A little pre-Hallowe'en test run

Talia hasn't really gotten into it much yet.

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The kids' first day of school

This photo is a little out of date -- from last Monday -- but here it is.

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What Zeke said at bedtime tonight

Zeke was in fine form at bedtime tonight. He asked me a series of questions, more or less as follows:

1. What color is your brain? Is it light red? (I said "Gray," and his response was, "Ew!")
2. Why does your brain have so many cracks in it?
   
3. What would happen if I stuck my finger in my brain? Ew.
   
4. Why do we need a skull?
   
5. How old are these (holding his two favorite stuffed animals)? Not like, "one, two, three, four," but like, "old and shaggy." They're new to me.
6. Is a dream like a little movie in your head? It's like I have a computer set in my head.
   
7. In Greek myths, why does it say that the Earth had babies and they turned into one-eyed Cyclops and Zeus didn't like them?
   

Also, his favorite bedtime song has changed. It used to be a lullaby ("Hush, Little Baby, Don't Say a Word"). Now it's "Summertime."

Today's updates:

• 19:42 Zeke, getting out of the bath: "Daddy! I didn't wash my hair. But I DID get out all the toe jam!"

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Zeke told a "scary story" in the car tonight

We were driving home after nightfall, and I made some comment about
how we were driving through the dark and it was kind of spooky. Zeke
asked if we wanted him to tell a scary story. Talia and I said yes.
His voice got really low and he began reciting a long, incantatory,
ex tempore poem. All I remember is this:

 

Storm clouds! Skeletons! And ghost deers!

Point a rock and throw you dead.
Broke you to a flaming
wheel.

Bash.
Crash.
Bam.
Broke.

 That's it.

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Talia showing off the magic-marker manicure her brother gave her

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ice cream

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Zeke playing with Mr Potato Head

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Today's updates:

• 17:43 Zeke says his favorite car is a "Jeepie S." (i.e., a GPS) because they go so fast

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I opened Zeke's lunch box tonight to clean it, and this fell out on the counter

Kind of spooky, huh?

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Today's updates:

• 19:15 Zeke: "Hi! My name's Idiot Diarrhea! And other bad words, too!"

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"Toilet learning" is in progress

Ahem, uploaded 10th June, 2009.

Yes, folks, that is indeed a copy of the New York Review of Books that she's pretending to read.

Today's updates:

• 20:41 Zeke officially has a Pennsylvania accent. He says "I sawl it" instead of "I saw it"

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Zeke wrote this (the third letter is a 'K')

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Today's updates:

• 22:55 Zeke: "Can I stay up till lilacs?" Somehow he's confused "lilacs" with "twilight"

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Summer's here, mostly

Well, the annual Dogwood Festival has come and gone, which was a lot of excitement for everyone. Zeke actually stood on the porch, pointed to the rides as they began to set up, and -- being too excited even to form words -- let loose shrieks of pure joy and anticipation. In other news, Talia fell down on the front stairs and knocked two of her front teeth loose. One of them now seems to be turning black, which I guess means the nerve is dead, but so far it doesn't look like it's going to fall out. We're waiting to hear from the dentist. 

Here are a few favorite recent photos in a slideshow format. Click here to see this whole collection on a single page. When you're watching the slideshow (in this post, or in almost any other slideshow or video) look for a little icon like this:  or something similar, here (and usually elsewhere) found in the bottom right corner. If you click that symbol, the slideshow will expand to fill your whole screen. 

Zeke also recently figured out that if you sit on your tricycle at the top of a hill and start pedaling, you can get going pretty fast. So far there have been no accidents. 

Some bon-mots

A couple of recent favorites:

On radical hair:

K. (from next door): Does my hair look radical?
Z.: What does "radical" mean?
K.: It means all messy.
Z.: No, your hair doesn't look radical. It looks like a girl's hair. Kind of... (pointing towards his shoulders) down.
K.: Oh. Okay. Good.

On death and God:

Z.: Daddy, are you going to die?
Me: Well, everything that's alive dies some day. So, yes. Some day I'll die.
Z. (slightly tearful): But I want to stay with you.
Me: Well, hopefully, it won't happen for a very long time. Years and years.
Z.: Well, we die when we tell God we're ready to die. Right?
Me: Uh... who told you that?
Z.: (after a long pause) God.
Me: Um... ah... I see.

I'm still kind of mystified by this one.

On discovering a hidden cache of cookies (hidden by me):

Z.: Daddy, why did you hide the cookies?
Me: Because I didn't want you to ask me for one. Every time you see cookies, you ask for one.
Z.: That's because I'm not allergic to sweets.

He's got a point, I suppose. Not that he's allergic to anything else, either, as far as we know.

Today's updates:

• 12:21 Zeke: "I'm not scared of flying spices. Like, flying out of the jar. But if they get in your nose, PSSHT! you sneeze."

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Today's updates:

• 21:52 Zeke (age 4) on his first serious carnival ride, the Rainbow: "It tickled my insides, but in a fun way." He loved it.

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Today's updates:

• 19:56 Talia, playing with a balloon:"If you put a balloon on your head and pop it, it's a hat."

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