Previously on Taking the Mickey:

Oh my. It was quite a dry spell for my blog. I'm sure my millions of readers were gutted at my absence. Time for a recap post.

It is really the usual stuff. Being busy with some things (like my new on-line portfolio) and going through lots of stuff that I do not really want to write about on a public blog. Thankfully there is always Blake.

Blake is less than two months away from his third birthday which is too weird because soon he will be at an age that I remember myself at. It feels as if his second birthday has only been a couple of weeks ago. He is super bright, lovely and kind. I guess I'll just break out a whole bunch of mini-anecdotes about Blake version 2.9.

Blake still likes reading. He would occasionally want to read the cards I made him, but not very often. The impressive thing is, he does remember around 150 words without drilling them on a daily basis. The other day he was showing off with the animal cards, getting them all perfectly. Then he got bored and deliberately chose the wrong animals and burst out laughing. I know young ones enjoy doing that, but he was doing it with cards with words on them, not pictures. The next stage will be creating some small books for him with stories and songs he likes with big red words for him to read on his own.

Blake adores the game Forza Motor Sport 3 on the X-Box 360 and demands that I would play it at least twice a day while he watches the screen in excitement. I tried swapping it for Need For Speed Most Wanted, but Blake would not have it. He knows the difference between a realistic simulation game and trashy arcade nonsense. Sometimes he would stand too close to the screen and hide the mini-map, making navigation trickier. If I would try to stand up to look over his head he would turn around and push me back to the sofa. The rules are very clear: He is standing, I am sitting. I would occasionally get up just for fun because he looks so cute and determined when he pushes me back to my place.

Blake likes to be pushed around the house on his toy train. I run around with him fairly fast, one hand pushing the train and another holding Blake to make sure he does not fly off at a sharp u-turn. The problem is that the train's handle is fairly short so I have to run around bending over and I get tired very quickly. Good exercise. I also took him today out on his Tricycle which I took out of a one year retirement in our shed. Again, good exercise. Another game, which I taught him weeks ago and today he initiated on his own, was to pick up his Harold the helicopter toy (from Thomas & Friends); the toy would make helicopter noises and I would pick Blake and "fly" him around the house as he and Harold go on patrol. Very tiring stuff, but the look on Blake's face makes up for the sore arms.

Blake is getting used to his not-so-new-any-more bed and would sometimes spend the entire night there. But often he would wobble half asleep to our bed. He is very cuddly, but he has a weird habit to turn around and aim his feet at our heads and give us his own version of a "foot massage". It is one of those things that are a bit annoying right now, but I know I will miss as soon as he will stop doing them.

Leo and Dexter are... Well, Leo and Dexter. Leo has fully recovered from his leg injury and seeing him run and jump like an excited puppy you would never guess he was approaching six and had a metal plate and seven giant nails inside his leg. Dexter has mellowed since losing his testicles and getting a bit older, but he is still fairly insane. I am taking the dogs together only at night where the chance of meeting other dogs is small. Small, but still exists. Two weeks ago the dogs got excited at meeting another dog. I held on to dear life and shouted "STOP!" and they did, but only after dragging me a big and skinning me in a couple of places that still have not fully healed. Great times.

That is about it for now. I am sure I forgot some cool little anecdotes, but that can wait.

--Mickey