More Legos

This isn't an epiphany to anyone who knows Dalton, but it was obvious this weekend that he hasn't avoided the "Industrial Movie Character Complex". We've been building a Lego fire truck that I received for Christmas this weekend. I've been holding off getting it out in hopes that the "sensitive period" for Legos would end and be replaced with a "sensitive period" for reading. In the meantime, Dalton has been pointing at previous sets we have put together and started asking if we could take them apart and put them back together. I had been thinking about this and decided that the whole philosophy behind sensitive periods is you go with them rather than try to change them to preferred topics. Besides, if he ends up an engineer instead of a writer, I’m not going to complain.

Having made up my mind to get out the fire truck this weekend, I was surprised to find Cathy and Dalton playing with it when we got up. We were working on it yesterday when an interesting conversation took place.

Dalton: Why did Bana and Papa buy you this fire truck?

Me: I asked them for it because I thought it would be fun to put it together with you.

Dalton: Why do you ask for presents?

Me: Well, people who want to buy you presents like to know what you want so they buy something you like.

PAUSE

Dalton: I want the Lego set with Woody and Jessie for Christmas.

This would be the first time he’s asked for a specific gift for a holiday. It took a few questions to figure out what he was talking about. The Toy Story Lego set he’s asking for is one that we saw with him in Walmart.

That was an interesting experience.

He was running out of Legos so we stopped off at Walmart on the way home to pick up a Creator set for him. We had our eye on two of the small ones. He immediately ran over to the Toy Story set. After some intense negotiation, we talked him into two of the small Creator sets.

Wait a minute, we won. How did that happen?

Big Bird goes caving

We've been playing hide and seek in various forms at Grandma and Grandpa's house. One form involves taking the Fisher Price figures and hiding them somewhere in the house. Dalton hid Big Bird in an opening in the brick wall behind Grandma and Grandpa's wood stove a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, there's a space between the real wall and the brick that protects it from thje stove. I'm sure there's a design reason for this. It probably involves water. I'm going to hazard a guess that the holes in this wall aren't even decorative.

Ok, I gave in and included a picture below that was taken by the in house security cameras before the incident.

In any case, when Dalton went to retrieve Big Bird, he accidentally bumped him into the space behind the brick wall. Dalton was upset although not meltdown upset. Cathy, who is the only adult with small enough hands to reach in the holes, tried to retrieve the fowl fellow. Unfortunately, the bird wasn't game. Several kilograms of mortar later, Cathy gave up. Dalton was worried about his feathered friend and wanted us to talk for him. Dalty asked questions like, "Are you alright down there?" "Are you cozy?" "Do you have a blanket?". It was quite touching to listen to his concern. I was thinking Dalton was going to start asking to throw supplies into the crevice after him, but he didn't think of it. I also avoided the temptation to suggest it as it has been my experience that my sense of humor is not always appreciated. Big Bird likes bananas, no?

Dalton did decide to stuff a washcloth in the hole so that no one else would accidentally fall down it.

Later in the day, Cathy's parents came home and Grandma and I took Dalton to the park. While we were out, Cathy and her Dad mounted a rescue mission with mirrors and Romex. I'd relate the details, but it brings back memories of our rewiring our house. I don't think we can afford the costs of therapy and marriage counseling involved in reliving that experience. We at least cannot afford that and sending Dalton to college and going to the local coffee shop five times a week. One must look out for the important things in life.

Spring Break

This is our week for Spring Break at Roanoke College so we're visiting Cathy's parents. The trip actually represents a surprising level of conventional and rational behavior for us. We actually went to Florida when it was cold outside.

Dalton is having a great time. He's pictured here showing his Great Grandpa Art how to blow up a balloon. The balloon is actually already blown up and left over from Art's 85th birthday party.

We also found a dead rat today. It didn't faze Dalton at all. His reaction was...well I don't remember the exact words, but it was akin to "Hey! Look at that." I suppose an aversion to dead animals is an acquired trait...even for vegetarians.

Bouncy

Howdy! Long time no post. I've been waiting for inspiration. I suppose some blame could be placed on various video game addictions as well. Anyhow, I figured I'd get a picture up of Dalton. He's continuing to grow. Here he is jumping on the mattress in the nursery. In most people's homes, this is the place where the infant sleeps in a crib. Eventually, the infant grow up some and it gets converted into their bedroom.

This is, of course, our house. The nursery finally got some use as a bedroom this month. Not surprisingly, it's use involved pulling in a mattress, Cathy, and TY. I even joined the rest of the family in there a few times. It is quite a warm little room.

I think I was posting about all Dalton's new words last December. We had him playing word games and watching educational word videos. I figured he'd be taking over the posting come February.

Since then we have gone into a word drought. Dalton has shown no interest in words until the last week. We managed to catch his interest by playing some games with letters. Essentially, I have a set of cards with letters that I turn over and use to play concentration. I managed to grab Dalton's interest and he started playing with me. It wasn't words, but it worked memory so I was happy.

Dalton then changed the rules of the game. Now we have to get the cards out and put them in piles of matching letters. We then draw the letters one at the time and call them by names that are related to a card game he has seen us play at parties (Dominion). I draw an "A" and call it an "Estate". He calls an "E" and calls it an "Ironworks". I would draw letters in order and spell words on my side of the table. Dalton tried to take draw some of my letters and I made the game more educational by requiring that he tell me what word he was drawing it from. This lasted about one game before he realized I was attempting to teach him something and he started demanding I steal his letters instead. Sigh! He's a bright kid. He catches on very quickly when I'm trying to make something an educational activity. I also have a terrible poker face.

Oh well, he's bound to hit another sensitive period for words sometime. Maybe it will be when he's through with his current sensitive period for sewing and cooking.

Snow? Oh yes, we have snow

Photos over here

Dalty health and Tantive IV updates

Dalton has continued to heal from his fall on Monday. The swelling peaked on Friday. While we still have all sorts of interesting colors in and on his face, the shape of his face is approaching normal.

We had an additional scare yesterday when Dalton woke up with a substantial limp and refused to walk in the morning. Cathy got on the phone with our family doctor who told us to give him ibuprofen and see if it improves. He steadily improved over yesterday and there is no sign of limp today.

We don't know what happened with the limp. Friday was date night so Dalton was at school until about 8:30 pm. He was lying down in a room with a bunch of other kids watching a movie when we arrived. He complained lightly about his leg hurting on the way home and then more so over the sleeping hours. We initially assumed that his overalls were too tight. He claimed that a hammer hit him or a friend made a hammer with his or her hand and hit him while he was laying down at school. There was no mark. We assume he pulled something somehow. We'll ask at school tomorrow, but he is better in any case.

Hopefully, next week will go better. We essentially had our biggest injuries for the year packed into last week.

We've been working on the Tantive IV over the last week and competed it on Saturday. It was a fun activity for Dalton and I. I think it has contributed to a substantial increase in my popularity this week. Dalton has been requesting I sit in the back seat with him on our trips to and from school. I have also started talking through a horse puppet with him during some of our playtime. That has been a huge hit. He tells me I do the voice right (did I mention my sore throat). Today has been pretty much chain demands to play with Horsie. It has been great for learning words as that is Horsie's favorite game. We've added "boy" and "girl" to his vocabulary today.

So here are the pictures of our progress on the Tantive IV over the past week. Dalton placed over half the bricks.

Oh, we're a no guns family so if Dalton asks, those turrets are hair dryers.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday
No Work on Friday (Date Night)

Saturday (Extra bricks are in front)

LEGO update

Here is today's update on the Tantive IV.

I wish I could say that this was the big event of the day. Dalton fell down at school and hit his head on the concrete. School called me (they never call). When I arrived to pick him up, he had the biggest bump I have ever seen in the middle of his forehead. It was scraped up and bloody for extra effect. We picked up Cathy and headed out immediately to see our pediatrician.

While it looked really bad and Dalton was very upset, he was also very lucid. Our doctor did the standard neurological tests for a 3 year old (how old are you, can you spell your name, what's the square root of negative one) and Dalton seemed fine. He sent us off with advice not to panic if Dalton had black eyes or discoloration on his neck in the next week or two.

In any case, he was completely his normal self tonight including being a turkey about bedtime. We even made some good progress on the Tantive IV.