The Grim Reaper, OoooLaLaLa, Perhaps a Floss, and One More

Since the text is all about Zephyr, I thought I'd post a picture of Jubi. We had ice cream this afternoon, and here she's talking on her spoon phone. "Mommy?" is pretty much the extent of her telephone skills. She is as sticky as she looks, and she went straight into the bathtub.

This is going to be another one of those posts. The kind where there's no real thread of connection, but my list of "Things I never want to forget" is full, and I want the satisfied feeling of throwing the list away, knowing I've done my part to archive a tiny, insignificant molecule of family history.

What's really inspired this entry is a scene from this morning. Zephyr and Jon standing next to the train table. Zephyr wrinkles his nose and states "I smell dead fish." Jon, bringing his hands to his nose, explains, "I was just using some organic fish fertilizer. I washed my hands..." Me, wondering out loud, "How does he even know what dead fish smell like, anyway?" Zephyr, "I don't know what fish smell like. But I do know the smell of dead."

A few months ago Zephyr looked around when we were driving home from somewhere. "The earth is buried," he decided. When we asked him what he meant, he continued, "It's buried with roads, parking lots, houses, skyscrapers." Every time I think of that observation, my brain queues Joni Mitchell, Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. Pave paradise, put up a parking lot.

There are a few terms and words that Zephyr enjoys using, but doesn't quite have the meaning narrowed down. One example is "being tired of" something. Here's an example of another. He "called" me on his toy cell phone the other night when we were trying to get the kids ready for bed. "Need me for anything?" he asked. "Yes. Toothbrushing," I answered. There was a pause. "Need me for anything similar?"

Then, there was the time a few weeks ago when an impatient Zephyr was trying to find his hardhat. "Did you look on your train table?" Jon tried to helpfully guide the search. "You're wrong!" Zephyr yelled. "How can I be wrong?" Jon quietly mused. "I asked a question."