy Kiln - a ceramics workshop in Cardiff. Charlie was able to choose and paint his own piece of pottery, which he really enjoyed. He's been once before, but he was only about two, so splattering paint around and throwing the brushes about was more his style back then.
I was pretty touched, actually - I told him he could choose whatever he liked, and he bypassed all the dinosaurs, cars and robots, before swooping on a little heart-shaped trinket box, which he said he wanted to paint as a pressie for me. How cute is that! He did a really good job too - he even wrote 'Mum' on the top (because the box wasn't big enough to fit 'Mummy' on!) and painted a little flower on there too. I wish I'd taken some pics of him being creative, but I forgot my camera - so I'll post a pic of him with his box, once we collect it after firing.
Then we headed on over to the city museum, which was good fun too. (It felt like a proper 'summer holiday' kind of day!) Chas really enjoyed looking at the animal/dinosaur exhibits, and was glued to the presentations on the planets and volcanoes too. I was pretty surprised, but he actually seemed to quite enjoy the art gallery part too - particularly if he had some idea of what the pictures were of.
We've had a nice day today too - we headed over to see Nanny and Grandpa and then went to the Mall to buy Charlie's school shoes!! I felt quite stupid really, because I was actually pretty choked as I watched him walking up and down the shop in such grown-up shoes. Not a flashing light in sight.
What made it even more special, was that Charlie had chosen the shoes (with only minimal assistance from me.... I REFUSE to buy shoes with toys under the soles. How stupid is that idea? It takes me all my time to get Chas to put his shoes on - the last thing I want is him taking them off to find the poxy plastic car buried in the soles!) Anyway - the shoes were chosen and we went to the till to pay for them.
The assistant brought the box out from the stock room, and we realised that the name of the style was 'Will'.
It might sound daft, but that made them all the more special - it almost felt like it was a little message to Charlie from his big brother, that he'd be keeping an eye on him as he starts school! I know, I know - I'm daft and sentimental, but it made Charlie and me smile.
Then there was a short detour to the toy department, because Chas had some pocket money from Nanny and Grandpa burning a hole in his pocket! He snapped up a bargain in the shape of three Dalek models, with which he is over the moon!
I still don't quite know where this Dr Who mania has come from - he hasn't seen the series, and I have NO plans to let him watch it for at least five or six more years - but he is 'into' Dr Who in a BIG way! He has been using a Dr Who mug that he bought for Pete a year or so ago, which plays the theme tune when you pick it up, and since then has been wandering round the house singing 'Doo-de-do-do, Doo-de-do-do, Doo-de-do-do, Ooo-eeeee-oooo, Oooo-eeee-oooo' in his own special rendition of the famous theme music! (I must try and sneak a bit of video of him doing it, but he's less inclined to do his party pieces for the camera these days!)
Consequently, we're off to the Dr Who exhibition in Cardiff tomorrow as a special treat for him - I just hope they have at least one life-size Dalek there, or Chas is going to be VERY unhappy!
Will remember to take the camera tomorrow - I have a feeling there could be some good photo opportunities!
Charlie's due his regular out-patient checkup at the cardiac clinic here in Cardiff some time soon - probably within the next month - although we haven't had the letter yet telling us to ring for an appointment. He still seems to be on pretty good form, although he's been a bit under the weather this week with a stuffy nose and looking a bit wishy-washy. We're hoping that all will be ticking along nicely at his appointment, and that, crucially, his oxygen saturations haven't dropped massively. We're just living in hope that all will still be well, and that we'll be able to delay the Fontan surgery until the early part of next year. Will keep you posted.
Thanks again for checking in - will update again soon, hopefully with some pics next time!