After dinner:
Sarah: “Whoa, whoa, your plate needs to go to the kitchen.”
Griffin: “Aw, man. I HATE bringing my plate.”
Sarah: “Let’s try that again.”
Griffin: “Okay. I GUESS I’ll bring my plate to the kitchen.”
Sarah: “Let’s try that again.”
Griffin: <HUGEST EYE ROLL EVER> “Okay, I LOVE bringing my plate to the kitchen!!”
Dear Raven,
A couple of weeks ago I got a letter from you. Inside the letter was Flat Raven! We took pictures of Flat Raven. It was so fun. We can’t wait to share them with you.
The first place we went with you was Hidden Falls Park on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It’s so fun because the roots of the trees are pulled up and we can climb in them and slide down them sometimes. We even hide in them while playing hide-and-seek. Did you know that the Mississippi River starts in Minnesota? It starts at a place called Lake Itasca, but it goes by not far from our house. We ride our bikes to the river sometimes.
Next we went to play with Richard, a friend of mine. We played at his preschool which is very close to my preschool, the Dodge Nature Center. Both schools have animals and lots of nature. We play outside a lot. We played a game called Grumpy Old Troll which is the same as Tag.
After we got home, we decided to walk to a Thai restaurant for dinner. This Thai restaurant is on a street called Grand Avenue not far from our house, just like the Thai restaurant we used to eat at with you in Oakland on Grand Avenue! On our way to the restaurant we found a cool purple chair beside someone’s house. My favorite Thai food is Pad Si Yew. It has big brown wide noodles. It’s so yummy!
On Thursday night we had a really big snow storm. Some places got more than a foot of snow, but we only got about six inches. Whenever it snows, we like to sled to my preschool. We took you along for a ride in Maggie’s sled. We know that it doesn’t snow very much where you live, so we thought you would enjoy this fun part of winter.
Love,
Griffin
Clearing out a backlog of winter photos. Click for larger versions.
I love finding gems like this on neighborhood walks. What a cool idea. Wish I’d seen it when it was fresh.
You know what I do every time someone breaks my legos or I break them on purpose? I build something even cooler!
— Griffin
We were learning about Claude Monet. He’s an artist. All the people who saw his art just laughed at it and made fun of it and even thrown it in the garbage because he just did blobs but that was his way. Impressionism. We looked at lots of paintings. I liked the one with the flowers and the pink house.
This one painting is about his house is covered in green. I made his house yellow. You can barely see the yellow because it is his house and it is covered with grass. The red spots are poppies and sun. The name is Poppies at Sunset.
“Daddy, how is mama going to use this to make soap?”
“That’s a good question, Griffin. I have no idea. Your mama is better at lots of things than I am, and making soap is one of those things.”
“Are you better at some things?”
“Yes, of course!”
“Are you better at craft projects?”
“No.”
“Are you better at soccer?”
“No, mama’s better at all sports.”
“Are you better at singing?”
“No… Â It’s bedtime! Get moving buster.”
Phew.
[This is the first post that Griffin has authored himself. I’m just following his instructions. – Andrew]
Today I learned about selkies at preschool. Selkies are magic seals. Selkies can turn into humans and when it’s nighttime they can take off their skin. I am part selkie because of the twinkle in my eye and also I like to swim. Selkies live in Ireland. They like eating sushi and swimming. They eat fish also. Â Selkies are so silly and funny. I like learning about selkies. This is my first day of learning about selkies. Bye bye!
Griffin, Maggie, and I stopped at Uncle Sven’s Comic Shoppe yesterday to buy some new comics for Griffin and the second volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga for me. (It’s so, so good.)
When we arrived, Griffin changed course and homed in on the candy rack, grabbing a yellow bag of Skittles. He maintained that he had no interest in comics anymore and just wanted candy. He used his best little baby voice (so annoying!) and squeaked, “Please… candy… skittles…”
I was firm, “No, Griffin, that’s not why we are here; we’re heading home to have dinner in a minute; sugar is evil; you’re an addict; etc.” Commence whining, so I ignored him. (I pretty sure this is all in that parenting book.) I noticed, however, that Comic Shop Dude (CSD) kept a suspicious eye on Griff.
Griffin held onto the Skittles, but began showing more interest in comics. (Ignoring totally works.) After some serious conversations with CSD about various titles, Griff settled on the latest issue of the regular Scooby Doo and a Scooby Doo Team-Up. I don’t know much about comics, but I think the “Team-Up” line is DC’s way of transitioning kids to real superheroes like Batman. Inevitably, Saga was out of stock, because everybody else knows how good it is. (Why didn’t he write it just for me??? I found it at Barnes and Noble later; don’t tell CSD.)
Time to check out. I’ve got the comics and am pulling out my wallet. CSD, still eyeing Griffin, shakes his head grimly, tsks like my grandmother, and asks Griffin to please remove the Skittles from under his coat. Yes, my four-year-old just got caught trying to shoplift some Skittles. Awesome.
Actually, CSD was pretty great, giving Griffin a very stern but developmentally appropriate talk about how important it is not to steal stuff. Griffin was clearly embarrassed and meekly put the Skittles back in the rack. For good measure I added something about heavily armed police and a lifetime behind bars. (That  parenting book said something about ninja parents wielding fear and exaggeration.)
Lesson learned? Or Lex Luthor reborn? Stay tuned.
PS: I would have finished Saga, Volume 2, last night except I forced myself to put it away so I could have more tonight.
