Forces

Brody just wandered into my room, 20 minutes after we put him to bed. He looked confused and sleepy, squinting at the bright lamp beside the bed. He looked up at me and quietly said "I can only remember 4 of the 5 forces. What's the 5th?" I must have looked confused because he continued, "There's gravity that keeps you on the ground, friction that makes things warm, push, and pull. What's the other one?" I have absolutely no idea and I tell him that. We both look at my phone and without another word, I start googling.

He's 7 years old and already there are questions I can't answer. 

Beep

While hiking at the cabin, Jacob took us up a big, steep hill. There were a lot of leaves on the ground and it was slippery. It was going to be a tough trip for all of us, but especially hard for Logan's little legs so I offered him a piggy-back ride up the hill. We made it half-way when Logan said he wanted down so he could climb the rest of the way himself. Thank goodness, I was panting. With him walking on his own, we slowly made our way up the rest of the hill. Near the top, Logan turns to me and says "my heart is really beeping! It's like 'beeeeeeeeeeeep'!"

His heart sounded a lot like a heart monitor flat-lining, which is both concerning and appropriate. 

BFFs

Brody to Logan as they're playing iPad: "Who's your BFF?"

Logan, babbling: "Bo-Bo-Bo-Bo"

Brody, exasperated: "That's not even a person!"

Logan, equally exasperated: "It's YOU!"

Brody doesn't look up from the game or respond with words but I see a small, pleased smile on his face.

I know they won't be BFFs through every phase of their lives but I hope they will be in the end.

Sloppy joes

Logan to his sloppy joe sandwich: "I love eating you, Joe."

Shark bite

As we left Kings Dominion this evening, we followed our family tradition and stopped by the candy store. Brody chose two gummi sharks but he wasnt allowed to eat them until after dinner. Thinking I was being funny, I bit the head off one of them and waited to hear his response. An hour later, after the boys had finished dinner and dessert, Brody hadn't said anything about his decapitated shark. It's dark out; maybe he couldn't see it. More likely though, he's accustomed to a mama who eats his candy and the shark with a bite removed was no different than normal. 

Driving

Brody: "I'm not going to drive until I'm 20 years old."

Mama: "Are you sure? Most kids get license when they're around 16 years old."

Brody: "I know, but I want to practice a lot before I really start driving."

Dada: "...can you say that again on video?"

Bad Hummus

Logan wanted pretzels and hummus for lunch yesterday.  He begged for it again at snacktime and had it with his dinner as well.  This afternoon, when I asked if he wanted hummus with his lunch, he said no, it doesn't taste good.  Since he'd eaten it at every meal for 24 hours, I was perplexed.  I looked over at the dining table and saw his bowl of hummus and few pretzels that were leftover from his dinner the night before and had been left out overnight.  I asked, do you mean that the hummus in the refrigerator isn't good or that the hummus on the table isn't good?  He replied, the hummus on the table.  So next I asked the question that I didn't want to ask: Did you eat the leftover hummus this morning?  ...yes.  The kid is an addict.

Courage

The question below was on a paper Brody brought home this afternoon. I think he should get credit for his answer. No, it isn't correct according to the textbook, but for Brody, who struggles to make eye contact and communicate with people he doesnt know well, approaching a teacher DOES show courage. 

Recumbent Bike

Logan and I saw a man on a recumbent bike as we were driving home from our Panera bagel date this morning. He asked what kind of bike it was, since he'd never seen one before. I said "I think it's called a recumbent bike." He said "It should be called a comfortable bike, because that's what it looks like... comfortable"

Swedish Fish

I asked the boys how they thought Swedish Fish got their name. Brody was quick with his answer: "Maybe because they're just kinda sweet. Like, sweet-ish. Sweet-ish fish."

Ouch

Trying to show off for the boys, I attempted a backwards somersault in the pool. Unfortunately, I am not as adept as I used to be and I hit the bottom of the pool, scraping my forehead, nose, lip, and chin. They were not impressed. 

Whenever you're dead...

Says Logan: "whenever you and Dada are dead, I'm going to eat pizza every day of my life."

Do you want a hug?

Brody is rather robot-like with his emotions. He is rarely extremely happy or sad. He doesn't have a lot of outbursts and maintains a consistent mellow-ness. When he cries, it's so infrequent that it breaks my heart. It's usually when something has been building up for a while and he just can't take it anymore. At that point, even the smallest thing will set him off. 

I remember one day when he was in kindergarten, he came home and just seemed off. He wasn't his chatty self and he seemed bothered by the smallest things. Right before dinner, something happened. I don't remember what it was, but it happened on our front porch. Maybe he stubbed his toe. Maybe he stepped on a rock. Whatever it was, Brody lost it. He cried so hard that I sat down on the steps with him and pulled him into my lap and just rocked him back and forth as I hugged him for a bit. After a few minutes, he calmed down enough to tell me that the other boys wouldn't let him play soccer during recess because they said he didn't know how. My first experience with mean kids. I wasn't prepared. I didn't know what to tell him, so instead, I went out and bought a soccer ball. We played in the park across the street. Later that week, I signed him up for an 8 week clinic and then after that, a soccer team. He learned how to play and I never heard about the kids excluding him during recess again. 

We had a big evening at the Prince William County Fair tonight. We went on rides, watched an epic demolition derby, and didn't get home until after 10:00. The boys were wiped out and a small disagreement about a Pokemon card sent Brody over the edge. I thought he'd calmed down by the time he'd gone to bed but then I heard him shakily inhale as I sat in my room across the hall. He was still crying, laying under his covers in the dark. I tiptoed into his room and sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for him to acknowledge me. Nothing. So I rubbed his back and whispered, "Do you need a hug?" Silence. Then "what?" He sounded like he heard me but couldn't understand why I would ask such a ridiculous question. At this point, the hug was just as much for me as it was for him, so I asked again "Do you need a hug?" The voice from under the covers was clear, without a waver. "No." Well, at least he wasn't crying anymore. I told him goodnight and I love you and went back to my room. Just like that, my big guy had turned back into a robot. 

Running in the rain

The boys wanted to run "laps" around the playground while there was a steady rain falling tonight. Brody had already gone around once and was dripping wet when Logan came out, desperate to join him but not wearing shorts. There was hardly anyone outside so waving aside Jacob's reluctance, I told Logan to go for it. Halfway around, on the far side of the playground, Logan encountered a man walking behind his two boys on their bikes. I saw Logan slow down and steer clear of him, then keep running. The boys came back around and Logan said "A man asked me if I was lost!" Awesome. My wet, shoe-less 5 year old in his underwear rightfully attracted concern from a passing stranger. Logan told him "I'm not lost, I'm just running laps!" and kept going. Good answer, but I'm certain the man kept watching, so to prove I'm not a negligent parent, I put a pair of shorts on Logan and he, Brody, and I ran the next couple of laps together. We wrapped up the evening shooting down the playground slides like they were water slides. 

Tada!

As Logan got ready for bed tonight, he told me it would be easy for him to get into his pajamas. Tadaaaaa! he said as he pulled down his shorts to reveal his pajama shorts underneath. Logan had gone through an entire day at school and played outside all evening wearing two pairs of shorts. 

Big Kid

As we left Winwood this afternoon, Logan suggested that when he goes to kindergarten, he'd like a new name. Ok, great idea, what would you like to be called? "Big kid", says Logan. 

A few minutes later, as Logan was telling a story from his day he started "Big Kid and Carson..." then immediately giggled because it sounded silly. "Ok, maybe I'll just be Logan."

Annoying

I was chopping coconut for Brody's class luau late last night, long after the kids were in bed, and heard a sigh come from the stairs. I called out "hello?" and nobody answered. Thinking a kid was out of bed and exploring, I went to investigate. On the landing, curled up in his "Optimus Prime transforming" pose, I found Logan, fast asleep. As I picked him up he groggily said "there is a frog outside that's annoying and I couldn't sleep because he was annoying and I was annoyed." Sure enough, there was a big bullfrog croaking outside so loudly that he could be heard throughout our house.

I think Logan had a new favorite word. 

Abraham Lincoln

At the Nats game, we see Abraham Lincoln win the presidents' race. I tell Logan, Abraham Lincoln was president long before we were born. Logan, responds with total seriousness "...and then the dinosaurs ate him?"

B is for...

Says Logan: "Hey Mama, if you wanted to spell elevator with a 'b' first, you could say 'B is for belevator'."

Yep, sure could. 

Bad kids

Between our house and the elementary school, there is a wooded reserve with a little creek that runs through it. Over the years, we've told the boys a couple of stories about that area, including that there are crocodiles living in the creek and that dinosaurs and bears live in the woods. As Brody and I walked home from school after Lego robotics club on Friday, we saw four high school boys running around in the woods, yelling to each other. One had fallen into the creek and had a very wet shoe and the others were making fun of him. Their backpacks were left laying in various places around the creek, as they'd obviously dropped them and ran to play in the woods. After watching for a few seconds, Brody turned to me and whispered "I bet they get bad grades." There's my little people pleaser and rules-follower. He knows he's not supposed go there, so if they're down there, they must be bad kids. 

After telling this story to Jacob, he explained he told Brody that kids with bad grades have to sleep in the woods. Apparently Brody took this lesson to heart. We already feed the birds at home and at the school, next we'll be feeding the bad kids who have to sleep near the creek. 

Happy Birthday Chickadee!

The boys spent their snow day planning a birthday party for Chickadee, the baby chick stuffed animal. They had me at birthday cake.  Happy birthday Chickadee!