Monster Trucks!

Oliver and Mommy had a date to the "Monster Jam" truck show this weekend.  It was cool that you could pay $10 for a pit pass and he got to go down before the show to see the trucks and dirt bikes up close.  The ear protection clearly worked, he managed to fit in a 30 min nap at the start of the show!  He woke up in plenty of time for lots of action (including a flipped truck that needed a tow to get back on its wheels).  Needless to say, I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it.

Budding Scientist

We started discussing displacement and water tension in the bath while on vacation.  I recorded a common conversation after Oliver carefully fills a cup with water, usually something like: "Mommy, do you see how it's a meniscus."  He will then test the edge to make sure it is a true meniscus.  Then he moves on to demonstrating water displacement with some kind of vehicle.

I did get him a bath "chemistry set" with conical tubes for Christmas, which will be much better for demonstrating the "concave" meniscus formed by water.  But, he still has several presents under the tree that have not yet been opened due to the total excess of gifts and our quick departure to the Sunshine State on Christmas day. 

Another hot topic these days is the Big Bang theory.  If you tell him something happened a really long time ago, e.g., dinosaurs or the invention of cars, one of his first questions will be whether it was before or after the big bang happened.  Then he will launch into his very detailed explanation of the big bang.  Something like...way out in space it was all darkness and there was nothing then there was a big BANG!  And the universe expanded and earth was formed....mommy the big bang was before I was born, right?  We are still clarifying some details on this one.

We have a Thomas book about finding dinosaur bones, which started a conversation about how dinosaurs lived long ago...after the big bang, but before cars.  We also talked about how after dinosaurs roamed the earth there were cavemen who used tools, then people who lived in huts made out of clay or stone, and then after a lot of time people invented modern houses.  His response, "Mommy, don't forget about baby Jesus." 

Next week, nuclear physics....

Happy Holidays from Miami

Clouds are rolling in, but someone does not want to leave the sand.

His name is Oliver and he likes long walks on the beach....

Christmas Lesson

I was just corrected by Oliver on my Santa knowledge.

"No mommy, Santa drives a sleigh, not a sled with a "d".'

Ok.

Wisconsin Thanksgiving/Christmas

We spent Thanksgiving and celebrated an early Christmas in Wisconsin last month.  As we are preparing for the big day here at Rittenhouse, I thought I'd post a few pictures from our Midwestern  holiday.

Snow, Snow, Snow.

Love watching Oliver spend time with Great Grandma, G&G, Sheila & Jesse, and his cousins.

And soccer, a friend's b-day party, and just being silly...

...a few more moments from the weekend.  Sunday evening, as he was getting ready for bath, he decided put on this "sombrero" to make me laugh.  I love that one minute he is asking me to teach him to play chess and the next he is cracking himself up by wearing his underpants on his head.  He is such a little boy these days.

Chess, tools, and tires

A glimpse into the weekend....