Cul-chah

We took advantage of an otherwise quiet holiday weekend to cross some things off our perennial "Gee-we-should-do-that-someday" list. Saturday we took the boys to the tar pits, which was an eye-opener for Luke and didn't make the slightest impression whatsoever on Zach. Well, maybe that's not giving Zach enough credit. He enjoyed looking at the saber-tooth tiger models and saying "Meow, meow!" The only thing both boys seemed to notice equally was the somewhat long-ish drive (35 to 40 minutes) to get there (longer than we usually drag them on a regular weekend). At one point along the drive, Luke piped up peevishly, "Are we going to Palm Springs or China?" (which I think are the two longest trips he can imagine).

Sunday afternoon we headed up to the Skirball Cultural Center to see the now-famous Noah's Ark exhibit, and we were completely blown away (so to speak). There was plenty to keep both boys enormously entertained: building the ark, "making" the rain storm, pumping up lightning and wind tunnels, turning a crank to hoist pairs of animals up a big conveyor belt into the ark (see pic), climbing and exploring the ark through a series of rope ladders, and tinkering with all kinds of switches and gizmos to move parts of the ark or the animals.

The picture here with the zebra represents the most promising entrance ever to a museum exhibit. The boys were captivated instantly by the zebras' bodies, which are made with large attic fans that you can spin around and they make a very satisfying ticka-ticka-ticka sound. Between that and the crank-operated drums, we were occupied in that one little section for quite a while.

Dave and Luke and Zach also had a great time congregating in the nut storage house (insert nuthouse joke here). When you pull the rope, you can see into the upper chamber where there is a beehive and bees. Luke was a little uncertain about climbing up the rope ladders to get to the second story of the ark, but Zach had no hesitation about wanting to go up, and he paid no attention whatsoever to the sign that practically screamed out "AGES 4 AND UP ONLY!" Give it time, Zach, give it time.

Lots of things have happened since my last post, including a great visit with Mom and Dad, a nice T-day with Dave's family, and various unusual milestones. Luke crunched the back of his head on Hatcher's coffee table during a sleepover, resulting in an inch-long gash that is sure to leave a scar. We all worked together to put up a Christmas tree by November 24, the earliest in our family's history, and the most beautiful tree to date. Dave got so sick for a few days from some unknown virus or food poisoning that he had to stop and take a nap every time he walked up the stairs. And Zach added a most unexpected new word: Seeing Luke outside calling after our neighbor's cat Frodo, Zach has taken to standing out on the front stoop and yelling, "Ro-ro! Ro-ro!"

I think we're on the cusp of a Zach speech explosion, but there are a couple of funny things about how he's learning. One, he's suddenly started using all kinds of signs, even though he has new words now too. It's like the signs and the words came hand in hand, rather than one after another. Two, if I ask him to say a word he won't always say it, but if Luke asks him to say a word he'll repeat it instantly. He also loves to imitate Luke. Yesterday when Luke was shouting out to some question, "I know! I know!" Zach chimed right in with, "I know! I know!"

Also, after all of this time without speaking, it is immensely satisfying to feel like you're having an actual conversation with him. Example: "Zach, do you want a cookie?" "Yeah!"
(Smart kid, eh?)