Pengie Feet table

How often can you say you immersed yourself in your child's world. That's exactly what I did for the last four weeks. You could say it was a labour of love. Some just call it a hobby. Anyway you see it, it was a chance for me to show the kids my artistic skills.

Recently, Phoebe and Ernest got into a children social network activity called Club Penguin. So we decided to paint her avatar she calls Pengie Feet onto her new table. We spent a last few weekends painting. Along the way, the kids learned how good their dad is at painting. And I got some nice words from them too, which I am too embarrassed to say here. Oh, I don't know, there were some expletives like "you're a real artist", or "you're super"... You know, things that make you proud you still have something to teach the kids. Instead of the other way round, which is getting more frequent nowadays.

This was what we intended to paint in the beginning. We added Sensei Penguin which endowed Pengie Feet with a black belt for her skills in a snow, ice, fire game. Phoebe also added a rainbow which was a great touch to finish the painting.

Learning to ride a bicycle 2

I felt really proud when Ernest could finally ride a bike without support wheels (more pics here). I am sure he felt good too. I had the same feeling last year when Phoebe did the same.

A few days ago, we brought Ernest to Phoebe's school compound. The school has this synthetic rubbery compound that will break your fall and reduce its impact. That was a great motivator for Ernest to take off his two supporting wheels and ride with abandon. Phoebe was a great teacher too. We both guided Ernest until he felt confident that we would let go our hands from the handle and he could go in a straight line.

Now, if you ask Ernest if he like to use his scooter or his bicycle. He'd choose the latter. Last week he even borrowed Arlo's bike (his kinder friend) for a ride.