Indiana Idylls

Peter: My uncle the baron glued exploding cheese to the guys. 20160508_123304.jpg 82KB Download Someone (probably Leo), 10/16/14: I love that your tummy is getting bigger. It's like a pumpkin!

Cleaning out a box in my office, I found my handwritten notes, transcribed from a conversation with (ha! more like a short excerpt of a monologue by) Leo, on his 4th birthday, in the bathroom by the Dinosphere at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. There were two sci-fi movies posters up, one from 1959's Journey to the Center of the Earth , and one from 1979, The Land that Time Forgot . I wrote: Leo first noticed the T-Rex underwater fighting the submarine. "That monkey has a spear. I know what kind of monkey that is. It's a Monkey Knight. I've been one of those before, in Marvel Super Heroes. That monkey has a spear. None of the other monkeys have spears, so that's how you tell that one is the king. Did you know that?" Then he saw the volcanoes in the sky. He thought there were "red cracks" in the sky, but they were just pteranodons. L: Look at how big my legs are! Me: Oh, yes. Like tree trunks. L: Yeah, mostly. [I think that last...

Things pulled out of Daniel's mouth this Christmas season: old ham, large piece of a foil Torrone wrapper, garlic clove, twist tie, Tegu block,Tegu wheel, Duplo block, clump of mud, a (spice) clove, and a peanut.

I asked Alex to write five sentences about our experience raising tadpoles. (I do believe they were toads.) Our tadpoles lived in an aquarium. You should put sticks in it before they turn into frogs. Hopefully, that will reduce the amount of dead frogs. It was sad to let them go. When you have them turning into frogs, you should cover it with something.

At the Indianapolis Children's Museum on Leo's birthday, we participated in a science workshop where the boys made a kind of plastic out of cornstarch. We learned about George Washington Carver (who did NOT invent peanut butter), and the proper names of some scientific tools, like a graduated cylinder and a pipette -- when the kids guessed things like "eyedropper", Science John tried to lead them to the right answer with a clue: There was a French name for it. So the next day, during lunch, Leo says this: "N. E. I. E. It's a French word for "knight". Is that a good French word? N-e-i-e.

Tonight, after reading Leo's bedtime story, I was lucky to remember that it was the Feast of the Guardian Angels. I really like the idea of Guardian Angels, but it was only two weeks ago that I learned Guardian Angels are officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church. They're in the Catechism , that God sends each of us an angel when we are born! I have always liked the idea of Guardian Angels, but if pressed, would have said they were sort of a fancy. I was grateful to learn that it was right to believe in them. Anyway, so I taught Leo the Guardian Angel prayer I know: Angel of God, my guardian dear,  to whom God's love commits me here,  ever this day be at my side,  to light and guard, to rule and guide.  Amen. "Leo, did you know that when you were born, God sent a special angel just to watch over you and keep you safe?" "Angels have wings, right?" "Well, I think so. I've never seen a picture of an angel without wings, so I do think of th...

Leo and I started reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , as Alex and I did when he was three. Tonight, Alex joined us for chapter 5, in which Dorothy and the Scarecrow meet the Tin Woodman. Scarecrow and Woodman debate whether it is more important to have a brain or a heart, and so I asked the boys what they thought. Without skipping a beat, Leo said, "A heart." I asked if he was sure, if he thought it better to have a brain for thinking or a heart for loving, and he confidently replied, "A heart for loving." When I asked Alex, he looked ponderous for a moment. Then he replied, "A heart. You might be a little bit crazy, but at least you wouldn't hurt anybody, because you'll love them." Neither one will ever make it in politics.