A Lighter Note

This morning we were getting ready, and waiting for our sitter, Ms. Linda (who is an amazing lady and a true part of our family), and Elliott took Jared’s iPhone off the counter.

He slid the unlock slider, clicked on the YouTube button, clicked on the Bookmarks button, and scrolled through until he found his favorite one (this is like 5 complicated steps. Seriously.), which he calls “Sun Maya”, because that’s what the choir in it sounds like it’s saying. He actually sings through this entire song (I’m still trying to get a little video clip of this, because it is AWESOME - right on cue, even down to the wailing at the very end).

Here is Elliott’s favorite YouTube video about space:

Trucks? Nah. Dinosaurs? Sports? Superheroes? He won’t touch them. But the four largest moons of Jupiter, now THERE is a topic for conversation. Watching the sun dwindle in the distance as the stars in the universe get progressively larger, oh yes. Talking about galaxies and black holes as if they were outside in the backyard, sure. But just don’t try to buy him any dinosaur PJ’s.

There’s nothing quite like watching my 3-year-old handle an iPhone as well as I do, AND then watching his face lit by the glow of the screen while he sings along to the complete musical score for his favorite video.It’s one of those, “Where did this kid come from?” kind of moments that leave me breathless in wonder.

Have you had some of these recently? I’d love to hear.

Comments

[Deb P.]

So totally know exactly what you are talking about. Monday night my GS who is 3 years old, loves to play the Wii. He walks in the door saying "granmama can I play your wii?" before he even says hello. I sat there and watched this amazing child play games that most of the adults in the room can't even come close to accomplishing. I know I can't for sure. He knows how to manuver through the menus and get to exactly what he wants and then saves his scores (many times without even looking at the screen! - he will be looking at us and talking while he is saving his scores and moving on to the next level). I sat there in amazement watching him. This child doesn't even know how to read and yet he can navigate complex systems like it was nothing. Unbelievable!

All I can say is enjoy every minute (even the tantrums) cause they go by so fast. Capture as many of these amazing moments as you can in photo or on video. My kids LOVE to watch the family videos we took ... sometimes more than the latest movie. They laugh and tease and brag about things that happened when they were young ... all because I had the forsight to go grab the camera or videocamera!!!!! So ENJOY and CAPTURE!!!!!

Deb P.

[Terebene]

I can relate to this. My 5-year-old daughter had to take a bag of "stuff" about her to school today. She put a picture of a spider she found and a Wall-E figurine. I had to talk her out of the giant rubber spider (it might get lost, you know). And she LOVES dinosaurs. But try and get her to wear a bow in her hair? No way.

I know she will love this video, too. When kindergarten is done, I will show it to her. They wouldn't be much fun if they were "traditional". That what makes them awesome (and ours).

[Jackie Wood]

Oh man, this is a great story. We are tech crazy at our house, so I LOVE stories about kids and technology. Love to go to the Apple store and see the kids "showing" their parents how things work! Makes me happy.

My daughter (10) is game crazy. Games on the PC, Wii, PS3, DS! So on Monday we went to the game store to get a few things. She walked into the store and knew right where she needed to be (I was walking into a foreign land) and started chatting with the salesperson. She was buying one game and trading in two others. She also had heard a new game was coming out and wanted details, so she asked. She purchased (her own money), traded, and discussed with the sales guy and I never said a word.

When we left the store Rachel was ahead of me and as I saw her walking out and getting into the car so many thoughts went through my head. When did this happen, was number one. When had my baby girl grown up and become so amazingly independent. Wow, she really blew me away. I just had to give her a big squeeze hug and tell her how much I love her. Silently I said a little prayer to not let this growing up happen too fast. It seems like just yesterday she was walking for the first time, finger-painting the walls, and giving me the big squeeze hugs.

Thanks for sharing your special moments.

[Laurie]

Brogan is only 19 months old so he hasn't quite mastered my Iphone yet, although I am sure it is just a matter of time. He has, however, managed to get ahold of Jeremy's Blackberry and push the right combination of buttons to call 911--twice!! Ha!

[Megan]

I found myself completely entranced. Love that he is also getting a musical education!

My kids leave me breathless constantly. Mine are bigger, though, and it is AMAZING watching all the lessons I have been trying to underscore for the past 20 years begin to take hold. I am CRAZY proud...I always tell people that Stay-at-home moms are lucky because they get extra chances (depending on how many kids they have) of making a greater impact on our world. My three chances are shooting for those stars your little guy loves so much. Kiss kiss kiss him, because he's most likely headed off to MIT way sooner than you think (15 years is a heartbeat, trust me) and it aint next door, baby!

[Britiney]

I had a big one last week. I was taking my 3 year old to the dentist and my dad was visiting from out of town so he went with us. He turned around to my son, who was in the back seat, and said, "Are you anxious about going to the dentist?" My son replied, "No, because anxious means worried and the Bible says we shouldn't be anxious about anything!" Oh my word!! Where did this kid come from!!?? My dad was speechless. I still laugh every time I think about it. I guess he is learning something at Sunday school after all!!

[Jan Connair]

Girl, I hear you! Kids are so amazingly tech savvy these days. You are gonna love this one: 2 days ago I put on my best Jessica Sprague voice and taught my 10-year-old son to do a digital layout for a school project. He needed to come up with a creative way to showcase a book for his monthly reading project. I've been using my digi skills to make "READ!" posters for the local middle school librarian, so I taught Danny how to make a READ poster showcasing his book. It was awesome. He extracted himself from a photo I took of him holding the book. I taught him to open up a new file, drag the photo onto the page, make a gradient background layer that matches the book cover, drop in type, and extract and copy elements from the book cover to decorate the background layer. He was clicking and dragging faster than I expected. He even understood about using the R and L bracket keys to increase and decrease the size of the Magic Eraser tool and everything. I may have to post this on your website, just so you can see it!

[Jan Connair]

P.S.: I had trouble posting it in the gallery on your website, Jessica, but I posted it on my blog if you want to see it: http://janconnair.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/danny-goes-digi/

[VickiF]

My son's passion is steam trains. Not toy ones, but real ones. I love to watch him climb up on the office chair, click on the internet, type in steam trains and surf all the videos that come up. He's five, by the way........

[Julie]

This isn't a techy one, but we were in the baking aisle of the grocery store a few days ago, and my 3-yr-old daughter spotted the marshmallows. She says "Look, Mommy, we could make Rice Krispie Treats!!!" I mean, it;s been a WHILE since we've made those (though, they do sound kinda good). The MEMORY these little kids have - I can't quite get over it!

Oh, and she's not nearly as picky about desserts as Elliott is about what he's interested in. ;o)

[Nancy Mackey]

My two year old totoally loved that!

[LivE]

Oh man, is that the coolest space vid ever! Ele knows how to choose 'em!

Got LOTS of those "Where did this kid come from?" moments. My layouts are filled with them! :D Amazing, isn't it, how they are just so much quicker, so much deeper, so much more awesome than we could ever be? ;)

[Janna]

Yeah, my 5 yr old can work my iPhone much better than I can. He found the you tube videos before I even knew my phone would play them. His favorites are tornado videos. He also plays wii very well...much better than I do.

[Allette]

I love that Elliot is amazed by God's creation. Have you checked out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGxsI8ksX8Q --the phenomenal talk that Louis Giglio gave showing the wonder and majesty of our God. It is worth spending the time to watch.

[Lyndsay]

I would love to see a video of Elliot singing along with that video! How cute is that?

It's amazing to watch our kids growing up in this very techy world. Just the other day, Ethan said, "Daddy, we need a GPS to help us find the Lightning McQueen store." That definitely went into my book of quotes. Think I'll redo my "Love what you say" page.

Have a wonderful weekend!