Rote Memory
The Elder really displayed some impressive memory skills today.
Yesterday we were making a card for daddy’s birthday around 2pm. (When I say we, of course, that is the “royal we”.) The Younger did sit down at the table with me (and was master of the glue stick…), but The Elder was into his computer so I would say something like “do you want to help?” “Yes” “Then come glue this onto the paper.” He puuuulllllls himself away from the computer, grabs the letter and pats it down on the card, barely taking his eyes off the computer and then quickly resumes his game. This happened a couple of times before I finally gave up on his participation in card making and The Younger and I just finished it up (when I say The Younger and I, I mean just I).
So in an effort to be funny because my assistant was in the other room listening in on all this and laughing at my feeble attempts to engage The Elder in the activity, I told The Elder (well, just said it aloud in The Elder’s general direction), “OK, now be sure to tell Daddy about your card first thing in the morning….say about 5:00 am, ok?” We are both laughing and D is telling me how cruel I am (cue evil laugh). The Younger was actually laughing too. The Elder….no.
“So The Elder, where can we put this where daddy can’t find it until tomorrow?”
“How ’bout……..over there” (pointing to the drawer to his train table)
So I go to lay it in there and tell him I did that. His response was blank as if to say, why are you talking to me, can’t you see I’m on the computer.
Now fast forward to this morning. My head was splitting because we went to bed really late last night getting ready for the camping trip. And The Elder was sitting on the bed between us staring into space with a big smile on his face. I whispered into his ear, “Tell Daddy Happy Birthday in his ear” which he did and The Hub gave him a hug (the sleepy half hug). So cute scene that makes us go “awwww” and then time to close my eyes again and sleep off this headache. Then I hear The Elder say…
“Daddy, I gotta show you something……….its downstairs…………………hold my hand.”
I personally had forgotten about the card (wife of the year award), but as soon as he said that, I knew what he was talking about and I was wide awake and making The Hub get out of bed too trying to act as if I was clueless. But piping up halfway down the stairs saying “wait, let me get my camera” kinda ruined that intention.
So because I don’t know how to reduce the size of avi files yet, I can only put in screen captures of the video. I was simply amazed that, not only did he hear me say that yesterday, but he remembered to do it too!
The funny part was the requirements of The Hub that he had to meet in order to receive his card.
“Get on the LoveSac….
“Go to the back of the LoveSac….
“Close your eyes….
“on the ground….
“Close your eyes on the ground…..
“All the way to the floor….
“Make it bigger…
“Do you like this, daddy?”
“Can I open my eyes now?”
“No”
Happy Birthday Terry!
The Hub is the big triple dozen today which mean according to William Tell Mom he is no longer grounded! We are going camping tonight and will be back tomorrow after The Hub’s race. Wish us luck as it is the first time going with the kids!
On our stroll to the neighborhood park on Wednesday, I asked the kids what they wanted to get Daddy for his birthday. The first response was actually, “a cake? a Thomas Cake just like me? at MY party?” Which is funny because he didn’t have a Thomas cake, but that is beside the point. So I said, “Well, cake is a tradition so he’d get that anyway, what kind of gift would you like to give him for his birthday?”
“How ’bout…(finger in the air)….a new car?”
Well that was an easy one as that afternoon we were scheduled to pick up our 3rd free car. Remember the whole springing things on them…I didn’t tell them until that morning that we were going to get it that day, even though we finished qualifying for it on June 30th. The Younger took the transition pretty hard, but then got over it when I let him sit in my lap in the driver’s seat while the dealership rep went over the features. Now he makes sure that everyone knows about his excitement. “new cah, new cah, new cah.”
So Happy Birthday, The Hub! Here’s your new car (except I’m going to drive it, ok?).
Ooh & Aah
If you have a preschooler who LOVES Playhouse Disney then you’ll understand the title of this post. The Elder’s usual favorite sites these days is curious george and nick jr, but he’s been visiting playhouse Disney more recently, I’m not exactly sure why. But he plays this one
activity called Fetch a Fruit:
It’s like a fancy connect the dots game except you draw a “vine” through the fruit and then one of the monkeys will climb the vine and collect the fruit. What makes it so funny to watch The Elder do it, is that this is what his vine looks like:
And he has those poor monkeys climbing all over the place-even off the screen (I recreated these scenes for screen capturing purposes). It is pretty humorous to watch. The Elder doesn’t even crack a smile! I invite you to try the activity yourself here.
The second funny part, which I wish I had on video, was he went to click on the Stories link (see first screen shot on the left panel). I said, “oh, are we going to read stories now?”
“There’s just one. Not 2, not 5, and not 20.”
(with the corresponding finger gestures, except for he just held up 10 fingers for 20)
