My Daddy took me to the voting station. He used to walk up to the polling booths when he was little with his parents too. Daddy likes walking to the local polling station but he was disappointed he had to vote at Lynfield College this year because the electoral boundaries changed. I liked walking but I preferred talking the stroller most of the way. You can see pictures on 617

The weather seems to be getting warmer and drier. I like this because Mama and Daddy open up the doors to the porch and let me walk in and out. It's great having those doors open because I exercise my throwing arm for cricket. I'll take a toy or a book or anything else for that matter, out with me and see how far I can throw it. The fence makes it difficult to throw with any distance but I'll get better, just like I have at walking.

Tonight at Church I had a competition with the Vicar to see who could preach the loudest. I lost but only because th Vicar used a microphone. That's cheating!

Somebody gave me another nickname today. I was down at the local pub with Daddy, Mama, Grandmutti and Grrrr (Granddad) to watch the AFL Grand Final. (It's actually a restaurant set up to look like an English style pub). I was very very happy because the team Daddy supports beat the team my Aunty Kathryn supports. I don't think she'll be talking to Daddy for a while and I guess she'll use that as yet another excuse not to come visit me. I'm not big enough to jump around and kick such a big ball so I had fun crawling around the pub. The manager announced the evening's programme which included Rugby, the AFL and the League. He also told everyone to be on the lookout for Casper. That's me! So I have another nickname along with dynamitedove. You can call me Casper! At least until my hair grows...

I've discovered something really interesting. If I stand up and then move my feet forward, alternating between feet, I can actually create momentum. It's like crawling while I'm standing up. I'm not very good at it yet but Mama and Daddy seem to think so because they applaud me every time I do it. They can crawl standing stand without falling over and my goal is to be able to not fall over either before too long.

Daddy needs to learn how to put his shoes on quicker. He sits down in my little chair with his socks and shoes at his feet. Daddy says I'm very thoughtful and helpful because I'll pick up the socks and hand them to him and then I get his shoes and hand them to him too, but he can't keep up so he often has to put one of the shoes down. I have to pick it up for him again.

Mama and Daddy can be very confusing sometimes. I always thought a Cheerio was a small sausage, just like Daddy did. Now Mama has bought a box of them but they're more like a large donut shaped rice bubble. They do taste very nice!

Daddy is going to be away for a couple of nights. I'm going to miss playing with Daddy. Daddy says he's going to miss playing with me too. I'll just have to play twice as hard with my toys on Daddy's behalf.

Hello again everyone. I've been busy the last few months watching cricket. But now the cricket season is over I've been getting around. I've been able to explore the lounge, kitchen, hallway and even Mama and Daddy's bedroom! Sometimes they'll take me outside onto the grass but it's been very wet lately so I've been wrapping up warm.

Today was a big day. I got my second tooth! It hard hard work with a lots of sweat and tears but it's here now which means Mama thinks she might get some more sleep at night. Aelh!

Last night the drummer at Church let me play the drums after the service. It was so much fun! I like banging things with sticks. Sadly Daddy had to take me away after five or ten minutes. I was only getting started too! Maybe next week...

Today is my Six Month Old birthday. For my birthday present God gave me a new form of transportation. Now, instead of asking Mama or Daddy to pick me up and move me around from one place to another I have discovered that if I put one hand in front of the other I can crawl along the floor. I'm not very fast yet but I'm sure with more practice I can make it all the way to the stairs before Mama and Daddy put the gate up.

After my covert mission to Parliament last week (documented in my last post) I have decided to step up my Bungeling Buster training. Aunty Helen and Aunty Jeanette are trying to stop our freedom of speech with the Electoral Finance Bill. Next they'll try to make us like China and stop our right to march on Parliament in protest. Just in case, I'm learning how to parachute into the grounds of Parliament.



Special thanks to my grandparents for giving me my Christmas present early so I can get in even more practice before next year's election.

On Monday I went on a very dangerous mission. Daddy wants me to learn to fly a plane as soon as possible as part of my Bungeling Buster training. So earlier this week we flew to Wellington. Don't worry, it was safe, Daddy wasn't flying the plane. It was fun to sit on Daddy's lap and look out the window though.



We rested up overnight so we could be ready for the dangerous mission on Tuesday morning: Parliament.

We snuck up to the front steps of the Parliament Buildings and there were no politicians in sight.


So we had a go at approaching the Beehive. Very risky! I thought Aunty Helen might come out... onto the ninth story balcony to try to deal with the threat I posed.


But Parliament was sitting under urgency so all the politicians were in the debating chamber. I listened intently to every word.


Aunty Helen never saw us and neither did Sue Bradford. Therefore we escaped without CYFS confiscating me from my parents for inflicting Parliament on me. We flew back to Auckland, the mission a success, although I did think for a moment that Daddy was going to be flying the plane home.

It's not fair. moredetails has been praying for me to sleep longer at night. That's cheating! Yesterday Daddy took Mama and me out for dinner to a fancy hotel restaurant. They said the steak was delicious but I was happy just to drink milk, it's free.

I've been too busy learning to crawl to be able to post lately. I still haven't quite got the hang of it yet. I can move my arms and legs for it, just not all at the same time. I'm determined though. Daddy reckons determination is one of my strongest character traits coming through. I wouldn't mind a Christmas trait but Daddy says it's the Americans who pronounce treat that way.

Daddy doesn't have any work until Saturday so he and Mama decided to try a new sleeping routine. Daddy gets up in the middle of the night and settles me back down for an extra hour's sleep while Mama gets some sleep herself. They reckon they can stretch out my sleeping times but I'll show them! Daddy quite likes getting things done on the puter while I sleep. Last night he worked out how to use his budgeting programme and tonight he's been sorting through his emails.

On Monday evening we went to the beach. Mama decided we should go for a walk so we did. At the end of the street we found a path that leads down to the beach. Mama then decided we should walk along the beach and before long we found a park with a see-saw. Daddy says it used to have one of those four seater merry-go-round things but it must have been OSHed (that's OSHAed in American). Daddy says we'll have to put one in the backyard along with the flying fox. We walked the other way and found an old car motor and a cave! Then on the way back home we took and old path which came up into someone's backyard. It was so exciting I couldn't help but sleep through it all, except the last few hundred metres home.

Yesterday I went on a bus ride to the American Consulate so I could get my US passport and confirm my citizenship. That way if the All Black selectors in twenty years time are from Canterbury and won't select me because I'm from Auckland and might show up their Dan Carter of the day, I can win the World Cup with the American Eagles. The man who checked out Mama and Daddy's documents spoke like Mama and my Grandpa and Grandma, and Aunt Hailie. He also sounded like some of my other Aunts and Uncles who have been sending me voice messages, songs and sound clips. I finally decided to wake up for an All Black match last weekend and what do they do? They lose! Hopefully something good will come out of it, like exiling Aunty Helen to France.

Daddy says he can't wait for me to grow up and play in the All Blacks because then they won't do stupid things like losing quarter finals they should win. Daddy also reckons I said my first word today but Mama's not so sure. Daddy thinks I said 'argue' but Mama says I only said 'arh goo'. I like to talk but Mama and Daddy still can't understand the subtle nuances of my voice. It's really not good enough, you'd think they'd be smart enough to know what 'ugh' and 'coo' meant.

A whole month without posting! I must be picking up my Daddy's bad habit of not posting much lately.

Mama and Daddy still insist on putting me in the small bassinet rather than letting me sleep in the really big bed they sleep in. I protest by making as much noise as possible but it doesn't seem to be working as well any more. Life's too short to spend sleeping. I suspect Daddy thinks this too because he's been getting up early for work a lot lately.

I'm continuing my preparations for tomorrow morning's Rugby World Cup quarter final between the mighty All Blacks and the Tricolours of France. I've been trying to practice my clapping but I keep missing. Never mind, if I keep practicing I might have it sorted by the time the final comes around.

Next week Mama and Daddy are going to take me to something called a 'Consulate'. I protested until I realised it was the American Consulate and not a Consultant because they cost too much and I'd rather that money be spent on me. Mama and Daddy bought me a bath tub which I like. It's a proper 'tub' too. They also bought me a little swing-seat. Anyway, they're taking me to the consulate to register me as an American citizen as well as a Kiwi. I'm also going to apply for an American passport so I can travel to see my family. My Aunt Hilary is applying for her passport too so I'm going to race her to get it. Aunty Helen has decreed that Mama is allowed to stay in my country until the end of September next year while she decides if Mama can stay here forever or not.

We went to the Mall today and Daddy carried me. It was very nice to snuggle into Daddy while he walked, it's a very comfy ride. Daddy says I'm already wooing the women, they always turn to look at me. This makes Daddy very uneasy, he's not used to women looking in his direction and he has to keep telling himself it's because he has a baby on board. Mama wanted to get me a T-Shirt today that says 'If you think I'm cute you should see my Daddy!' I liked it but Daddy said it was too expensive.

Mama says it's time for a nap so I'd better go. You can see some photos of me on Mama's LJ.
http://mrs617.livejournal.com/499266.html

Yesterday was much better than the day before. In the evening Daddy and Mama took me down to the latest pre-natal class that the midwives run to show me off to everyone and tell them how wonderful I was. I decided that I would look the most cute if I slept. For added effect I pretended to wake up so Kirsten, my midwife, would pick me up. Then I went back to sleep purring cutely in her arms. I think it worked, I'm pretty sure they all think this baby thing is cutey and cuddliness. I sure have them fooled.

Daddy helped me upload a few more userpics. I hope you like them.

I'm not very happy today. Mama and Daddy have been asking me why all afternoon and evening but they just don't understand me well enough. I keep telling them and telling them but they just seem to think I'm some sort of cry baby. Life just isn't fair sometimes.

I've had a very exciting week. Daddy had to go away over the weekend to work butt Mama was able to take me to Church on Sunday. The sermon sparked my imagination, I dreamed lots of dreams as I slept through the service. Apparently lots of people came to see me afterwards. Mama and Daddy were very excited yesterday when I rolled over from my tummy onto my back. Mama's not so sure it was a good thing because Daddy keeps telling her that if I keep that sort of thing up then I'll be walking at six months. I'm not sure why they're so surprised about such movement, it's not like I've suddenly learnt how to squirm. I've been moving about since I was 13 weeks young so rolling over when I'm 5 weeks old shouldn't be a shock to them.

Grandmutti bought me a little giraffe toy to hang on my Racing Red Dynamite Driving Carseat Capsule. I like to shake hands with it, or at least shake my hand at it. It's fun. When I wave my hand at it the giraffe goes away from me and then comes back to visit me again so I wave my hand to say hi and it thinks I'm saying bye and leaves but it always swings back. Daddy decided the giraffe should go travelling and he took it from dangling on my left hand side to the right hand side and as it moved I extended my right hand to shake with the giraffe's. It swung away but then came back. Daddy seemed to like how friendly I was being with the giraffe, he said something about hand-eye co-ordination. Daddy says it's good for sport. I'm not sure what sport is yet but Daddy says that at this rate I might be an All Black one day. I'm not sure what an All Black is either but Daddy says he's going to show me in a week's time. He's getting the telly out of the cupboard so we can watch the World Cup when I wake up for my overnight meals.

Yesterday Mama and Daddy took me out in the Racing Red Distinctive Dynamite Power Pram to show the flag in Blockhouse Bay. I enjoy the missions to the Blockhouse Bay shops. We visited Church as well. Daddy's teaching at Sunday School this weekend and he had to collect some notes for it. Tomorrow my Godmother is coming over for dinner. My Godfather is away on a spiritual retreat which is good because the more focused he is on Jesus the better he can be at mentoring me in my spiritual formation.

I'm glad Daddy has a few days off, it makes Mama so happy when he's around the house and it means I get to hear more of his lovely singing!

Some kind person had given me a paid account! I wonder why they didn't buy the LJ hoodie instead? I shall have to put it to good use. I guess this means I'll have to upload some photos of me and then when I have something to say other than 'Feed Me' I'll have to do some voice posts. I'll need some new icons as well.

I've had an exciting few days! Daddy had to work at short notice on Monday and Tuesday. Daddy took Mama and I to the chiropractor on his way to work on Monday and then Mama and I took the bus home! It was so exciting I had to sleep all the excitement off as we rode home. Speaking of riding, Daddy rode his bike to work on Tuesday. It must have been very tiring biking to and from work because I fell asleep before he got home and I wasn't even the one biking! Today we went shopping at the mall and Daddy took me to my first computer games shop. I saw a game I want to play when I'm older. It was the complete Myst collection, all five games! Has anyone played a Myst game before? I'd like to know. It was so exciting I had to sleep through it all too. Mama and Daddy took me to Stevens so I could see the lady that set up their wedding registry there. Apparently they didn't win Best Wedding Photo 2006 which is a real shame, I so wanted to call laraemily an 'International Award Winning Photographer'. After we arrived home Granddad and Grandmutti came over for a visit. Grandmutti said Granddad was getting withdrawl symptoms because he hadn't had his share of cuteness for a few days. Mama took the opportunity to get the kitchen clean. Daddy was also productive this afternoon, mowing some of the lawn and starting to dig out some of the noxious weed in the jungle.

I wonder what exciting things I'll be able to sleep through tomorrow?

Daddy told me he wrote the latest Lizard Episode and suggested I go vote:

http://617.livejournal.com/351029.html

Daddy has started singing to me. I think he's trying to come up with a theme song for me. I like Daddy's singing. I don't think he sings in tune but that doesn't matter to me, I like the sound of his deep manly voice!

On Saturday I went to Granddad's to watch a movie with him and Daddy. It was so much fun! I got to eat and sleep and hear my Daddy and his Daddy laugh a lot. On Sunday I went to Nana's place. It was so much fun! I got to sleep the whole time! It was wonderful. Daddy wasn't there though. He went on an airplane. I reckon Daddy would have liked that a lot, as well as working on a rugby game. Mama is glad Daddy flew home tonight instead of staying over and flying home tomorrow. I'm glad Daddy is home too so I can listen to his singing.

Hi. My name is Dynamite Dove. I'm fairly new to the world but that just means everything is an adventure. My Daddy is a Bungeling Buster! He is The Legendary A.C.T.T.D. and some of his escapades can be found on his LJ, 617. A little less than a year ago he married a beautiful maiden, mrs617, from the USA. Then they lived together and had a baby. Amazing, isn't it? They got married before living together and having a baby. That baby is me, and these are my adventures.

Tags: introducing