It was a rare event on Sunday night: I went out to the cinema!

This time with a friend, leaving Peter to look after The Boy. We printed out our pre-booked tickets, selected our pick and mix and chose the best seats for the action adventure! We mused that this movie is aimed directly at our age group - those who remember The Transformers cartoons and toys (I had a Transformers watch, I’ll have you know - it detached from the strap and ‘transformed’ into a blue robot complete with arms and legs; quite the height of fashion when you’re eight years old..!).

The premise is simple: it’s good guys against the bad guys (Autobots versus the Decepticons), with a few humans caught up in the mix. Sam is beginning his first term at college leaving his girlfriend and transforming Bumblebee car at home; this is his opportunity for a ‘normal’ life away from the robots. However, there is a snag: just as he leaves home, he touches a fragment of The All-Spark that falls from his jacket. This fragment ’sparks’ new transformers into being from everyday household objects; it has the ability to bring metal to life. It also causes Sam to be plagued by visions of symbols that he doesn’t understand. Unfortunately for him, these symbols apparently hold clues to the location of ‘The Matrix of Leadership’, a key that was buried by the last of the Prime robots, that gives unfathomable power and control to those in possession of it, and guess who want to be the first to get their hands - erm, robotic digits - on them?! Uh-huh, you guessed it, the evil Decepticons. A race ensues to find The Matrix and to overcome the Decepticon enemies that lie hidden across the world before they destroy Earth and all who live on it.

The storyline is of course terribly far-fetched - but that’s why we go to the movies, for a bit of escapism! But the special effects are awesome! You cannot fault the graphics in this movie, they are so slick! Not so slick is the introduction of a huge bandage on Shia LaBoeuf’s left hand half way through the movie - apparently, Shia was involved in a road accident that injured his hand. The recovery of his hand would have halted filming and production for too long  so they changed the storyline slightly to incorporate how he could have injured himself, to explain the presence of the bloodstained bandage for the remainder of the movie. The movie is a marathon 147 minutes (2.5 hours), and I did look at my watch once, so if you find it hard to stay comfortable in the cinema seats it might be worth waiting for the DVD release. The movie can be loud at times, and on some occasions there was so much action on the big screen that I had to blink and refocus my eyes (!), so if you prefer being in control of the remote, wait a while for the DVD.  All of that said, we thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to any who would describe themselves as ‘a child at heart’..

An English Country Afternoon from Peter Ould on Vimeo.

We found ourselves surprised by the presence of Ware Brass this past Sunday - we had gone to the park to slide on the slide and swing on the swings, but heard the tuneful music waft over the hedges.. Luckily we had a blanket with us and there was an ice-cream vendor not too far away. A perfect afternoon, methinks!!

You may have recently seen this ad campaign:

So, I thought it would be fun to try each of the six new flavours as part of my independent review. Peter and I shared the load of having to taste test each packet by distributing the crisps between us. Both of us tasted every flavour (except I didn’t get to try the Cajun Squirrel; my hands weren’t fast enough…!!) and came to a verdict.

Now, at the outset, I had already decided which would be the best tasting crisp. It was quite obviously the Crispy Duck and Hoisin Sauce flavour - but the words had pulled me in, and my memory reminded me of the occasions I had enjoyed crispy duck pancakes rolled up with sauce and cucumber (most recently at new year with friends..).. This was the first packet we tried. Uneventful. It was ok as these things go, but it wasn’t, ‘Wham! Bam! Taste Explosion!’.

We scrupulously and studiously exposed ourselves to the other five packets. The one that got thrown in the bin after eating just a single fried potato slice was the Fish and Chips flavour. Peter rejected the Chilli and Chocolate flavour straight away, but Gayle finished the packet happily for him..

We are divided on our favourite. Peter has already voted. My considered opinion is that the Builders Breakfast flavour cannot be beaten - in perfect zingaling style, you taste fried egg, bacon then sausage in sequence on your tongue! It is, quite frankly, a masterpiece!! It’s amazing what they can do with E-numbers these days…

And just so you get your dose of Reuben today (!), he’s just learned how to clap, so here he is in action:

This recent weather has been beautiful from the window, though occasionally treacherous under foot. Reuben and I walked to the supermarket just the other day and we had to phone home for a lift back - the pavements weren’t clear and Reuben’s journey was a tiny bit bumpy…

His experience of snow this afternoon was a fun one; here’s one of my favourites from our photoshoot:

(From todays issue of The Times online)

Over the last few months it has been obvious how the babes in our antenatal group are growing: FaSt!!! But it’s interesting to see which skills are picked up first, who is speeding ahead in the more physical developmental milestones, and who is quite content to watch the world go by…

Our son appears to be the latter!! There isn’t on display any ambition to walk or crawl, though sometimes his frustration at not being able to reach the stacking cups is not in doubt! We’ve tried him in his doorframe bouncer several times and he’s just not happy in it; he prefers to grab his toes and hang suspended above the floor! When he bears weight on his legs, he bends from the waist a good 45 degrees, but even then he vocally expresses his discomfort in this posture. This will change, I  know: prior to our Bumbo purchase, Reuben wriggled out of any propped up position and would prefer the comfort of viewing the world from his back. Since sitting in his seat and strengthening his core muscles, he now screams if we lay him on his back!

But I was pondering the other day the power of parental expectation. The tasks we expect our child to be able to perform affect our behaviour towards them, and perhaps propel them towards that ability. As an example, shortly after Reuben was weaned we introduced finger foods. At every mealtime, we now provide Reuben with a bowl of his own goodies as well as a bowl of ‘proper’ food (that we would consider his ‘meal’) that we would serve to him on a spoon. Reuben has flourished in this arrangement, but now believes himself ‘above’ being spoonfed that he keeps his mouth shut every time we proffer good, nutritional dinners in his direction, preferring instead to feed himself! Again, we’ve been reading books to Reuben since he was very young, and the video below shows that he understands how books work, that after turning the page there is a story to listen to, then you turn the next page, etc.

In the realm of the physical milestones, however, I don’t think I’ve been as proactive. We only got hold of the Bumbo for Reuben when he was  six months old; he had friends who were sitting up confidently at five months. We encouraged Reuben’s opportunities to practice rolling over, but have neglected to get him practicing weight bearing on his legs. The thing is, in my minds eye, I can’t picture Reuben walking. Oh yes, he will do it at somepoint, but perhaps my persistent picture of him as a little babe and not a toddling boy has prevented my encouragement of him in that direction. Of course, at this age, none of this matters. The age at which all the milestones are achieved is irrelevant; they will all be reached in time and soon I will be chasing after a running boy! But I just felt it highlighted the importance of how as parents we encourage Reuben in his life. We must have a big vision for him so that we can encourage him towards a full life experience! Needless to say, Jesus factors hugely in this, but as parents we have a challenging responsibility to ensure Reuben reaches his full potential and enjoys everything along the way!

ADDENDUM:

I’ve read back over this piece and realised that I hadn’t been careful enough to express how I felt this power of expectation could relate to Reuben and his spiritual life. That was the picture that was going through my head - that similarly as the power of expectation to reach physical milestones can be expressed without us truly realising it, so the power of expectation in the development of Reuben’s spiritual life, his character and personal relationship with Jesus, his love of The Word can all be affected by how we as parents encourage and expect it as normality for his life. For instance, if we desire Reuben to be one who delights in God’s word, then we would spend time reading it with him, praying through it using exact words from Scripture, and hopefully it would become a pattern that he would love for himself, that he would see it as part of an essential part of his day and that it would grow and nuture his heart in the truth.

But my ponderings also raised the thought that the visions we have for our young ones now will be very different from when they’re older - at this stage, we just want them to walk, talk, chew on lumpy food (!); when they’re older they will be able to do all these things and our expectation and ambition for them will perhaps be related to their choice of career, their girl/boyfriend, their family life, etc, as well as their spiritual journey. Then we must be careful that our expectation is not imposed in a way that stifles their own ability to choose and to enjoy life for themselves. There are stories of ambitious parents that forcefully impose their own ambition on their children, as if living their life again through them. This is something to be ruthlessly guarded against.

This year, John Piper put together a list of things to pray for your children based around Scripture - these are topics that can be given to God at any time of our child’s life and development. I liked it, so we’re trying to remember these prayers for Reuben - there are seven, so the hope is that we could pray one a day for the rest of his life..

I’ve offered Reuben cheese on toast, which isn’t dissimilar to a pizza recipe (!), and so we went with friends to celebrate a birthday at our local branch of Pizza Express - we had a fantastic time! Reuben sampled the garlic bread and American pizza crust and loved every bite:

I have to rave about Pizza Express, too. They were brilliant! We were given a whole room for fourteen of us (mums and babes), including high chairs. They were very amenable to all of our needs, very patient, and very willing to help if we needed any. And on their menu they have a couple of complimentary dishes for infants, including a little salad (bits of pepper, tomato, cucumber) and a Bambinoccino, a small cup of frothed milk with a sprinkling of cocoa powder. Admittedly, Reuben wouldn’t be interested yet in the cup of warm milk, but he would play with the salad. My experience there has definitely made me consider another visit!

Reuben and Mama Reading - 8 months old from Peter Ould on Vimeo.

So, Reuben isn’t yet walking or crawling, but one thing he can do is turn the pages of a book!! His foot got in the way during the first few pages of, ‘That’s not my snowman’, but he doesn’t let that stop him racing through the rest of the literature!! ;o)  I hope you can tell that he is such an utter delight!!

I’ve just discovered the wonder of http://www.blurb.com… (I know, Dan! But I’m catching up now..!!)

So, we’re putting a little book together for Reuben for when he’s older. We were fortunate enough to have a 4D scan at 29 weeks, as well as the NHS ultrasounds, so we’re putting these pictures together as a memento. In addition, I thought it would be nice to have a page with a picture of Reuben at each month up until he’s a year old (so, yes, this book won’t be finished ’til May ‘09). Although we only have eight pictures so far, the change in Reuben is just extraordinary, and I can’t help but stare at the page in amazement that the tiny babe that we used to know eight months ago has grown into a cheery, playful little boy! Here’s a little taster…

I know, I know, I’ve quoted a Cliff Richard song! I won’t repeat it again this year…

But we had a lovely Christmas in 2008, and there was much joy as we spent Christmas Eve as just a family of three reading, singing and opening presents! And yes, we did shed a tear as we are so grateful for our delightful son!! As we as adults understand Christmas and the promise of God to love His people and live and die for them, so we dream and pray that Reuben will know that for himself in the years to come, and that Christmas will be as precious for him as it is for us.

Our Christmas Eve celebrations stem from Peter’s family, who have traditionally kept the occasion on the 24th. It works well for us as a family, too, as Peter is likely to be committed to working every Christmas Day until he retires (!), so this gives us a day of uninterrupted precious family time! This year we went to the Crib service in the afternoon then Peter and I ate supper together while Reuben grabbed a quick nap. Then it was time for Reuben’s dinner, followed by reading from the Bible (the Lion’s Childrens Bible this year!!), a song (with percussive accompaniment from Reuben) and then presents. As you can see, the presents caused quite a stir with Our Boy, but the shiny paper remained the most interesting once the unwrapping was done…