The Avalanche

Troy still wasn’t feeling well today, so we kept him home from school. He actually tried to push through and make the most of the extra day to play at home. But he also tired out faster. At one point, he was playing with his grandmother in the “cave” upstairs. So, I came along and slammed the door shut, and then proceeded to barricade the door with empty cardboard boxes. After I made a formidable wall, I yelled for Troy to try to come out. I filmed the who thing in slow motion, and the result was epic! The boxes tumbled slowly to the floor like an avalanche, and the sound of the boxes smashing into each other even sounded like boulders tearing off the face of a mountain. At the end, Troy stood triumphantly in the doorway with a big grin on his face, proudly showing off a strength that could move mountains.

Happy 4th Birthday

None us were really feeling all that well today, so we just kept it low-key for Troy’s birthday. My wife got him a small chocolate cake, which Troy decorated with sprinkles and marshmallows. We sang to him and ate cake. The rest of the day we spent blowing our noses and coughing. It sucks to be sick on your birthday. I know all too well from personal experience.

Pre-Birthday - Perot Museum

Since Troy’s birthday is tomorrow, we thought we’d do a mini celebration by taking him the Perot Museum. We were supposed to have his official birthday party there, but it didn’t work out. So, this seemed like the next best thing.

We invited Misha and her mother to join us, because it’s always more fun to share the museum with your best friend. However, we weren’t prepared for Misha’s inexhaustible energy and stubbornness in a heavily-crowded place like the museum. She had very little interest in any of the exhibits, and really just wanted to run around and crawl through every nook and cranny she could fit into. Troy had more interest in the exhibits, but he was constantly asking me where Misha was, expecting to be able to share them with her. So, he didn’t get to enjoy it much, because we had to spend the whole time tracking her down. Which was a shame really. She didn’t even care so much about spending time with Troy. She did her thing, and Troy followed after. 

They were better when we went out to eat afterwards. At least then, Misha was confined to a table. Oh well, at least it was free.

Carb Loading

My Wife: “Baby, what do you want for dinner tonight?”

Troy: “French fries.”

My Wife: “Okay, what else?”

Troy: “Pasta!”

My Wife: “With cheese?”

Troy: “Yes.”

My Wife: “Anything else?”

Troy: “No, just French fries and pasta.”

My Wife: “Okay, I guess you’re crap loading tonight.”

Me: “That’s actually probably true, but I don’t think that quite what you meant.”

My Wife [laughing]: “Carb loading!”

Octopus Brains

Troy: “Dada?”

Me: “Yeah, bud?”

Troy: “I can’t rip the head off my octopus.”

Me: “And why exactly would you want to do that?”

Troy: “So I can show Giagia his brain.”

Me: “Okay, that’s strange, but give it to me, and I’ll show you how to open his head.”

Shower Bowl

Lately, Troy’s been wanting to take a shower with us, rather than taking a bath by himself. I’m not sure why, but it means that either my wife or myself have to wait to have our shower just in case we need to take one with Troy. And when we get in there, Troy wants us to fill up with water the white bowl that we use to rinse him off, so he can sit in it. He’ll scoot it along the bottom of the shower. He’ll dodge in and out of the spray. And we have to bath him in that bowl. It’s the strangest thing. He’s such a weird kid sometimes.

Mr. Independent

Me: “Here let me zip your coat for you.”

Troy: “No! I can do it all by myself.”

Me: “Okay. Let me show you how. Take that pull thing in your hand. Yep like that, and then slide it into the other side. Make sure you push it all the way down. Perfect! Now, hold both of those parts with one hand and pull this thing up. Don’t let go of that other thing, or it’ll come apart. You did it!”

Troy: “See! I told you I could do it all by myself.”

Me: “Yes, you did. You did amazing.”

Giagia Abduction

Troy: [holding his grandmother’s hand as we walk down the sidewalk] “Hold on tight, Giagia. Otherwise, you’ll blow away into space with the aliens.”

Me: “Wow! That escalated quickly! Not just that you’ll blow away, but that an alien abduction will also be involved.”

Giagia: “Yeees. I can ride on their spaceship.”

Me: “Take a ride on a hef-a-hoe! See the wonders of Mars!”

Yesterday

Me: “Do you need to go potty?”

Troy: “No, I went yesterday.”

Me: “Well, you need to go more than once a day, bud.”

Troy: “No, I went before my nap.”

Me: “Well, that was only two hours ago.”

Troy: “Yeah, yesterday.”

Me: “I do not think that means what you think it means.”