Things Felix's Generation Won't Know

Roll down your window? Hang up the phone. The actions these terms describe are no longer relevant. (Well, we do still have a manual window in the Geo, which sadly has to be used to operate the door since the inside door knob broke off, but you get the point.)

Felix pointed to something the other day and I was very confused and couldn't make out what he meant for sometime. I was describing how the humidifier worked and he asked me what the mouse was for. I didn't figure it out until the next day when we played with tanagrams and he repeated the use of the noun mouse for this directional identifier. See the picture below, Felix doesn't call that shape the term we might use. He calls it a mouse. As in the cursor on a computer screen.

Why are Bad Guys Bad?

I see myself as a pacifist and yet I've got a boy who is obsessed with guns and shooting (well, "pewing" is the term) and Bad Guys. Felix sees bad guys everywhere. He pews them all day long, stomps them, runs from them or after them. There is definitely a love-hate relationship going on here. He wants to be the black spiderman for Halloween. The other morning on the way to school he asked, "Why are bad guys bad?". I was quiet while I struggled with the answer, wrestling with some inner-demons no-doubt, so Felix suggested in his let-me-quote-Mommy-voice, "Maybe we should get a book about that at the library today?" The librarian directed me to several books with titles such as: Patience; Tolerance; Kindness; and Why War is Not Good (which was a very touching and honest children's story). However, I'm still struggling with the question, as we all are really. Dana and I teased about it having something to do with conservatism and republicans...but I don't really think that. Perhaps the answer to that will be left to Felix's generation, along with our debt, bank bailouts and the disastrous affects of the Iraq war. Truth is, bad guys aren't all bad, good guys aren't all good, and until Marvel introduces the Not So Naughty Grey Spiderman, I'm just not sure how to explain that to a 3 year-old.

O'Felix, The Number 2, and Pluto (or How the IAU Broke a Young Boy's Heart)

Felix has some likes. He likes the letter O, he likes it so much he insists his name begin with it when we write it out. I'm not sure where he developed his affection for the letter O, but I can understand it- it's a nice looking letter.
Tru likes the number 2. I think 2 gained a place in his heart when he was two. Even though he is three, it seems he remembers two very fondly and commemorates that age by collecting items with 2 on them. Playing games that involve numbered cards can become difficult as the only cards he is interested in are the cards with a 2 on them. Sometimes, if he sees me writing, he'll ask that I write a 2 on a sheet and give it to him. Renae writes her 2's with a loop. Oh no. No, no, no, that is all wrong, write it again mom.
And then there's Pluto.

Felix had shown some interest in the stars so a while back we borrowed astronomy books for kids from the library. He really took to them and he learned to identify several of the planets- including Pluto, his favorite (I think it may have become his favorite because of O). As the book was a little older it listed Pluto as a planet. I showed him a newer book where Pluto was excluded. He asked where Pluto was and I told him that on August 24th, 2006, the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto and that it was no longer considered a planet. Well, maybe just the part about Pluto no longer being considered a planet.
DENIAL
"No dad, it's still a planet" he says. I explained to him that some scientists had decided it wasn't after the first book was written.
BARGAINING
He gingerly puts his hand on my face to direct my gaze into his soft eyes as he sweetly says "But it still could be, we could read this book". I explain that that book is older and that information has been superseded.
ANGER
"No dad, it's a planet!" he commands. I try to move us along and ask if he wants to keep reading.
DEPRESSION
He does want to keep reading, but he doesn't really care which book, and he seems kind of bummed out.
And that is where it was for several weeks. Well we got past it. I still read him astronomy books, but ones that excluded Pluto as a planet. Then a couple of days ago, Renae and Felix find a book specifically about Pluto at the library, and last night I read it to him. The first sentence starts "Pluto is a dwarf planet..." and Felix interrupts "Pluto is not a planet". I tell him that he is correct but "dwarf planet" is a different classification than planet. He says "okay, but it's not a planet". ACCEPTANCE

3 Degrees of Separation

It had come to my attention just yesterday that our possible future VP (god forbid) and Felix are separated by three degrees. The picture above includes a friend of mine (the one with the basketball) playing against the "Barracuda". It probably isn't fair to claim such a relationship as my friend does not remember Sarah.
To add to Felix's fame by acquaintance, the link below is to this years I-Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival. You may remember a previous post where I included a picture of Felix in chalk. That picture was one of those chosen for this year's brochure. If you visit the link, go to page four and the memory of that past post will come flooding back to you.
http://www.aiacentralcoast.org/AIA-IMADONNARI/FULL_Brochure2008sm.pdf
Felix has been in school for about two and half weeks and he loves it... I wish I could say. Actually, he's kind of tight-lipped about it. When I come home I ask him how school was that day, and just about every time he answers "great", and that's about it. He seems to be at that stage where school is great while he's there, but the next morning when it's time to go, he's not all that interested. Well, tough luck kid, you're going.

Last weekend we were invited to an event held by one of Renae's clients. I'm not sure Renae understood the invitation because when we arrived we were given instructions on how to serve the guests. That didn't happen, and we did have a lovely time. Actually there isn't much to tell about it so I made up what would have made for an interesting story. Felix did discover the power of the light saber as he played with one of the boys. And yes, that is a soccer ball, not a light saber in Tru's hands.

Recently cousin Rooney stopped by to make some chocolate chip cookies with Felix. And on another day Felix and April went to the beach.

Felix's First Day of School

Felix has started school!

Felix was admitted into our top choice for preschool two weeks ago after a long, long wait on the waiting list. Today was his first day and this is how it went. Felix and I got up early and spent a wonderful morning together until it was time to change out of his pj's and get ready for school. Luckily, Daddy arrived back from work just in time to get the ball rolling and get us out the door on time. We were welcomed at the school by his teacher and lots of other eager kids with reluctant parents (there were a few with reversed adjectives). He took off his shoes and donned his rubber boots and we proceeded to the playground to 'check in', a term which he is required to say to the volunteer with the clipboard each morning but which he was unwilling to voice today. Once in the playground my little Seattleite, who always refuses his coat, was told he had to bring a coat each day and if he didn't want to wear it he could hang it on the bridge (picture below). He soon found his comfort zone (picture below) and forgot about his hovering parents. After the flag raising (complete with salute and song - oh, by the way, a moment of pure kindred spirit occurred during the flag salute when I, as is usually my custom, omitted the words "under God" and the woman next to me said, "I do that too!" - Oh, I am so going to love this Montessori community) the kids changed back out of their boots and went into the classroom while the parents gathered down the street at a park for a coffee social. When I picked Felix up he was ready to go home and asked me if I missed him. He said he missed me too and was hungry for lunch. He said they had ELEPHANTS! at the school (not to confuse you, they do have goats, lizards, and an alpaca but the elephants were miniaturized toys).


Side note: Felix and I were visiting a neighbor (a couple roughly the same age as Dana and I with no kids and two spoiled dogs) when Felix shyly asked if the woman could make a sun. It took him so long to finally say it out loud and then we were so confused as to what he meant. She and I spent a few minutes unsuccessfully attempting to gesture a sunshine much to his disappointment. He motioned in front of himself with his hands but we just couldn't figure it out. Finally, he said, "No, one that will turn into a boy." Guess he was looking for a playmate. Out of the mouths of babes...