Two "kid moments" yesterday worth noting:

First, Simon decided that yesterday was when he wanted to get serious about potty training. Unfortunately this was five minutes before Dolly was going to take him to day care, and she was already running late. This is, mind you, a kid who has only used the potty sporadically in the past. But he was absolutely insistent that he would ONLY wear underwear, NOT diapers, and NOT pull-ups. Exasperated, Dolly threw three or four outfits into a bag and brought them to the very gracious and helpful day care staff ... and would you believe it, he had one accident very early in the morning, and then went on the potty the rest of the day. You go, Momo! We'll see how it goes today, but it might be--dare I say it?--time for a Big Boy Bed!

Then, at about 7:00 PM, Drew reminded us he had a big project due at school ... this morning. Oops. It was actually a pretty involved mapping assignment. He had to draw a picture of himself in his room, then a detailed map with a map key, and then a descriptive essay that he'd have to present today in class. Being the nerds we are, after he drew his picture, we used Icovia's terrific Web 2.0, 2-D interior design app and sketched out his room:

That was a lot of fun. Then he wrote his descriptive essay, which was actually pretty good (he even did most of the typing himself). I'm excerpting it here, simply because it's pretty cute, but also because it's much more descriptive and detailed than what he usually does in school (it's something we've been working with him on). Note, especially, his use of mathematical expression. Not bad for a kid who's only five ...

My Special Bedroom, by Drew Weisserman

My Dad and I did my map on the computer because I like to do things on the computer. We used a program called Icovia to do the map.

We also did it on the computer because it didn’t say we had to do handwriting.

My room’s walls are yellow and light blue and dark blue. My room’s theme is space. There are stars on my walls, and a moon that lights up with a remote control. The moon is above my closet on the west wall.

When you walk in the door you go straight to Big Bear. He is about 3 x 1 feet tall. He came from my Dad. He was my Dad’s when he was little. Big Bear is white, soft and very dirty.

Next you see my night stand. It has about 4 x 5 books on it. 7 are chapter books. 5 are puzzle books. 8 are geography books like atlases.

If you go south you will see my bed. It’s sheets are white and it’s blankets are blue and soft.

On my dresser is my fish tank. In the fish tank are eight fish. Their names are Dorothy, Lefty, Speck, Al, Charlie, Lola, Cocoa, and Crisp. There are also books on the dresser. There are about 15 x 4 books.

When you go west you will find my clothes stand. It is yellow, blue and white.

On my desk I have a globe that talks, a computer and a geography collection. My geography collection has a country box and a state box. I don’t keep states in there, I keep things I get from states and countries.

Then you see my toy box. It is full of stuffed animals.

My bedroom is special because it makes me feel comfortable and unforgettable. I like to play in my room. I like to sleep there too. When Mom is looking for me in my room I can jump out and yell BOO!

So Drew and I found this cool flag game, and on his first try he got 1589 points. (There were a lot of really obscure ones that came up.) So now he wants to see how well you each do! Post your best first time score here ... and no cheating!

Three new Drew-isms:

• What kind of weather is fun? A FUN-derstorm!
• What state has the nicest smile? FLOURID-a!
• What state is a vegetable? OKRA-homa!

The kids is scary sometimes ...

Today Drew asks me: "What's Pluto minus Neptune?"

I replied, "Beg your pardon?"

He answered: "Mercury." (It took me a second to figure it out.)

Then he quizzed me, asking, "Venus times what is Saturn?" I said, "Earth." He was impressed I got it. "Very good, Dad." Yes, he's making his own algebra problems.

So Drew was asked: "What are your favorite numbers?" Most of the kids had favorite numbers, or favorite kinds of numbers (e.g. "Big ones!"). Drew's response: "Pi, Chai, and infinity." Typical four-year old. I was surprised, actually--I thought he'd say prime. (He's really into prime numbers right now ... also two-column multiplication ...)

Found this clip from Mike's wedding, with really cute clips of toddlers Drew and Charlotte dancing ... Don't think I've ever uploaded it before.

Found this short clip while watching some home movies with D.R. this morning--him doing the "Itsy bitsy spider" with Dolly. It was funny for two reasons: one, I was trying to remember what he was doing when he was Momo's age (evidently exactly the same things--he was about the same age as Simon when we made this), and two, because Momo's really into the Itsy Bitsy Spider song right now too.

Very cute stuff. I think this weekend we're going to film Simon doing the same thing and splice the clips together ...