I hope this blog is not merely to be updated annually - I had always hoped to do more. But I have not. And I said something similar when I wrote pretty close to a year ago. This post will largely follow the format of that one.
Tomorrow we are planning to finish the Capital Ring, by walking the final 2 legs, a total of 9 miles, which we now consider eminently manageable. It's been great, we've seen so much of the city that I had never seen. I know the place far better now than I ever have. It's so green - we have got into the whole National Park City thing in this year - and we've shared photos on social media, challenging friends and family to answer "Where am I?". You enjoy and encourage this.
When we started the Capital Ring, it was ostensibly a good way to prepare you to climb Mt. Snowdon. In July 2018, we went to Snowdonia to meet John (who you came close to beating at chess) and his son, Hugh, who you got on well with. I'd told you we'd climb Snowdon but in the end Hugh did not want to and so we did not. We did other great stuff - Caernavon Castle and a boat trip to Puffin Island off Anglesey, where we saw porpoises and seals, stands out - but I felt bad and promised we'd do it this year if we prepared.
On the Parkland Walk from Finsbury Park with your friend Michael in August (a couple of weeks after returning from Wales), I noticed the Capital Ring waymarkers, looked it up later and then we agreed it would be the best prep. We've loved it, and you're on your second pair of walking shoes.
And you did Snowdon! We went in early August, a few days after you'd been a page boy at Hanna and Bruno's wedding, and chose the best day to ascend. We'd asked a few opinions and ultimately went up the PYG route (2hrs 45) and back down Miners' (2hrs 30).
We both loved it. You loved it so much that you said you wanted to climb the 3 peaks. A few weeks ago, I asked after a family reunion with some of the members of my dad's side of the family (my cousins, Suzanne, Sherran and Simone & their kids, my Australian cousin once removed, Vanessa and her partner Ashley, and your aunty Kerry) whether you wanted to go for a hot beach holiday in October half-term (Suzanne had shown some pictures of a Cyprus holiday) or to a cold wet Lake District to climb Scafell Pike. You chose this option, so that is what we will be doing in 4 weeks or so.
Your choice did not particularly surprise me. Ahead of your May half-term, you had asked me to give you some choices of things we could do. I spent an evening making a list of six or seven possibilities for the week, filling it out a little by including a return to Cornwall (loads of seals), which we'd visited in February.
Still, I thought, there weren't enough choices. So I made it up to ten by adding unlikely options. You chose one of them (that did surprise me): a 100-mile cycle ride from Carlisle (Castle) to Newcastle along Hadrian's Wall. Our English Heritage membership was well used and you cycled up and down hills and mountains on the new bike we'd bought a week or two beforehand, and we ended up at the Angel of the North before a night in Newcastle.
You are still an inspirational son. Would I have cycled Hadrian's Wall or climbed Snowdon otherwise?
You remain a loving, funny, bright, thoughtful and hard-working young man. I remain devoted.
You have taken a great interest in the news in this last year - though you have always been interested - and you asked if you could go on the Climate Strike last week. You woke up early to make a poster/placard and your mum finished work early to take you out of school to protest.
Your musical prowess has continued to progress. Your piano teacher, Carlos, has seen a real improvement in your touch in the last week or so, as you feel the music better. We knew this before him. Something clicked in the last week and your playing of Fur Elise, Tarantella, Avalanche and Menuet has moved to another level.
You "headlined" another school music evening in March - playing Avalanche and a duet with Ella before playing a sing-along to "Shotgun" by George Ezra (we printed the lyrics and shared them with everyone there). Your biggest fan embarrassed himself a little by singing too loudly at the front.
We have also started on the guitar together. We've been working on chord changes and probably not practising quite enough. But we're getting there. You've been working on the violin and agreed to do Friday morning music ensemble, where you are looking at real musical notes, rather than colourstring books.
You still love reading. You enjoy rereading Wimpy Kid, Middle School, Dirty Bertie (recently) and plenty of others and I've read a fair few Michael Morpurgo novels with you in the last year. I have just read the first chapter of Belgariad to you, a year later than planned. You say your favourite book is "The Silver Sword" but you have other favourites.
You are still fab at maths but we are not doing as much at home. Your interest in architecture and design is still there. Surely there are not many 8 year-olds out there who know what it means that tomorrow's walk will follow Joseph Bazalgette's sewers.
History is of great interest to you, not least (a) because we let you spend significant screen time watching Horrible Histories (you have the books, too) and (b) we drag you around palaces and English Heritage sites regularly. You're knowledge of geography is also impressive. I think it started with the map in the bathroom, and learning all the capitals of the world. We play "Who knows Where" board game and recently you have begun to take over my role in the "Quiz planet" app I play with a few friends through social media. You know an impressive amount and could beat some of my opponents by yourself. You are 8.
We have invested in your interest in chess. We have been going to the free club at St Pancras (which I was instrumental in setting up through email request to CSC) for more than a year, but this summer we put you into a couple of chess camps, the second of which you were particularly enthusiastic about, and which led to an invitation to play for Barnet county junior team. This followed entries in three tournaments, which you enjoyed and did well at. You now beat me about as often as I beat you over the board, but your online slow chess does not do your ability justice.
Last month you played in the Golders Green Fide Rapid and beat 3 older men. You were disappointed with your first defeat (third game of six) but this was an amazing performance from an 8 y.o. You don't really realise that yet.
You had your first karate tournament in Portsmouth last year and enjoyed it.
I have joined you this year but we practise less outside class than previously and it shows. You are a busy boy, as this post testifies, but I do think karate or some such will be a valuable skill in your future. I hope you will continue to take pride in yourself and your martial arts ability and what that affords. We may be moving to 2 classes/week from next week so that would be a good way of ensuring a little more practice.
I used to be your main swimming partner but in the last year your mum has taken over and I have not been with you for a while (this will change when we stay up at Windermere with an indoor pool) but mummy tells me that you have become a very confident swimmer and you are in the top group at school. It's a great ability - well done, love.
You have been coding a lot in the last year, spurred on by your "Scratch" classes in the same building as your school (different entrance) and we have enjoyed playing the games that you have made. The (raspberry pi) Kano I bought you two or three years ago has not been used so much, and the desktop is your main portal to your fun. Fair enough. Scratch has been great.
Rock, my son, I love you so much. You are growing up but you are still a sweet and innocent boy. You were a fantastic page boy for Hanna and Bruno - who really appreciated your role and bought you a camera and some smart accessories for your wedding suit - and you enjoyed your role. (By the way, I loved your long hair look so much.)
You are a loving son and a wonderful young man. Every day with you is a blessing. Love and kisses.
Tomorrow we are planning to finish the Capital Ring, by walking the final 2 legs, a total of 9 miles, which we now consider eminently manageable. It's been great, we've seen so much of the city that I had never seen. I know the place far better now than I ever have. It's so green - we have got into the whole National Park City thing in this year - and we've shared photos on social media, challenging friends and family to answer "Where am I?". You enjoy and encourage this.
When we started the Capital Ring, it was ostensibly a good way to prepare you to climb Mt. Snowdon. In July 2018, we went to Snowdonia to meet John (who you came close to beating at chess) and his son, Hugh, who you got on well with. I'd told you we'd climb Snowdon but in the end Hugh did not want to and so we did not. We did other great stuff - Caernavon Castle and a boat trip to Puffin Island off Anglesey, where we saw porpoises and seals, stands out - but I felt bad and promised we'd do it this year if we prepared.
On the Parkland Walk from Finsbury Park with your friend Michael in August (a couple of weeks after returning from Wales), I noticed the Capital Ring waymarkers, looked it up later and then we agreed it would be the best prep. We've loved it, and you're on your second pair of walking shoes.And you did Snowdon! We went in early August, a few days after you'd been a page boy at Hanna and Bruno's wedding, and chose the best day to ascend. We'd asked a few opinions and ultimately went up the PYG route (2hrs 45) and back down Miners' (2hrs 30).
We both loved it. You loved it so much that you said you wanted to climb the 3 peaks. A few weeks ago, I asked after a family reunion with some of the members of my dad's side of the family (my cousins, Suzanne, Sherran and Simone & their kids, my Australian cousin once removed, Vanessa and her partner Ashley, and your aunty Kerry) whether you wanted to go for a hot beach holiday in October half-term (Suzanne had shown some pictures of a Cyprus holiday) or to a cold wet Lake District to climb Scafell Pike. You chose this option, so that is what we will be doing in 4 weeks or so.
Your choice did not particularly surprise me. Ahead of your May half-term, you had asked me to give you some choices of things we could do. I spent an evening making a list of six or seven possibilities for the week, filling it out a little by including a return to Cornwall (loads of seals), which we'd visited in February.
Still, I thought, there weren't enough choices. So I made it up to ten by adding unlikely options. You chose one of them (that did surprise me): a 100-mile cycle ride from Carlisle (Castle) to Newcastle along Hadrian's Wall. Our English Heritage membership was well used and you cycled up and down hills and mountains on the new bike we'd bought a week or two beforehand, and we ended up at the Angel of the North before a night in Newcastle.
You are still an inspirational son. Would I have cycled Hadrian's Wall or climbed Snowdon otherwise?
You remain a loving, funny, bright, thoughtful and hard-working young man. I remain devoted.
You have taken a great interest in the news in this last year - though you have always been interested - and you asked if you could go on the Climate Strike last week. You woke up early to make a poster/placard and your mum finished work early to take you out of school to protest.
Your musical prowess has continued to progress. Your piano teacher, Carlos, has seen a real improvement in your touch in the last week or so, as you feel the music better. We knew this before him. Something clicked in the last week and your playing of Fur Elise, Tarantella, Avalanche and Menuet has moved to another level.
You "headlined" another school music evening in March - playing Avalanche and a duet with Ella before playing a sing-along to "Shotgun" by George Ezra (we printed the lyrics and shared them with everyone there). Your biggest fan embarrassed himself a little by singing too loudly at the front.
We have also started on the guitar together. We've been working on chord changes and probably not practising quite enough. But we're getting there. You've been working on the violin and agreed to do Friday morning music ensemble, where you are looking at real musical notes, rather than colourstring books.
You still love reading. You enjoy rereading Wimpy Kid, Middle School, Dirty Bertie (recently) and plenty of others and I've read a fair few Michael Morpurgo novels with you in the last year. I have just read the first chapter of Belgariad to you, a year later than planned. You say your favourite book is "The Silver Sword" but you have other favourites.
You are still fab at maths but we are not doing as much at home. Your interest in architecture and design is still there. Surely there are not many 8 year-olds out there who know what it means that tomorrow's walk will follow Joseph Bazalgette's sewers.
History is of great interest to you, not least (a) because we let you spend significant screen time watching Horrible Histories (you have the books, too) and (b) we drag you around palaces and English Heritage sites regularly. You're knowledge of geography is also impressive. I think it started with the map in the bathroom, and learning all the capitals of the world. We play "Who knows Where" board game and recently you have begun to take over my role in the "Quiz planet" app I play with a few friends through social media. You know an impressive amount and could beat some of my opponents by yourself. You are 8.
We have invested in your interest in chess. We have been going to the free club at St Pancras (which I was instrumental in setting up through email request to CSC) for more than a year, but this summer we put you into a couple of chess camps, the second of which you were particularly enthusiastic about, and which led to an invitation to play for Barnet county junior team. This followed entries in three tournaments, which you enjoyed and did well at. You now beat me about as often as I beat you over the board, but your online slow chess does not do your ability justice.
Last month you played in the Golders Green Fide Rapid and beat 3 older men. You were disappointed with your first defeat (third game of six) but this was an amazing performance from an 8 y.o. You don't really realise that yet.
You had your first karate tournament in Portsmouth last year and enjoyed it.
I have joined you this year but we practise less outside class than previously and it shows. You are a busy boy, as this post testifies, but I do think karate or some such will be a valuable skill in your future. I hope you will continue to take pride in yourself and your martial arts ability and what that affords. We may be moving to 2 classes/week from next week so that would be a good way of ensuring a little more practice.
I used to be your main swimming partner but in the last year your mum has taken over and I have not been with you for a while (this will change when we stay up at Windermere with an indoor pool) but mummy tells me that you have become a very confident swimmer and you are in the top group at school. It's a great ability - well done, love.
You have been coding a lot in the last year, spurred on by your "Scratch" classes in the same building as your school (different entrance) and we have enjoyed playing the games that you have made. The (raspberry pi) Kano I bought you two or three years ago has not been used so much, and the desktop is your main portal to your fun. Fair enough. Scratch has been great.
Rock, my son, I love you so much. You are growing up but you are still a sweet and innocent boy. You were a fantastic page boy for Hanna and Bruno - who really appreciated your role and bought you a camera and some smart accessories for your wedding suit - and you enjoyed your role. (By the way, I loved your long hair look so much.)
You are a loving son and a wonderful young man. Every day with you is a blessing. Love and kisses.
