Good question

Thomas and I were singing some songs the other day. He paused to ask "How does an answer blow in the wind?"

I reread the liner notes for "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" and found this bit of wisdom from the songwriter himself: "The first way to answer these questions in the song is by asking them. But lots of people have to first find the wind."

Run!

Spring is finally here, at least temporarily, so we're starting to go for more walks. Thomas likes to run ahead, usually shouting "run!" One of us goes with him while the other stays back with Johanna and the stroller. Last night we had been out for a while when Thomas decided he'd had enough running. "My legs are out of breath!"

Computer geek milestone

A few days ago I asked Thomas if he'd like to paint on the computer. Since then he's been happily scribbling in the GIMP, which isn't exactly appropriate for a three-year-old. It's roughly the equivalent of Photoshop, so it's not really a paint program, and ease-of-use is not its strong suit. The only other choice I had was KPaint, which (at least in the 0.6.2 version I have) doesn't do much. I showed him how to pick different colors, but that's about all. At the very least, I figured it would be good hand-eye coordination practice. His favorite thing to draw is a "T."

Last night he was mousing away. I was in the next room, and he came trotting out. "I need to show you something."

"OK," I said, figuring that he'd accidentally pulled up some menu or other, "what is it?"

"It's the up-and-down thingy."

Hmm. What could that be?

He climbed up into the chair and showed me. Somehow he'd zoomed in on his latest masterpiece, so it was now too big for the window. He moused over to the scroll bar, and started scrolling the picture up and down.

"Did you figure that out all by yourself?"

"No, you did it."

"You saw me do it before, and remembered how?"

"Yes."

I was so proud! My little budding computer geek.

Maybe I should do some sit-ups or something

Naturally, we've been telling Johanna & Thomas about "the baby in Mommy's tummy." Last night as I held Johanna in my lap, she pulled up my shirt, patted me on the belly, and said "Baby."

The Weight of the World

Thomas woke up early this morning to go to the bathroom. He likes his sleep, and often on occasions like this he has one complaint or another; usually about how tired he is, or how the light is too bright. This morning, though, he had something else on his mind. He used his usual early-morning plaintive wail, but the words took me by surprise.

"I don't know what to do with my life."

Did I hear that right? He repeated it. Yes, that's what he said. I didn't know what to tell him. I certainly wasn't prepared for a statement like that before his third birthday.

Knock, Knock

Here's a joke my nephew Paul told. I'm pretty sure he made it up on the spot.

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Cow.
Cow who?
Why do I have to live in a barn?

Vienna Boy's Choir

We saw the Wiener Sängerknaben, aka the Vienna Boy's Choir, last night at the PAC. Specifically, the Mozartchoir -- they have four different touring choirs. They were most entertaining. We were trying to count the different languages they used in the performance. Off the top of my head, I remember German, of course, French, English, Chinese, Spanish, and Hungarian.

One of the soloists reminded me of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals. He had a fantastic voice and seemed to be a born entertainer. Another of the boys played a variety of percussion instruments throughout the concert, and for the encore came out on stage with an accordion and a very serious look on his face. He practically brought the house down with his performance. All in all, a terrific evening of music, and lots of fun.