John climbs

John did something new today. I won't say "learned" something new, because he didn't do it like something he was learning. He just acted like it was something that he finally decided he wanted to do, so he just up and did it.

John climbed up to the top bunk of the bed. We have had the ladder put away for months to prevent such exploration, but today he apparently tired of the charade that we were confining his travels. So, he just up and climbed up the end of the bed, using the footboards of the bunk as an improvised ladder.

Maggie and James alerted me. They had already been up there playing and he apparently decided to join them. By the time I got to the scene, he was jumping up and down on the top bunk with a face of sheer joy, shouting gleefully at the top of his lungs.

Kids say the darndest things

Overheard while the kids were playing...
Maggie: Now, let's pretend to be GOOD parents. Let's be parents that are just like Mom and Dad.
[Aww, now that is sweet music to a parent's ears.]

James at 7.5 years: Still the Eeyore syndrome appears at bedtime with some frequency.
James: Mom, I'm still having trouble at school.
Mom: What kind of trouble?
James: With getting along with other kids and stuff.
Mom: Can you give me an example?
James: Well, like with Trenton. He keeps saying I'm stupid.
Mom: That isn't very nice. Do you know why he says it?
James: He just doesn't want me to touch his ice pieces. [The kids at James's school have a busy playground economy based on collecting, hoarding, trading chunks of ice.]
Mom: Well, that seems fair, if the ice is his.
James: No, I am on his team, but he says I can't inspect the ice.
Mom: Inspect the ice?
James: Yes, I just want to look at the pieces more closely to do some research on the ice, but Trenton says we aren't doing research on the ice because that's dumb.

Ah, the trials of being 7 and having two engineering professors for parents. He doesn't really have a fair chance at being normal. Good thing we find him so adorably lovable.