I've always known that Shaun is a bit of a dork. Afterall, I'm pretty dorky and so is Craig so we couldn't expect Shaun to even be halfway normal. He seems to say the strangest things and it really makes us think about how his brain is working. When I actually think about it, he only has basically a year of life experience to go on so the things he says are so funny to us, but he's really serious about them - he's not trying to be funny.
You know how traffic lights are set up, with the 3 different colors of lights. Well, Shaun understands what each color of light represents (stop, go, stop if you can) and knows where each color is situated. We were sitting at an intersection last week and he mentioned that the light was a funny one. It didn't look any different than any other light in the city so we asked him why it was funny looking. He told us it was funny because the green light wasn't at the bottom. Sure enough, there was a dark space at the bottom for a flashing advanced green arrow to show up. I was amazed that Shaun actually noticed that and that he was able to articulate why he thought the light was funny. I've talked to him before about flashing green lights because there's one in our neighbourhood that we come across all the time, but it's just a green light, no arrow. By the way, he says that a flashing green light means 'go quickly' because the light is being quick. I suppose that makes sense to a 2 1/2 year old.
He saw one of our neighbor boys in the parking lot this afternoon when we got back from grocery shopping. This little boy's dad's name is Sean so we call him Big Sean and my Shaun is Little Shaun. Anyway, Shaun was talking to Aiden about what we bought at the grocery store and then out of the blue announced that he's 2 1/2 but he's almost 3. And will be 3 in August when the baby comes. We've certainly taught him to explain how old he is but why on earth did he think it necessary to tell Aiden? Aiden's like, 5 maybe. He certainly didn't care and Shaun was a little hurt that Aiden didn't care. He looked at me and asked if Aiden heard how old he is. That's something that's so strange for Shaun to care about - his age.
I never posted about this back in May because I was too absorbed with my belly photos (I think, although thinking back, I may have written something about this, I can't remember now). We went to see the fireworks for Victoria Day weekend. They were set to music and were beautiful. I love fireworks. They make me feel like a little kid again as I stare up at the sky and wonder how all those colors are crammed into such a tiny package. Shaun saw fireworks while we were camping last summer but I'm sure he didn't remember them. He wasn't even quite 2 years old yet. He was almost as excited for the fireworks as I was and while he waited patiently for them to start was dancing to the music and shaking his tiny little bum. Once they started I glanced at his face as he was snuggled in my lap and it was glowing with the colors from the sky. I started to cry. And not just a couple of tears. I was sobbing enough that Craig asked if I was okay. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones or maybe I was genuinely moved by the music and Shaun's reaction to the fireworks but it took me a good 10 minutes to compose myself. Then Shaun broke his silence and turned to look at me and asked if the fireworks hurt the sky. Wow, was that what he was thinking about for the ten minutes he was quiet? That's amazing. He was so worried that the banging was hurting the sky and the moon and stars. That's so thoughtful and profound but amazingly literal at the same time. And, of course, because I'm a sap, I started to cry again. This time not as much but there were still a few tears and my nose got all plugged again.
Do all 2 1/2 year olds think about stuff like that? How many parents miss that because they don't listen to their kids? Craig and I pride ourselves on how much we talk with Shaun about simple stuff like traffic lights and waterfalls and the name for the little thing on the top of the pop can that pushes the hole open (it's a pop tab). Maybe it's just his personality that he's interested in all that stuff but I think it has more to do with us always taking the time to explain that stuff to him. He knows he can ask us a question and we'll answer him with a real explanation. Even my sister's husband noticed when Shaun and I visited last weekend that I explain everything to Shaun. I think that's why he's such a great kid; because he understands why things are the way they are. Okay, enough bragging about Shaun. I really am so proud of him but I know that every single parent feels exactly the same about their kid and they don't actually care about how proud I am of Shaun. Boy, am I going to compare this next baby to him... poor kid!
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