Tonight we read Calvin and Hobbes for bedtime. After I read the comic strip above, I tried to explain a little about Michelangelo. Me: Remember, Michelangelo, we saw the statues he made when we went to Italy? Sempi: Yeah. Me: He’s a great sculptor. Do you guys remember the David statue? Vian: I know who Michelangelo is, he’s a TURTLE! o_O

Vian was playing with his stuffed animals. Vian: Watch my deer. It can do a somersault backwards. Sempi: (thinks for a bit, turns to me)… if you call a flip a somersault, do you call a backward flip a wintersugar? Me: What a terribly missed opportunity. They just call it a reverse somersault, those unimaginative linguists.

We are having dinner. Sempi is eating enthusiastically and suddenly cried out, “AAARGH!”. Me: What happened? Sempi: I accidentally bit my tongue while chewing. Me: I’m sorry Sempi, that must be quite painful. Vian who is listening to all this plays around with the food in his mouth and suddenly declares: Vian: You can actually bite your tongue anytime you want, not just on accident. Me: That’s…. that’s not a feature Vian, it’s a bug....

I’m reading a bedtime story to the kids. There’s a picture of a Pterosaur in one of the pages. Vian: That is not even a dinosaur. I am quite proud that he know that Pterosaurs are not Dinosaurs. Me: Oh, what are they? Vian: They’re just grown-up chickens in the sky. Sempi: Argh! They’re called Pterosaur, Vian. Ugh! Vian likes taunting his brother, so he repeats his flying chicken theory one more time for good measure....

I like giving and receiving kisses from Vian (my 4yo son). Recently, Vian complained that my beard was prickly. Obviously, I’m now clean shaven (no more goatee). On the nights I put him down for bedtime, he usually gets quite sleepy while I lay down with him. Occasionally he would run his hands on my cheeks and say “Amma?” (mom). That’s gotta be the highest praise for shaving. Today during lunch, he is sitting in my lap and munching on his pasta....