2019 - Another Year of Progress

Mummy and Daddy are so proud of another year of you. We are so happy and so proud to see your hard work pay off and mean that you achieve amazing things. We should be clear. You have achieved amazing things before but to continue to achieve them is what makes us most proud. Mummy and Daddy will always love you so much. Your hard work gives us some extra pride on top of our love and happiness. 

Some things that we are happy about are mundane.
It is great that you are doing a better job of cleaning your teeth, for instance.
This is a boring but crucial part of maturing.
It’s great to see you becoming more independent generally.
Daddy loves hearing you singing in the shower as you wash.

You have grown physically stronger.
You cycled more than 100 miles from Carlisle to Newcastle along Hadrian’s Wall, always cheerful whatever the weather, and interested - as ever - in the historical places you saw, like Carlisle Castle (which Charles Edward Stuart - The Young Pretender’ and the Jacobites attacked), Lanercost Priory, various turrets and observation towers, Walltown Crags, unwelcoming cows, Housesteads Roman Fort, Chesters Roman Fort, George Stephenson’s birthplace and of course the Angel of the North.
We cycled and cycled and you were amazing and full of vigour.
Later on in the year, we cycled to Wembley and back in a day and most of the way to Watford too on another trip.
Daddy looks forward to another cycling trip soon.

You have become a better footballer.
In goal, you have made some amazing saves, including against Daddy.
Your distribution is also much improved.
In defence, Daddy has seen you chase back at Highbury Wolves and make crucial tackles - your hard work has earned you “Man of the Match” on more than one occasion there and also recently at school.
Every boy wants that accolade, so for you to win it shows your commitment to your practice.
This has also been evident in your training sessions with Daddy and Mummy, when you spend time practising various drills that Daddy requests. Well done, our little star!

You have practised and improved your table tennis and played really well at Springhead Trust and Bounce for Daddy’s birthday party;
your enjoyment of turnball in the summer has probably contributed to you finding squash a fairly easy game to pick up.
They are all fun games and these improvements in your coordination will be beneficial for all sports and many other activities. Let’s play lots of squash in 2020.

You have continued to work hard on your karate.
You have double graded and graded and now you are a yellow belt with a white stripe.
You have constantly shown a desire to improve and it is clear that you have made your Sensei, Adam, proud.
Your practice and effort has led to you winning two medals this year at a multi-club competition.
That was a fantastic achievement that could only have occurred because of hard work.
Seeing you on the podium nearly burst our hearts.
We look forward to seeing you in your green belt next year.

This year, in 2019, you have become a better swimmer.
You have achieved significant milestones in the pool, such as 100m and 200m and earned badges but really you deserve most credit for just working hard every week to get better and better.

You finished the Capital Ring of 80 miles around London with ten-mile walks becoming a normal thing for you when many adults have never done that.
On those walks, we went to parts of London we have never been to and saw places like Brunel’s Wharncliffe Viaduct, Syon House and a multitude of London’s green spaces.
This was preparation for your desire to climb Mount Snowdon, which Daddy had promised you would do this summer after you were not able to last year.
You did the climb up PYG with energy and a great attitude.
Then you walked back down Miner’s, when many people take the train.
Having done so, you set your sights on the three peaks challenge in a year, and within 10 weeks you had also climbed England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike.
You are strong and determined and Daddy looks forward to climbing Ben Nevis with you in 2020.

But your success this year is not only physical.
In the Lake District, before you climbed Scafell Pike, you learnt an entire poem off by heart - William Wordsworth’s “Daffodils” - and since then have learnt “If” by Rudyard Kipling, “The Tyger” by William Blake and much of a Benjamin Zephanyr poem.
Your dedication to this work and your love of these works show that you are a young man of extremely cultured taste.
Obviously you have learnt various lines of poetry during your time at school and other lines for your learning performances.
This was a different level of memorisation and one which you thrived on. 
Relatedly, your December performance as Narrator of the Xmas play was excellent - loud and clear speaking sandwiching beautiful piano playing.
Not only did Mummy and Daddy think you were great, many of your contemporaries and their parents also felt compelled to tell you and us how well you had performed.
We are not particularly concerned with what other people think.
However, if you do a fantastic job, it is inevitable that it will be recognised.

Of course there is also musical development.
You have worked on various pieces of music this year and become a better pianist.
Early in the year, at KCA Music Evening, you played beautifully and got everyone singing along to George Ezra’s “Shotgun”.
You have also practised violin more than ever, especially after some help from Tiantian, and become a very able player.
Finally, you have begun the guitar. It started slowly but your chord changing has become so much better and that is the key to playing songs in 2020. Daddy really wants to play guitar together with you and is looking forward to it so much.

You have, of course, also progressed as a chess player.
You had a fantastic introduction to competitive chess in Tony’s West London tournament in June and got 5 out of 6 points.
In the six months since then, you have competed in multiple tournaments (Golders Green, Basingstoke, Newham GP 2, Newham GP 3, West London, Camden Winter, LJCC U10 major) and even qualified for the LJCC U12 major.
Those competitions have shown us what we already know - that progress has ups and downs but is mostly upwards over time if you keep working.
You have beaten men with 40+ years’ more experience than you (including Daddy, of course) and also lots of talented kids who have had more tuition than you.
It is not possible to do so well unless you are determined to beat your opponents and you have shown such determination and skill.
Daddy has been overawed by some of the beautiful chess moves you have made and we believe that you have amazing potential as a chess player.
If you keep studying and learning, and you want to win tournaments, then you will do so.

Your academic work has continued to be excellent and your Year 3 report (last academic year) showed that you were exceeding expectations in key areas.
You spent time in a Chinese school and represented yourself, your family and your country with style.
You work hard on verbal and non-verbal reasoning puzzles and work well on maths with Mummy.
You also are doing well in French and continue to speak more and more Chinese.
You always make a great effort with your home learning and have blazed a powerpoint trail this year!
We both love that you enjoy BSL too and of course to add to this, you have mastered Scratch this year and moved on to Python, giving your parents interesting and educational lessons.

You got to know the UK better this year. In London, as well as the various Capital Ring walks, you also visited buildings like Strawberry House Hill, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and a range of places for Archimake and Open House weekend such as Heatherwick Studios, Camden Mews, Cutlers’ Hall, Butchers’ Hall, Salters’ Hall and Dulwich Picture Gallery.
You love learning about these places and remember and retell nuggets of fascinating facts.

But you went further than London.
In February half-term you went down to Devon and Cornwall.
You spent a little time in Plymouth, seeing Walter Raleigh’’s statue and climbing the lighthouse before we went to the Eden Project.
You were not keen on the shouty soldier at the assault course you did at Pendennis Castle, before we went to the National Maritime Museum (do you remember the Titanic exhibition?), Tate St Ives, ancient Iron Age sites, Land’s End, Lydford Castle and you did sifting at Geevor Tin Mine, which was part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A highlight was seeing all the seals at Mullion Cove near Godrevy beach. 

In March, we went up to Sheffield to see an exhibition of art by Phlegm and used it as an opportunity to travel round the city and see various works by him and other street artists.
In May, we did a heritage train ride from Chinnor to Princes Risborough and then a 7-mile walk back again.

Later on in the year, you cycled Hadrian’s Wall, another UNESCO site and then had a summer trip during which you went UNESCO site bagging.
You added the Roman Baths at Bath, Ironbridge Gorge, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Saltaire and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to the places you got to know.
You also cycled around and visited places in Oxford and went to Cambridge with Nanny, Grandad, Nainai, Yeye and Tiantian. 

We also did more in the Lake District than just climb Scafell Pike and learn “Daffodils”.
We spent time on Ullswater, and then Ullswater Way and saw Aira Force, which left you unimpressed since you had seen an enormous waterfall, Huanguoshu, this year in China.
We criss-crossed Windermere and rode a halloween-themed heritage railway.
We walked up to Surprise View before the weather got the better of us. 

It’s not just the UK, though.
You remain engaged with the world.
You are interested in facts, history, geography, science and current affairs.
You love taking part in “Quiz Planet” against Daddy’s friends and look forward to your newspaper - First News - each Friday.
You read it voraciously and share what you learn.
That interest and engagement meant that you volunteered to create a Brunei box for your school’s French project and that your work was the most unique, current and politically aware of any of those there. 

But above all else is how you deal with people.
(This is not the same as being popular - popularity is not so important even though it often feels like it is.)
Sports and maths and music are all important but friends and family - relationships - make up the world that matters to us.
Mummy and Daddy love how well you interact with other people.
You made friends in your Chinese school and participated well with other children despite a bit of a language barrier.
In London, you did a great job of working with Ella-Saoirse on “A Million Dreams” for the Music Evening and you clearly get on with lots of your classmates very well.
You were a fantastic page boy to Hanna and Bruno, who were so appreciative of your role (and you looked so handsome).
We also love how friendly you are to those around you - how you make Edwin feel special and how you include Oscar in your time with Frank.
Recently, we heard that you wrote a note to Adam when he was off school ill and this sort of thoughtfulness was gratefully received by Adam and his family and makes both your parents feel proud about the person you are and the ability you have to make a positive impact on those around you. 

Yearly update?

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.

Big boy

My little seven years and one month-old boy, you walked 7 miles today with me and your mum on the first section of the Capital Ring, which we said we would walk the whole of before you turn 8. It's not the furthest you've walked; we did the Chess Valley walk a few weeks ago and a mistake by yours truly meant that we did 11 rather than the planned 10 miles. You never complained once, though you slept well that night. Hopefully, you will tonight too.

I haven't written about you here for two years. That's unforgivable. You have brought so much joy to our lives in that time and there have been so many wonderful moments. Who are you now? What do you like? What have you done in two years?

You have been an inspirational son. You are loving, funny and so bright. You are good-natured, sensitive and generous. Every day I feel so happy to be your dad and I want to spend as much time with you as I can. I look forward to weekends so much, and loved our two weeks together during your summer holidays (we went to Portsmouth (saw The Mary Rose), the Tower of London, Nanny and Grandad's (and saw your first Shakespeare - The Tempest - at Kenilworth Castle), did the walk mentioned above and one from Hammersmith to Kew (taking in Chiswick House and Kew Palace), Oxford, Stonehenge, Bristol and I joined you for the long weekend in Dover (we went to the castle twice). I have seen and done so many new things because your curiosity and interest have led us there.

You have been playing the piano for two years and now you are SO good. There was a school music evening towards the end of Year 2 a couple of months ago, and your classmates played lovely notes on their violins and cellos. There was some cute singing too. Then, headlining, you played. You started with what you knew of "Avalanche", then played a little ditty you had written, next was "Sound of Silence" and finally you played "Yellow Submarine", and everyone sang along with the lyrics I'd brought in. We were so proud and had to try not to show just how much. You're one of the youngest in your year but the most amazing in the school.

You still love reading. You've gone through Horrid Henry and Jeremy Strong books and currently love rereading Tom Gates and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. You read all the Harry Potter half a year ago or more. I have been trying to move you into older books. We bought you a Michael Morpugo box set and you have got into the Ruby Redfort box set your friend Michael (and his mum Lili) bought you. Over the next 6 months, I hope you will read the Belgariad set that were recommended and that I bought for your birthday as a present from Idris and Isbah, who gave me the money.

You have an interest in art, and especially street art. We went to see the Banksy in Dover, but you know so much more than that and have met several artists and even swapped stickers with them. You have created hand-painted (with posca pens) works of art on egg shell stickers and a slogan you came up with ("Rot Your Heart") and put them out all over London and beyond - indeed they have gone international. We love going to see street art and especially enjoy hunting the lovely coins put out by an art duo we have met on a few occasions called "Quiet British Accent". Their work has inspired you and we have done many a treasure hunt for paper "coins" you have created and hidden in the flat and beyond (in the building and courtyard). I have a little box with hundreds of them that I have hunted for and found. We have bought postcards at galleries we have been to and used them to get you to remember the artists and the names of the works. Again, this has led to a massive explosion in my own knowledge of and ability to recognise the style of artists.

We call you Numberhead. You're a fantastic little mathematician, at the top of your school for this too. I hope that in your teens you will go down the maths/science/engineering route but your interest in architecture and design are also promising. You did a year of "Archimake" at school and a week at the beginning of the summer of going around London hearing about buildings and sketching them. I have added (a so far limited) knowledge of architects and designers to my repertoire, again inspired by your interest, your questions and a desire to help you remember and develop this knowledge.

You have been playing chess for since you were three. You have been playing online for about three years and now you occasionally beat me. You love the game (and others, such as Catan). We went to a new chess club at St Pancras library on Friday and you played and beat 3 adults. Your mum and I are talking how to develop this interest and skill you have. There's a club in Swiss Cottage we are considering.

You now go to karate every Monday night. It's been just over a year and you enjoy going, along with your friend Frank. You have both done really well, double-grading once and then triple-grading at the most recent event. You have practised hard at home (as you have with the piano and chess) and take pride in getting your moves right. You've showed more interest in playing football recently. We still ice-skate but not as often. We had classes for the best part of two years. Your mum fell and broke her knee in 7 places at one of our lessons. You skate backwards and do jumps, still. You have been on a few long cycle rides, doing about 20 miles earlier this year in a ride to Marylebone then from Princes Risborough to Waddesdon and on to the nearest station.

I think you are a sweet and innocent boy. It helps that you are in the first intake of your school. This means that there is no older year than yours and also that most of the children in your year do not have an older sibling (if they did, they would tend to go to that sibling's school). As a consequence, there's a sweetness and innocence around your year that maybe not all 7 y.o. children would have. However, this evening, after we got home. You asked me - not for the first time - about Santa. I've dodged it before but couldn't tonight. You'd had your suspicions so telling you that we can all be Father Christmas and surprise someone was mostly lost on you. You were just seeking confirmation that "he doesn't exist". You shoved the tooth fairy in too, stating that all you wondered was how we got under your pillow without you knowing it. Still, because of your first-hand experience in Ireland, where we went for a wedding in October 2017 (you put out a Rot Your Heart sticker there, too), you confirmed tonight that you do know that fairies exist.

Learning, developing

This weekend there was a change. At the ice-skating with cousin K on Saturday, you skated all by yourself and better than  before, trying to go backwards and even doing a jump or three.
Then we went to Finsbury Park and you climbed to the top of the two climbing frames.
Today you swam well and then we had a roller-skating practice, at which, similarly to the ice-skating, a new confidence was apparent. Along with the football we played, this has been a great weekend for physical development and learning. Proud of you, son.

Italy

We brought you to Italy for Easter. We spent 9 days in Rome, 4 in Florence and now 3 in Venice. You have learnt a little about the ancient Romans, a little more about Renaissance painters, something of Greek mythology and more about Christian mythology and you have been up and down the canals on water buses in Venice. You've had a ridiculous amount of ice-cream and have kept a diary/scrap-book of the days' happenings.

You've also become really into telling stories. Ostensibly, I am supposed to be telling most of them, but you take over and supply all the detail. Stories with themes like "under the surface" (digging tunnels and building cities), "under the sea" (seeing sea animals), "the show" (music, singing), "space story" (going round the solar system) and "dionsaur story" (from 'dinosaur cove', going back to one of the three dino eras) often have similarities: breaks in the activity for you to check if all your friends  need to go to the toilet, an impromptu party including food and games, bedtime and now chess moves. These stories can easily last an hour. You have never talked so much. It's lovely (and a little tiring).

Questions

From out  of the blue: "Daddy, why do some languages have similar pronunciation?" You are 4 years and 4 months old.

First day at school

The new school is open, although work is still going on, and some kids have been there for a few days. You went in and saw familiar faces and were perfectly happy. When we entered the classroom, first you got a pen and drew a picture, signing it, then you wrote "Welcome to King's Cross Academy" on a small chalk board. The head saw it and said he should have got you to do some signs since they had none for the front of the school. He didn't need to ask twice - but he didn't realise you'd take him at his word. You wrote a couple of signs on A4, then asked one of the staff - Christine - to give them to him. (He was gone.)
You had folded them up and she didn't know what they were. Luckily, he came back and you gave them to him yourself. Because you had written on the outside of the folded paper too, he thought they were small paper so had to be encouraged to open them up. When mummy and daddy left the building not long afterwards, they were already on the reception desk. When we picked you up, we got a snap of you and one of your signs. (You have history, with signs all over your nursery too.)