A few weekends ago Several months ago (I wrote this ages ago and then forgot about it!) it was grey and rainy so we passed up the zoo for the science museum. There was a dinosaur exhibit going on that we didn’t want to miss. The Boo has recently taken not only to dinosaurs, but the concept of their bones, thanks to one of his favorite online games where you put the bones together to form a dinosaur who them walks off the screen.

The exhibit itself was pretty good. There’s not much sign reading when it comes to taking Nathan to the museum, but the dinosaurs were big and this was good. There were your usual “sharp tooth” T-Rex type dinosaur, a brontosaurus type dinosaur, and a myriad of other smaller ones.

The best part? The exhibit on dinosaur eggs. They showed some with babies coming out of the eggs, and some models of eggs with babies still in them. Nathan found this endlessly fascinating. Plus they had some boxes where you could “dig” and discover eggs. This was fun too.

The Pacific Science Museum is a strange beast. They have a million things to look at and you would think it would be heaven. There are outdoor water cannons that you can fire into a pond, there’s a digger indoors where you can, not surprisingly, dig, there’s an entire section devoted to toddlers and water play, there’s a butterfly house and accompanying insect exhibit (where you can even pet giant hissing cockroaches), somewhere there’s a wind tunnel that we haven’t found yet, and there’s even a model space ship you can climb in. But somehow it always seems lacking. I’m not sure why!

Anyway. Dinosaurs were good and the boy’s current favorite movie is about dinosaurs as well. He’s all boy, that’s for sure!

H and the boy were reading some nursery rhymes yesterday, including Jack and Jill. Quite a few nursery rhymes mention wells, and when we were in the UK we saw an actual well (that was mostly filled in) and showed it to the boy. He had never seen a real one before and was very impressed.

So yesterday while reading “Jack and Jill went up the hill” yadda yadda yadda, H asked what you do with a well. Boo answered that you get water from it.

And you put cats in it.

He’s been paying attention! There’s another rhyme that goes, “ding dong bell, pussy’s in the well, who put her in,” etc etc etc. Funny boy

The Boo enjoys counting. He also seems to enjoy doing it his very own way.

For the longest time, he counted “1, 2, 6, 9″ or some such combination of numbers. Three didn’t exist. He refused to use it.

These days, he’s finally begrudgingly admitted that the number 3 might exist. Now he counts “1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3″. He’ll parrot 4 or 5 if he’s counting with you, but for him, it’s all about 1, 2 and 3!

What’s very cute is that he totally gets counting. If you ask him to count ten things, he’ll say “1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1″ — of course that’s if he decides to begin with 1. Sometimes it’s two. I blame video games that count things backwards from 3 to 1

The other day we were at a friend’s house, and they had a little tee ball set in their backyard. Nathan took to it immediately! I would put the ball on the stand for him, and he’d swing that bat ferociously. Everyone was surprised how far he could hit it!

He did need a little help in learning how to hold the bat correctly. I suddenly reminded myself of my Dad, talking about grip and such.

Nevertheless, this was just the ticket for the Boo. He played tee ball for quite a long time, and wasn’t very pleased about having to share. I guess anything that involves both balls and thwacking something is right up his alley

The Boo has spontaneously started saying “thank you”, but he’s put an extra spin on it. He says, “Thank you too much.”

I think the story is that I often say “Thank you so much!”, perhaps with too much emphasis and excitement, because it kind of bugs me that he never says thank you. So when he suddenly started saying thank you, he took my longer version and started saying “Thank you too much.” He’s very matter of fact about saying it, and is very cute in his rather quiet way. I have to try really hard not to giggle when he says it because it’s so cute.

The funny thing is, although it’s most likely just a mispronunciation, in a way the grammar is funny because it’s like he’s saying, “Too much emphasis on thank yous, Mom!”

Nathan likes the Thomas and Friends games online. When we first discovered them, he enjoyed the memory match game for the train pictures and the flipping over action. He liked the trains driving on the railway journey game. He didn’t really get the games, but he liked looking at them and watching things go.

Lately he’s been more interactive with these games. He understands the point of the memory match game, which is awesome. He has a rather unorthodox method of picking out the cards, but it works! (He picks out one set, then keeps going with that one card and picking another one until he gets a match.) The railway journey is cool now because the Boo will trace the lines with his fingers talking about how they are going up and down, and he can accurately determine where the trains will, in fact, end up.

Today though was a huge milestone. Today, the Boo worked the mouse entirely on his own for the memory match game. It’s not any old mouse either, it’s my tricky laptop mouse, and he gets it! He uses one finger to move the arrow until it turns into a hand, then he takes his hand off the trackpad and clicks the button to select that card. He played two whole games this way. Our boy’s first 100% doing it himself computer game! We’re so proud

Today the Boo and I picked raspberries at Remlinger Farms.

We went up there hoping to pick strawberries, but the strawberries were all gone apparently! The raspberries had just opened up, so I thought we’d try it. The last time I gave Boo some raspberries he was less than pleased, but they were from the store which is not the best way to have them. These were de-lish! He ate more than he put in the basket. A good time. Can’t wait until the blackberries come out as well!

We’ve recently had some trouble with our blogs, so we haven’t been up to speed on posting regularly like I was trying to do before all the trouble started! Nevertheless, we have been busy!

Most recently we went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma with my mom when she visited. Most importantly, there were sharks! There are lots of pictures at the Tacoma Zoo picture album.

We also went hiking at Deception Pass with my mom. This turned out to be an all day event! We drove up to Anacortes, eventually found a beach but weren’t sure where the trail was exactly. The Boo adored the beach though, he spent a good long time collecting and then throwing rocks into the water. He was very disagreeable when we finally did find the hiking trail, but after strapping him on my back where he briefly fell asleep, we got some hiking in. He was awake for the hike back and did the whole thing himself! (It was nearly a mile). One strange thing about Deception Pass — there were air force jets going by almost constantly. It was extremely noisy. Strange since it was also so desolate and beautiful at the same time!

The week before that we went to the Reptile Zoo in Monroe with some friends. There are pics in the Reptile Zoo picture album, but be forewarned, most of the pictures are of the Boo pointing at snakes! There’s even a picture of a two headed turtle. The Reptile Zoo was interesting, but sort of sad. Some of the animals didn’t seem to have very happy living environments, while others seemed fine. Either way, the Boo was amazed!

Today we did another new activity — a boat ride around Lake Union and the shipping canal! We were invited to a party on our friends’ boat which is conveniently moored very close to our house! We were planning on being on the water for 2 hours but ended up being out for 4! The kids loved it. Silly us forgot our camera so I hope we are invited out again.

Two more fun trips were discussed — picking strawberries at Remlinger Farms, and the ice cream cruise. Hopefully we’ll do those soon!

Yesterday the Boo and I had a fun day. He’s turning into a really fun guy to be around all day long!

First we went to a homeschooling friend’s house where we painted some paper mache balloons. Boo wasn’t interested in the paper mache part, but he LOVED the painting! So I asked if he wanted to make some paper mache dinosaurs and paint them. He said yes! What a fun project to plan.

Then as we were leaving to go home, the Boo insisted he didn’t want to go home. “Where do you want to go?” I asked, totally not expecting an answer. I ask questions a lot that don’t get answers. However, he replied:

“The bookstore. With trains.”

I was stunned! And pleased! Sure! We can go to the bookstore.

So we went to B&N at University Village. As we walked him, I suggested that we look at magazines first so I can get one to read while he’s playing with trains. He agreed and was patient with me while I looked. Then we headed upstairs, he played, then when he was done I suggested playing in the nearby playground. So we did! Then I suggested getting some food, but as we were walking he was distracted by a very cool fountain that you can play in. So he did that and rebuffed any further suggestions of food/drink. Eventually though he was thoroughly soaked and looking a little cold so I suggested putting on some dry clothes (which I’ve learned to always have with me) and going home. He agreed!

And THEN (yep, there’s more!) as we were driving home I asked what we should have for dinner, again not expecting a response. But the Boo answered: “Fish.”

Whoa. When was the last time we had fish? I tried to think.. and I was fairly sure we didn’t have fish at home.. so I talked about where we could get fish, if we should go to a restaurant or the store, and he said restaurant. I asked if he wanted fish and chips, chips being french fries, and he didn’t seem enthused. Suddenly it dawned on me that he mean the Thai restaurant with the fish tank. I asked if he wanted to go to the Thai place with the fish tank and the spicy food and he said yes. Wow! My boy wants Thai! We can totally do that.

So we did. My boy and I went to a restaurant and ate Thai food. This is like a dream come true! And then we headed home (with some leftovers for Daddy so it wasn’t as hugely expensive as it could have been).

Whew! What a day. And what communication! I’m really excited. I love having actual meaningful and productive conversations with my child. Amazing!

Today the Boo did something highly unusual. This morning, shortly after his Daddy left for work, I was in the bedroom folding clothes. Boo ran past me into his room, and pulled out a orange and yellow striped t-shirt and a pair of grey trousers. He showed them to me and said he was going to wear these today. And where were his socks?

He found the socks (grey ones that matched, ha!) and then tried to get dressed. I was so stunned I didn’t move the entire time! He hardly ever chooses to get dressed, usually it’s a battle to do so! But there he was, chosen clothes in a pile beside him while he tried to take off his pajamas! So of course I went to help. What a grown up little boy, choosing clothes and getting dressed before being told to do so! He continually amazes me.