11/10/08 Spacey

On the way home from picking up the three today, Julian was quiet for the first few minutes, then during a lull, he said clearly, "Mommy, you know what we learned about today? SPACE!" Then he clarified, "In circle time, not in science class."

I immediately turned down the radio and asked him to tell me more.

"We learned about planets! Mercury, Venus, Earth. We're on Earth."

I asked him if he could remember the next planet, and gave him a not-so-good hint: it was his Halloween costume two years ago. "Mars!" he declared. I gushed with fascination, genuinely.

Then Gabriel interjected assertively, in his slightly condescencing tone: "What about Pluto?" And Julian answered calmly, "Pluto is no longer a planet." His air of confidence actually shut up his know-it-all big brother!

"It's a star now." (I'm not sure that's true, but I wasn't about to interrupt my astronomy lesson.)

"Mercury is made out of liquid."

I know I'm repeating myself, but you have to see how sincere and clear he is when he offers these little "science snippets." Julian often talks just to talk, as many kids do, but these moments aren't just to hear the sound of his own voice. There's something special going on. The sparks are flying in his head. Or maybe that's just my pride.

Katrina, meantime, is picking up a very stereotypical girl behavior: BOSSY! It's hilarious, this tiny little body speaking in such a STERN and LOUD voice, "Thas' e-NUFF, SHJU-YAN!" You can almost see the flames coming out of her eyes as she stares down the unfortunate target of her admonition. "NO PUSSS-in, BAY-AL!" (No pushing, Gabriel!"). Will this always be so cute? Many of the manifestations of her strong personality aren't.

For today, I was happy to "space out" with Julian before Katrina brought me down to Earth.

11/10/08