Out of the mouths of babes

Just two examples from the mouths of two grandsons:

1) Trying to keep Benjamin amused while waiting for Emma to finish a long mid-wife visit, I s-l-o-w-l-y emptied the little toy box of its contents in the children's waiting area and we discussed each item. There were a lot of nice animal puppets, soft like floppy stuffed animals but with a big pocket in the back where you could stick your hand. But we didn't use them as puppets. We talked about them in great detail and Benjamin lined them up and we made a little house for him to sit in with them. I wasn't sure if he would recognize all the animals because they weren't filled out like regular ones, but he did, indeed, recognize the kangaroo. And he did more than recognize it. . . he turned it over to examine her belly and announced, "There's no joey." What? Benjamin knows what a joey is? I see Emma's continual loving teaching going on.

2) The last time I facetimed with Jonah, I told him about a time before Grandpa and I were married. It was Christmas vacation, and we couldn't bear to be apart for the whole time, so Grandpa hopped on a bus for a very long ride from Kennewick to L.A. There was bad weather, so the ride was even longer than he had planned on. One day we went to Laguna Beach; it was December and I have a photo he took of me with no jacket or sweater. Oh, yes, I miss my home town. . . all the time. Anyway, I told Jonah that Grandpa and I had found a beautiful rounded purple seashell about a month before we got married. Jonah, with enthusiasm, said: "It's like a wedding present from the ocean!" Now how many eight-year-olds are going to come up with something as fantastic as that? Jonah inspired me to go and find that shell and put it somewhere I can see it often. Now where DID I put that thing?. . .