Owenisms

When Owen and I go for a walk, we often cross a bridge going over a little brook, so I started telling him about the three billy goats gruff and the troll under the bridge.  When we were at my parents’ house in Maine, my mother had a picture book of the tale, which apparently is Norwegian.  Owen was very interested in the book and the tale, and so then we started incorporating it into our playdough play.  We made a bridge out of the playdough cans and Owen made a troll and then I would make animals that would then cross the bridge at their peril.  Owen’s troll almost always let them pass with a gruff, “Be off with you!”  At one point, though, I realized that Owen was calling it a Control instead of a troll.  Ha!  So we played the control under the bridge.  Rather fitting.

My father is named Leighton, and my mother was calling to him one day and Owen leaned over to me and whispered:  “Why does Gee keep calling Pa ‘Plankton?’”

I am finding that four is a pretty enthusiastic age, although one has to do some maneuvering every now and then.  We can never be sure how he will react to something.  One day in Maine when we were going to the beach, we stopped at two stores that we wanted to check out, and told Owen – afraid he would have a fit – that we were just going to peek into two stores on the way.  Owen unexpectedly exclaimed, “Two stores!! That’s AMAZING!!”  Well okay then.

We found a yellow plastic construction hat of Owen’s that had been missing for long enough that he had forgotten about it.  Sean gave it to him and said he could wear it while he was using his tools and doing construction.  Owen replied:  “Yes!  I can wear it when I’m using my tools and I want to look fancy!”  J  As construction workers are wont to do.

Owen and Sean got a pair of walkie talkies to use when they are playing space ship, and it has taken Owen awhile to learn that he needs to hold it up to his ear when he is listening and to his mouth when he is talking.  He tends to do the opposite.  And then he also has to push the button on it when he talks, which is also a bit difficult to remember.  Sean’s been teaching him walkie talkie jargon, like ten four, and Owen, playing a game of one-upmanship, always responds with a ten five.