On the way home from preschool, Aaron made the following announcement:
“I like being the littlest. Because I can fit through small holes. If there’s a thing there, I can reach through a little hole and get it.”
It was like he discovered his own super power, and he knows how he can best contribute to the family.
After our visit to Disneyland last month, Aaron, who’s always drawing monsters, decided to draw a portrait of the family for a change.
This is his depiction of us, riding “Soarin’ Over California” (here’s a wonderful photo) at California Adventures.
This letter, transcribed exactly as written by the girl, is to be found under her pillow by a certain fairy:
Dear, tooth fairy
I kind of swallowed my tooth and I was wondering if it’s OK for you. You know to except my note. Well think about it and show me under my pillow when I’m awake. I will always except what you think!
yours truly
Madison
[Edit] I later learned that Maddie asked her mom, “How do you spell accept?” But her mom misheard the word.
The kids love to go to the local roller skating rink.
The reason is not because they’re so interested in skating. It’s like why they ask to go to McDonalds. They want a toy.
The big draw at the roller skating rink is glowsticks. Forget all the fun of skating with your friends for a couple of hours. If you can get a glowstick and swing it around in the dark for a while, that beats all.
The last time we returned with glowsticks, the kids couldn’t wait until it was dark enough to turn off the lights and see the sticks glow. When the time came, we turned off the lights, and activated the glowsticks. The kids danced and spun the glowsticks and worked up a real sweat. They loved their glowsticks.
It eventually became bedtime, and when we told them so, Aaron told his big sister, “Hurry! Turn on the light so they don’t run out!”
It nearly broke our hearts to explain to him that that’s not how glowsticks work. Turning on the lights does not conserve glowstick energy.
I was navigating my way out of the parking lot, and had to roll over a speed bump. Aaron chimed in from the back seat:
“You know why they put the bumps there?”
“Why?”
Cheerfully, he answered, “So you can have fun!”
It’s ridiculously easy to find gifts for a five-year-old boy.
A box of dirt with a pail of water would do.
Just sayin’.
Aaron had this way of just rattling off whatever’s on his mind. He might pose a rhetorical question and continue right into the answer. Or he might start with a postulate and go right into the proof. Here are a couple of old gems…
Around November of last year, Aaron was really proud that he was learning how to spell. He made the following announcement to us:
I know how to spell “fire.”
H. O. T.
And then he explained about the Thanksgiving play that his preschool was going to put on. He and his best friend Joshua had roles in the play.
You know who’s Quanto?
Joshua.
I’m the hardtack guy.
You know what that means?
It means we’re acting!
My wife called me at work today to ask, “which LEGO set is yours and which one is for the six-year-old’s birthday? The bulldozer or the Mars Mission one?”
She needed to know which one to wrap up.
The bulldozer is mine.
Aaron and I approach an available sink in the crowded airport bathroom, where the gentleman next to it is brushing his teeth. Aaron asks loudly, to nobody in particular, “Why is he brushing his teeth?”
It makes me smile, but nobody answers him. Everybody ignores everybody else, as is custom in the men’s room.
So he asks again. And he still doesn’t get an answer. He’s more direct with his third attempt. He makes eye contact with the man and asks, “Why are you brushing your teeth?”
The gentleman merely gives the child a foamy smile.
After a short pause, as if to warm up to the gentleman, Aaron says, “I brush my teeth at home.”
There’s another pause, as more wheels turn in Aaron’s head. Then, from a place of pure innocence and logic, “Do you live here?”
This is a video of Maddie playing Taiko Drum Master.
Aaron would yell “takoyaki” whenever these little takoyaki would hop across the screen with the notes. You can’t see what he’s yelling at, so I added some takoyaki to this video, too.
I love watching my kids’ faces as they get deeply involved in whatever they’re doing. That’s what this video is about.