Kid stuff

Juliette

Juliette seems to have an eye and appreciation for the small artistic elements of film. Lately as she watches movies, she will notice an artistic transition between scenes, an image tied back to a previous scene, the use of a camera angle or shot to highlight a theme. I can see her mind registering it, as she starts to nod, then looks to us and says "Clever." in an understated, knowing, 7-year old kind of way.

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"I love these sweatpants, and this sweatshirt. Don't I look just like a teenager?" Juliette is obsessed by all things teenage. I think she hit three years old and magically aged to thirteen. She loves clothes and makeup, and has a mature vocabulary and a tone about her voice that oozes both confidence and moodiness simultaneously. She yearns for when she can drive and have a boyfriend. With three older brothers there is has been absolutely no teenage girl influence here at the house, and yet this little one has emerged owning her vision.

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Juliette wants to be a singer when she grows up. She adores indie singer-songwriter Mindy Gledhill. She knows all her songs, and loves to listen, lip synch and dance to them. She has a very strong vision of her future, which includes world tours and concerts. She loves to write songs - some of them are impromptu improvisation, but there are many sheets of paper scattered throughout the music room and her bedroom of actual lyrics she has written over the past two years.

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Benjamin

Benjamin is the epitome of 10. Really, everything about him reminds me of why I think 10 just might be the perfect childhood age. He is enraptured by the magic of make believe, the outdoors, his dad's humour and his mom's adventurous nature. His best friend is Audree, whom he has known since birth. They are entering pre-teen years and yet continuously find each other and their innocence among all the changes. He races to catch up with his big brothers and cuddles in my bed in the mornings. He has the most musical laugh. He wears sweatpants and rain boots to catch snakes in the back field.  He has fallen in love with Harry Potter, those early years in the series when magic and friendship are unspoiled by things bigger than a ten year old's world.  There is wonder in his eyes when he sleeps in a tent or spends hours fishing up trout and gently setting them free. He is at the age when a boy with a ball or a fishing rod or an interesting bug can cement a friendship for a day or a week and then move on without sadness. He will sit for a moment at the fire, knowing he is on the verge of serious conversations but then retreating to the trampoline because subconsciously he knows he's not quite there yet. Oh, if I could hold him suspended in time right now...I only hope he remembers this time fondly. 10 was a magical time for me as well, and I remember such wonderful things about those years.

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Benjamin is all about snakes these days. A few days ago he asked me to take him hiking through the forest and field behind our house looking for snakes. I'm always up for getting out of the house but I doubted the odds of actually coming upon a snake. But then seeing his eyes light up when he looked down to see one crawling right in front of his path...

Today we found our old friend the garden snake in the garden in front of our house. Benjamin actually sat and watched that snake for more than two hours. He fed it some small chunks of ham and got to see the snake actually haul it away and eat it. He watched it in our garden, then watched as it moved across the path into the side garden. Then watched it as it made its way over to the neighbours garden. And lo and behold, it slithered right on over beside a second larger snake, with something fresh in its tummy to eat. Benjamin kept going on about how this was the best week ever.

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Ben is our resident comedian. His comedic timing is unmatched. There are a whole collection of little lines that are already a part of family lore. He has a quick wit and the ability to snatch a line and turn it around in a flash. These may make no sense years down the road, or maybe they will twig a memory and everyone will remember:

"My imagination is flying away from me. My imagination!" (as he tracks something invisible through the sky)

"Dad told Caleb that the Italians invented plates when they first made pizza and used them as plates. And Caleb believed it. Caleb said that he only believes about this much (holding finger and thumb an inch apart) of what Dad tells him." Then Ben said, pointing to the space between the finger and thumb "And right in here, is the idea that pizza's were plates."

Ben throws his arm over us when we are lying in bed and gives an evil laugh: "You are anchored!" (in other words, we cannot escape his cuddle).