Category: Paternal Thoughts
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Elusive Monkey Smiles
Getting a good photograph of the Little Monkey beaming one of his face-splitting smiles is a task akin to capturing a yeti’s likeness. Partly this is because Mrs. Monkeyshines and I are prone to parental cooing, which renders one somewhat helpless (as the appearance of a mythical man-beast might do, albeit for different reasons). But…
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Monkey Chuckles
The Little Monkey has recently moved on from only laughing in response to physical stimuli, to laughing at sights and sounds. Last week Mrs. Monkeyshines saying “Sick-on-your-face” was the funniest thing in all creation. Here, the rattling of a fork in a bowl is enough to elicit pleasingly full-throated chuckles, alternating with his pensive look…
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The Rascally Noble*
Sometimes I have something mildly diverting to say about the Little Monkey’s development. Sometimes I just have a picture of the boy that’s too charming not to show off to the world… * There’s a prize** for the first person to solve this anagram. Answers on a postcard, or the back of a stuck-down envelope,…
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The Comedy Stylings of the Little Monkey
The Little Monkey amuses himself, and us, by blowing raspberries and waving his bum in the air. The boy’s clearly a comedic genius; people have built careers on weaker material than this.
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A Bouncing Little Monkey
I was going to rattle on about our Little Monkey developing more complex interactions with the world, etc. But then a lyric from a George Benson song popped into my mind, which I think is comment enough: “Let the children’s laughter remind us how we use to be” *. * The original version by the…
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A Smart Young Executive/Beach Bum
The Little Monkey has always had an eye for a dapper outfit, but now that he’s a bit older, Mrs. Monkeyshines and I have fun getting him togged out in some lovely threads. (Although you’ll have to wait for pictures of him in his waistcoat, as he was sick on it before we could get…
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The Pre-Natal Little Monkey
The Little Monkey celebrates 3 months on the face of the planet today; which means that a year ago (± 2 days) a tiny clump of cells had popped into existence that would develop into our lovely little baby. As a scientist I suppose I had an intellectual conception of life’s commonplace miracles, but when…
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A Week of Firsts
Imagine being so new to the world that you can do three quite ordinary things for the first time in one week. Or, at least, things whose familiarity has made them seem ordinary, even though they are rather amazing. A Cold The Little Monkey went to storytime at the local library, and although he is…
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Our Velociraptor Baby
[I realise I’m muddying the appellative waters by referring to the Little Monkey as a dinosaur, but normal simian service will be resumed after this post.] I seem to constantly be writing about how surprised I am by some aspect or other of our baby’s growth and development. This week it is the range of…