This month’s themes:

Friends. Adrian often asks to play with a friend after preschool. I have to say no more often than I would like, because of Ingrid’s activities. I try to make sure he gets at least one playdate a week.

Singing. The kids have been practising Christmas songs at preschool, so Adrian has been singing Santa Lucia and such. But he also sings other songs, everything from En elefant balanserade to Vem kan segla förutan vind (which turned into a funnily illogical Vem kan ro utan vind in his version).

Building. He builds with Lego at home and Polydron at preschool. Among the first things he learned to build with the Polydrons was a spinning top. Spinning tops, by the way, are no longer called snurra by today’s kids but “beyblades”, or more likely “beybleys” if the kids are young. So Adrian calls the Polydrons in general “beybleys”.

Christmas. Adrian is excitedly looking forward to Christmas. He closely follows the various Christmas calendars around the house and knows exactly what date it is today. He has a Lego Christmas calendar that he is very fond of.

Empathy. He is developing an understanding of other people’s feelings, and has a kind soul. One day when we played Den försvunna diamanten, a board game where you walk around trying to find a lost diamond, and he was having a particularly lucky streak, I said something disappointed about losing. He instantly comforted me, very sincerely, and offered me some of his money.

Potty humour. Pee and poo and bottoms and penises are incredibly funny. Put Adrian together with another boy of the same age, and there is no end to how many potty words you will hear.