Come, come.

Dylan has taken to saying, when he wants his daddy, 'Come, come, Big Daddy'.

Then he prompts Daddy to answer, 'Yes, Big Dylan'.

DADDY: Do you want some more milk?

DYLAN: No!

DADDY (wishing Dylan would say 'no, thank you'): How do you say 'no' politely?

DYLAN: Please can I say 'no'?

Mummy and Daddy wanted to leave the playground. Normally we would dictate a maximum number of times that Dylan could go down the slide. But since Dylan is learning to count, Daddy decided to allow Dylan himself to suggest a number of times remaining. 'All of the times', answered Dylan. (He does not know how to say 'infinity'.) Daddy demanded that Dylan specify a number. 'Too many times', said Dylan. Again Daddy demanded an actual number. At last Dylan held up all ten fingers.

Dylan visited Daddy at work today. The first thing Dylan said, when he saw Daddy, was, 'Daddy, you have new glasses'. (Daddy was wearing his office glasses, which Dylan had not seen before.) Where did Dylan learn the phrase 'new glasses'? Only adults talk about new glasses. Why not 'different glasses' or 'funny glasses'?

Later Dylan saw a lift ('elevator') in the office building. 'I want to go in the lift upstairs', he said. Daddy answered, 'People can use the lift only if they have business upstairs'. Dylan asked, 'Do you have business upstairs?' Daddy answered, 'Yes'. Dylan said, 'I have business upstairs, too.'

Mummy thinks Dylan has an American accent.

A successful theme park could be built for toddlers, featuring nothing but construction vehicles doing their thing - diggers digging, cement trucks mixing, etc.

(Dylan isn't really a toddler anymore, though. He is a big boy.)

It makes sense that toddlers get excited when a digging machine starts to tear the road apart. Why don't adults get excited about this? Which is more exciting, a shop sale sign or three tonnes of asphalt being lifted by huge machines?

Dylan and Damien at Victoria Park.

The Tree of Love is located near Woodside Park and is where Dylan and the other Phelpses are encouraged to express love for one another. Dylan continues to misinterpret the phrase; he hugs and kisses the tree itself.

Through his questions - 'What's that? What's that?' - Dylan has brought to Daddy's attention an entire world of utilities once unnoticed: man hole covers, telephone repair boxes, water and electricity covers, and the wires that run alongside Underground tracks. Daddy doesn't very well know what most of it is.

Dylan has started to use proper names for places. For example, he refers to Highgate Wood, Finchley, and other places in London. He is no longer confined to using indefinite descriptions such as 'the red playground' or 'the playground with no swings', instead speaking of 'the playground at Highgate Wood'.

The Nellists gave to Dylan the book The Tiger Who Came to Tea, complete with text, pictures, and an audio recording of the text. Dylan sometimes listens to the recording without looking at the pictures, which seems like a step toward imagining, or at least remembering. Last night for the first time Daddy read to Dylan a book without pictures, called The Little Driver, by Martin Wagner. Dylan listened to the entire first chapter, about a thousand words, without interrupting. At the end he said, 'Joe wants a car', which was a very good summary of the chapter.

Dylan finishes the rhymes in some books. He and Daddy sound like the Beastie Boys.

Who's in the loo? There's a very long...
Dylan: QUEUE!
Is it an elephant having a...
Dylan: POO!
They're taking forever. Now who could it be? A whale who's doing the world's biggest
Dylan: WEE!
Is it a tiger who needed a
Dylan: TIDDLE?
A wandering
Dylan: WOMBAT!
who wanted a
Dylan: WIDDLE?
(Mummy taught Dylan what a wombat is.)
Is it a rhino who had a hot
Dylan: CURRY!
(This knowledge of curry impressed Daddy.)
It could be a tortoise. Well, they never
Dylan: HURRY!
Perhaps it's a hamster who can't reach the
Dylan: SEAT!
Or maybe a monkey who's washing his
Dylan: FEET!
Or a snake who's just sitting there, sucking a
Dylan: SWEET!
...and so on, including
MOLE, BOWL, DAMP BIT OF COAL, FLAN
(Dylan stumbled over CATAMARAN)
NAILS, TAILS, SNAILS
...We heard a small voice.
It said, (and here Daddy uses his very high voice),
"I'm in the loo! I'm just doing what my mum told me to...
(now Dylan finishes with his own special high pitch): DO!

No one understands.
It was Octopus washing his eight little... HANDS!

Dylan and Livie at the zoo. Notice the monkey on the left. A few seconds after this photo was taken, the monkey terrorized both children by jumping on their laps. (Photo by Dave Buller.)


Dylan at the zoo. (Photo by Dave.)


Dylan's new big boy bed.


Dylan wearing Daddy's glasses.

Daddy asked Dylan if he wanted his face painted as a tiger. 'I'm a tiger already', Dylan responded coolly. He is referring to his orange hair.

Pulleys