Elliot Pascoe's Blog

 So after Elliot’s 2 month European Sojourn we are all finally back home again. Its feeling pretty chilly in the mornings so we have broken out Elliot’s dressing gown – so cute to see him toddling around the house in a big boy’s dressing gown. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for his soft cuddly gown.

Elliot was away long enough to forget most of his toys, so coming home felt like arriving in a huge toy store. At times the house does indeed feel like one big toy store

The weeds prospered while we were away and the snails ate a few of our new plants. Apart from that everything is the same ; it is great to have that “I’m home” feeling.

The little backpack has proved a hit with Elliot in London as well. He has been happy being lugged all round the underground, up and down stairs, squished through gates you name it (literally planes, trains and automobiles on the day we arrived). We’ve even had people stand for us on the tube. Today he snoozed in the corner while we had our hazelnut cream macchiato and muffin at the corner Starbucks.

Hamleys is the famous 6 level toy shop on Regent St. Elliot toddled around the store for an hour having a ball with with a seemingly unending supply of new toys. It was the same in the Harrods toy section – a great way to entertain a toddler for free.

The London Eye is something new since we were last in London. Sadly London has been its trademark Grey since we arrived on Thursday so the view wasn’t that impressive. The ferris wheel, I mean BA London Eye is an impressive attraction. They get you on and off pretty quick. It smoothly does a loop in about 1/2 an hour all the while offering a great panorama. We were one of the first `flights’ for the day, and it was a cold grey Monday morning, so our capsule was almost empty.

Quick Tip for Quiet Mealtimes: give your toddler a drumstick with a little bit to chew on and then you can enjoy the peace and quiet as they work their way along the bone. Have wipes on hand …

Warm, cozy and rocked by the rocking motion of me walking, I can feel when he is dropping off ; he flops from side to side behind me. Shortly later he is more or less still. I surely get even more smiling faces looking at me – I mean my payload.

Life can be tough when you are learning about balance, the relative height of things and how to navigate in a big persons’ world. Elliot is getting a good collection of bruises, scrapes, scratches, mosquito bites etc.

 (with apologies to L. Frank Baum). Lots and lots has changed in Minsk in the 7 years since I was last here. Here we are at Stolitsa (“Capital”) – a modern shopping centre right under Lenin Square in the centre of Minsk. It looks brand spanking new. Several shops are vacant but nonetheless this is quite something new for Minsk. Some of the shops are upmarket outlets for the country’s best known goods – eg. designer children’s clothes, vodka, champagne, women’s clothes (of course) and locally made cosmetics etc.

Elliot had another first today – the highly polished tiles were all a bit scary and he refused to walk on them without us holding his hand. For this newly independent tot, it was quite something to demand a finger to hold. Perhaps he was worried that the floor might suddenly move and throw him down like that trampoline thing did yesterday …

Another  new Minsk experience is  “Korona” or Crown. This is a chain of supermarkets that are just as impressive as a large Coles, Sainsbury or Tesco. We don’t really have an equivalent style of supermarket in Perth and certainly can’t match the opening hours of 9AM – midnight.

One of the Minsk delicacies that I like is Cirok – a small piece of cheesecake covered in chocolate. They are sold in glossy wrappers, supposedly for breakfast. Elliot is not no sure about them, too sweet or too thick perhaps. Anyway Korona had a totally awesome selection of Cirok – must have been 40 to choose from. Cirok heaven (this last paragraph is dedicated to Valeri, a fellow Cirok aficionado).

The world really does look different when you first start to walk. We have noticed Elliot stop and pat cross walk markings with his feet, stand and play with his shadow and generally explore his new “world view”.

Here outside the National Library of Belarus he thought he’d try his hand at this big balloon thing. Sadly all his grunting and groaning was to no avail (but was pretty amusing at the time).

Here is our camp neighbour Nikita (and below his Grandfather Joseph) and the local soppy cat. The cat is carried around endlessly by anyone and everyone.

Elliot is being all patriotic, wearing a present from Babushka, sporting the national colours of Respublica Belarus.