Born to be Wild

Toward the end of last month, Lucas had his first bike ride. Though it was short and somewhat frustrating at the time, he's come a LONG way in a month, as all 3 of us can now ride around the neighborhood. He'll get stuck on an incline every once in a while, but it's usually more of a mental thing where he just doesn't think he can make it and then we encourage him through it. (Unless I'm in a hurry, and then I just get him started with a push)

So here's a picture of Lucas on April 30, as he is about to try his new bike out.

Random Stuff from February

Since I'm still having issues with the keyboard, I'm going to keep the next few posts short. This way I can also focus on getting caught up with the pictures.

This is a cute one from mid-February of mom and son relaxing on the couch.


Give a boy some rope, and he'll find a way to spend 45 minutes with it.


Lucas had his 2 buddies from daycare over for a playdate. Here, they prepare to make cookies, I think.


Here's a priceless photo I took after he fell asleep one night.

Now I know my ABCs...

While it's not quite the moral or philosophical conundrum I addressed in my post on religion, another conflict of thinking reared its ugly head today while I was helping Lucas learn his letters. After getting him to write out the letters in his own name, I let him pick what other letters he wanted to try. After doing 'M' and 'N,' he asked me how to write 'Z.'

Now most of your probably know where I'm going with this, but for those of you who don't, in Canada, 'Z' is pronounced 'zed' whereas in the U.S., it is 'zee.' I really, really, really don't like the Canadian/British version, and I have gone out of my way not to use it since I have lived here. Luckily, there isn't much call for using it in a standard conversation so I've been free from its burden for several years. (Seriously, it doesn't even rhyme in the alphabet song!)

So getting back to the story, Lucas asked me how to write 'zed.' I cringed internally and was well on my way to correcting him, but then I hesitated since I realized he wouldn't understand why there are two different ways of pronouncing it. Rather than putting him at odds with his future teachers and classmates, I decided to just let it go. I'll adopt a "when in Rome" attitude since it is the standard for the country I'm living in. Kind of like how I control my natural desire to mock French speakers...most of the time. Well, sometimes.

It did make me realize this is just the beginning of him speaking with an accent/dialect that drives me nutty at times. For instance, the way Canadians pronounce "process" with a long 'o' (pro-cess vs the U.S. prah-cess) or the 'a' in Mazda sounding like the 'a' in apple as opposed to the American pronunciation Mahz-da). I want to correct them every time I hear it even though I realize it's their country, and I'm just the guest. So I bottle it up, and come one step closer to that ulcer or heart attack each day. I'm sure I'll snap completely on that day 13-14 years from now when Lucas tells me he is in the pro-cess of buying a Maz-da, eh?

FYI, I am typing this post on my desktop PC, as opposed to the laptop that has the damaged 'e' key. I haven't fixed it yet since I have heard I may be able to do it myself for much cheaper so I am exploring that option. I am able to type on it, albeit slowly, so I will probably put up a new picture-filled post tomorrow. Anyway, enjoy and have a great week, all!

Intermission

Wow, this is post #600. Unfortunately, it is going to be uneventful. I just wanted to let you know that there will be a delay of a few days in getting a full post up. Lucas tore my 'E' key off last year, but I've been making due since I could still type on it without the key. However, last night, it somehow fell apart so it is much more difficult to type an E (but not impossible, obviously). Anyway, it shouldn't take too long to get it replaced so hopefully I'll have another picture-filled post up by the weekend.

Lest I forget, thanks to everyone who commented on my last post (the Heaven one).

The Religion Conundrum

This morning, I encountered an issue with Lucas that I didn't expect to address for at least another couple of years. As I came down the stairs, I found him looking at a picture of my old dog, Roenick. I had Roenick when I lived in Tampa and Atlanta, and unfortunately he died of meningitis at the young age of 4 in 1998.

Lucas knew about Roenick since I'd mentioned him before, and I may have said that he died. This morning, however, he asked where Roenick was. I started to say that he passed away a long time ago when Lucas asked, "Is he in heaven?"

This threw me for a loop since, to my knowledge, we've never talked about heaven. For those of you who don't know, I was raised Catholic but am now an atheist so there is no reason I would have brought the subject up. I don't think Marilu--who is Catholic--has had any reason to mention it to him so maybe he heard it from a kid at daycare. Whatever the case, the source isn't the issue; I'm more concerned with how to address this and related topics in the coming years.

I'm not a psycho atheist who feels the need to push my non-belief on others so I told Marilu a long time ago that I would have no problem if she brought Lucas to church with her (so long as I don't have to go). Even if I don't believe in the "invisible people in the sky" aspect of religion, I do think there is a lot to be said about the morals and character building one can gain from it. I went to CCD classes when I was growing up, and I think I am a better person for it.

That said, when Lucas surprised me with a point blank question about a place I consider no more real than Hogwarts (i.e., heaven), I had no idea how to respond. On the one hand, I don't want to lie to him about how I feel, but on the other hand, I suppose he has the right to choose for himself, when Marilu starts bringing him to church (probably in a year or two since he would be godawful in there at this age, no pun intended), and I don't want to bias him from the start.

In case you're wondering, I quickly answered his question with a vague answer of "it's possible," and life went on. However, now I need to start thinking about how I am going to handle these types of questions in more detail going forward. Any suggestions from anyone who has been in a similar position would be welcome.

Bowling

First off, let me get this out of the way...I hope the sharks find you tasty, Osama!

There, all better.

Back in February, I brought Lucas to a birthday party that was held at a bowling alley. I think he had gone bowling with Marilu once more, but it was the first time with me. It's actually an odd bowling alley, as the lanes only have six pins and they use the small candlepin balls. We didn't keep score, but the kids had a great time.