lowercase marcus

Benjamin with Grandma

2011-07-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

karate show class

2011-01-12T23:42:00.000-08:00

Playing on the McGuffy Statues

2010-10-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

our favorite post office

2010-09-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

I apparently haven't unloaded the photos on my iPhone since July.

Here's Benjamin enjoying a candy from the post-office counter while standing on his favorite rock (just outside the PO):

catching minnows in the creek

2010-07-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

4yo boy visits waterfall

2010-07-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

chasing butterflies

2010-06-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Little Gym

2010-06-08T17:02:00.001-07:00

dragons fighting in the clouds

2010-05-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

summit

2010-04-18T06:53:00.001-07:00

Benjamin's second composition

2010-04-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

Dragon: give a big swing of your tail.
Dragon with the burning horn: kick.
Dragon: breathe fire.
Little dragon: crawl.
Baby dragon: break out of your egg and say, "Boo!"

Little Calf Mountain

2010-04-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's first poem

2010-04-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Dragon

When the stars go down, all twinkly in the sky
And the roses go up, all happy, all treasury
The frog jumps up on his green house filled with leaves
And then the something goes out, all scary, all spitting fire

Benjamin Tucker Marcus, age 3¾
(transcribed by his father)

another poetic moment

2010-03-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

We got this note in email this morning:

Dear Parents,

The city of Charlottesville is conducting smoke testing in our area. Some smoke entered the school building this morning and we have evacuated all the children. They are all currently in the playground while we are waiting for the smoke to clear.…

They then asked us to retrieve our kids early, so I went in to pick up the boy while he was in the middle of his playground-picnic lunch.

As we were walking to the car, Benjamin was telling me about the smoke. He said, "It twisted the sinews of my heart!"

On the way to school that morning, we had been reciting William Blake:

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

puzzling development

2010-03-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Nathalie bought Benjamin a puzzle for 50¢ at the "Used Resource Sale" at the homeschooling conference. When we got back to the room, he dumped it out and started putting it together. Nathalie asked, "Have you done this puzzle before?"

No, apparently not. He's just suddenly super fast at puzzles — after showing no particular skill with them before. (He wanted to play with puzzles when he got home from school today, so I had already seen his new interest in action. He was fast earlier today, too, but not as fast as he was tonight.) Here's his puzzle, completed:

"I want to scare beavers."

2010-03-09T18:35:00.000-08:00

This strange conversation took place this afternoon while we walked in the woods near a beaver dam we never reached:

Benjamin: I want to scare beavers.

Me: Don't do that.

Benjamin: Why?

Me: Why would you want to scare beavers?

Benjamin: If those beavers bother us, I will try to scare them.

Me: They're not going to bother us.

Benjamin: Well, I'm going to scare them.

Me: I really don't understand why.

Benjamin: Oh, for fun.

Me: How would you feel if someone scared you just for fun?

Benjamin: I want to scare beavers just for fun even though I don't want anyone to scare me just for fun.

my architect

2010-03-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

OK, our architect.

If Benjamin ever becomes a famous architect or engineer or artist, I think this photo, which his mother took a few minutes ago, will probably become a book cover.

PS When I told Benjamin that an earlier version of this same structure was "the best castle I've ever seen you build," he replied, "Would you like to see me make it even more interesting?"

Winter Walk in the Woods

2010-02-19T21:33:00.001-08:00

Hiding?

2010-02-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

what happens when we die?

2010-02-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

I've got songs from Jesus Christ Superstar stuck in my head.

(I haven't watched the movie recently. I haven't listened to the soundtrack recently. But I was discussing early Church heresies and schisms with my friend Carolyn this morning, so that's probably how the crooning disciples got in my head.)

Benjamin heard me singing this:

Always thought that I'd be an apostle
Knew that I would make it if I tried
Then when we retire we can write the gospels
So they'll still talk about us when we've died.

"Papa, did you say 'fossil'?"

"No, sweetheart, I said 'apostle'."

"Papa, I need to tell you a song that's stuck in my head:

In a boat, when we fall out and drown,
we all be-come fossils when we die…"

language gap

2010-01-30T15:15:00.001-08:00

I was pointing out a gap between the top storm window and the library window frame, a gap that was letting in some of the snow that's still falling from our most recent winter storm.

Benjamin came into the library and said, "'I hate gaps!' he said angrily."

After we had suppressed our laughter, I said, "He said it angrily, did he?"

Benjamin: "Yes, he did."

Me: "Why did he say it angrily?"

Benjamin: "Because I'm angry about the gap."

Me: "Oh, I see."

Benjamin: "What's a gap?"

symbolism

2010-01-19T18:04:00.001-08:00

Benjamin showed me a picture from his Peter Pan book. "What's this, papa?"

Me: "I don't know."

Benj: "But what do you think it is?"

Me: "I think it's probably the bottle of poison Captain Hook uses to try to kill Peter Pan."

Benj: "Why is there a skull in it?"

Me: "The skull isn't really there. It just represents death."

Later, Benjamin showed me the cover of Good Night Goon:

Benjamin: "Why is there a brain in that room?"

Me: "I don't know."

Benjamin: "Maybe it represents 'scary'..."

misapprehension

2010-01-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, I found Benjamin, dressed as a pirate, sword fighting with his mother, dressed as a shark.

I said, "I didn't know sharks could fence."

Nathalie, dressed like a shark: "No, I'm Captain Hook."

Me: "Captain Hook with a shark's head?"

Benjamin, dressed like a pirate: "She's disguised for Halloween!"

Me, to Benjamin: "So if she's Captain Hook, who are you?"

Benjamin, dressed like a pirate: "I'm Fido Flip-flop [a circus dog from Uncle Wiggily's Adventures]. I'm just disguised as a pirate for Halloween."

I didn't bother asking how a circus-dog-dressed-like-a-pirate could hold his own in a sword fight with Captain Hook.

Postscript: After hearing me read this post to his mother, Benjamin corrected me: "We weren't really fighting!"

equal parts quirky and quaint

2009-12-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

My friend Carolyn just won the grand prize for the GreatSchools Bedtime Story Contest:

“The Middle of Nowhere”
The grand-prize winner of the GreatSchools Bedtime Story Contest is equal parts quirky and quaint.
By Carolyn Fay
The bath was too hot. The yellow duckies squirted icky water. And her favorite tiger towel was still in the laundry.
Annie had had enough.
She wrapped herself in a frayed blue towel, curled up into a ball on the bathmat, and went away.
She went away to the Middle of Nowhere.
It was nice in the Middle of Nowhere. Soft. Dark. A little moist. But nice.
Annie was listening to the sound of her heartbeat in the Middle of Nowhere when from far away she heard a voice.
A shrill, scratchy sort of voice. It reminded her of her mother.
“Annie!” the shrill, scratchy voice shouted. It grew louder. It sounded like it was on top of her.
“Annie!”
“Annie’s not here!” Annie shouted back. “She’s gone far away.”
The shrill, scratchy voice was silent. Then it said, “Oh.”
The “oh” was soft and just a little bit scratchy. It reminded Annie of her mother when she read a bedtime story.
“Can you tell me where Annie has gone, please?”
“Far away,” Annie said. “To the Middle of Nowhere!”
“Oh!” said the voice. “And where exactly is the Middle of Nowhere?”
“It’s very far away. It’s farther than Australia and Gibraltar. You have to take 17 airplanes to get there.”
“Oh my,” said the voice. “That is far away. I wonder how Annie managed.”
“Well,” said Annie, “she does run the fastest of anyone. She got there quick as a flash.”
“Of course,” said the voice. “But what is the Middle of Nowhere like? What’s in it?”
“Oh, it’s a beautiful place,” said Annie. “There are only giraffes. And no ants and no spiders can live there.”
“Really?” asked the voice. “Just giraffes. No people?”
“No. No people,” said Annie.
“Except for Annie, right?” said the voice.
Annie thought that the soft, scratchy voice was chuckling a little bit. It reminded her of her mother when she was listening to her father tell a joke.
“Yes, except for Annie. She’s allowed there. The giraffes like her.”
“Do the giraffes play with her?”
“No. They never play with her. They only eat leaves and moo.”
“Wait … the giraffes moo? Like cows?”
“Yes. They moo all day long. They’re very noisy.”
“Wow. So do the ants and the spiders play with Annie?”
“No! Remember I told you there are no ants and spiders in the Middle of Nowhere. Just giraffes.”
“Just giraffes that moo. Yes, you did tell me that. I’m sorry,” the voice softened even more. “Well, I have an important question to ask you. If there’s no one to play with her there, why did Annie leave our cozy house to go to the Middle of Nowhere?”
“Slugs,” said Annie.
“Excuse me?” said the scratchy voice, turning a tiny bit shrill again.
“There are slugs in the Middle of Nowhere. Annie likes slugs,” said Annie.
“Annie likes slugs?” the voice said with a sigh.
“I’m a slug,” said Annie.
The voice was silent for a second. Then it said slowly, “Let me get this straight. You’re a slug?”
“Yes,” said Annie.
“From the Middle of Nowhere?”
“Yes,” said Annie.
“And you arrived here when Annie left for the Middle of Nowhere?”
“Yes!” cried Annie.
“Oh!” said the voice. “Welcome to our bathroom.”
“Thank you,” said Annie.
“Do you like it here in the bathroom?”
“Very much,” said Annie.
“Well, well,” said the voice, sounding brighter. It reminded Annie of her mother when they were out walking in the woods. “The rest of the house is even nicer. How would you like to spend the night? Since Annie’s run off to the Middle of Nowhere, there’s an empty spot in her bed. You might as well wear her pajamas too — that is, if slugs wear pajamas.”
“Slugs do,” said Annie. “And yes, I would like to spend the night. I’m quite tired.”
Annie stood up and threw off the blue towel. Annie’s mother was sitting on the bathroom floor, holding her favorite red and white striped pajamas.
“Oh!” said Annie’s mother, sounding exactly like when she opened a surprise present.
“What is it?” said Annie.
“You look just like my daughter Annie, even if you are a slug,” said Annie’s mother. “Now, come on, let’s go find Annie’s father. We’ve never put a slug to bed before, and I know he’s going to be very interested to meet you. Do you leave a trail of slime wherever you go?”
Annie giggled.
And far off, in the Middle of Nowhere, a herd of giraffes mooed.
The end.

automobile elephant

2009-12-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

When Benjamin was born, Miss Angel gave him a wonderful mobile for his crib. It played Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. Benjamin adored it.

Before he could walk, before he could even stand unsupported, he would pull himself upright in his crib and select his favorite composer: Mozart.

This afternoon, Benjamin started requesting his "automobile elephant." I had no idea what that meant. Eventually, we figured out that he meant "mobile" and not "automobile" and that he was missing the one seen here:

So I got it out of storage and set it up in his playroom for him. And he lay down beneath it and stared up at it.

And the way it's set up now, I could lie down with him and finally look up to see what he saw every night, three years ago.

Thanks, Miss Angel.

as in uffish thought we drove

2009-11-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

Benjamin and I were stuck in traffic the other day. The boy had requested "a drive," and I had obliged. Traffic was thick on the way out of town and on the way back in.

As we sat in gridlock, Benjamin suddenly said, "Look, papa: it looks like a monster!"

Where? Where?

There!

He was pointing to the car in front of us. Between the shape of its trunk and the shape of its tail lights, it did look very much like a monster staring back at us.

Benjamin said, "It has eyes of flame."

I think that counts as his first literary allusion. He was thinking, of course, of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky":

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

echoes of Halloween at Fashion Square Mall

2009-11-21T17:26:00.000-08:00

bb: What are these things?

me: They're called mannequins.

bb: What are they doing there?

me: They're showing us how these clothes look.

bb: Why they don't have heads?

me: I think you're supposed to picture your own head if you like the clothes.

bb: I like those clothes!

me: Well, sweetheart, those are women's clothes...

bb: If we had a zombie, he could take off his head and put it on the mannequin!

Perseus leaves for school ...

2009-10-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

... carrying the head of Medusa:

Postscript

These do a better job of showing the winged sandals and the winged helm of darkness:

growth spurt

2009-10-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

For the first couple of years, Benjamin was 90th percentile for height. Then at his 3yo checkup, he was suddenly 50th percentile. The doctor acted as if that was fine. He's average, after all, right? But when I pointed out the vector, he understood my concern. The nurse measured Benjamin at 37.5" at the time. That was the same result we got at home, so the doctor told us to keep measuring him and see if he progressed at about 2 inches per year. Only three months later, Benjamin has already grown almost 2 inches! Tonight we measured him at 39.25". A web calculator I found says that that's 82nd percentile for a 39-month-old boy. (But that same web calculator says he was 60th percentile in July.) Anyway, that's quite a growth spurt.

breaking the swing barrier

2009-10-18T09:25:00.001-07:00

papa pumpkin & son

2009-10-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

grimace for the camera

2009-10-17T05:24:00.000-07:00

We've been posting Benjamin's drawings and paintings. I think one or two grandmothers might be longing for a photograph of their little artist.

Benjamin in his playroom
September 24, 2009

it seems boy monsters are happier than girl monsters

2009-10-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

pour papa

2009-10-14T19:28:00.001-07:00

I was delighted to discover, among the drawings Benjamin brought home, one that said "Pour Papa." I think Benjamin and his teacher collaborated on this one:

Pegasus Suite

2009-10-14T10:04:00.001-07:00

This is Benjamin's favorite thing to listen to right now:

P's & Q's

2009-10-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

This reminds me very much of raising a 3yo boy:

balloon Pegasus

2009-10-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm very impressed with the Pegasus that the balloon-animal guy at the market made for Benjamin:

eye of the beholder

2009-10-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

Benjamin brought home this drawing today:

I said, "Oh, this is a guy standing in the middle of a bunch of trees, isn't it?"

Benjamin replied, "No it's not!"

"What is it?"

"It's a cyclops!" he said pointing to the one-eyed fellow in the center.

"Well, yes, but what are these?" I asked pointing to what I thought were trees.

"Those are trees."

"So it is a guy standing in the middle of a bunch of trees!"

"No it's not!"

"These things to his immediate sides, though. Those aren't trees. Are they Polyphemus's sheep?"

"No!" he insisted. "Those are the things he's holding!"

Were we going to repeat the pattern? "And," I asked patiently, "are the things he's holding sheep?"

"No, they're juice bottles!"

marine biology vs classical mythology

2009-09-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

I think Benjamin's teacher misunderstood what he was saying he had drawn:

Une méduse, in French, is a many-tentacled jellyfish. But I'm quite confident that Benjamin didn't mean une méduse but rather la Méduse — Medusa herself:

self-portrait

2009-09-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

Benjamin brought home some drawings from preschool today.

Here's his self-portrait:

("It's Pegasus!")

horrorculture

2009-09-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

I don't think Benjamin knows what a snapdragon looks like, but he loves the idea that there's a flower with "dragon" in its name.

Here's the painting he did at the Discovery Museum yesterday:

("It's a snapdragon!")

Benjamin drew a monster

2009-09-28T13:12:00.001-07:00

soporific

2009-09-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's walking stick

2009-09-12T17:49:00.001-07:00

Here Benjamin walks away from our first letterbox:

What's Benjamin's favorite color?

2009-09-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

inside Benjamin's imagination

2009-08-30T11:24:00.001-07:00

As Benjamin gets more and more into monsters of all sorts, he reminds me more and more of the comic-strip character Lio:

dentist

2009-08-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

Benjamin was so well behaved at the dentist.
I was impressed and proud.

- papa

PS I think it helped that he had his purple monster Bernard there for support.

little blue monster

2009-08-26T05:31:00.000-07:00

me: I have an idea. Let's go on a treasure hunt tomorrow.

bb: A treasure hunt?

me: Yes, we'll take your bucket into the woods and hunt for treasure.

bb: What treasure?

me: Well, we'll have to make a list of thing we want to find. We'll write up a list of five things.

bb: How about a blue monster?

me: Well, OK, that can be one of the five things I suppose. But I was thinking about treasure like river rocks, pine cones, a big piece of moss ...

bb: A little blue monster.

me: A little one might be harder to find. The more specific you are ahead of time, the harder it is to find something that satisfies your description.

bb: But it has to fit in the bucket!

Benjamin snacks in transit

2009-08-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

movie-viewing attire

2009-08-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

I get a real kick out of how Benjamin dresses for dinner-and-a-movie night:

PS Our plan is to introduce Benjamin to the chapter-book text, then the audio book, then the movie version of these great old kid's books. We did that a little bit out of order with Peter Pan, but with Alice in Wonderland and with the Wizard of Oz, we've kept to the correct sequence. Tonight, Benjamin (dressed as a monkey) watched the first half of MGM's "Wizard of Oz." Tomorrow we'll watch the rest of it.

using one story to explain another

2009-07-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

Nathalie suggested I cross-post this here:

Benjamin asked me to read to him from my book. I told him I didn't think he'd like it. He asked me to please try anyway.
Rage:
Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades' dark,
And left their bodies to rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.
Begin with the clash between Agamemnon —
The Greek warlord — and godlike Achilles.
Which of the immortals set these two
At each other's throats?
Apollo,
Zeus' son and Leto's, offended
By the warlord. Agamemnon had dishonored
Chryses, Apollo's priest, so the god
Struck the Greek camp with plague,
And the soldiers were dying of it.
Chryses
Had come to the Greek beachhead camp
Hauling a fortune for his daughter's ransom.
Displaying Apollo's sacral ribbons
On a golden staff, he made a formal plea
To the entire Greek army, but especially
The commanders, Atreus' two sons:
"Sons of Atreus and Greek heroes all:
May the gods on Olympus grant you plunder
Of Priam's city and a safe return home.
But give me my daughter back and accept
This ransom out of respect for Zeus' son,
Lord Apollo, who deals death from afar."
A murmur rippled through the ranks:
"Respect the priest and take the ransom."
But Agamemnon was not pleased
And dismissed Chryses with a rough speech:
"Don't let me ever catch you, old man, by these ships again,
Skulking around now or sneaking back later.
The god's staff and ribbons won't save you next time.
The girl is mine, and she'll be an old woman in Argos
Before I let her go, working the loom in my house
And coming to my bed, far from her homeland.
Now clear out of here before you make me angry!"
The old man was afraid and did as he was told.
He walked in silence along the whispering surf line,
And when he had gone some distance the priest
Prayed to Lord Apollo, son of silken-haired Leto:
"Hear me, Silverbow, Protector of Chryses,
Lord of Holy Cilla, Master of Tenedos,
And Sminthian God of Plague!
If ever I've built a temple that pleased you
Or burnt fat thighbones of bulls and goats —
Grant me this prayer:
Let the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows!"
Benjamin: Is the old man going where he's not supposed to?
Me: No, he's not going near Agamemnon's ships. He's going away from the ships. But he's about to do something that will get his daughter back.
Benjamin: Why the man took his daughter?
Me: Um. Well. You see, in ancient times, when grownups would fight, they would fight much worse than kids fight. And sometimes they would take people prisoner, and take them home with them as slaves — to make them work for them in their homes. Do you understand?
Benjamin: No, papa.
Me: OK, well it's very much like in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, where the Wicked Witch of the West destroys (or seems to destroy) the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow, but takes Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion back to her castle, and makes Dorothy clean the castle kitchen for her.
Benjamin: So does the old man throw a bucket of water on him?
Me: Yes. Sort of. Only instead of water, he hits Agamemnon with plague…

blue balloons

2009-07-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Still a lot of balloons/ocean waves in our house.

birthday bed

2009-07-19T09:55:00.001-07:00

Two weeks later, Benjamin's bedroom looks exactly as it did when he went to bed after his birthday party:

Hogwarts Preschool of Witchcraft and Wizardry

2009-07-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

intrepid explorer

2009-07-11T19:21:00.001-07:00

Benjamin likes the woods ...

... and apparently has no fear of leaving me behind.

What does Benjamin do with his papa?

2009-07-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

July 7

July 8

July 9

Samantha Dances in the Grass

2009-07-08T20:45:00.001-07:00

Birthday, etc.

2009-07-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Update: photos from Sam's mom

Samantha, 3.75

2009-07-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

Benjamin and Samantha haven't seen each other for 6 months. There wasn't much reacquaintance needed. They just got right into playing:

PS Samantha turned 3¾ today.

Backhoe

2009-06-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's favorite "tractor" is the backhoe loader:

Today, the nice man at the dump let him climb into one:

Backyard Wading Pool

2009-06-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

Cook Creek

2009-06-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Whenever I want to take a photo of my son, he has his back to me.

early birthday cake

2009-06-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

Benjamin won't be 3 for another couple of weeks, but he had a practice run with his grandma:

great new playground

2009-06-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

His shirt says "Monkeying Around":

Leaving the playground, Benjamin spots graffiti on a rock.

"Why someone wrote on that rock?"

I don't know, but it's a bad thing to do. Still, can you tell me what it says?

"It says 'Grandma'!"

No, sound it out. What's this letter say?

"Tuh"

Yes, and this one?

"Vuh"

Well, yes, it looks like a V, but it's a U. It says "Uh"

"Uh"

Yes, and what's this last one say?

"Cuh"

Right, so you put them together, Tuh Uh Cuh, and it says "Tuc"

"Like Benjamin TUCker Marcus?!"

Yes, just like Benjamin TUCker Marcus.

Some photos of Benjamin a few weeks before turning 3

2009-06-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

afterschool visit to the park

2009-05-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd pick Benjamin up early from preschool today because it was beautiful out and I thought he might want to visit the park.

He spotted something even more fun than a purple T-rex:

Does that Thomas the Tank Engine bathing suit look suspiciously like underwear? Papa was not prepared for a water park.

starfall.com

2009-05-19T16:43:00.000-07:00

No exaggeration in that slogan.

Nathalie suggested we each teach the boy our own first language, which leaves me with the task of teaching him to read English. But I feel like I'm watching Starfall.com do my job for me.

(And Benjamin pursues it with the obsessive determination I associate more with video games than with educational websites.)

Chocolate Fudge Icecream

2009-05-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Easter 2009

2009-04-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

rooster eggs

2009-04-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

The term "rooster egg" has a new meaning for me.

Why would "rooster egg" have any meaning for me in the first place?

In an essay I wrote a few years ago, I mention "Uncle Raymond [who] is a famous logician. (Also a magician, a musician, and a mathematician. I'm not making this up. His stage name was Five-Ace Monty.)"

Most of his logic puzzles are fantastic. Some of his basic, introductory puzzles aren't his own, and these aren't always as great.

Here's one of them:

Question:: If a rooster lays an egg on the exact top point of a roof that slants off at 30° in one direction and 45° in the other, which side will the egg roll down?
Answer:: Roosters don't lay eggs.

Yeah? So? I know roosters don't normally lay eggs, but the puzzle doesn't assert that they do. It asks a conditional question. What if a rooster laid an egg…

Obviously the whole thing annoyed me enough to stick with me three decades.

But now I have a new association with the term. Benjamin asked me if we could look for rooster eggs in the back yard.

Rooster eggs? Is this some wild-goose-chase term he learned in preschool? No, apparently it's a small child's misunderstanding of what he overhears and what he dimly remembers from a year ago.

"Is it Rooster yet?" he asked.

"Ah! No, my boy. You mean Easter. Easter eggs. And no, it's not Easter quite yet."

Postscript Nathalie points out that the basilisk (aka cockatrice) is born from a rooster's egg.

CMoR

2009-03-16T11:27:00.001-07:00

Benjamin's first visit to CMoR, the Children's Museum of Richmond:

unchecked adult supervisory fascism

2009-03-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

Meet Simp

2009-03-05T06:26:00.001-08:00

Meet Benjamin's Simpsons character, Simp.

family seat

2009-02-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

Benjamin goes to a preschool on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A week and a half ago, the head of the preschool told me that she thought Benjamin was bright enough and mature enough to move to the 3-year-old class, but that he'd need to be potty trained before he could graduate from the 2-year-old class. Benjamin's interest in the potty has waxed and waned for a long time, but he showed absolutely no interest in giving up his diapers.

Yesterday they moved him into the 3-year-old class. Yesterday we canceled our diaper subscription with Amazon.com. Today was the first day I've taken him out on the town (a visit to the Discovery Museum in the morning and a park in the late afternoon) without spare diapers, a change of clothes, etc.

We even have a new "family seat" for the bathroom:

I can't believe how quick the transition was. He really wanted to move to the 3yo class. That was apparently sufficient motivation. He may not have been the oldest kid in the 2yo class, but he was certainly the tallest. He looked oldest. He's clearly the youngest in the 3yo class. We're very proud of him.

I've been proud of him at every major development — sitting up, crawling, standing, walking — but this was the first one to feel like it was "his" — like a decision and an act of will on his part. That changes the quality of my pride in his accomplishment.

- particularly proud papa

turtle standard, early '09

2009-02-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

12 months old

21 months old

31 months old

Welcome to the world Aidan!

2009-02-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

A belated welcome to Benjamin's new cousin (and our great-nephew!) Aidan,
born December 2008.

Growing for chewing gum

2009-01-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

This morning Benjamin and I went to Sam's Club (well, morning relatively speaking since these days it takes forever to get him to do anything, and we must have gotten to the store just before lunch—ah, the joys of "toddler time").

We went by a gumball machine and Benjamin wanted to take a closer look. He discovered that the lid came off (some kids must have been pilfering gumballs), so I quickly moved him away from it (he was in the shopping cart) and told him he could have gum "quand tu seras plus grand" (when you are bigger). He asked why (he asks why about 50 times a day now), and I tried to explain that it is something you need to chew and that you can't swallow it, and that he would need to learn not to swallow things (I still have to remind him to not swallow the water when he rinses his mouth after brushing his teeth). He seemed to accept this, but pointed out that he knows how to chew.

A couple of hours later we were playing at home, and I looked at him; he seemed visibly taller. I asked him, "Tu as grandi?" (You grew? You got bigger?). He looked at me with a little smile and replied "Oui, j'ai grandi! Je peux avoir du chewing gum maintenant?" (Yes, I've gotten bigger! Can I have chewing gum now?)

He's already a clever little (bigger) fellow.

must be a barge coming through

2008-12-11T22:27:00.000-08:00

I've been wondering when Benjamin and Calvin would begin to remind me of each other. I confess that it's happened much sooner than I expected:

- papa

Thanksgiving week in South Carolina

2008-11-28T20:01:00.000-08:00

I expect Nathalie will be posting some beach pictures soon, but meanwhile, here's a shot of Benjamin at the aquarium, taken by his gramma:

his latest disguise

2008-11-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

Because he's currently obsessed with the movie Kirikou et la sorcière, Benjamin is insisting that we address him as Kirikou. When his mother made the mistake of calling him Benjamin, he replied, "Non, je suis Kirikou. Je suis déguisé en petit garçon blanc." ("No, I'm Kirikou. I am disguised as a little white boy.")

my favorite sound

2008-11-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a sample of Benjamin's laughter:

(This was recorded tonight. You can download it here.)

- papa

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, Gargoyle Marcus:

Last year, of course, he was a little monkey.

- papa

Farm Day

2008-10-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

Note: Compare with Farm Day, 2007.

- papa

Postscript: a photo Maman took blind while on the hayride:

a new friend from Notre Dame

2008-10-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Gargoyle Marcus

2008-10-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Benjamin: "What's your name, papa?"

Me: "Brian, but not too many people call me that. What's your name?"

Benjamin: "Gargoyle Marcus."

The boy seems to have 2 categories of obsession: what he is to be called (Tiger, Monkey, Gargoyle) and what everything else is to be called (robot, tractor). Right now he's a gargoyle and everything else is a tractor.

HOWEVER, I'm starting to suspect that he understands the word "tractor" to mean "tool," because I talk about digging tractors, plowing tractors, dirt-moving tractors, lifting tractors, etc.

Benjamin: "That a tractor, papa."

Me: "These are scissors."

Benjamin: "That a tractor for cutting."

- papa

since we haven't been blogging (now with comments)

2008-10-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

we might as well share the photos:

This is Benjamin sleeping with Louis. But sleeping with a soft plushy seems to be a thing of the past these days since Benjamin has taken to sleeping with his soft plastic trucks—sorry, TRACTORS. Everything is a tractor these days (even blankets).

This outfit comes in handy when making cookies or pancakes.

New boots from Nevada!

Our not-so-lost Lost Boy.

Do you know what Benjamin built? You guessed it: it's a tractor! Unfortunately, this tractor does not seem to be equipped with a shovel for cleaning up rooms...

Pollock?

And finally... the first day of school picture promised so long ago.

(Maybe Nathalie will add commentary later.)

- papa

(Done!)

- maman

First day of... school

2008-08-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

Benjamin started preschool on Monday. He'll be going 3 days a week. He LOVES it—particularly the playground.

I'll try to post more about it later (and add one of the not-so-great first-day-of-school pictures I took), but for now here is what his first "What I did Today" sheet said:

I ate turkey and cheese, grapes, peppers, and corn.
[Note from Maman who packed the lunch: It wasn't corn. It was chickpeas.]

I ate graham crackers.

Other drinks/snacks I ate today were: water, juice, milk

[I'll skip the diaper info.]

At naptime I slept from 12:55 until 2:28. Notes about naptime: good nap.

Today I had fun when we:
Had fun making a key chain.
Practice[d] the planets and states.
Story time
Spanish time
Played outside
Trace[d] the letter "O."
French time
Bubble time

2yo checkup

2008-08-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

We had a very rough July, beginning with each of us taking a turn being the sickest we've been in many years (which for Benjamin means the sickest he's ever been, period) (and, I just learned, the sickest Nathalie has ever been, too) as we passed a bug from mother to son to father and on to the neighbors ...

And once we were all healthy again, we could focus on the fact that our beloved Lutèce was not.

There was some other awfulness, too, which I won't burden you with, but the upshot is that all of that is now behind us, and we marked that improvement with a very positive pediatric checkup.

After examining Benjamin, Dr. W told him, "You're perfect."

He is. He's also

36.5 " tall
27 lb 6 oz

and still 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height, as he has been for most of his 2 years.

The nurse measured him at 37 inches long, lying down, but when Nathalie was out-loud shocked by that number, the nurse measured again and said, "Well, maybe 36 and a half..."

Nathalie said, "I guess he was tall enough to ride that merry-go-round after all." She'll have to explain to you what she was referring to. I didn't ask. (I laughed, but I didn't seek details.)

In addition to Benjamin being tall and lean and healthy, he also didn't cry (!)* at his one vaccine shot, said goodbye to doctor and nurse (although it was to the nurse that he said, "Goodbye Dr Wisman"), and told his mother the next day that he wanted to go back to see the doctor again.

There are other big changes coming up, but I'll let Nathalie blog about those — and I'll pressure her to put up some of the great photos of the boy that are still sitting on her digital camera.

- proud papa

* I keep a copy of the "Le Papa Pingouin" French music video on my iPhone for "emergencies" when we're out and Benjamin needs extreme distraction. It succeeded in distracting him before, not-quite-during, and immediately after his shot. I highly recommend this newly discovered strategy.

gone fishing

2008-07-31T14:15:00.001-07:00

Lutèce, RIP

2008-07-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Today we lost our beloved Lutèce to kidney failure. Here are a few pictures of her. Benjamin will miss his brief (and rare) "câlins" (cuddles) with "LuTess."

BenTub

2008-07-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

tricycle

2008-07-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

2 years old

2008-07-08T16:51:00.001-07:00

Thanks grandma and Jerry for this great photo of the ~~boy~~tiger 2 days before his birthday:

- papa

PS Sammy asks what Benjamin is doing with the stick. Maman informs me that it was his trumpet.

His 2 strongest themes right now are tigers and trumpets.

Why trumpets? Because of Trotro, of course:

Benben se deguise

2008-07-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Benjamin doesn't watch TV on a TV set, but we do let him watch short videos originally from French television that we can download from the Internet. His favorite by far is L'Ane Trotro and right now his favorite episode is "Trotro se déguise" where Trotro dresses up as a tiger and announces "Je suis un tigre!"

Benben has been announcing the same to us for the past few days, in French and English.

When he was pretending to vacuum last night, I said, "I thought you said you were a tiger. Tiger's don't vacuum!"

He replied, "I'm a tiger vacuum!"

Benjamin's lion

2008-06-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

One of the first gifts newborn Benjamin received was his toy lion skin:
Almost 2 years later:Benjamin sleeps fine in his bed at night, but recently he's begun taking his afternoon nap on the floor. Fortunately, his lion is there for him.

- papa

snow cone

2008-06-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mr. Josh for this great photo:

chevalier

2008-06-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today, Benjamin is 1 month shy of being 2 years old. Miss Angel took him, Lucia (who is today 1 month shy of being 3 years old), and a couple of babies to the merry-go-round.

I'm sensing an equine theme.

- papa

Camel Bisous

2008-06-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

landlocked gondola

2008-06-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

Petting Farm

2008-05-30T20:02:00.000-07:00