Lately Caleb has been very preoccupied with what size clothes he is wearing. He reasons that since he is 6 years old, he should only wear size 6, 6/7, or S(6/7). A few weeks ago I bought him an Angry Birds shirt and a Lego Star Wars shirt. My little fashion icon was bursting at the seams and couldn't wait to wear them until he checked the tags and discovered that they would in fact not burst at the seams if he wore them. Silly me, I should have known better than to buy my tall six-year-old a size M(8) shirt. And so the shirts hang, unworn and forlorn, in the boys' closet.
Caleb also insists on folding up his sleeves if they even so slightly cross the threshold of his wrists. This morning as he was getting dressed, I thought I'd appeal to his tendency to pay attention to aesthetic detail and pointed out that if he folded his sleeves as usual, the NFL logo of his Redskins sweatshirt would be covered. I thought this might be a good way to convince him not to fold his sleeves, since they honestly were not too long and looked kind of ridiculous folded. After agonizing over this dilemma for a couple minutes, Caleb figured out that he could instead tuck his sleeves inward, thereby not obstructing his view of the NFL logo. And it's not that he really cares about the NFL or even knows what it is. You see, today was "Sports Team Spirit Day" at school, which is why I had them wear their Redskins sweatshirts for the first time, and when I asked them if they knew what sport the Redskins play, Joshua was at a complete loss and Caleb hesitantly guessed "basketball". I guess this is what happens to boys whose fathers couldn't care less about professional sports (not that I'm complaining)!
In other news, Caleb and Joshua have recently become obsessed with knowing which presidents of the United States were good and which ones were naughty. While Joe and I have been able to offer relatively educated judgements about the moral integrity of the founding fathers as well as the presidents who have served during the past 80 years or so, we have been at a loss when the boys ask us whether James Polk and Rutherford B. Hayes were good or naughty. The boys have a U.S. Presidents book that they like to consult in their quest to determine the goodness or naughtiness of each president, but the internet has also proven to be helpful. I was amused to overhear the following conversation between the twins a couple days ago:
Joshua: "Was JFK a naughty president or a good president?"
Caleb: "He was naughty."
Joshua: "Why was he naughty?"
Caleb: "Because he was not faif-ful to his wife."
Joshua: "John-John and Caroline's daddy was not faif-ful? Oh, that's too bad."
Caleb: "Yeah, and Bill Clinton was not faif-ful to his wife, either. Hey Mommy, what does 'faif-ful' mean?"
So if you were to ask the boys which presidents were naughty and which were good, they would probably tell you that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and the George Bushes were good guys. They'd tell you that Harry Truman, JFK, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton were naughty. And that Jimmy Carter was not necessarily naughty, but that he just made some stupid decisions. I'll refrain from passing judgement on our current commander-in-chief, although I'm sure the boys would be happy to offer their humble opinions if you'd care to ask them.
Moses, meanwhile, has been too busy drawing and writing to care about presidents. When I pick him up from school, he begs me to take him home so he can draw. He'll say, "Mommy, I want to go home and draw you a picture because I love you". Recent drawings have portrayed cowboys riding horses, flowers, our house, our new van, and carrots growing in a garden being eaten by the Easter bunny. I'm reluctant to say this, but his drawings are actually probably better than those of one of his older brothers (who shall remain nameless), probably because in his 3 short years he's dedicated more time to drawing than his brother who is twice as old as him. Whoever said practice makes perfect wasn't kidding.
And now for a few quotes...
Uncle Charles: "Branden! You can't run around in the parking lot! That car almost hit you!"
Moses, gesticulating sternly: "That wasn't a car. It was a truck."
Joshua, after he refused to participate in swim practice without his twin, who was at home sick: "I'm sorry I didn't swim, Mommy, I made a mistake. I'm so sorry, sweet Mommy. It's all my fault, I won't do it again."
Caleb: "Mommy, you are the best cooker because you just made me kale!"
Joshua: "Can I have some more kale?
Moses: "I love kale!"
Moses: "I see a fallabella! It's so small and cute."
Me: "Yeah, it's small and cute just like you, Moses!"
Moses: "No, I am big!"
Me: "Maybe we should give away the bunnies. They're so destructive."
Boys: "Noooo!"
Me: "We could get a pet fish instead."
Boys: "Ok! Yaaaay!"
Caleb: "Or maybe we could get a gun instead of a fish."
Boys: "YAAAAAY!"
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