Punchy

You guys! Vanilla/Ice Cream Face turned six last week! It's so weird...he seems so different from when we started lessons a year ago. I asked him what he did on his birthday, and he told me all about the pet Great Dane they got: how tall it is, what it eats, how it barks. He even crawled around on the floor imitating him.

Then he told me that when you're five, you're crazy. "What are you when you're six?" I asked. He looked at me thoughtfully for a minute before answering, "When you're six, you're...punchy." And he put up his dukes.

"Okay, what are you when you're 32?" I asked. "Are you 32?" responded Vanilla. I nod. He thinks again and looks at my hands. "When you're 32, you're shaky." He looks at my hands again and makes a face. "No, come on, be shakier. Be shakier!"

At the end of his lesson, Vanilla tells me, "You know we didn't really get a Great Dane, right?" I nod and smile, trying not to laugh. "We did get to stay in a hotel, though."

Oh Vanilla. You may be six, but you're still the most hilarious little kid I've ever met.

As an aside, a different kid, the one who played The Snowman for his Dad last Christmas, informed me that his pet frog died. He started telling me very cautiously, as if he wasn't sure whether he wanted to talk about it. But once he got started, he didn't really stop. The long conversation ended with him telling me that his frog is now broken up into pieces, inside a plastic blue easter egg, and buried in the backyard so he can see him any time he wants.

And this is from one day back at work. One day. Fantastic.