Inquiring minds want to know

I am fully aware that all kids between the ages of 3 and...10??? ask a lot of questions. However, I'm pretty sure my kid asks more than the usual. For example, as I dropped him off at preschool this morning, I handed him his tuition check to give to his teacher. I reminded him "Hang onto it so the wind doesn't blow it away." After which I get a response: "Why? What happens if I drop it? What happens if it blows away? What will the teacher do if we don't pay her? Why do we have to pay for school? Why do the teachers have to pay for paper and stuff?" and on...and on...and on... I don't like to be one of those parents that thinks my kid is just so far from the norm but I SERIOUSLY have not ever witnessed another child drill his/her parents with so many questions to such a simple statement. (sigh)

And for those of you that know me, patience with this is not my strongest character quality. I like it when he asks questions and wants to know things...but 20 questions (or more) over something simple really pushes my buttons (Wait a minute...do you think that's why he does it???). So, this is something I have really been trying to work on. After all, I don't want to squelch the child's ambitions to learn and become an independent thinker. Needless to say, there's lots of deep breaths and counting to 10 in my world right now.

So, as I was putting my "be patient" tactics to use during the car ride home today, we somehow got on the subject of matter and it's various forms. He was having some difficulty pondering the possibility that one object could be soft and another could be hard and yet they were both solids. This eventually led to the discussion of the ice on our lake and the snow outside...which somehow led to the possibility of people freezing to death...which led to me telling him about frostbite...what it is and what causes it. We didn't manage to solve all the world's problems by the time we got home, but the five-year old was silenced by the time we hit the driveway. I didn't lose my patience once. I answered every question without irritation in my voice. I was actually feeling rather proud of myself.

...and then a little voice from the other booster seat says "I'm never going outside again." So while I satisfied one child's curiosity...I have instilled fear of losing fingers in the other.

Onto a happier note, Carter has made a change in potential careers for his future. He has now said that he no longer wants to be a giraffe when he grows up. They are too tall and he could fall on his butt and get hurt. He's decided to be a clown instead. We'll keep you posted...

Logan with Grandma Rita

Carter helping Grandpa Jim blow out the birthday candles.

Eat your vegetables

Every time we have to get shoes on, the same thing is heard in our house "My toes are benting (no typo). My sock is buggin' me." Carter is quite particular about how his socks and shoes fit. So, when he told me his shoe wasn't comfortable, I didn't think anything of it. But, after a day or two, I checked his shoes, and sure enough, they were too small. A month prior, his toes still had plenty of room. So, we will no longer be passing big brother's shoes onto little brother - they now wear the same size (in fact, Carter's feet are actually a wee bit longer). We often get comments on how tall he is for 3 1/2. He was just "average" at his 3-year check up; I guess we'll see how he measures up in August at 4 years. Carter says his feet grew because he's been eating his vegetables.Logan has two weeks off from school for spring break, so we decided to make an overnight trip to Anchorage. We stayed in a hotel with a pool and the boys had saved their allowance and Christmas money, etc. so we also stopped at Toys R Us. Grandma Jan sent them gift cards for Build-A-Bear, so we finally got to use those (hint, Grandma...I thought the place was VERY cool too!). Logan and I had looked at their website earlier and he already knew exactly what he wanted. He got his little dog and it's bed. He also picked out the little dog carrier that has wheels; he even pulled it down for breakfast in the hotel the next morning.Carter also picked a dog...just because he liked the barking noise he could get put inside. He really wanted to get roller skates, but he didn't have enough money so the dog has Sketchers for now.We made another stop at the Imaginarium too; the last time we went was August 2007. I was hoping Carter would get more into it this time, but he spent 2 of our 2 1/2 hours playing at the train table... Going down the slide...head first, of course.

Logan decided to give it a try once he saw little brother survived.

Launching a rocket.Getting "electrocuted." Logan was too afraid to touch it.
And, of course, we had to stop at Chuck-E-Cheese. Ryan and I decided that next time we take the boys there, we'll just play and eat somewhere else. None of us like their pizza...and the boys don't want to eat anyway.

Here's Logan riding the roller coaster. I wish I had a picture of Carter riding it; he screamed the whole time (out of joy, not terror).

We have dreams of taking the boys to Disneyworld someday when they're a little older. But for now, we're happy they have tons of fun just going to Anchorage.