Connor is obsessed with Angry Birds.  As soon as I get home in the evening, he grabs my iPhone and that’s the end of that… until the battery goes flat!

He’s so comfortable navigating around my phone now, and can basically show you where everything is and how it works.

Even though I’m quite relieved some days to get him out of my hair for a while, while he plays games… I’ve discovered that I’m not getting the phone calls I should be getting.

It turns out he’s also become my call screener!! Now if it was a marketer that was trying to sell me something, I wouldn’t be so bothered, but this week it was my new boss!!

LOL!

I was chatting to my parents and my sister, and Bradley came running into the kitchen with Connor throwing a tantrum behind him… he was yelling that I had a phone call.  By the time I got the phone though, the person had put the phone down.

He phoned back a minute later though, and then told me that he’d tried phoning about 4 times, and had had long conversations with Connor… but couldn’t convince him to give the phone to me.

LOL!! Thankfully he has kids and thought the whole situation was quite funny.

He told me the next day that when Connor answered the phone, and he’d said he wanted to speak to me, that Connor just replied “My Mommy’s busy, she’s talking to my granny” and promptly put the phone down!

Nothing was going to get in the way of him and his game.

I took the kids to a friend’s house for a playdate this morning.  It’s really not a long trip, about 3km, but the kids were nattering non-stop.

Just as we turn off our road, Connor pipes up “How long ’til we get there?”

To which Bradley replies “We’ll get there when we get there”

LOL! He’s very right!

Then they were talking about cars or something, they have this game going where they choose a car brand every day and have to spot the brand as we’re driving… it’s makes for a VERY noisy car trip.  They were making such a noise that I had to ask them to keep quiet because I was trying to listen to Jen Su‘s entertainment report on Gareth Cliff’s show.

Then Bradley asks “Was Michael Jackson really the King of Rock?”, to which I replied “No, he was the King of Pop, but he wasn’t a real king, he was just the best singer at the time so everyone called him that”

His reponse…. “So is Justin Bieber the new King?”

My oath!! I didn’t even know he knew who that was!! My son is growing up fast!

What’s an old word anyway?

Last night on Twitter, I got a link from @WoganHD to a blog post written in 2009 which talks about all the words that were removed from the Oxford Childrens Dictionary in the 2009 revision and what the replacement words were.

Wow! Some of those words just blew my mind.  The article quotes someone who says that they removed some of the natural words because of the non-rural way that everyone lives now, and words were chosen for the book based on how often children would use the words.

I’m not sure I quite agree with the last statement… not sure about you, but I’ve never heard my kids use the word “trapezium” and “colloquial”… yet spaniels has been removed!! Bizarre! Truly bizarre.

Surely kids still use the words gerbil, spaniel, devil, dandelion, bacon, elf, ivy, ox, stork… my kids do… and they read about them in their books all the time.  I just don’t get it.

Suppose I’m going to have to start teaching them how to Google properly and soon.  It’s a great pity in my opinion, because there’s nothing that quite beats looking up something in a real book, and turning the pages to find something new.

While I’m waiting for my Mac to cut a DVD, I just have time to post a quick snippet from today

I worked from home again today, and the boys were having lunch in the kitchen. They both lifted up their chocolate milks, clinked their cups and shouted “to brotherhood”

PMSL!! No idea what movie they watched that included that phrase!

Ooh and I have to tell you this story too.  We’re trying very hard to stop Connor from swearing, and he’s ultra aware of bad words at the moment as a result.  So I was busy working in the dining room, and getting frustrated with myself with something I was trying to in Visio.  The kids were playing in the study upstairs.

Talking quite loudly to myself, I said “Oh you STUPID woman!!”.  I hear Connor voice come floating down…. “Mom, she’s a MANIAC, she’s not STUPID.  Stupid is a bad word!”

So there you go, I’m a maniac after all!

PS.  The photo was taken on a trip to the park this afternoon, more photos are on my photoblog

He has been a little on the infuriating side lately, but oh my word, he’s been funny too!

When I got home from the baby shoot yesterday, Beauty (my domestic who was looking after them while I worked) told me about this conversation she had with him.

Connor: “Beauty, do you have any children?”

Beauty: “Yes, two boys”

Connor: “Can they come play?”

Beauty: “No, they’re big now”

Connor: “What are their names?”

Beauty: “My one boy is Lucky, and the other boy is Surprise”

Connor: “You can’t name your boy that!! It’s a shop name!! We went to Mr Price yesterday!”

LOL!! Beauty apparently had her whole family laughing about the conversation last night

And this morning, he had me laughing when I took him Christmas shopping at Clearwater Mall.  We’d walked into Big Blue, and I was wondering around ogling at the gorgeous clothes that I was dying to buy.  I didn’t notice the shelves of adult toys that I was standing close to.

He did.

First he noticed the bow ties.  They’re in a box labelled “Dress up Willy” or something like that.  He asks what they are.  Thankfully, I could just say “Bow Tie” and he didn’t ask any more questions.

Then he notices the red furry handcuffs that are right next to the bow ties.

Connor: “Mommy, are those handcuffs?”

Me: “Yes” (hoping that would be the end of it)

Connor: “Can you buy me some?”

Me: “No, they’re not for little boys, they’re for girls… they’re red”

Connor: “Oh…. can we buy them for Erin’s Christmas present then?”

LOL!! Erin is his 3 year old cousin!! Thankfully I’ve bought and wrapped her present and that was a good enough excuse not to buy more for her!

Thank GOD Bradley wasn’t with me because he can read!

This conversation happened this morning, while we were having tea in bed.

Connor: “Next time when I’m a dad, I’m going to marry you mommy.  And daddy is going to marry you.”

He says “next time” when he refers to time going foward, he hasn’t got the notion of a few years or tomorrow yet.

Me:  “Aww that’s lovely my boy, that makes me happy”

**Silence***

Connor:  “And Bradley… ummm… Mommy, can boys get married to boys?”

Oh wow, wasn’t sure whether to tell the truth, because a lie would just have been so much easier.

Me:  “Yes, in South Africa, boys can marry boys”

Connor looked a little shocked at that, before he asked why.  I then explained that sometimes boys don’t like girls, and only like boys.

And there was a little more silence while he digested this.

Connor: “I don’t like boys that much.  I think I’ll marry Jade.”

Snippet of a conversation this afternoon, in the car, while we were discussing what to buy for supper

Me:  Pork is made from pigs

Bradley:  also bacon!

Bradley:  And Connor, chicken is made from REAL chickens

Connor: No, no, no, chicken comes from REAL shops

I couldn’t help laughing!

Picture the scene… driving past Lifestyle Nursery on our way to a party, and Bradley notices the Llondoloza security posters, and this conversation ensues:

Bradley: “Ooh look Llondoloza signs.  A’s daddy is the boss there.  He’s the boss of the security men.  Mommy, does he also go to where robbers are?”

Me:  “Yes, sometimes”

Bradley: “Oh…  that’s why he has every type of gun”

Me:  “Does he?”

Connor: “My daddy has a pimple gun”

Me: “a what?”

Bradley:  “A paint-ball gun?”

Connor: “Yes, a pimple gun”

Bradley: “My friend, Storm has lots of paint ball guns.  They’re real you know.  We used them at his party last year.  We shot boards and stuff with paint.”

Me: “I remember, that was fun wasn’t it?”

Bradley: “Yes, and Storm is going to be in the army when he’s big.  He said that.  He’s a toughie you know”

Parts of that conversation worried me just ever so slightly…

I took the day off today to take photos of Angel’s final dress fitting in anticipation for her wedding this Saturday.  Because Connor is yet again sick (after only 4 days back at school ) he tagged along with me while I shopped up a storm.

So on the way to Clearwater, he pipes up “How do mommies and daddies get babies in their tummies?”

OMG seriously!! He’s 3 for crying out aloud!! I’m not ready for that question!!

**silence** **because he floored me with that one**

“Do they buy them in the shops?”

Oooh I was tempted, very tempted.

So in the end I said “The baby grows in the mommy’s tummy when the mommy and daddy love each other lots and lots”

And then he replies “Do you love daddy a lot?”

Oh boy “Yes I do”

I knew this reply was coming “So where’s the baby in your tummy?”

Glad he soon lost his trail of thought once I told him that he was my baby and I’m not having anymore because I’m too old

Connor saunters into the kitchen with his train “Look what I can do Mom!”

I look a little closer to see that he’s wrapped the cord from a pull-along train around his neck and the train is dangling down his back!

FREAK OUT!!

—————

On the way to the shops to get toys for them because they finished their star charts successfully, Connor and Bradley were chatting about the star charts and when they’re naughty etc.

Bradley says “I’ve learnt to accept my punishment now.  That’s why I don’t cry when I get time out, I’m just quiet. ”

Talk about digging a knife into my heart and twisting it!! That hurt!!