I Love You Like a Saturn V Rocket
Kai has discovered analogies, but so far he’s only used them to express love: “I love you as big as the sky.” “Mommy, I love you like I love missiles.” And my favorite, “Daddy, I love you like a Saturn 5 rocket.”
He’s turning into a real boy: play these days is mostly about jets, spaceships, rockets, and explosions, with the occasional swordfight thrown in. He used to be Mr. Caution – always very hesitant to put himself in a situation that had even the remotest chance of being dangerous (he used to not even like getting on a swing). But now he throws caution to the wind. Maria’s sister Yoko has a big bulldog, and Kai used to be afraid of him. Now when Kai visits Yoko, he’s the one chasing the dog. The scariest thing is watching him run and deliberately skid along the leftover patches of snow-melting sand he occasionally finds, exclaiming “I’m a superhero!”
I’ve previously commented to friends that being a toddler must be like being high all the time. I saw Tracy Ullman on the Daily Show a couple weeks ago, and she referred to toddlers as “drunk midgets.” They live in a world of imagination that usually intersects with reality in unexpected – and often very funny – ways, and they never run out of energy. A day at work can be mentally challening, but a day with Kai is physically challenging – at any given moment I’m probably carrying him, chasing him, having a pretend swordfight, or being jumped on. Life with two boys is going to be interesting.
Kai and I are leaving Friday afternoon for Newport to visit my family, and we’ll be back on Monday night. So I’ll return to the blog next week.
