Four Days 'Til Christmas!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what I'm doing? I'm wrapping a Christmas present. Wrapping presents is fun but it's hard work, you know. It would be easier if I had thumbs. Oh! Maybe Santa will bring me thumbs for Christmas! I'll write it down. I'll ask Santa if I can have thumbs for Christmas.  If I had thumbs I wouldn't need to use both paws when I drink out of my sippy cup.

Here's how to wrap presents. I have to have wrapping paper, scissors and tape, too. Thumbs are useful for wrapping presents. We fold the paper and cut it to fit the box. Then we tape the paper to the box. When I'm all done I put a bow and some ribbon. The last thing is to write the name of the friend or buddy who's going to receive the gift. Wrapping is hard work but it's fun, too.

I know why we wrap presents. It's a surprise. I like surprises, don't you? I like the shiny wrapping paper best.  Christmas is not just about getting presents, we give them, too. It's nice to give presents. Good citizens give presents. We don't expect one back. Giving presents is fun. I always try to give a gift that my friend or buddy would like to have. We wrapped presents for Lily Bug and Lulu. I'm wrapping a present for Angus and you, too.

Chance is trying to help me. He's really too little to be a good helper but he has to learn all about Christmas and that means wrapping presents for our friends and buddies.

Mostly Chance sits on top of the presents and licks the shiny wrapping paper.  Chance makes the packages all wet. I look at him and say, "My son! Don't lick the presents!" I give him Christmas tree balls to play with. Chance licks them, too.  Good thing he doesn't have any teeth, Chance might bite the gifts!

Oh! Look! Look at Chance! He's so silly. Chance put on his Santa toque and climbed into a gift bag. He thinks he's going to be a Christmas present! I don't know if newborn bear cubs make good gifts or not. If Chance was under our Canadian Tire Christmas tree I'd unwrap him and keep him, even though he's a handful to look after!

Someone left Chance on our doorstep in a basket one morning. There was a note that said, "Please look after me." I think it was angels who brought Chance to our house. He was so tiny. He just had a little green blankie and a baby bottle so he could drink condensed owls' milk.   Know what? Chance was the bestest gift ever and he wasn't even wrapped in pretty paper and it wasn't even Christmas!

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to your friends and neighbours. Do nice things for your friends and buddies, too. Then you can eat bakeapple pie and drink egg nog. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can wrap presents together!

Okay! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. No, wait! Not good night!  It's not bedtime. I don't want to put on my Spiderman jammies. Not yet. I want to stay up. Please, James. Can I? Can we stay up a little longer?  I'm not sleepy. Chance isn't sleepy. I'll be as nice as pie. I'll be as good as bakeapple pie. I promise.  I want to wait for Merry Christmas and Santa, too. Please? Over and out!"

Wallermelon Kool-Aid

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I  help him remember. This morning he forgot his own name!  Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? I get to eat wallermelon for breakfast. That's different from porridge with gummy worms. I l-o-v-e wallermelon! It's yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. Wallermelon is a fruit. We grow wallermelons in Windsor and Essex County, you know.

Yesterday we went on the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit. That's in the Knighted States. We went with James and our buddy Elizabeth. She's from T.O. That means Toronto. When we got to the Knighted States we went to Ryan's Supermercado in Mexicantown. Know what I got? I got  wallermelon-flavoured Kool-Aid. Wow! I can't wait to drink it. I will stir it up with water. James says I'm the MiniSTIR of Stirring. Then he will put it in my sippy cup. You know, that's the  blue cup with Spiderman on it. I l-o-v-e wallermelon Kool-Aid. Chance will get some in his bottle. Good citizens get to eat wallermelons and drink wallermelon Kool-Aid.

Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario?" That's me, Charles! That's Chance, too! We're handsome bear cubs! We're Sons of Windsor! We're Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James! We wanna get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. We want wallermelon Kool-Aid!


This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Help people remember things. Then you can eat wallermelons and drink wallermelon Kool-Aid. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and drink wallermelon Kool-Aid with us! We can dig big holes in the back yard and climb trees, too! Okay! Over and out!"

Austrian Measles

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He is forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? We're sick. We woke up this morning and Chance and me are all covered in red spots! Our ears hurt. We have fevers. We're coughing and our noses won't stop running. Our tummies hurt. I don't want to eat anything--especially porridge with gummy worms. Chance pushed his bottle of condensed owls' milk away. He sneezed on me. Yucky! James says it looks like were gonna be sick for a while. He says it looks like we got Austrian measles. I don't know who Austrian is but it wasn't very nice of him to give us measles. I know how to share but this is not a good kind of sharing. Austrian is not a good citizen.

James brings us Canada Dry. He says, "Try to drink a little bit." I drink mine out of my sippy cup with Spiderman out of it. Chance is drinking out of his bottle. It hurts to drink. My throat hurts.
James crawls into bed with us and holds us. He's singing our bedtime song, "No Bears Out Tonight." Chance is asleep, already. Know what? I'm pretty sleepy. I think I heard James whisper, "Good night my sons of Windsor, good night you Princes of Ontario." This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens and share--but watch out for Austrian!"

Sick Day

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Special Ed James. He rides to school on a short bus, so I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? We don't feel very good. Chance is hot. I am hot. Special Ed James took our temperature. He says we have fevers. I don't like fevers. They make me feel awful. My tummy hurts. Chance throwed up. I'm dizzy, like when we spin the big green comfy old man chair in the living room. Special Ed James gave us Canada Dry to drink. I drank mine out of my Spiderman sippy cup. Chance drank his out of a bottle. He's too little for a sippy cup. We had to swallow a pill for the fever. If we don't feel better soon, Special Ed James says we will go to the Sandwich Community Health Centre and see Nurse Megan and Dr. Blanchard.

Special Ed James is whispering, "Where's my sick bear cubs?" That's us, Charles and Chance. He tucks us into bed and is going to hold us tight until we fall asleep. This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Don't get sick. It's not fun at all."

Christmas Eve, the Time Out Chair and the Lympic Torch

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He forgets where he puts his keys. He's really old, too. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark. I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? I'm not supposed to have anything to drink when I'm on the computer. It's a rule. I'm only supposed to drink out of my sippy cup with Spiderman on it. That's another rule. I forgot. I spilled my apple juice all over the computer. It wouldn't work anymore. I had to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about what I did. I don't like to think. It's hard work! I feel bad and I'm sorry. What if Santa takes me off his list? Oh! No! James sat me on his lap. We had a little talk. I promised to be remember better. He tickled my ears and my tummy and made me laugh right out loud. He kissed my nose.  James forgave me. I'm glad. He's a pretty good buddy.

Know what else? We saw the Lympic Torch. It came right past our house! It's big! The Lympic Torch is going to Sarnia next and then to London. We go to London on the train. I love VIA Rail. The Lympic Torch is going to Vancouver for the Lympic Games. We could go there and the train would take us.

Chance and me put another sticker on the calendar. When we wake up tomorrow it will be Christmas! I can hardly wait! This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Merry Christmas, everybody! Merry, merry Christmas! Over and out!"

Merry Christmas is Everywhere!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He forgets where he put the peanut butter. He's really forgetful and old, too. He must be 20! H was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark.  I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? Merry Christmas is everywhere! Chance and me went to the Dominion House for lunch. It's really old.  James says it is 134 years old. That's way older then me. I'm five, you know. The DH has a Christmas tree with presents under it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_House

We put on our best company manners and were on our best behaviour 'cuz we got to eat lunch with our buddy, Chris. Chris is smart. He writes stuff about Paula Ticks. I don't know who she is exactly but Chris is a good citizen and he writes a lot about her at http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/

Chance tried to order some food but he doesn't have any teeth, yet. He drinks condensed owls' milk out of a bottle. I'm too big to drink out of a bottle. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it. I ate deep-fried pickles. They're yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. I wanted gummy worms for dessert but Wes, the owner, says "Sorry my son, We're fresh out of gummy worms."

We get to put another sticker on the calendar, today. Know what? It's only eight days before Santa and Merry Christmas come to our house! I hope they bring Frosty the Snow Person and Rudolph the Nasally Challenged Reindeer with them. Oh! Wait! We're gonna have more visitors! The baby Jesus is coming, with a flock of shepherds and the three wise guys!

Chris tickled our ears and kissed our noses. He made us laugh right out loud. Chance doesn't really laugh but he made lots of squeaky sounds. That means he's happy. I like to laugh, don't you?

This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Good-bye for now! Be good citizens! Eat all your deep-fried pickles! Starving children in Belgium would be glad to eat them. Be extra good, 'cuz Santa is watching us on Anik satellite! Over and out!"

Chance Takes a Bath

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Special Ed James. He rides to school on a short bus, so I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Chance climbed into the kitchen sink. He wants his bath. He wants me to get in with him. I used to get my bath in the sink when I was a wee little cubby but now I'm too big! That's 'cuz I'm five. I'm a growing bear cub. Bear cubs need to eat lots of good foods to be strong and healthy. I know the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. There is yummy, sticky, sweet and nasty. I don't like broccolis. They're nasty. I hate sauerkrauts, too.

Know what? I like porridge with gummy worms in it. That's yummy! Chance doesn't have any teeth. He drinks out of a bottle. I don't. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it.
When I grow up I want to be a superhero. I know! could be Bathman!


It's fun to help Chance take a bath. I hear Special Ed James hollering, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Where's my handsome bear cubs? Who needs a bath?" That's me! I'm a handsome bear cub! Chance is a handsome bear cub, too!

We're gonna put another sticker on the calendar. It's only 11 days before Santa and Merry Christmas come to our house! This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Good-bye for now! Be good citizens and take a bath! Over and out!"

Crackers and Peanut Butter

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He forgets lots of things. He says that's 'cuz he's old. He remembers the invention of time. That's a long time ago! He must be 20!   I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? We got peanut butter and crackers. I l-o-v-e peanut butter and crackers. They're yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. We're eating crackers in bed. We're not supposed to eat in bed unless we're sick. Chance doesn't really eat. He's too little. He has to grow some teeth. Chance drinks condensed owls' milk out of his bottle. I'm five, you know. I'm too big for a bottle. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it. Crackers and peanut butter taste better in bed.


Oh. Wait! I hear James! He's hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are you, Sons of Windsor, my Princes of Ontario?  Oh! My! Who's eating crackers and peanut butter in bed? I'm gonna get you! Oh! No! We might be in trouble! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Eat crackers and peanut butter in the kitchen. Bye for now!"

Thirsty

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He is old and forgetful. I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after him, too.

Know what? We're thirsty. I'm showing Chance how to drink out of the toilet bowl. SJames says I shouldn't do that--that it's nasty. Know what? He drinks out of the milk carton. Now, that's nasty. Chance isn't very good at this. He's really little. If he falls in I hope he can swim. I can drink out of the sink in the kitchen. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it. Sometimes it's fun to drink out of the toilet. I can splash water and float my boats, too. Oh, no! Chance has fallen in! I'd better get him out of there and dry him off before he gets into trouble! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Learn how to swim! Over and out!"

Counting

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's old and forgetful. Today he lost his marbles. I found them. They were in the fridge!   I have to look after him. Oh.Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? Chance doesn't have any teeth and he can't talk. He doesn't even have a tail, yet! I have a tail. I'm five, you know. Chance drinks condensed owls' milk out of a bottle. I don't need a bottle. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it. I like Spiderman, don't you?

Know what I'm doing? I'm counting up all my money. I keep all my coins in my red Canada Post piggy bank and when it's full we go to Speedy Money and trade all the pennies and nickels and dimes and quarters and loonies and toonies for paper money. Chance tries to help but he's too little to count. Besides, he eats the coins. He ate $4.67 before I could stop him!

James says we'll get the money back, we just have to wait for Chance to have a good poo. He says that there's no danger of Chance being copper deficient. I don't know what that means but I'm not looking through a diaper full of poo. That's nasty! Chance makes little squawky noises when he's hungry or his diaper is full. Then he's stinky and needs a bath. Chance shouldn't eat money! Money isn't a food group and it's not in the Canada Food Guide! When we're done here we're gonna go to Mac's Milk and say 'Hi' to Wendy and Ricky and Ruth and Sam. We can get gummy worms and Smarties. Maybe James will eat some, too. It's okay to eat gummy worms and Smarties. I know how to share 'cuz I'm a good citizen. Gotta go! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, 'Over and out!'

My Dream About a Lion Hunt

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's old and forgetful. This morning he forgot my name!   I have to look after him. Oh.Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I have to look after him, too.

Chance is really little. He doesn't have any teeth and he can't talk. He doesn't even have a tail, yet!
I have a tail. I'm five, you know. Chance drinks condensed owls' milk out of a bottle. I don't need a bottle. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it.

Know what? Last night after we had our bedtime story, said our prayers and went to sleep I had a dream. I dreamt I was hunting lions in the living room. I l-o-v-e to hunt for lions. It's the funnest game. Every time I would sneak up on the lion and get ready to catch him, guess what? There wasn't any lion, it was Chance. That was my dream. Today we can go outside and play lion hunt. We can hide in the cedar hedge and pretend that cats and squirrels are lions. Yeah. That's a good idea. Lion Hunt! Chance will have to be very quiet. He makes little squeaky noises when he's happy and excited. Then the lions will run and hide. Okay. I gotta go get my safari helmet and my space ray gun. I'm gonna catch a zillion lions! Be good citizens and catch lots of lions today. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying,

Goin' on a lion hunt
One, two, three!'
Goin' on a lion hunt,
Can't catch me!

Over and out!"

Copycat

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. I have to look after him 'cuz he's old and forgetful. Oh, wait. Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left on our doorstep one morning. He's a wee little thing. I have to look after him.

Chance is a copycat. Know what I copycat is? I do. It's someone who copies everything I do. Chance might be a bear cub but he's a copycat, too. See! I climb up on the chesterfield so I can tell  James what to write in the blog. Look who's here with me. Chance. He climbed right up behind me. He's a copycat. I don't know why we say copycat. He's really a bear cub. That makes Chance a copycub.

Chance is fast asleep. He always falls asleep after breakfast. I had gummy worms in my porridge for breakfast. Chance is so little, he doesn't have any teeth. He can't eat gummy worms and porridge. Chance drinks milk out of a bottle. Bottles are for newborn cubbies. Oh, wait! Chance IS a newborn cubby. I think he drinks condensed owls' milk. I have a sippy cup, cuz I'm five, you know. My birthday is on Canada Day. When Chance wakes up we can play. I know lots of games to play. I'm so glad I have a baby brother.

Did you hear that?  James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? What happened to my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario?" That us! Charles and Chance. We're gonna go find James so we can get our ears tickled and we'll laugh right out loud. Okay, good citizens. Eat all your porridge and then you'll be strong and healthy. Then you can climb things and play games. Gotta go! This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, 'over and out!'

My Baby Pictures

Hi. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub when I was a newborn cubby. I'm five years old now and I live with  James on Sparkle Road.

See this picture? This is me, Charles, when I was a newborn cubby. James opened the door one morning and there I was--in a basket! I don't know who left me there but I am glad  James took me inside. I was really tiny! Wow! I didn't know I was that small. My fur was lighter, too. Look! I drank out of a bottle!

Now I drink out of a sippy cup but I have to use both paws 'cuz I don't have thumbs. Know what? Some bear cubs have mother bears and father bears but I have  James. He's my family. He used to look after me when I was little. Now, I look after him. That's what families do.

Do you have baby pictures? They're fun to look at 'cuz remembering is fun. Remembering is not hard like thinking. Especially if I have to think while sitting on the Time Out Chair. I hate thinking.

Okay. I gotta go 'cuz James is hollering, "Who's a handsome bear cub?" That's me, Charles--the BIG Charles--not the little cubby in the pictures. I'm gonna run find  James and let him tickle my ears and kiss my nose so I can laugh right out loud. Bye for now. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub, over and out!