You With the Stars in Your Eyes

Leo, presenting his latest version of the solar system. I feel like he's made a lot of progress since his last version.

Leo continues to be fascinated with all things space. If you ask him about space? Make sure you have some time. Because he will talk. A lot. He knows that Jupiter has a big red spot on it. He loves to talk about saturn's rings (made from ice! And rock!). And he feels very bad for Pluto, who, as everyone knows, was demoted.

You may recall this interest began in the spring, when his class began studying the solar system. We're doing what we can to encourage Leo. Superheros are fine and good but space exploration in eight year olds is something I can really support.

Erin bought him a special "space" issue of National Geographic, which he absolutely devoured. He'd been asking for "space dvds." We found some on YouTube (who can forget "Interplanet Janet?") but a little more research on Amazon presented us with this jewel. Ellie positively groans when Leo asks to watch it but I think she secretly enjoys it.

Back in July, Grandma and Grandpa bought Leo these for his birthday (they hang from the ceiling).

I'm just impressed all those planets (except for Earth, which unceremoniously came crashing down on Leo's bedroom floor sometime in August) are still intact. Speaking of home decor, while searching for an image of the ceiling planets, I came across this, which would be abso-stinking-adorable in Leo's room:

I curse you, overpriced Land of Nod bedding, for all the the fantasies (and at $229 for a full-size quilt, I do mean fantasies) you plant in the heads of well-intentioned parents everywhere!

The Super and the Not So Super

1. Leo now appears to be a nearly full-time Superhero. He pretty much refuses to wear anything but Superhero tops. Superman is the number one choice, Batman and Spider-Man will suffice. If I present him with something else (a dinosaur tshirt yesterday morning), his response is a polite “No thank you.” Today he wore not one but three Superhero shirts. Two Supermans followed by Batman. Clearly he got dressed on his own. Hey, he was dressed and matching. That was enough for me.

2. I don’t know what to do about Leo’s hair. See exhibit A, above. This is an old photo (from Halloween, obviously) but it's pretty close to what Leo's hair is looking like these days. I know it doesn't look that bad there but seriously, give it a week. I don't know if it's all those scrambled eggs or what but his hair sprouts in the oddest places, and fast. I swear he goes to bed one night and it's a fine length and it literally grows overnight to unreasonable, overgrown, just odd proportions (and look! He's conveniently wearing a Superman outfit in this photo!).

It’s getting too long again. We seem to be able to go about three months before it starts to look...shaggy. But as we all know, a trip to the barber for Leo means a full on meltdown. I’m in no shape to handle that right now (there is kicking and wailing and the need for serious strength to hold down my littler, um, Superhero). The last time I took him for a haircut (early November) I had to throw away his top and mine (they were both fleece) as they were SO saturated with hair. I washed them twice and put them through the dryer to no avail. Sticky, sticky hair.

And then there is the torture/trauma factor. Is it wrong to put your kid through that? Granted the haircut (which is a buzz cut because that’s all that can be safely done, there will be no scissors) takes all of ten minutes. But trust me, when someone is that unhappy, it’s a l-o-n-g ten minutes. He recovers almost instantaneously and the trauma is always followed by a hug to the stylist (and the collective awwws of the entire hair salon). But still.

And there’s this: I’m not a fan of the buzz cut. Leo has gorgeous, thick hair (not that I’m biased). A buzz cut seems like such a waste of his good looks. And, um, locks (sorry, couldn’t resist).

The Things We Do

At some point, Leo developed a bit of an obsession with "Hey Diddle Diddle." He has several books that feature the little diddy. He was overjoyed when he discovered all the versions on YouTube (this one is my fave, it's old school (from what I recall, anyway) "Sesame Street"). And of course, I downloaded a few interpretations for him from iTunes (seriously, what did we parents do without technology? KIDDING).

This morning, however, he demanded to watch "Hey Diddle Diddle" on TV. He was dressed and had finished his breakfast, so we were pretty much golden. But there's that tricky gray area between breakfast and the bus where Leo can sometimes teeter toward crabby. Sometimes I feel like I'm walking on eggshells to keep him in a "good" mood before the bus arrives. Most days, picking out what he's going to bring on the bus is a perfect distraction (yesterday it was the pink Dora umbrella and Ellie's Disney Princess clock (shh, don't tell Ellie). I can only imagine what the bus driver and aide must think of Leo (and me). But as I've said, whatever gets you on the bus, right?

So in the midst of a teetering on angry Leo moment this morning, I promised him I would find a "Hey Diddle Diddle" movie, fairly confident that Google wouldn't make me out to be a liar. It's not that I get Leo every little thing that he asks for, not at all, but honestly, he asks for very little. And I get kind of excited when he expresses an interest in something. And making him happy? It's not only priceless, but so very easy. And you can't say that about everyone, that's for sure.