A Short Post for a Short Month

Artist Hard at Work

The Pattishalls have had quite a few adventures since the last posting. Since Steven has had what I consider to be a very light load in the pediatric ER, we've been enjoying every moment of family time we can get this month. Unfortunately that leaves you loyal readers wondering what we've been up to. Steven's schedule is about to get more hectic, which means I'll be writing more to pass the time away.

Following are some February highlights:

Edmund cooked, built, crafted, and directed traffic at the Chapel Hill
children's museum, Kidzu. All three Pattishalls followed this outing with a trip to Sugarland, a gelato shop/bakery on Franklin Street.

I overcame my fear of driving to Northgate alone so that Edmund and I could join Elmo for his yearly birthday celebration. You may recall we went to visit Elmo on his birthday last year. Can you believe it? Elmo turned 3 yet again. Someone is lying about his age.

Edmund, Steven, and I made several walking trips to Locopops after school to celebrate a few potty successes (Edmund's, not ours). These popsicle excursions were followed by visits to The Children's Store (a local toy store which has recently relocated to the Locopops shopping center).

Thanks for keeping up with our happenings. I look forward to filling you in on March's adventures soon.

Life is But a Dream

Tickling the Ivories in a Piano Duet

Not to toot any horns here (pun intended), but Edmund is quite the musician. Not only does Edmund know a myriad of songs, but he he plays seven different instruments. In no particular order they are... guitar, harmonica, recorder, trumpet, saxoflute, train whistle (OK I know I'm stretching it with those last two), and drums, his new found obsession. I can't sit here and tell you Edmund is the next Beethoven, but relative to his age he is actually quite talented.

After a recent date night Steven and I returned home to learn that while we were out, Edmund orchestrated his own orchestra. Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Alison were all assigned instruments. For most of this little scenario, Edmund chose to rock out on his drums (large foam blocks he arranges to look like a drumset). As I mentioned earlier, drums are Edmund's current instrument of choice, and to his pleasure, and his parents' occasional horror, many of the recent social events we've attended have also included a full-size drum kit. Fortunately, these places have been kid-friendly and our hosts have been gracious enough to let Edmund have full reign of the drums. Unfortunately, it takes a Herculean effort to pull Edmund away from the drums. For this reason, it will be a few years before Edmund gets his own set. We feel we must spare the neighbors. Joking aside, this kid has rhythm. He can keep a steady beat while coordinating cymbals, snare, and bass. He even holds the sticks correctly. He must be observing drummers at church and concerts, because it isn't from anyone showing him how to do this. Try to show our son the "correct" way to do anything and meltdown ensues. I've learned my lesson and for fear of extinguishing this interest, I'm going to tread carefully when it comes to intervening for now.

Edmund is also quite the vocalist and composer. Edmund knows more songs than I can count and has made-up just as many. Not only can he recite songs, but can sing on pitch and imitate instrument sounds fairly accurately. Recently, however, I realized Edmund may be missing the meaning of some of his favorite songs. Below you will find a transcription of Edmund's rendering of a classic.

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Like a spider's dream.

Despite how I've come to treasure this version of the song, one day I decided to slow down the lyrics so Edmund could catch all the words. This is what he heard.

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life's a butter dream.

I love Edmund's little misspeaks and I've found they most often occur in song. Thus, if I hear a humorous one I'll do a quick blog post. I know if I don't write these things down while they're fresh, they'll be gone, and life will be but a dream.

The Potter

This past Sunday was our church's nine year anniversary. The focus of the week was a passage in Isaiah talking about God as the potter and how we are the clay. As part of the anniversary celebration, a potter was brought in. He worked on his pottery in the rotunda between services and answered questions. Edmund and I spent several minutes watching the potter at work before going to HopeTown (similar to Sunday School). In HopeTown the children had the opportunity to work with clay and play-doh. Edmund loves all types of dough so this was a big hit.

After church each Sunday I ask Edmund what he did. He generally replies "I played with motorcycles." His classroom has toy motorcycles and playing with them is the highlight of his Sunday morning. After that I'll generally just say "did you learn about God and Jesus?" He'll then reply "yeah okay."

This Sunday for some reason we didn't go through our normal discourse directly after church. However, when Steven got home I started in.

"Edmund did you learn about God in church today?"

"Yeah, okay."

"What did God make, Edmund?"

"A pot."

Edmund may be slightly off in his theology, but hey, at least we've moved past motorcycles.