Birds

Samuel [shooting water gun at daddy in the shower]: "You feeled that!"
Daddy [being way too verbose, and speaking with laryngitis in a noisy shower]: "We say 'felt', instead of 'feeled.' 'I felt, you felt, he/she/it felt.' It's verb conjugation. Can you say 'verb conjugation?'"
Samuel: "Bird congregation."
Daddy: "Hm. OK."

Composing Music

Daddy: "Do you want to do a new song for your piano lesson today?"
Samuel: "Yes."
Daddy: [thinks quickly to try to pick a song they haven't done]
Samuel: "Let's do this one: <sings a new song>"

I didn't record his initial singing, so I'm sure what we ended up with is only approximate. But here's a recording of us both playing (with only me singing) his new song: Mary Had A Cow

But they can't eat everyone!

On Sunday, I recited Lewis Carroll's The Walrus and the Carpenter to Samuel for the first time in many months. The ending is quite dramatic:

Daddy: "...because they'd...eaten...every..."

Samuel: "One!"

But, as he said to me last summer (IIRC), he reminded me again:

Samuel: "But if the one oyster eats all the other ones, who can eat that one?"

He didn't state it quite so clearly this time (because obviously the oysters aren't eating each other). IIRC, when this came up last summer he said:

Samuel: "But nobody can eat everybody, because who can eat the last one?"

I think it comes down to this: he's hearing "they'd eaten everyone," instead of "they'd eaten every one."

So I explained again that the walrus and carpenter had eaten all the oysters, but that they hadn't eaten everyone.

So I guess we can all be thankful for that.

I am Aragorn

On Saturday we finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring with Samuel. This morning, he was posing here and there around the house, exclaiming "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn!" Then he would make explosive noises to demonstrate his fierce might.

At first, he was protecting us from Orcs with his Lego gun. Then he asked what kinds of weapons Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas have. So after that he constructed a Lego sword... one that still makes explosion noises.

We had conversations along these lines:

Samuel: I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn!
Daddy: Who was Aragorn's father?
Samuel: I don't know.
Daddy: He was the son of... whom?
Samuel: Arathorn.
Daddy: So who was his father?
Samuel: I don't know.

And:

Samuel: Who was Arathorn?
Daddy: Aragorn's father.
Samuel: But who WAS Arathorn?
Daddy: Aragorn's father... I don't know anything else about him.
Samuel: But who was he?
Daddy: Of whom is Gimli the son?
Samuel: Of Gloin.
Daddy: Right. So who is Gimli's father?
Samuel: I don't know.

I'm not sure the full breadth and depth of the claim being made in "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn" has really sunk in, yet. But he's definitely got the fierce might part down.

Samuel says...

"I'm naked with socks on."

Recent mispronunciations

"Ick-mo-donald had a farm..."

And...

Samuel: "You know what we've forbin getting? You know what we've forbin getting? You know what we've forbin getting?"
Daddy [aside, to Mommy]: "What's he saying?"
Mommy: "Been forgetting."

I guess Mommy is better at speaking Excited Samuelese than Daddy is.

Swimming yesterday

Our condo community has a pool, and we enjoyed a late-afternoon swim yesterday. Samuel has recently (last week) learned to jump in with abandon, and Jenn caught some action shots.

In case anyone wonders, that was a back-flip. I did not land on my back. :)

I like how his right leg is just breaking the very-still water surface in this one.

...and here's a video.