Me Too, Me Four, Me Twenty-Seven

How wonderful a child's mind works. With the recent holiday season we have been spending quite a bit of time traveling in the car visiting family and friends. These travel times are great as we are able to communicate with our kids while they are forced to sit still. Mckay who is now two is gradually coming along in the communication department. He learns a new phrase or sentence, then clings to it like a bar of chocolate. His new phrase "me too" has brought some amusement recently as his older sister Cassidy struggles with the concept. You see, Mckay is two years old, so in Cassidy's mind when he says "me too" it makes sense. In our recent outings, she has been responding to comments with "me four." As she is now four years old this makes perfect sense to her. Alisa has even been corrected when she has said "me too" and told that she must say "me" then how old she is. It has been quite an adjustment, and "me twenty-seven" just doesn't roll off the tongue. Oh what fun it's been to ride in our Civic this holiday.

THE NUTCRACKER

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I am a huge fan of the ballet. O.k. I wouldn't go half as far as to say that I am a huge fan of the ballet, however I do think everyone needs to see The Nutcracker. I had seen it once or twice many years ago, so when I asked Alisa if she would like to go she was excited as she had never seen it before (although I am pretty sure as a child she tried out to be in it). Last Friday night we sat together in Capitol Theater and enjoyed the production.

I think the biggest challenge for me in viewing the ballet is the lack of noise. Other than the music from the orchestra pit, there isn't any sound. With so little ballet viewing experience it certainly was new for me to view a production and have it be so quiet. I kept waiting for someone to come out and sing while the other's danced. I also have so little knowledge of appropriate technique, so it was nice to have Alisa there to confirm to me that what I thought looked incredibly difficult, was indeed incredibly difficult. The set was nice and the costumes were impressive. Even with my little ballet knowledge, the production was well done and we both had a wonderful time.

I wasn't exactly a prime example of a husband taking his wife on a date to the ballet though. Because we were short on time I wasn't able to take her out for a nice dinner. Instead we picked up a pizza on the way home. I know...real romantic. Perhaps attending The Nutcracker each year will be a tradition....hopefully the pizza after will not be part of the tradition.....although it was stuffed crust.

The Letter A says what?

Our little Mckay is what you might call a sturdy child, as he is just 3 1/2 inches shorter and a mere 5 pounds lighter than his "big" sister. Mckay is over two years younger than his sister and is already making it known which one will dominate the physical battles. However, there is one area Cassidy continues to carry the advantage... verbal communication!

Mckay speaks...and if you speak his language, then he speaks quite well. He is learning words, and sentences, colors, and the sounds that animals make. However, if you don't speak his language, then you may be surprised to learn what the letter A says. Last night at the dinner table Mckay was telling me about his day, when I asked him what he learned in pre-school earlier in the day he simply replied "A." We are teaching Cassidy to read, so out of habit Alisa asked "Mckay, what does the letter A say?" His answer was quite clever. He simply replied "Roar" and kept on eating. Frankly, his response was good enough for me.

The cat says "meow," the dog says "ruff," the horse says "neigh," and the A says "Roar!"

A clean bedroom

Now that Cassidy is getting older she likes to help with chores. Some days she is really motivated to please me. One particular day I was working at the computer. She came running into my room, "Mommy come and see!" I grabbed her hand and we ran to her room. I stubbed my toe on something in the hall, but I didn't have time to stop and see what it was. We entered her room and I looked around to see her bedroom spotless. Her bed was made, the scattered clothes were put away. There were no toys covering the floor. "Cassidy, did you clean your room? This is amazing. Thank you. You are such a big girl."

Cassidy gleamed with pride. She had accomplished her task of making mom happy and was most likely going to get the reward she had in mind.

Then very innocently she looked up at me and said, "Mom, since I cleaned my room, will you clean the hall?" She took me by the hand and showed me the hall. The missing clothes and toys were laying in the hall in a large pile.

I just laughed. What more could I do? From my perspective I was glad that at least her bed was made.

Time Flies

I can't believe it is already December, and 2009 is knocking at the door. I remember how strange it was in school to start writing 1990, and here we are getting ready to wrap up 2008. As I sat and thought about how this year has seemed to fly by, I started thinking how long ago, specifically days ago, did certain events happen. Here for you is a list of some events and how many days it has been from December 3rd, 2008.

I was born 9,927 days ago.
My wonderful wife was born 9,905 days ago.
We have been married for 2037 days.

We had our first child, Cassidy, 1,513 days ago in a Payson Hospital.
Our son Mckay was born 755 days ago (it seems like more).

I received my drivers license 4082 days ago.

The big gulp was introduced by 7-11 10,596 days ago.

The first James Bond film, Dr. No, was released 16,646 days ago.

Days since Dr. Emmett L. Brown Jr. first invented time travel: 19,387.

Days since John Stockton hit the infamous last second 3-pointer to send the Utah Jazz to the NBA finals: 4,206

William Shakespeare died 143,402 days ago.

Henry Ford invented the first MODEL T 36,592 days ago.

Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Empire of Japan 24,468 days ago.

The Wright brothers completed their first flight 38,338 days ago.

Days since Joseph Smith Jr. organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 65,256.

The Declaration of Independence was signed 84,890 days ago.

What does all this have to do with anything? Not much really, but I did find it quite interesting to learn the date I turn 10,000 days old will be Valentines Day 2009! So live each day to the fullest, because 10,000 days goes by in a hurry.