Wisdom of a 4 Year-Old - On Why We're Nice

"Who was there?"
"Sydney and a whole bunch of people I did'nt know."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, but I was nice to them anyway."
"Good!"
"Yeah, daddy and Jesus said I had to be."

The Star Wars Turtle

It has begun. The Gremlin woke up at 5:15, 5:45, 6:00, 6:30, and 6:45am this morning asking about the presents under the tree.

To attempt to distract him, I put on The Empire Strikes Back. The Gremlin recognized several of the ships and was really enjoying himself when he started yelling. I managed to catch this:

However, once the movie ended, the Gremlin started up again, and drove the Mother and Father of the Gremlin so crazy we decided that it would be better to open presents before the Christmas Eve trip to California. With Grandma on Skype, it was only the beginning of what I'm sure will be a story-laden Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone!


Favorite Toy of the Week:  Fisher Price Fire Station

Wisdom of a 4 Year-Old - On Beauty

"Oh, she's fancy!"

"Fancy? Why do you think she's fancy?"

"Because she's so beautiful!"

(said while watching Chuck)

Cooking With Love

The Mother of the Gremlin was making breakfast the other day when she came into the kitchen to see the Gremlin, chair up to the stove, waving his hand over the pancakes. The action was confusing for her, until she realized he looked like he was trying to get a spice out of a shaker.

"What are you doing buddy?" The Gremlin looked up at the MOTG, surprised.

"Momma, I'm adding love to daddy's pancakes!"

"What about mine over there?" The Gremlin looked over his shoulder.

"Nope, those are good."

Favorite Toy of the Week: Legos (Quote: "I want them ALL - I don't have enough!")

Wisdom of a 4 Year-Old - On The Right Clothes For The Right Job

"I can't lift that, it makes my pants button pop!"

Who Built Those Legos?

The Gremlin was playing Legos the other day and I noticed something.

"Why does that Police man have a peg leg and two hooks for hands? That doesn't seem like it would be useful in a Police situation."

"Because that's how God made him. God ran out of Lego hands and had to give him hooks."


Favorite Toy of the Week:  Lego Fireman Flashlight

Wisdom of a 4 Year-Old - On Changing Tastes

"I only liked hummus when I was 3 and 1/2. I don't like it when I'm 4 and won't like it when I'm 5."

Give Me Everything!

"Hey, buddy, did you have fun with Kristen?"

"Yeah, but she's not going to be a very good Mommy."

"Why do you say that?"

"I only cried a little and she gave me EVERYTHING!"


(picture update will be added as soon as I figure out how to upload pics from my new camera)

Favorite Toy of the Week: Playmobil Nativity Set

Wisdom of a 4 Year-Old - On Food

"I don't like spaghetti. It makes me angry."

I'm Curious To Know Where He Picked This One Up.....

We were revisiting Psych Season 1 the other day, and the Mother of the Gremlin and I thought the Gremlin was just playing Legos on the ottoman, unfortunately he was paying attention - as usual - and piped up with a question.

"How come the police are in that guy's apartment?" The MOTG and I shared a glance as I picked my words very carefully - attempting to shield the Gremlin from some of the more gruesome facts of life.

"Someone got very ouchy, and the police are trying to figure out who did it. They're helpers, like firemen." The Gremlin, however, caught us both off guard.

"How about the dead guy on the couch? Maybe he made the man really ouchy."

"Ummmmmmm, he's the man who got really ouchy."

"Oh, what about that alive guy walking over him?"


Favorite Toy of the Week: Penguin Stocking

Wisdom of a 4 Year-Old - On Equal Punishment

"Momma! Did you see Ellen hit me?!"
"Yes, buddy, I did."
"Oh, did you see me take her toy?"
"Yes, buddy, I did."
"Nevermind, momma."


The Gremlin has also now officially seen Star Wars and 'Dark Vader' is still his favorite, "even though he's bad."

Do You Have 'Scurry?'

The Gremlin has been feeling a bit under the weather lately, and was excited to get some fruit in his system. So much, he didn't want to share.

The Mother of the Gremlin set out a bowl of raspberries, and the Gremlin tore into them. He got up to clear his bowl, and returned with the box of raspberries (minus a mouthful or two). The MOTG interjected.

"Save some of those for daddy, okay?"

"But momma, I don't want to get scurry!"

"What's that?"

"What you always tell me I'll get if I don't eat all my fruit!"

"You mean 'scurvy?'"

"Oh yeah, that."

"But if daddy doesn't get any, won't he get scurvy?" The Gremlin looked up at the MOTG, his face now a reddish version of the one in his profile.

"Well, momma, that's up to daddy."


Favorite Toy of the Week: Lego Architecture Series: Space Needle

Wisdom of a 4 Year Old - On Finding Diversity

I tell people that the Gremlin deliberately embarrasses us because, well, he does. The Mother of the Gremlin took him to one of our favorite sandwich shops the other day, and the Gremlin, who had been whining all day, saw the store and took off - almost as if he was on a mission.

We should have been more aware, but we let him into the store and stepped in line to order. Suddenly, we hear the Gremlin's voice and turn to see him talking with a black man waiting for his food.

"'Scuse me." The man looked down and the Mother of the Gremlin made this small moan in the back of her throat, and then looked away, as if that would make the Gremlin stop.

"Where are all the black people in Seattle?" The man's eyes grew wide and then started looking around the store, probably to see if he was being Punk'd.

"I'm sorry, what?" The Gremlin pressed on.

"I have been looking and I cannot find any! There were LOTS in Chicago!" The man, thankfully, had a sense of humor and fired back.

"I don't know. Would you like to come back to my house? There are a lot there..." The Gremlin's eyes lit up. He ran over and plucked the backpack out of the MOTG's hands and walked back over.

"Okay, I'm ready!"

He's Counting On It

I have been playing a card game with the Gremlin recently that he received while Trick-Or-Treating. It's a game of WAR played with mini-cards with the Disney's Cars vehicles printed on them.

We'll each put one down, he'll claim he won, and then I'll ask him to count both of them out, and ask him which one he gets to last - emphasizing which is "higher" and which is "lower." He will yell (either way), and then squeal if he actually won. This has apparently rubbed off on him, as he showed in the store the other day.

The Gremlin was at Value Village the other day when he scared the Mother of the Gremlin by going into a conniption in the store. When the MOTG finally managed to calm him down, she realized the Gremlin had found the toy to end all toys:

The Rescue Hero Fire Truck

The Gremlin clutched his prize and tried not to hyperventilate while trying to put together a cohesive sentence.

"M-M-Momma! M-m-m-m-momma! I want this! Please I can get it?!"

"I don't know buddy, I don't think you have enough money..." The Gremlin's face lit up and he jumped on his opportunity.

"I do! I do! I have five dollars. This is two dot nine-nine. That is almost three. Three is less than five. I will have two dollars and one cent left over after I buy this!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when he bolted to the front of the store, the MOTG only catching up with him after he made it through the line and had his fire truck on the counter, though the cashier was staring at him a bit inquisitively.


Favorite Toy of the Week: Lego Police Helicopter (in conjunction with his other Lego fire sets) and of course the fire truck mentioned above

Wisdom of a 4 Year-Old - On Wisdom

"No, I know it. I can see it. I know anything. Trust me daddy. This syrup has waffles in it, and when we get home, I'll take a bite of it, I'll taste the waffles, and I'll say, 'Daddy I was right and you were wrong.'"

I'm Not Up Late, You're Up Late!

The Gremlin has taken after his father (because he hasn't seemed to at all before now).

About an hour after putting the Gremlin to bed, I was happily watching Chuck the other night when I noticed that the hall - usually dark - had a sliver of light shining on the carpet.

I was approaching the hallway and my foot creaked on the floor when the light disappeared all the way. The door squeaked firmly shut, and the handle clicked in. When I attempted to open the door, it seemed stuck unless you gave it a bit of a push, in which case it seemed like there was a 4 year-old on the other side putting all his hefty 35 pound body weight against the door to hold it closed.

So, an hour after his bedtime, the Gremlin had gotten up, turned on his light and decided to build a Lego fire station inside his Spider-Man umbrella.

Apparently, it was necessary for not only his stuffed animals to assist, but also his entire platoon of Billy Blaze firefighter Rescue Heroes. (Oh, and it's even better writing this with the Gremlin here, because he can tell me that I missed one.)

Apparently once the cabal was assembled he thought he had marshaled enough force to retake: his prized Halloween Candy. If only the dreaded Daddy hadn't interrupted just before the surgical strike (which most likely involved scaling the book case in the dining room).

I wasn't sure what I was more proud of - that he was planning a strike to get his candy back, or the fact that he had the guts to turn his bedroom light on and prepare for it.

Sent back to bed to contemplate his strategy, the Gremlin was left with his own thoughts (such as getting so excited the firemen stopped right outside his house this morning), and was fast asleep within seconds.


Favorite Toy of the Week: Lego Architecture Series: John Hancock Building

Wisdom of a 4 Year Old - On Eating Sweets

"Those cookies are for my cake?! I don't want my cake to be more sugary! I want it to be healthy. So can I have some of those cookies now?"

(100 posts!)

Happy Belated Birthday (And Belated Sugar Rush)

So the Gremlin's week has been full of late presents, the culmination of which came on Wednesday. The Gremlin received Allen Brothers' Cheesecake Oreo Brownie from his Uncle Thompson.

Upon receiving it, the Gremlin ran in circles through the house yelling, "Oh, thank you Uncle Thompson, I love you so much!"

It was an unfortunate blow to the Gremlin that it came frozen. To kill time, the Mother of the Gremlin took him to Green Lake where the Gremlin used another present to scoot around the path.

At each mile marker, the Gremlin would stop, turn to the MOTG and shout (as on his bike he is now faster than her), "Momma! Is my cake unfrozen yet? We need to get home before Daddy eats it all!"

When it finally did become unfrozen, the Gremlin would not eat it.

"Nono, we can't eat it! We have to wait for Uncle Thompson!"

"Buddy, he's not here."

"Yeah, but he sent cake!"

"Right, but he's in Chicago."

"But he sent cake! Why wouldn't he come over for cake?!" It took us four hours to convince him that Uncle Thompson just sent the cake as a present - that he wasn't coming to visit (during which time we were sadly not allowed to eat the cake)


Favorite Toy of the Week: Rescue Hero Mountain Command Center

Wisdom of a 4 Year Old - On Aging

After being disciplined many, many times by having toys taken away.

"Momma, I very sad. I miss being 3. When I was 3 I had all my toys..."

Putting It All Together

It was the Gremlin's birthday yesterday, and the combination of the Gremlin getting everything he wanted and sugar resulted in a situation similar to this. The Mother and Father of the Gremlin, having to clean up the aftermath of the Little Engine That Could Consume Sugar, we failed to have time to wrap all the presets that were shipped. One such present was a balance bike from Aunt Jessica and Uncle Zach.

The Gremlin saw this bike and began jumping and shouting his excitement. So much so, the MOTG tried to put it together. The Gremlin had several thoughts on this, but only one that was voiced.

"Momma, I think we should wait for daddy."
 "I'm pretty sure I can do it, buddy, there are only three parts to it."

"See, momma? You should have waited for daddy!"

When I returned home and was able to take a look, it was apparent the MOTG was extremely close, and just not familiar with the method the assembly team on the balance bike was familiar with. This was not as apparent to the Gremlin

"Oh thank you daddy! You saved the day!"

He continued this throughout the next few days as he'd tell people

"My daddy made this bike for me because my momma couldn't do it."


Some Space Needle related pictures

As well as the Gremlin working one of the cameras they have available on top of the Needle

And a video of how ridiculously happy the Gremlin is at parks

Favorite Toy Of The Week: Lego Fire Rescue Sets (and, of course, the balance bike)