Yesterday:

Yesterday:
Nate, "James is a baby."
James upset, "No baby! ... Amimal!"
Me, "You're not a baby, you're an animal?"
James indignant, "Yup!"

A little late, and not sure if this link will work, but Thai couples running from a "floral boulder" a la Indiana...

A little late, and not sure if this link will work, but Thai couples running from a "floral boulder" a la Indiana Jones, but... you know... with flowers. If the link doesn't work, Photo 23 here: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/valentines-day-2013/100459/#img23
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/val021413/v23_RTR3DQ13.jpg

Excited to finally get my Pebble

Excited to finally get my Pebble

Lately Nate has been claiming to have similar symptoms to whoever happens to be feeling sick.

Lately Nate has been claiming to have similar symptoms to whoever happens to be feeling sick. I'm pretty sure he's making it up, but I don't really know for sure. Anyways, I thought I could address the issue in a non-accusatory fashion by telling him the morality tale of the boy who cried wolf.

"There once was a boy out in the fields, and he cried 'Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!' and everyone came running, but there was no wolf, and the boy just laughed, and said, 'Ha, ha! I tricked you!"

Nate is laughing and really enjoying this story, so I repeat the first part a couple of times for effect and then I get to the part where there really is a wolf, "...and nobody came, because they thought he was just tricking them again, and the wolf ate the boy up."

Nate is thrilled, he asks to hear the story again. So I indulge him. He's obviously really digging this story. I'm having a proud parenting moment. This is awesome. Finally I get tired of repeating the story.

"Nate, that's enough. I'm tired of telling the story."

"Dad, I think I see police car lights outside." 

I got to look.

Nate laughing, "Ha, ha, I tricked you!"

"No, Nate, that's not the point of the story. The point is that it's not good to trick people, because then they won't listen to you when you need them to."

Nate, genuinely disappointed, "Oh."

The 2013 Sony World Photography Awards - In Focus - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/the-2013-sony-world-photography-awards/100454/

Just chilling...

Just chilling...

Watching Planet Earth with Nate:

Watching Planet Earth with Nate:

Narrator, "How the sea turtles return the many miles across this vast ocean to the exact spot where they were born, we have no idea."

Nate, "I'll think of some ideas for them!"

Nate and the Golden Ruler

Nate and the Golden Ruler

James has recently taken to doing "crafts". It's the first thing he wants to do after every meal. Usually, it goes something like this: James gets his paper, markers, stickers, and scissors from the craft desk, and proceeds to cut the paper into little pieces, once satisfied, he's requests help getting stickers off the sticker sheet and proceeds to cut the stickers into little pieces. Other times, he asks for play dough, requests that it be rolled flat .... and then cuts it into little pieces.

Anyways, he was preparing to do "crafts" again and had taken Nate's "Golden Ruler" (A Sunday School craft: A plastic ruler with gold glitter glued on) off the desk. Nate saw this, took offense, and grabbed the ruler out of James' hands. "James, this is mine." Then pointing at the sticker on the back. "See, it says, 'NATE', so this is mine. You can't have it."

"Actually, Nate, it says, 'Treat others the way you would like to be treated.' It's the Golden Rule..."

Yesterday in the car:

Yesterday in the car:
Nate, "I know more about most things than Mom and Dad."
Me, "No, Nate. Mom and Dad still know more about more things than you."
Nate, quite upset, "No! I know the most about everything!"
Me, "Well, what does two plus three equal?"
(silence)
Me, "...because Mom and Dad know the answer to that."
Nate, "...but, I, I, I, I, I just don't know how to say the last part."
Me, "Well can you say the starting part then?"
Nate, "Two plus three"

Nate while pointing out the items he likes best in the Lego catalog, "Are we having another Christmas?"

Nate while pointing out the items he likes best in the Lego catalog, "Are we having another Christmas?"

After finding out it was a year away, "It's really hard just looking at all these pictures, we should just buy them."

Nate, "Extinct means all the dinosaurs died from a really bad stink."

Me, after seeing Nate's room, "Oh my, Nate. What happened here. This is a complete mess. This isn't good."

Me, after seeing Nate's room, "Oh my, Nate. What happened here. This is a complete mess. This isn't good."

Nate, unfazed,"Oma will clean it up."

"No, Nate. That's not right."

Nate, still unperturbed, "I'll clean it up with her."

On another note, Nate has a game that he has played, much to Sara's chagrin, for over two years now. It involves taking every object he can find an putting it in a giant pile. The name always changes. At first it was "playing dump truck", after that was banned it was "playing recycling truck", after that was banned it was "packing to go camping", then it was "building a nest", "building a meerkat den", "packing the moving truck", but the latest is pretending to be the Grinch and gathering all the "whos" belongings. Not sure why Sara, thought it was a good idea to bring that book into our house, but she did.

Nate, "Bad guys don't save the day. Good guys don't sleep in the day."

Nate, "Bad guys don't save the day. Good guys don't sleep in the day."

I assume there's an applied correlation. Perhaps he believes "saving the day" equals "not wasting your day".

Heard bells from inside our house. Turns out they were sleigh bells.

Heard bells from inside our house. Turns out they were sleigh bells.

Future Efficiency Expert

Future Efficiency Expert

In the washroom yesterday:
Nate extremely proud, "Dad, I wiped my penis off!"
Me, "Great, Nate! Good stuff!"
Equally proud, "...and I didn't put the paper in the toilet!"
Starting to worry, "No, Nate. That's not good. Where did you put it?"
(Begin looking around the washroom.)
Nate, still proud, "I didn't put it anywhere! I just left it on!"

I always enjoying walking in to a room and discovering the set ups the children have left behind.

I always enjoying walking in to a room and discovering the set ups the children have left behind. It's a little like walking into their imagination.

This one feels like it could use caption contest. Something about the baby toys being weeded out of the pack...

Just put the Christmas tree up! (Watch James in the background)

Just put the Christmas tree up! (Watch James in the background)

Picnic in the back of our new minivan!!! (While transfering carseats in the showroom)

Picnic in the back of our new minivan!!! (While transfering carseats in the showroom)

Whenever I guess any of the new words James has learned he laughs like a super villain.

It rained last night and froze, so it was very slippery out.

It rained last night and froze, so it was very slippery out. We were driving to swimming lessons, and Sara was testing the roads by braking hard a couple of times to see if it was slippery. When we got out of the car, Nate wiped out on the ice.

Me, "On no, Nate. Did you slip?"

Nate, "No, I was just checking to see if it was slippery."