Classical Dinosuars

Scene: In the car on the way to preschool. Strauss' "The Blue Danube" is playing on the radio.

J (driving): "So, what does this music remind you of?"

A: (pause) "A Pteranodon."

J (laughing) "I can see it flapping around."

the conversation continues with rapid-fire questions about why Rolley from Bob the Builder said he was a Rolley-dactyl and Scoop said he was a Scoopaloticus....

The Revolution Will Be On Sale

Scene: The happy family returns from a Pre-Thanksgiving Let's-Avoid-The-Grumpy-Folks window-shopping-for-toys excursion. The living room. A has just run off to the bathroom. M & J are sitting on the davenport with a toy catalog from a big box store. M turns to the spread with war toys and five-year-old Ninja-Warrior-wanna-bes posing with light-up swords.

Throwing his liberal, "I read banned books" morals to the winds, J accepts the pages torn out by M and hastily stuffs them into his sweater pocket.

A returns, grabs catalog: "Look, J! It's the pyramid! Why do you like Egyptian stuff, anyway?"

...and a mostly peaceful evening ensues.

Another Gollum Moment

Oh dear. A "shot" M with Tinker Toys. So now the Tinker Toys are being "timed out."

Two Weeks Early

Scene: The shopping mall. A and M are visiting Build-A-Bear. A sees a giant Christmas tree in the mall's transept and runs to where Santa is speaking to a Photo-elf. M follows and joins the interview mid-question...

Santa (to A): "... and what would you like for Christmas?"

A (as if he were on a game-show): (pause) "Toys?" [editor's note: A is smart enough to not ask Santa for what he really wants, which is a trap door, a sabre, a gun, and explosives.]

Santa: "Do you like cars?"

A (uncommitted): "Yeah."

Santa: "Do you like trucks?"

A: "Yeah." (sees giant box of tiny candy canes)

Santa (checking with M): "Would you like one of those [candy canes]?"

Candy and stickers are distributed ... and A runs to the mall's Knife Shoppe.


Cut to the next morning. A has just woken up and is sitting on the living room couch.

A (to M): "You know... If that was Santa Clause -- doesn't he need to be at the North Pole making toys?"

He's Picked Up the Script...

Scene: The grocery store checkout. J has convinced A to wait until the customer ahead of them has finished his transaction to begin scanning purchases. A is now working with the trained, professional cashier to ring up the bill.



Cashier: "OK, buddy; you're doing great. Do one more and then I'll do the rest."

A (laser scanning the mozzarella) : "Why? I'll do two." (Grabs box of Woven Wheat Wafers.)

J (noticing the growing backlog of customers behind the shopping cart): "A, we need to let the trained professional help us so the line doesn't build up."

A (scanning the pizza): "Why?"

J: If we take too long, they'll talk about us behind our backs. They'll say, 'Did you see that little kid and that dad didn't do anything..."

A: "Yeah. He just stood there looking stupid."

(Customers laugh)

Gollum

Whew. The last few days, living with A has been like living with Gollum.

Not Dead Yet

Sunday, M and I decided that A was basically insane and Very Energetic from being house-bound all week, and pronounced him officially "well."

Today A went to pre-school. Everyone else was back, too (last week there were only 6 out of 17 kids in his class). It was a fun time, and we came back with a lot of artwork.

M and J are slightly congested, but neither of us has had a fever. So we think we're well, too.

Thursday Update

A's following the usual pattern this week of having a temperature of 98.something in the morning and 100.something in the evening. And he still has the cough, so it looks like pre-school on Friday is not an option. Luckily, he's not dehydrated, wildly congested, or having problems breathing.

Watching videos this morning tired him out so much he fell asleep for his nap before I could pick out a book to read to him. We've been learning a little about Egyptian Hieroglyphs. He seems particularly taken with the section of the ancient Egyptian book, "Spell for Going Forth by Day" that features the god Anubis weighing a soul's heart on the scales of justice against Maat, the feather of truth (winners go on to the Egyptian afterlife with Osirus; the not-so-nice get their heart eaten by a composite alligator-monster). We'll see if he remembers how to say "I have spoken in truth" in Egyptian ("Djedeni em ma-at").

Meanwhile, it's back to Curious George and pirates. And the Backyardigans.

Signs of Improvement?

Scene: Morning. The kitchen. J is preparing breakfast and tea while the dawn shines through leaded crystals)

A (looking up from a bowl of blueberries and scrunching an imperious and berry-smeared face): "J, I'm addicted to videos. So put one on, NOW!"

And his temperature is 98.4.

Illness Update

Let's see. A wanted M to take his temperature last night (99.5 F, up from 98.3 F). We're not sure if he wanted to see if he could go to pre-school, or if he was feeling a relapse coming on. He was coughing a lot yesterday, and this morning he's sleeping much later than usual.

Monday morning at about 4:30 (or so it seemed) I heard the sounds of Looney Tunes coming from the other room. M is much nicer than I am, as we routinely tell A that we made a mistake, he copies too much bad behavior from Tweety and the gang, and that he can watch those cartoons when he's ten.

Tuesday was mostly a video day, too. When he didn't want to wrestle, play with pirates, or watch videos, he'd have an occasional crying jag. He seemed well enough for a short trip to the Library. We wore little face masks, and A chewed a small hole though his. We also checked out books on pirates, castles, pirates, The Magic Treehouse, pirates, and a Backyardigans video.

In related news, his pre-school class on Monday was down from 17 students to 6.

Sickness at 28 Wimpol Street

The child with a fever has just sprayed the remains of his orange juice out of a straw. On the breakfast table. And my tea. And me.

I can tell you, we're singing, ala Henry Higgins, "When his fever comes back, he'll regret it. Should we treat him kindly, or give him the treatment he deserves?!"

Trick or Treat

A tried on several costumes before going off to preschool. At first he was "a robber," (which included a fez). I was in the shower and mistook him for a Shriner. Then it sounded like he was dressing up as a pirate. But in the end he wanted to go as... Barack Obama. If you look closely, you can see his campaign fliers (they say "Vote For Me.")