Day 140/365: Roo's Favourite Things

I wanted to turn my back on the darkness today and do a big bright happy post. Perhaps I'm getting all Sound of Music-ish in preparation for Christmas, but I was excited about the idea of capturing some the the kids' favourite things. 

First up we have Roo. I told him to go around the house and collect 5 of his favourite things for us to photograph. It was hard to keep it at 5, so we bumped it to 10... and then one more crept in. I didn't mind. It is so nice to focus on the things that we have already.

1. Polo Mints. Roo loves mint flavours and Polo's are his favourite sweets. He is also very keen on lemon and coffee flavours. 

 2. Roo's YooHoos. He has a mini collection bunched together on a keychain. There are a couple more around the back, but the one in the middle is his favourite. The one on the right has a loom band necklace. He likes to rub their tails under his nose while sucking his thumb. He struggles to get to sleep without them. Roo has actually had a number of comforters since he was born. The YooHoos have been his favourites for the past 12-18 months. 

3. The iPod. Roo is becoming increasingly interested in music and has a preference for rock music. One of my favourite memories of Roo is from when he was 3 years old. After years of playing him baby music and taking him to baby music groups, he had yet to show any great interest in music. Then one snowy day, we were in the car listening to the radio. Rage Against the Machine's song Killing In the Name Of came on and he suddenly sat bolt upright full of excitement. "What's THAT Mummy?" He has since discovered Gun's and Roses. I used to love rock music when I was a teenager. I have mellowed a bit but I love to see Roo feeling that same passion for a kick-ass tune. 

4. Minecraft... and anything even remotely Minecraft related.

 5. Snowy. This is Roo's snow leopard named Snowy. He has a thing about snow leopards and I am not sure where it comes from. He would ideally like to "adopt" one. I'm not sure what that involves exactly, but I keep meaning to look into it for him. 

6. Roo's new diary. He begged and begged for a diary that locks after reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He has only had it a week or so and he has written quite a lot in it. He has lost the keys though, so it doesn't lock anymore. 

7. Books. After a less than willing start to reading, Roo's interest in books has suddenly exploded. We can hardly keep up with his need for new books. Being bookworms ourselves, we are willing to support his desire to read. He loved these Tom Gates books. My husband read the Lemony Snicket ones to him and they enjoyed them together. 

8. Roo's Kindle. Roo also enjoys reading off the Kindle. He chose to display a page from Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  He also loved the movie. 

9. The "Pin Thing". I don't know what this is actually called. Roo got it as a present from my brother for his 8th birthday. We always wanted one when we were kids. It is so cool and very relaxing to play with. (I must remove that sticker!)

10. Lego. Of course this list could never be complete without Lego. Ninjago was his favourite a few years ago, but he is into Lord of the Rings now. He got this set with his birthday money and constructed it with the help of his dad. I am delighted to say that it is still in one piece. 

11. Fossils and crystals. Last but not least, Roo has a big love of fosils and crystals. He is fascinated by them! This has got to be genetics at play here. My husband and I have zero interest in such things but his grandfather studied geology at university. He has never really spoken to Roo about rocks, yet the shared interest has developed anyway. 

And that completes Roo's list of favourite things - for this year. I would love to do this every year as I am sure that it will be nice to look back on. In the mean time, it is such a positive exercise to stop and think about the things that make us happy. As a parent, it is also nice to focus on Roo's individual personality emerging. He is such a great kid! 

Out take: Photo bomb by his little sister and the toy rubbish truck. Perhaps that will make it to her list...