Kidlish

I love when kids encounter a word they don't understand, so they mash it up with words they do. A couple that come to mind, courtesy of my boys:

-A bowl of "Ice Cheese".
-Seeing a "Hairy old copter" flying overhead.
-Spreading honey on your "Jumpets".

"I'm drawing something for you, Daddy, and you have to guess. It begins with 'one'."

My four year-old son scribbles furiously on a magnetic sketch pad, then shows me his picture. It looks like a man, in preschool lollipop style, with oustretched arms and squiggly hair. Lots of lines radiate around the arms.
I try to think of any name that begins with 1. I'm mentally browsing Star Wars droid names when my son puts me out of my misery.

"Wonder Woman!"

Lessons my sons taught me last night

My two year old son taught me that a matchbox car can make a fairly effective eating utensil.

My four year old son taught me that the altitude afforded by a top bunk vastly increases the range of projectile vomit.

(not to be outdone) my four week old son taught me that a newborn baby lying on his back can fountain milk clear over the 20cm wall of a bassinet.

The last two happened at 1am at either end of the house, like duelling banjos. I guess my four year old is becoming a leader.
In my already sleep-deprived daze, as I stripped beds and scrubbed at carpet, one mystery kept floating through my mind: But he refuses to eat carrots.

The room is spinning, my eyes are burning, and it's Monday. Still, as every parent knows, you don't start feeling REAL fatigue until about the four month mark...

Last Friday we went to the Australia Day celebrations at Parramatta park. Highlights include:

Master one-and-a-half sitting on the ground in front of a stage filled with twirling acrobats doing incredible feats of wonder- and being fascinated by a little hole in the dirt.

Master four's two week long enthusiasm about seeing hot air balloons being momentarily dampened when all 21 of them roared their burners at the same time. It was like being in the middle of a flock of dragons.

Watching the little model aeroplanes zoom around the park, and hear a little girl's voice behind me asking if there were people in them.

Counterpoint: on the way home, having a car drive by screaming "F**k Australia, Lebs rule". What an endearing and articulate group of fine young men. Last one out of Sydney turns into a pillar of salt.

When I step out of the shower, my four-year-old sometimes hears the water stop, and runs and gets me a towel.

That's cute enough, but his little brother tries to copy everything he does. Some time ago I stepped out of the shower to find my little toddler handing me one of my wife's bras.