Kai Alexander

Just in case you missed the news - Kai was born on 29 April, weighing in at 10lb 7oz and 21.25 inches long.

Here are some more photos of our (not so) little guy.

Rocks & Planks

Yesterday I worked on cleaning up the yard a little bit. (I also thought some good yard work might help induce labor but it didn't work.) I made a nice pile of largish rocks that had been lying around the back yard with the thought that I would take them to the dump one day soon.

Today however I was amused to see that my pile of rocks had become a source of entertainment for Isaac & Lizzy. They moved our planks of wood and the rocks, making levers and weights that they could walk over or balance stuff on the other end.

I'd still like to get rid of the rocks but maybe I need to wait until the end of summer.

Spelling it Out

Isaac is a very sweet child. And it's not just mummy bias, as I hear this from his teachers and friends.

However, lately the sweetness level is sky high.

Every day Isaac does some spelling for Ben & I. It goes like this.

I l-o-v-e y-o-u 1-0-0-0-0-0-0 (anywhere up to about 50 0's) t-i-m-e-s.

I've got to the point where I can't keep up with the number of zero's he says so I just spell back. I l-o-v-e y-o-u d-i-t-t-o.

I think I need to get a recording of this so I can play it back in 10 years time.

Potty Talk

Lizzy has suddenly found "potty" jokes extremely funny. I should have known it would happen, as I think every child goes through this stage. I blame Ben entirely. He started it at dinner one night when she dropped some peas on herself and he commented that she had peed on herself. That resulted in fits of laughter and the joke has continued most nights that we eat peas. Another fun game we have is we make up silly rhyming words. So of course, when I told her to put on her shoes, she replied "you mean my koos or how about my poos?" When she realised what she had said, the laughter began again and she had to go and repeat her ryhming word to daddy.

Ahhh..hopefully this stage won't be too long in passing.

Echo

The other day Lizzy was walking along screeching. She had a huge grin on her face as she'd loudly yell "eeeek". I couldn't work out why she was doing this to start with, until I listened very closely - there was a slight echo.

"Lizzy - are you trying to make an echoing sound?"

"Yeah - and the world answers back."

I love the perspective of a child.

The Weight of Responsiblity

Our scholastic book order arrived today. A virtual pet came with one of the books Lizzy chose.

She was eager to turn it on and play with it. She mananged to turn it on, and was asking me how to use it. I started going through the different things with her, such as feeding, playing, cleaning and health checkups. It was OK for about half an hour. She carried it around with her and occassionally chose to do something with her pet.

Then the tears started. "Mummy, I want you to turn it off". Unfortunately you can't turn those things off, so I said she could just put it in her toy box. More tears. "Why are you feeling so sad?" "I might forget about my pet. I want to call Daddy. I'm so sad and I want to tell him about that thing I don't like."

Oh dear.

Valentines

Can I make a confession?

I really dislike Valentines Day in America.

Valentines Day in America is so commercialised and it's all about telling people how much you love them, even when you don't. Spouses get Valentines (I'm OK with this one), parents & grandparents get Valentines (sorry grandparents - my kids are 1/2 Australia - you get the Australian treatment!), children get Valentines, all your classmates get Valentines, all your teachers get Valentines and you can even send Valentines to your friends. Valentines might be small or you can spend a fortune if you wish.

A typical valentine to give to classmates is a card with a lollipop threaded through it. You write the recipents name and your name on the back of the card. However, it seems quite wrong when Isaac is completing his school valentines and says to me "Ana is mean. Which valentine should I give to her?"

Nerves

Last Wednesday, Isaac's grade did a "President's Wax Musuem". Each child was required to research their president and memorize a small speech about them. Isaac was Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the USA.

On Tuesday night, halfway through dinner, Isaac annouced that he really wasn't hungry and wanted to go to bed. It was close to bedtime, so I said he didn't need to finish dinner and could go and clean his teeth and get ready for bed. Much to my surpise, he did this. Usually the only time my kids don't want to eat dinner is when they have something else they want to do that is more fun.

I went to check on him, and asked him if he was feeling sick. No. I thought for a minute. "Isaac, are you worried about the Wax Musuem?" Yes.

Ben came in at this point, and reassured him that it was normal to feel a little bit nervous about speaking in front of people and that he remembered getting nervous doing it when he was a boy. We also reassured him that he did great whenever he practiced his speech. A smile came back to Isaac's face, and it seemed like he was less worried.

And just so you know...on Wednesday he did wonderfully.

Pokemon Cards

It was frustrating me that Isaac wanted to play Pokemon on his gameboy for alot longer than he was allowed. It was a constant battle of "Isaac, you need to put away your gameboy for a little while and do something else" or "Isaac, your electric time is up for the day. How about you go an make something with your lego". I really don't like being a nagging mother, but I also didn't want him playing Pokemon all day.

Since Elizabeth has turned 5, she's been allowed to play Pokemon as well. She's picked it up very quickly, and the two of them will happily play a Pokemon card game, which I'm much happier about than them playing on the gameboy.

However, there's been a recent development which makes me even happier. Isaac has started making his own Pokemon cards. I love the thought and creativity he uses to come up with his new cards. Jan A once said to me that you need to use kids' favorite things, and incorporate them into learning. Pokemon is still an obsession, despite my trying to branch out this past Christmas - but now I'm happy to say he is learning new skills through it. He spells out his own words, draws his own pictures, and creates cards that are "realistic" in regards to strategy (although Ben did have to sit down at the beginning and explain that a card with 700 health points was not fair to other players)

Comparisons

We recorded Lizzy's Christmas pageant and were watching it the other night. Lizzy was one of the last children to come on stage to say her line. As soon as she came out, Isaac exclaimed "Lizzy, this video makes you look so much taller than you really are!"

He has always has compared his sister to himself and his friends and has rarely seen her against children of her own age. As a result, he's never really thought of her as being tall. So it was quite a shock to him to see how much taller she was than all her classmates.

A Yearly Glimpse

I don't often post pictures of myself. It must be becoming a tradition though, as I showed you a glimpse of me around this time last year. I forced everyone in my family to do a "self-portait" with me in the snow yesterday and here are the results.

Shovelling Snow

Last night, Ben & I were outside shovelling snow off our driveway. Every few minutes, Isaac would come outside to talk about Pokemon with Ben. Each time, he'd open the garage door and let the cold air into the house and I'd have to close it straight away. After a few times, Ben came up with a condition to slow down the opening and closing. "Isaac, before you ask me a question you have to shovel some snow." I was surprised that this didn't deter him. He'd come out, shovel about 5 scoops of snow and ask his question.

Isaac is allergic to grass pollen - so as a teenager he won't be given the job of mowing the lawn. However, I can see the future. He'll be shovelling our driveway each year.

Beanies

We had snow yesterday. Lots of it, for us anyway. Ben & I measured 7 inches just before shovelling the drive way.

Of course, the kids wanted to go outside and make a snowman. The only condition was they rugged up, because the temperature was below freezing. I suggested to Lizzy that she should wear a beanie under her snow jacket because she'd feel warmer.

A few minutes later she came back and said "I found a beanie". I could see something under her hat but I wasn't quite sure what it was. It definately was not a beanie. Instead she had found a ziplock plastic bag which I had filled with dried beans the other day. She had carefully put it on the top of her head.

I was not surprised when she asked me "What's a beanie?" after I removed her bag of beans. "A winter hat, love - go find a winter hat. That's what I call a beanie."

A Cold Snap

We're experiencing a bit of a cold snap here. The saying "Arctic wind" is a literal term right now. We've got cold air coming down from the north and we woke up to -10 this morning. I'm not expecting to see the temperature above freezing even during the day for the next week. However, much to the kid's delight, we are expecting snow. You've got to take the good with the bad, I suppose.

Happy Birthday Isaac

Today was Isaac's birthday.

He's had a great day. He wanted a Pokemon/Star Wars birthday - not exactly themes that go well together but we managed. We had pokemon plates & napkins and some Star Wars balloons. For the cake I placed some Pokemon and Star Wars figures opposite each other, and told him it was a battle between the two. He was happy with that, and told me that the Pokemon definately would have been the winners.

For dinner, we went out to Chuck E Cheese. Think pizza parlour with a games arcade. If Isaac or Lizzy are ever invited to a party there again, I'm sending Ben. I've been to two parties there with the kids. Each time you play a game, you can win tickets. The kids and I usually win about 100 tickets (if I'm lucky). Ben, however, was quite the expert and helped us win over 600 tickets. Isaac was thrilled that he was able to choose 3 prizes at the end of the night.

He told me that he had an EXCELLENT day. That's what we wanted for him, so I'm happy.

Happy Birthday to our young man. Photos to follow, hopefully!

Presenting for the first time...

our newest family member - debuting in their first photo.

I love the little button nose.

Everyone has to wait until April though, to find out if baby a boy or girl.

Disembarkation

When we arrived home today, Ben announced "Everyone Disembark". And suddenly from the back, we hear "woof, woof".

Ahhh...somehow I think someone didn't hear right.

Edited to add that I've been told I've created some confusion today! Lizzy must have only heard "Everyone bark" and started to bark like a dog. No new animals in our household!

Shopaholic

Our daughter is a shopaholic. There is no other word for it. She does not need to be shopping for herself although this is the preferred outcome. Today I went shopping for a present for a baby shower. I barely had a moment to look for something as I was being constantly told "Mummy, look at this. Do you think she would like this?"; "Mummy, this is sooo pretty - can we buy this for the baby?"; "Do you think our baby would like this one?; We could buy this for our baby and the baby we are going to see!"; "Look Mummy, it's a SALE!!!!".

Nearly every shopping expedition lately has become like this - whether it's buying clothes for me and my expanding belly ("Mummy, look this is green. Green is your favorite color - do you like it?") or whether it's for groceries ("Mummy, look it says it's on sale!"; Look Mummy, it says buy one get one free!) Ahh - the joys that come when a child learns to read!

I complained to Ben today that I don't know where she learnt to shop like she does - shopping is certainly not a favorite occupation of mine. He claims it's a recessive gene that comes from a certain grandmother ;-)

5 years ago today

We welcomed a little girl into our lives...

It's amazing where 5 years have taken us...

Happy Birthday Lizzy!

Kindergarten Plans

Yesterday, Lizzy informed me that she was going to go to Kindergarten where she currently goes to preschool. I gently let her know that she was actually going to attend where Isaac goes to school.

The bottom lip dropped and the wail came "But they have music lessons at our Kindergarten. I want to go to music lessons."

I was very thankful that Isaac was with me when this conversation happened because he piped up and told her that he also has music lessons at school and that he went two times a week. This led into a conversation between the two of them about when they had music lessons. Isaac proudly told her that his lessons were after lunch and that they lined up outside the music room. (This is more than he ever tells me, so I was greatly interested.)

All of Isaac's information cheered her up greatly and she now wants to go to the public school again. Whew....tears avoided thanks to a big brother.

Shake that Boody

Lizzy has a new toothbrush. It's called a Tooth Tunes toothbrush and it sings for the amount of time she is supposed to brush. Her toothbrush sings "The Bare Necessities" from The Jungle Book. It's quite a funny sight, for she now happily cleans her teeth with her bottom stuck out and a little tail shaking happening.

Who's cooking are we talking about?

I was about to cook sausages the other morning for breakfast and had just put them in the fry pan when Lizzy asked "Are they burnt yet?".

Considering Ben usually is the one who makes a cooked breakfast, I'm going to blissfully think that she was making a comment on Ben's cooking skills.

Halloween

Big brother worship is strong in our household. Once Isaac had chosen his halloween costume, there was no convincing Lizzy to be anyone but Princess Leia.

And another - as proof as to who really is under that mask!

Can I tell you something?

This is a phrase we hear from Isaac quite often, especially when talking to someone he doesn't know too well. Usually, when we hear this we know he's about to tell someone about Pokemon.

However, on Friday, he met Lizzy's Kindermusik teacher for the first time. During stamp time, he went up to her and said the usual "Can I tell you something?" I was thinking we were about to hear about Pokemon again when he said "My mummy has a baby in her tummy. We're going to have a baby after my birthday."

I've got to say I was taken by surprise as he's not usually one to give out too much information. It's sort of nice to know that a new baby and Pokemon rank up at the same level of interest.

Authors

My kids love reading. Last night we were reading and we spoke about how the person who wrote the book was called the Author, a fact that Isaac told me he already knew.

Despite his vast amount of knowledge on what an author is, he was a little confused about our author for the night. Her name was Barbara someone and he wanted to know if she cut hair as well as wrote books. I had to explain that a Barber was someone who cut hair while Barbara was a girls name.

Reasons

It's Isaac's teacher's birthday next week. As a present, one of the mothers is putting together a poster board about what the students like about their teacher. Each child has been given a card on which they have to write something.

This is Isaac's card...

I like everything about Ms McCathern. I like her because she gives me twice as much work as in Kindergarten.

I couldn't help but smile and appreciate his love for learning.

Made in China

Ben is going to China in a few weeks time. As a result Lizzy has been taking interest in anything about China.

The other day she suddenly yells out to us "This is made in China!". Ben & I smile at each other - what a little smarty we have, being able to read the label. However, we both laughed when a few minutes later she exclaims "Everything is made in China!" How true. Isn't it ironic when a 4 year old makes such a profound statement about our buying habits. Maybe we need to start looking harder for presents that are made in the USA.

Some glimpses of Alaska

We did a cruise to Alaska a couple of weeks ago. It was an awesome trip, enjoyed by the whole family. If you ever make your way over here, I'd definately recommend it.

I have not yet downloaded all my photos, but here are just some glimpses of Alaska.

This first photo is of Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. The second is of the kids touching some glacial ice. It's hard to believe that it's the middle of summer in these photos.

Whale watching in Skagway was awesome. Unfortunately my photography wasn't very good, and most of my shots were out of focus. We even saw these whales breech (jump completely out of the water) which is apparently rare in Alaska. My photo of this happening is terrible though, so you have to content yourselves with my most in focus photo.

I have so many more, but I'll post them on another day.

Grade 1

Isaac started grade 1 yesterday. I asked him today if he liked being in grade one - his response...

"It's better than kindergarten even though I don't get to play with the toys anymore".

Mt St Helens

We have just recently come back from 4 days at Mt St Helen's (or more precisely, a state park just near by). It was quite awesome to see the volcano up close, and to see the devastation that is still evident 27 years after it's eruption.

This first picture is one of the first glimpses we got of the volcano. Mt St Helens is the hazy mountain with the flat top in the background.

We stopped at a lookout part way along the road, and took these photos with Mt St Helens in the background.

This is the closest we were able to go to the volcano. I took this picture at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, which is the last visitor center you can get to. The entire front (north) of the mountain is completely wiped out, due to the blast going out to the side instead of straight up.

If you'd like to read about the history of Mt St Helens and the 1980 eruption, you can see read about it at ... http://www.mt-st-helens.com/history.html

What amazed me is that you could see evidence still of the blast. They grouped the blast zone into 3 different zones. The first zone was about 6 miles around the volcano and it was called the Tree Removal Zone. As guessed by the name, the trees in this zone were totally destroyed. These next photos are from this zone, and as you can see there are still tree stumps left and the vegetation is slowly returning.

The next zone was the tree down zone, which was from about 6-18 miles. In this zone, the force of the blast knocked huge trees down as though they were blades of grass. Lastly was the standing dead zone which was from about 18-24 miles. In this last zone, the heat of the blast killed the vegetation but the tree trunks stayed upright.

Ben was most facinated by the "silent" zone. The people in the immediate vicinity of the blast did not hear a thing when the volcano erupted. However, people a few hours away reported hearing sounds that resembled thunder or sonic booms.

All in all, I loved this camping trip. I've been wanting to see Mt St Helens since we moved here and it certainly met my expectations. The scenery was definately different from what I've ever seen before.

I'll leave you with this last photo of the Toutle River. The river is actually very small, but the devastation around it makes it look huge from the distance. (I'm guessing that the mud flow followed the river path)

Geometry Lessons

Each night we hold hands and say grace before dinner.

Last night Ben was about to say grace when Lizzy exclaims "We made a circle!". Ben hushes her because they've been told numerous times that we need to be quiet for grace. Suddenly at the end of the table we hear Isaac muttering "Well actually it's more like an oval".

Ben & I grin at each other and he begins grace. However he adds at the end "And thank you for the geometry lesson".

My Favourite Photo

Every now and then I manage to get a photo which I fall in love with. This was one of them. It's from the farm yesterday, as Lizzy ran around in the Hay Maze.

I love how it catches the twinkle in her eye as she runs through the maze.

At the Farm

Yesterday we went to Remlinger Farm. We go a few times each summer, and the kids always have a great time.

Pony rides were definately a hit. Isaac waited on top of the railing, while Lizzy went around on her pony.

Isaac then got his turn, while Lizzy was lucky enought to get another turn.

I loved this photo. I'm not sure who took who's hand, but they stood holding hands as they waited for the canoe ride.

Two random photos from when they climbed the rock hill....

This was the expression of their faces as they waited for the pumpkin ride to begin. Within a few seconds they had huge grins on their faces. However by the end of the ride, Isaac was yelling at Lizzy and Lizzy was in tears. They had a huge argument because Isaac wanted to pull the lever to go up while Lizzy wanted to stay low. They went in separate pumpkins the next time around.

They enjoyed the carosel, despite that fact that Isaac is getting a little bit too big for it.

I explained to Isaac that he needed to look at his reflection in the camera to get a photo of him looking at the camera. This was the result...

Although Lizzy looks a little stunned, I thought it was a cute photo of Isaac.

4th July Photos

We had a very quiet 4th July. We just stayed at home and enjoyed a BBQ on the back verandah in the late evening. (Yes...these photos were taken around 8.00pm).

The kids enjoyed eating corn on the cob. It's currently in season and so very sweet and juicy.

As you can see, Isaac not only enjoyed eating it but he enjoyed making faces with it.

I had to show you this cup...Isaac kept on calling it all manner of names. It was the Independant Cup (my favourite), the Independance Cup and the 4 July Cup.

Gymnastics Camp

Something broke a long time ago on the kids websites, so photos have not been updated there in a very long time. One day that will be fixed and you'll all be able to enjoy photos again. As you will have noticed I have been doing a photo dump. I hope you have enjoyed getting some new photos!

This first post have photos from Elizabeth's gymnastic's camp. At the end of the week they did a presentation for parents and were awarded a medal at the end. This was one of her "moves" where they crab walked over the bars.

She was so proud of her medal. You would think that she had won some major prize. Lizzy wore it for the next 2 days, and showed everyone who we met.

Audio Options

Lizzy has a couple of movies which she enjoys watching. Every now and then she'll come and ask me if she can watch one of them but lately there's been a twist. Our conversation tends to go like this...

"Mummy, can I watch Cinderella?"

"OK. Go and put it on."

"Mummy, can I watch Cinderella in French?"

"OK. But you'll need to change the Audio Options."

"Thank you."

And off she goes and changes the language option to French (or Spanish if that's the mood she's in).

I'm not sure if she knows the DVD well enough and follows the story that way, or if she's actually taking in a little of the other languages.

Summer Hairstyles

It's been a time for new hairstyles in our house. Ben & I had our haircut today and Isaac & Lizzy the other day. Everyone but Isaac have had dramatic changes, as you'll see below.

Ben has had everything lopped off for the first time in about a year. Doesn't he look handsome? He's got the haircut now he just needs a job ;)

Me...we'll let's say I'm sporting a "mummy" look. It's the first time I've ever had short hair.

And I just love Lizzy's hair - no more screaming over having her long hair brushed. And to make things even better, she loves it too.

And finally, a photo of Isaac. He is the only one who hasn't had a hairstyle change. I really couldn't get a good shot of his hair because he didn't want to take off his hat. However, I caught this moment on camera and thought it was cute.

Year One Forever

Tomorrow is Isaac's last day of Kindergarten. He is very excited about summer holidays beginning and was telling me everything he wants to do over the next couple of months.

We then started talking about next year, when he suddenly annouced "I want to be in year 1 forever and ever." Ahhhh. If only time could stand still like that but, alas, he will grow up.

The Cheat Sheet

The kids computer is password protected. We chose to do this so we could monitor how much time they spent on the computer.

As the password was for time monitoring (not content monitoring - we have a whole other system for that!), I allow them to enter the password by spelling it out to them as they type it in. I knew it would only be a matter of time until they learnt how to spell it by themselves.

The other week was a typical day. Elizabeth had asked to play on the computer and I'd given permission. I wasn't looking when she was asking "Mummy, what's the next letter?". Little did I know that she was writing the password onto a brown paper bag instead of typing it into the computer.

So now she has her own cheat sheet. Luckily, she still asks me whether she can play on the computer. If I say "yes" out comes the cheat sheet, and she types in the not-so-secret password.

Junuary

I know they say that if you can't find anything to converse about, talk about the weather. Here in Seattle, that's easy. Even the comedians of the world have worked this out. Ben sent me this cartoon, which sums up our weather.

I know I moan every year, but this year is it's really sad. The media is calling this month "Junuary" because although it's almost summer, we are having winter weather. Yesterday, there was even snow in the mountains. Come on summer - I'm missing you.

Mum & Dad

I have fallen from grace. My name is no longer Mummy. I am now called Mum. Ben has also taken the tumble with me.

What has surprised me though, is that it's Lizzy who's made the change. To Isaac, we are still mummy and daddy.

One part of me smiles, and thinks "oh my she is growing up" while the other part of me is sad whilst thinking the exact same thought.

The funny part to all of this is that I'm "Mum" if she wants something, especially if she's calling from a distance. However, for quiet times, I'm still Mummy. It's like she's sitting on the edge of little girl and baby. I think I'd like to just teeter here for a little longer.

Secret Hideout

The other weekend, we cleared out all our junk from the space under the stairs and Ben turned it into a server room. It's now not uncommon to go looking for Ben, and find out that he is hiding out in his "den" fixing something.

Isaac discovered this room the other night when Ben was working in there, and he happily spent an hour playing his gameboy next to his daddy.

However, it has now become his "secret hideout". Ben came home from work, and Isaac ran downstairs to get his gameboy while calling out "Daddy, I'm going to the secret hideout."

For now I'm going to let boys be boys, and they can have their hideout. It's kind of nice also knowing that it's the boys space, but I know where to search if I need to find them.

Apportioning Blame

One of the great things about having a brother or sister, is there is always someone else that you can blame. If something goes wrong, it's never your fault. The downfall happens when one of group goes to school. There is no longer someone else to carry the blame when something goes wrong, or even if there is any possible chance of getting in trouble.

That's when Elizabeth arrives on the scene. No, not our Lizzy, but the other Elizabeth. The doll that goes everywhere with Lizzy.

"Mummy. Elizabeth wanted a pear." (as she uses the doll to lift the pear from the fruit bowl, and then begin to eat it.)
"Mummy. Elizabeth wanted to play in the water." (when explaining how water got on the floor)

Yes. It's good to apportion the blame. In theory that surely means that she gets in trouble half the time.

Poetry

Isaac has been learning to write poetry at school, as April was National Poetry Month. They learnt all about free verse, and these were Isaac's efforts at writing some...

The Fish
A fish can swim
Fast as a rocket
going to the moon.
That is fast!
Wwwwwwooooooowwwwww!

Hurricane
The eye is calm.
No winds at all.
Outside, strong winds
blow trees
until they bend.

Pokemon
Gameboy.
Double screen.
Fun to win.
I love Pokemon.

Orcas
They look like
I could swim
with them
and have fun,
fun, fun, fun
fun, fun, fun
fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.

My favourite was the Hurricane poem. I was really quite impressed with them all though.

Tip-toeing through the Tulips

Last weekend we headed up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, and were lucky enough to see the fields in bloom. (There had been concern due to our unseasonal weather that they wouldn't bloom in time). I thought I'd share this little part of our weekend with you...

This is how Lizzy spent much of her time at the tulip farm...

The Grandma's will be proud...

Lizzy has decided that we need to have tea parties.

She will pick flowers (read...weeds with little purple flowers) from the garden, and put them in a cup. Next she tells me that it's time for a tea party, and I need to make cups of tea. Then we choose a snack. She likes to pour the milk and put the sugar in her tea.

So for the past week, she's been drinking tea almost every day. I'm sure that within the year I may even be able to tolerate a cup. Right now, I just dutifully take a mouthful and say "thankyou".

So next time we are home, Lizzy will probably be drinking tea with the best of you tea drinkers and loving every minute of it.

My Favourite Words

Elizabeth

becept - except
Awona - Werona
Lawy - rally (imagine the vowel sounds being correct but "L" instead of "r" and then "w" instead of "l"


Isaac

optapus - octapus

Their little word exchanges are quite cute, but I have to smile at Lizzy with her "becept". There is nothing like an arguement where she's saying "Becept I wanted to have my turn first."

Why?

Everybody warned me about the "why" stage which every child goes through. Why is the sky blue? Why are you doing that? Why? Why? Why? Like every parent, I chuckled over the many why questions, but was also relieved when it ended.

What I was never warned about was the next stage. It's slightly more advanced than the great question of why. It's called the "What would happen if..." question. Isaac is in this stage right now.

What would happen if the earth was broken in half?
What would happen if there were more people than houses in the world?
What would happen if ....?

We've moved from basic facts to the hypothetical - and it's driving me crazy.