This was from a few weeks ago, but I just remembered it. Atticus told me one morning that he can run faster than a car. When I brought that up later in the day, he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I was kidding" (he might as well have added "duh").

  climbing one of the trees at school

 

zombie

 latest swimming accomplishment

 

from the All Souls procession a few weeks ago

The last week, on the drive to school in the mornings Atticus and I have been making up stories about the adventures of a boy and his cat. One morning this week, the boy and the cat discovered a family (a mama, daddy, and a baby) of rattlesnakes nesting underground. When one poked its head up out of the ground, I said, “And the cat leaped up into the boy’s arms.” Atticus said, “Actually, they both got bit. Actually, they died.”

When I picked Atticus up from school the other day, he called out to his friend Julian, "Julian, I'm leaving. If you want a hug, you better get over here!" Then when they nearly fell over hugging and Julian then ran off again, Atticus yelled, "Julian, that hug was kind of wiggly. We need to hug again."

 

I'm resurrecting this sucker, damnit.

Yesterday I was checking what time Walking Dead comes on and Atticus asked me what show I was going to watch later. I told him it was a zombie show. He asked what zombies are...

me: "They're dead people that come back to life as monsters."
Atticus: "And they eat people?"
me: "Yes! How did you know?"
He smiled.
I showed him how zombies move and sound and all that. Immediately, he wanted to play zombie.
Atticus: "You be a person hiding inside your house. I'll be the zombie." (We've been reading Three Little Pigs a lot lately. Many discussions about housing construction materials and how even though there's no such thing as a big bad wolf that will come blow our house down, our house would stand up to any attempts should they materialize.)
We took turns being the zombie. Hearing him come after me was kind of terrifying.
After he asked if he could watch the zombie show with me that night. I said it's too scary for little boys.
Atticus: "But I'm very brave."
me: "Yes, you are, but you're still too little to watch a scary show like that." I told him that I very much look forward to watching zombie shows with him when he's a little older.
He wrapped his arms around me and gave me one of the fiercest hugs ever.


This weekend we went to a playdate at his friend Julian's house. On our drive home afterwards, he said, "I wish I had a girl like Julian."
me: "What? Girl? Grill? What did you say?"
Atticus: "A girl! Like Amelia."
me: "Oh, you mean a sister."


I asked him to help me go through his room this weekend and figure out which toys he doesn't want anymore because he never plays with them. He did a fabulous job! We collected two grocery bags full, and we haven't even finished yet. No whining, no sobbing, no difficulty whatsoever. He was thoughtful about what he does and doesn't have any interest in and happy to toss away what he isn't interested in.

We watched Disney's Alice in Wonderland this weekend. He loved it and now wants to read the book.

He told me the other day that he likes cherry tomatoes at school but not at home.

A few weeks ago, he said, "My penis is a rocket ship! It's going to blast off into the sky!"