The Bear

"Dad. I have a question for you. I don't like eating worm spaghetti." Angus regularly interjects into our conversations with "I have a question for you" or "I want to tell you something" in a conspiratorial tone, followed by a remark that has little bearing on whatever is being discussed. Usually "the brothers" as he refers to him, are quick to point out that "that's not a question, that's a statement", a point lost on Angus who is generally playing the conversation card just to avoid doing something that he doesn't want to do, like eating up his dinner. "Your dinner is dee-lish-us!" is usually a subterfuge for not eating said dinner. Not that his appetite is in question: it's usually us that have a problem getting him to stop.

Unlike "the brothers", Angus pays little heed to the rules of the house. Hence, he comes down at ten to seven on school mornings and switches on the telly in the playroom, or helps himself to fruit or leftover biscuits in the kitchen or refuses point blank to get his shoes on or go to bed. "But I'm not tired!" is the cry if you try to put him to bed at his usual time on a day in which he has had a nap, the dilemma being that if you didn't allow him a nap he would be unbearable for the remainder of the day.

Angus is taking an increasing interest in letters and numbers and slowly but surely our youngest boy is leaving toddlerhood behind and becoming the big boy he desperately wants to be. He's reverted to wet nappies at night however, so that's one backwards step, but given how long it took the others to shake the night-time habit, we could be waiting a while yet before we can finally cross nappies off the shopping list for good. Angus has a ferocious temper when things don't go his way. He will yell and bawl and get himself worked into a real state if he isn't getting telly or feels he has been denied or wronged in some way. Door kicking and foot stamping and tears of frustration do test our patience to the limit at times. But he is our burly wee boy with a devilish twinkle in his eye and we love him.