A sampling of recent Kai moments:

• Using his fingers to form the shape of a triangle, Kai declared: “triangles are just like squares, Daddy, only pointier.”
• In a particularly affectionate moment, he said, “I love you Mommy, I love you Daddy, …and I love myself.” No self-esteem problems here.
• There’s a pizza shop down the street from our house that Kai and I go to fairly regularly. It’s run by a couple of burly Italian guys. We went the other night, and Kai was excited, so we were running down the sidewalk. He tripped and fell, and scraped his hands, but he wasn’t bleeding. But he screamed and cried as if he had broken both his legs. So I carried him the rest of the way to the pizza shop. When we got to the door, he howled through his tears, “Daddy, don’t let the guys see me like this!” He’s 3 years old and already worried about his macho image. I didn’t wait long though, since it was cold out. So he was still crying when we stepped in, but the guys weren’t around. Instead there was a high school girl behind the counter. Realizing this, Kai then felt free to continue bawling.
• Kai is very affectionate with his friends at school. The kids are usually outside playing when we pick him up, and he usually goes aorund and hugs his friends good-bye before leaving. They seem to think it’s a bit strange, but they don’t seem to mind.
• He’s supposed to nap with the other kids at school, but recently he’s decided not to nap anymore. But he’s good and lays down quietly. However, his eyes are open, and he’ll notice something like a toy block tower, and he’ll notice the blocks aren’t lined up perfectly. So he’ll say, “Miss Dana, can I straighten out the block tower?” She’ll say yes, he’ll get up, line up the blocks perfectly, then lay back down. Then he’ll notice all the kids’ shoes aren’t lined up perfectly…and repeat. (He gets that from me, by the way). Luckily, come January, nap time will be eliminated.