His daddy goes to "work" and does "stuff"

Sam's driveway art is growing more complex. The other night he made something he called a laboratory, pointing out the desk and other things.

You'd think I'd be proud. But despite visiting the laser lab several times, he was surprised to learn that I work in a laboratory. Sara D, friend and babysitter extraordinaire, what kind enough to relate the following Sam exchange:

Sara: Does your dad work at a laboratory?
Sam: No, my daddy goes to a building called work every day and does stuff there.

Apparently he's learned what they are through Spiderman and Batman cartoons. Which I guess makes me evil?

Sara also related the following quote:

Mommies and daddies don't eat cookies. They are parents. Parents don't like cookies. Really truly!

Guess we'll have to prove to him we do like them by eating some in front of him and not making faces. This is a challenge I am willing to undertake.

Sandbox v2.0

Another milestone at the new house: A new sandbox! 6'x6', currently with 1,000 lbs. of sand, though I plan to add at least another 600. A 50-lb. bag is something like half a cubic foot--not that much.

Sam was patient while I built it, and ecstatic diving around in it when finished. And he got to see his dad wearing goofy safety glasses! Always a bonus.

While I worked on the sandbox Sam played with a caterpillar I found on the apple tree. They are shown here, prior to the caterpillar's tragic squishing. Susan and I both frowned and told him not to squish little things. Well, except I am find with killing spiders, and definitely kill all the ants you find, in whatever devious Dr. No fashion you want. Now that I think of it, maybe it's complex conveying which bugs are marked for death and which aren't...

One last thing: I've learned from the past. The new sandbox has two cupholders so you can play with Sam in comfort, your favorite libation close at hand. :-)

Visit from Ruth & Katie

Sam's aunt Ruth and cousin Katie flew out last weekend for a too-short five-day visit. High points: An almost uncountable number of visits to the mall; dinner at Chang's, where Sam
was enthralled with wiki-sticks; Aunt Ruth played "wrong or right" with Sam; Katie and Ruth FINISHED THE PORTHOLES IN SAM'S ROOM!; Aunt Ruth made CURTAINS for Sam's room!; and many other things. Ruth and Katie, it was so good seeing you! Below are several photos from that visit.

A few items since the:

• Sam's gotten heavily into sidewalk chalk on the driveway. In particular, he's become obsessed with drawing convoluted paths he calls mazes. And there's a new variant: Berry mazes. These are paths with berries every so often for those traversing the path to eat. (Path followers include so far two dinosaurs, a giraffe, a scary giant prehistory spider and a hungry bear.)

• We have Aunt Ruth to thank for Sam's unusual complaint the other day, "Mommy, my instep is hurting!"

• At church the Sunday before last Sam was squirming, so I whispered to him that the pastor was praying. Sam looked confused and whispered back, "This isn't how we talk to God!" Honestly, we do pray with him, and he has been in church before.

• Actually, he has been thinking about religious questions. For instance, he asked Susan the other day if Spiderman was on the cross. Um. No. Why? I think he got a little confused because I was showing him a Batman episode where Batman goes undercover in a homeless shelter to find where some bums are being abducted to. And during this episode Batman has a dream where he weeps for all the people he wants to save but cant. It seemed like a teachable moment, so I talked about that attitude, and parallels to Jesus. But that may have been a little above his head...

• Sams love of knock-knock jokes continues unabated. His version of the classic taught him by Aunt Ruth: Knock knock. Whos there? Duane, save me, I'm drowning in the bathtub!

• After a recent time out, Susan said to Susan, "I'm thinking of hitting you but I'm not going to hit you." She was a little conflicted by this. Good! You are not hitting me! But why is this even an issue?

More later...