Of Ladybugs and Tin Cans

Aidan,

Your curiosity has been coming out in bigger, bolder shows lately. You unscrewed and dumped out the bug spray all over the table. You checked out the terra cota citronella candle holder lid, which somehow broke. You dumped out the sunscreen all in the inflatable pool and some deck furniture...but after all, your "tail was burning" (as you told me). You destroyed our pet spider's web to see what would happen (and you later apologized and- right on cue- the spider crawled back up (literally) the water spout to build his web again). You climbed up a ladder at Baba's house to pick yourself some delicious figs.

We love and embrace your curiosity; and I love your little, trickster, mischievous gleam you get in your eyes right before you get a sneaky idea to do something super sneaky cool.

But, I was reminded last week that amongst all the impishness, your curiosity also reveals your innocence and sense of wonder.

You and Julia spent the night at Yaya's and Baba's house (first time! woo hoo!). Your mother and I came to pick you guys up in the morning.

You hugged on your mommy for ages, and Julia hugged on me. Then you guys started telling us about all the amazing, cool, and fun things that you saw and did!

Finally, you said, "Mommy! We found a ladybug! C'mon! I show you!"

Your Mommy followed you to the bedroom/playroom.

"Where is the ladybug?" your Mom asked.

"Under the bed!" you said.

So you guys got down on all fours, and peered under the bed.

You pointed to an old, cylindrical tin can (once a home to cookies or something) and excitedly told your Mom to look inside! Because therein was the ladybug!

Your Mom got the can out from under the bed and turned it around and inside was...

A BIG, DEAD, COCKROACH!

<your mother hates cockroaches>

She screamed and dropped the can. I started laughing. It would have been the perfect prank, a hilarious joke to play. But you were not laughing.

You didn't know what a cockroach was, nor did it seem gross or scary to you. To you, it was just- to your best knowledge- a large ladybug.

Your Mom got over it quickly and started chuckling too. She and I realized that you were innocently serious; you hadn't meant any harm or mischief. You just wanted to share your discovery.

We stopped laughing and hugged you. Explained to you why we thought it was funny. That cockroaches and ladybugs are in fact different. And Mommy is creeped out by cockroaches.

And then you started laughing too.

You were now in on the joke you unwittingly played, and you got a big kick out of it.

So much so that when in our art room at home, a few days later, you spotted a cylindrical tin that once housed cookies, you got a mischievous look in your eye and announced to us:

"Look! There's a ladybug in there! A ladybug like this" (and then you made your 'croaked' face).

We all had a good laugh. A really nice, warm laugh as a family.

You're growing up really fast son; but I will never forget your innocence with the mistaken ladybug.

Spring; Sprung

Julia, Aidan,

A new season is quickly approaching, and that means it's time for new growth, new skills blossoming, new friends and new reasons to go explore.

It just so happens that as we're talking about spring springing, Julia, you got a taste of springing as well! We figured you're old enough, and Aidan was out of the house at school to not try to push you (which he did later), so we got out the old swing, your Mommy made some mismatched legwarmers really quick, and we plopped you in and let you explore a whole new world of using your legs, and spinning, and just kind of hanging out. You weren't intimidated at all, and took to springing quite calmly: no major jumps, but no major upsets. It was almost like dancing!

But Julia, you're not the only little seedling growing this spring...after Aidan and I got some really good dirt in a bucket, your Mommy and Aidan planted some seeds for our garden.

Okay, well, Aidan did a little, but first he was more interested in eating the seeds...then he was more interested in his new friend, a brave earthworm.

After the incident with the Ladybug a few month's back, and another Ladybug incident that morning (albeit more accidental) it was refreshing to hear you tell me "No Smush, Daddy!" You were determined to hold this earthworm AND keep it alive. As you played outside with the earthworm outside you kept asking it "You Alive?" And, bless your heart, you kept him alive for a good long time. But somewhere along the way, poor earthworm left this mortal coil, and you were so upset. It's hard to hold on to something so small and fragile without it getting smushed a bit. We'll work on that, I promise. It's a hard concept to learn. But, life goes on, and our seeds will grow, and tons of earthworms will make our soil their home. We'll just have to keep them out of little hands for a while longer.

The next day, after you had a lot of fun playing in the sink, I figured "Hey, it's nice enough outside, let's learn about water balloons!" Now here's something that little hands can squish and hold and toss without worry...besides getting a little wet. And you LOVED it.

Orange one! Pink one! Blue one! White one! Tons and tons of fun. 2 days and three 45-minute water ballooning sessions later, and I think we have discovered an awesome way to have fun and get wet...but, then again, 3-year-olds don't necessarily need much help with that.

But between bouncing babes springing in their step, water balloons and planting seeds, I think it's to say that something has sprung.