Odd Bird, New Words

Last night before bed, Cullen and I shared a little reading. He read Sheep In a Shop, to me, then chose for me to read the story of King Midas from a collection of classic tales and his favorite book, Tacky the Penguin.

Before we got into the story, we reminded ourselves what "tacky" means. As we got a page or two in, we talked about what "companions" means. Then Cullen stopped me after I read about Tacky's friends, how they were all so perfectly similar but "Tacky was an odd bird."

He put his finger to each penguin on the page and counted them off ...1..2......3...4......5.....then touching the picture of Tacky......6. "Mom, he's not odd! Six is EVEN! Don't they know that!?"

After he understood the other meaning of the word "odd" he seemed a bit relieved that the authors did, in fact, know what they were writing about! I'm just tickled he remembers the difference between odd and even and more importantly, that he caught and questioned the inconsistency with what he understood to be true. I hope he keeps and hones that ability, even though I know it will keep me on my toes!

Mirror, Mirror...

It occured to me today, as we cleaned out our little frog's home, that I have neglected to introduce you. I feel a little guilty about this, actually. I went on and on about the butterflies, but never once mentioned the frog, and she was here long before the caterpillars ever were!

We got our little tadpole in February from Grow-a-Frog and watched it daily with great whoops and delight at every little change. It stays in the water its entire life, just coming up for air. Originally, Cullen named it "Thomas" after the train, I'm sure. Thomas the tadpole sounds kinda cute though. Now that we have an increasingly fat frog, the name doesn't seem to fit quite so well. Cullen has been trying to come up with a new name that would also be okay if "Thomas" turns out to be a girl, which is what I think we have here. (Notice her lovely figure!) Today he decided on "Dookie." I think that is perfectly suitable and actually plays upon the little frog's unique personal talents! (grin)

Here is "Dookie" admiring her trifold reflection in the corner of her tank. Nowadays, we enjoy watching how quickly she snaps up her food pellets when we drop them into the water - just like catching bugs. I think we may have to come up with a bigger tank before too much longer. We may keep the red sand, though. Don't you think the color suits her?

Up-close Concrete

As I type, Cullen is still out in the back watching a crew and a very large, loud truck pour concrete under the deck. This is more exciting for him than you can imagine! You will notice he is still in his pajamas. I am not quite cruel enough to insist he come in and get dressed.

Even though he was instructed by his Dad to leave the men alone and not to disturb them as they worked, he has not been able to quite refrain from offering tips and advice here and there. Lucky for the men, the truck is pretty loud.

Over the past several days, he has spent quite a bit of time hanging over the deck railing, talking and watching and talking, as Mr. Carey built a retaining wall and prepared to pour the pad. To get to see the mixing, pouring and spreading is an incredible treat!

Though, Cullen is pretty concerned about our mailbox right now. It apparently had to be moved to allow the truck access to our back yard, and he seems unusually anxious to get it back in place as quickly as possible. He is definitely an "everything-in-its-place" type of kid - a smaller version of his Dad!