Gregory Simon Allen
Born Friday 11th April 2014
15 to 18 months old
His life: Birth ♠ Week 1 ♠ Weeks 2-3 ♠ Weeks 4-7 ♠ Weeks 8-13 ♠ Weeks 14-22 ♠ 5-7 months ♠ 7-8 months ♠ 1st Christmas ♠ 8-10 months ♠ 10-12 months ♠ 1st birthday party ♠ 12-15 months ♠ 15-18 months ♠ 18-21 months ♠ 21-24 months ♠ 2nd birthday ♠ 2-2½ years ♠ 2½-3 years ♠ 3rd birthday ♠ 3-3¼ years ♠ 3¼-3½ years ♠ 3½-3¾ years ♠ 3¾-4 years ♠ 4th birthday
In summary: Index ♠ From birth to four years old ♠ Four years old onwards
Special features: Gregory translator ♠ Gregory phrases ♠ Gregory cookery
So we'll start Gregory's sixth quarter with a picture of the chubby-cheeked cherub staring into the mid-distance in the kitchen.
After the picture above, I took Daisy round to Waterdale Close to have her first sleepover, at Nana Sue's. We picked her up in the morning, where Gregory engaged in some ball games with his Aunty Katie.
We headed straight to Hale for a second 10th wedding anniversary party for Rick & Suze, with kids invited. Gregory headed to the disco area for a boogie.
Later that day, back at home, Gregory had somewhat of a static electricity problem on the trampoline.
A picnic on the kitchen floor anyone? It's almost certainly not clean enough for that, but luckily they're not eating real food so there's no need to phone social services or anything. And in any case, this was a few months ago (when I wrote it, and probably longer when you read it. I say "you", but it could even be me reading it, in which "Hello me!").
This was in fact the day of Lynne's birthday, but I had deferred taking the day off because Daisy was having a half-day at school. But never mind that, The Boy is causing carnage by tipping up the ball pool, initially funny but very, very swiftly wearing thin.
On the Friday, which I did take off work in lieu of Lynne's birthday, me and G lazed around on the sofa (at least he was dressed) while waiting for the girls to get ready (I would expect).
For the day, we headed to Chester Zoo, where we had been for my birthday in 2012 and 2013, although I have yet to put this year's zoological pictures up. Sorry about that. Anyway, this is from the restaurant.
We're dealing purely in mealtimes now, as we join Gregory later that day for one of his favourite meals: pasta with peas. He just likes to get stuck in.
Ok, so the peas have gone all over the place somewhat, but there's still time for a big cheers with big sister Daisy.
A lazy Saturday morning scene, sitting on the sofa watching TV. I say "lazy" but Daisy has probably already been to dance class by this point (10.30am). I'm not sure whether it's warm or Gregory just can't be bothered getting ready.
An hour later and it's time for some fresh air at the top of the slide, the hoodie and bare leg combo sending mixed messages about exactly how warm it is outside.
Teatime that day is finished off wonderfully with a mini ice-cream cone. "Dad, do I have any chocolate on me?" "Son, you have a chocolate goatie."
Here's Gregory bouncing around on the trampoline with Daisy and a couple of friends. This is the kind of thing that they get up to on a weekday (this is a photo taken by Lynne while I am at work).
Pressed into action following the revelation from Lynne that there aren't any decent photos of Gregory, I took a few on this day towards the end of July. The white top adds to the angelic look, but he's definitely in need of a haircut at this point.
He does like spending time on the sofa, if only to prove that he can climb up there. He's also doing some other than stacking his numbered cups.
Oh no, we're back to stacking them again, albeit in a very random order. He seriously needs a haircut. The floppy fringe and baggy shirt combo is giving him a 90s boyband feel.
On what looks like a pleasant day at the end of July, in a sandpit by a park (Lynne took this; I was at work), Gregory looks to Daisy for some hand-brushing guidance.
Early August now and his determination to be independent means we can now just give him an unpeeled banana and he's off, munching away. I'm pretty sure we would be chopping it up for Daisy at this age.
Later that day, we headed to Rookery Hall near Nantwich for the Barlow anniversary and birthday extravaganza (there were lots of round numbers reached), which had been in the diary for an age and a day. I got ready first and took the well-dressed Gregory (and Daisy - not pictured) down to the bar area.
It was only a matter of time before he was keen to go for a walk, here waving at someone in the window (perhaps Uncle Colin).
Uncle Matt, even more sharply dressed than Gregory or me, leapt in for a word in the ear or a peck on the cheek. It's not clear.
Not clear here whether Gregory genuinely wants peace (it often doesn't feel like it) or whether he is just a bit excited about something.
We now spin forward a couple of weeks, following a holiday in Scotland (the usual Haddington and Aberfeldy combo). We have thankfully fought back the rapidly-growing fringe, but that hasn't stopped him from needlessly climbing atop the pram.
The next day, Gregory pointed at the car as if to say "Daddy, you missed a bit, let me give it a quick wash for you".
Out on the lawn, Gregory was very involved with his toy pink pushchair. (It's not really his but Daisy has two so it's only fair that he gets to play with one.)
Here is Daisy with her other toy pushchair, legging it around the garden with Gregory. He's been walking for two months now so running is easy enough.
While Daisy busied herself with her pushchair, Gregory shot me a look as I took their picture. I don't think he's meant to be modelling the latest in 1950s swimwear, but it does look like it.
We're into harvesting season in the garden, although I've not really put the time in (as you can perhaps see from the dying pea plants on the left, although that was partly due to us being on holiday). Gregory and Daisy ignore the actual vegetation, focusing instead on some form of transferring dirt from one receptacle to another.
All the outside work had made him hungry. It's quite hard now to feed him anything, so determined is he to do it himself. This inevitably means, with something like tomato-y pasta, a mess. A side helping of sweetcorn bedecks the highchair table - he loves the stuff.
The little monkey enjoying a slice of watermelon on a hot day (the paddling pool was out, hence his relative state of undress).
Later in August, we headed down to Congleton for Imogen's 18th birthday party. Unfortunately, the weather forecast never wavered from heavy rain and that turned out to be the case. Doubly unfortunately, the party generally took part outside, although gazebos did provide some shelter from the elements. Gregory preferred to shuffle around in the puddles, though; lobbing a tennis ball around for his (and most likely my) entertainment.
This looks rather like a wistful after-the-party shot, but I think he had just gone to be where people were not.
Next weekend, the bank holiday weekend, we popped down to the local park to give Gregory a run around. Always a good idea to tire children out.
During a bank holiday weekend, it's a good idea to kick back, relax and do some drawing whilst on the sofa. Gregory is really starting to get into it now...
...as you can see from this picture, although I very much doubt that he's done the crude colouring in of the car - he's not yet got that level of control.
It's Daisy's last day before school, so they've clearly decided to make the most of it, somehow both fitting on to the talking bike thing.
The boy does love the cuddly dog (boy's best friend?). Or, perhaps the dog is desperately trying to escape and Gregory has just rugby tackled it. We'll never know.
Now this is how to play snakes and ladders. Get a big board (bought for you by your Uncle Matt) and be the pieces.
It was a very proud moment when Gregory got his licence, at the required legal age of 17 (months). He can now drive around the lounge without me in the passenger seat, which is a relief in many different ways.
A contender for least great pun of 2015, Tramp2Lean is the venue for this shot. We went along for the opening day and Gregory did seem to enjoy it (as did Daisy - not pictured). It seems primarily to be a fitness place, although clearly it caters for kids and children's parties - it would be mad not to. (I still don't entirely get the fitness aspect. Whilst I accept that it takes energy to make yourself bounce on a trampoline, you're going to spend most of the time in the air, which takes much less effort. I guess you just have to keep manically moving your arms around or something.)
A Sunday morning getting some work done at the desk I had set up for the young man. Colouring features in most of Gregory's days now.
He did like sitting at the desk, but seems to prefer the standing up version. He likes his freedom.
Another day, another drawing session, this time with Grandma Avis round (we're in mid-September now).
I'd gone for a bike ride in the morning, after a meal out the night before (and my first alcoholic drinks for four weeks due to a a bacterial infection - not really the place to go into details here). Anyway, I don't look completely 100% as we posed for a joint self-picture (I do hope someone comes up with a shorter name for one of those soon), although partly this may be due to accidental weight loss. The Boy's fringe is on its way back.
One of Gregory's new favourite things around about this time is to play his own version of shop. This basically involves getting all the pretend food out of the pretend trolley and putting it on the toy box shelving unit thing. Sometimes he will deliver it around the lounge if people are there. But mostly it's stacking the shelves, basically. It keeps him endlessly fascinated, transferring them back and forth, and is therefore a very good thing.
G-man has an increasingly well-developed arm for throwing things. That has mixed benefits. It will certainly come in useful for sporting activities, and is generally fine outside, but inside it's a bit hazardous.
As ever, he is keen to join in with whatever I am doing. In this particular instance, I have been trying to sort out the vegetable patch as it had become overgrown. In the background, you can see potato plants which need pulling up, and pretty-much-invisible onions obscured by a sea of weeds. I wish that my onions grew as well as the weeds.
My digging up of the potatoes yielded some good rewards as Gregory looked on, fairly content just to walk around and around the vegetable patch as it was somewhere new. It must have felt like an adventure.
All that walking around must have been quite tiring so he went for a sit down in the play house.
Rejuvenated, he took to pushing Daisy around on the trike. We had only just fitted the rear handle for ease of pushing, and Gregory took full advantage of that new facility.
Gregory usually just has warmed up milk on rising, but here he joined in with Daisy's pancake fest (he will have had the milk too at some point). This was in the days when we let them have breakfast on the sofa, where they (Daisy) tended to leave behind a copious amount of crumbs.
With cousin Alison over from Australia, a get-together in Lyme Park was organised, providing ample space for Gregory to wander around and point at water features (whilst avoiding the unfortunately prevalent dog muck).
(Great) Uncle Jim showed his knack for entertaining the children, engaging in run and chase games with The Boy.
Second cousins Tommy (Alison's son) and Gregory have fun on/by a log.
There was quite a crowd that had been assembled at the park, and this is just a small subset, but does represent most of the children there (and Uncle Jim, who again has taken on Gregory duties). Tommy, Daisy and Lily seem to be hanging around in the park as if they are in training to be teenagers.
This is one way of having your breakfast, but it wouldn't be in my top ten and nor indeed should it be in Gregory's. His access to the cupboards is often, but not always, limited by magnetic locks. This appears to be one of those cases where it may not have been. I can take comfort, however, in the fact that I was not to blame (I was at work).
A little bit of TV-watching-and-dancing action for y'all.
Into October now and Gregory looks most thoughtful as he has a go on the swing at the local park. Either that or he is trying out some mind-reading techniques. I can't imagine that would do him any good, though.
And we finish this episode of Gregory's life with a picture of him being led in a dance with his big sister Daisy, whom he generally dotes upon, except when she has something he wants. Then it's just a game of tug o' war.
On to the next page or back to the Secret Portal.