It was Dorje’s grandfather’s 83rd birthday this week. Since he was the only young child at the party, and even sitting around eating chips can get boring after a while, we hit the swimming pool.

The blue thing under the water is his boogie board – we had fun trying to keep it submerged, and dodging when it went flying skywards.

Some of Dorje’s ancestors – my parents and I.

The eagle-eyed may have spotted a few oddities in the last picture. Everyone seems to have changed clothes, Dorje’s had a haircut and my father’s scar has miraculously healed.

Quite a party. Or perhaps it from his 82nd birthday, and just surfaced at the same time.

Dorje loves nothing more than fighting with me. Usually it’s not a fair fight…

and I end up an exhausted wreck on the floor.

This time however I wasn’t alone, and he’d been weakened by a marathon session with a ‘purple belt’ before he got around to me.

With years of tai chi practice I managed to stay standing

just long enough to find a weakness in the rear

and smash him to the floor.

Glorious victory was mine at last:

Dorje’s obsession with fighting was sparked by Kung Fu Panda, and is about to be taken to the next level now that he’s started karate.

He seemed to be loving the first class. The teacher asked him whether he was enjoying it, fully expecting an enthusiastic yes, only to be answered “not really”. He decided later to go back the next week and again seemed to be loving it. Asked by the teacher whether he was enjoying it, he answered “it’s OK”.

Again he decided in the week to give it another try, this time with a new teacher. The previous teacher is sailing solo across the Atlantic, and after enthusiastically telling his students of his plans, Dorje put his hand up to proudly tell the teacher that “my auntie has also gone overseas”.

Again he seemed to be loving it, and the new teacher again asked him whether he wanted to come back, and was answered by a long pause and a tentative ‘yes’.

That was his last chance as if he wanted to go back again we’d have to buy all the gear and pay the regular fees, so I asked him carefully again in the week whether he wanted to go back, explaining what had to happen if he wanted to go. He seems to be taking after his father when it comes to commitment, and I was worried that thanks to his Monopoly training he’d refuse just because it involved spending money.

However, he decided he wanted to go regularly and it looks like if I want a chance to knock him to the floor again, it’s time for me to oil those rusty tai chi skills.

Dorje and I were watering the garden the other day, and looking at the rainbows in the trees. He wanted to know how a rainbow formed.

Looking for a prism to show him, I came across this video. Dorje seemed genuinely amazed, calling it “beautiful” and he’s watched it a few times since.