Kid Amnesiac

The last three months have brought some terrific quotes that didn’t quite flesh out into full vignettes. They’ve been sitting around as drafts for a while, tid-bits I’m afraid I might lose/forget if I don’t commit them to type.

The first and oldest dates to January or early February. Having played foosball and loved it once, Simon could not wait to get to back to the rec room at his grandparents’ church to play again. A week later, the whole family headed over to Southeast Christian to play after a Thursday night dinner. Since the second trip included Jim, Evie, Matt, me, Dan, and Simon, we had to split into two cars.

Hilariously, our five-minute or less car separation (the Whitworths live in a development across the street from their church) was the source of much anxiety on Simon’s part. He was excited that Uncle Dan was going with him and concerned that he couldn’t see Uncle Dan’s car for the entirety of our 1/8 mile trip.

The money quote came when we pulled into our parking space:

“I bet Uncle Dan is already inside playing [foosball], and I’m worried.”

He (Dan) wasn’t (inside), but he (Simon) should have been (worried). Turns out, Uncle Dan is something of a Foosball Wizard, and the only way to win that night was to be on his team. And that was with Dan not even trying very hard. Or at all I suspect.

Flash forward a few weeks, and we find Matt fixing Simon lunch while Cambria looks and meows on. Simon assumes that Cambria is crying for lemonade and offered the following:

“No, Cambria, you can’t have any lemonade. You drink water. [to Matt] Cambria likes water. I like sugar.”

Accurate. Alas, Matt and I both have runaway sweet-tooths, and Simon is following suit.

Or how about Simon’s knack for directions:

I want to go to that house where we took I-64 to I-264 to I-71 to I-265. We can go fast on I-71.

Apparently he had a good time playing with his cousins at Uncle Sam’s new place.

Moving right along, Simon and I found ourselves out in the cold one winter day when he grew cold and tried to speed up our departure:

“Ooooh, Mommy, I’m cold. We better get home before I turn into sorbet.”

Somebody’s Bubbie is lactose intolerant!

Then there was the day Simon either counted or named a color in Hebrew. Matt was impressed and asked, “What language is that, Simon?”

Simon thinks for a minute, obviously unsure. Then he says:

“Other Spanish”

We still laugh about that one. Although, given a preschool taxonomy, it makes sense.

In just the last few days, he’s rattled off some more zingers. Except these aren’t funny little preschool constructions, these are things Matt has taught him that I had no idea he know. They include:

“The sun is made of hydrogen gas. Hydrogen gas turns into helium gas.”

and the question

“Where are Spirit and Opportunity? (exploration rovers on Mars)”

or even

“That’s the Commodore.”

identifying the name of an apartment building a block down from us.

If the first two thirds of this post represent cute things I don’t want to forget, the last third reflects my growing realization that Simon is a smart little sponge who is on his way to knowing more than his Mama can remember!