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I remember once, when I was really still very young, maybe 5 or 6, we were all in our car driving somewhere through Texas or Oklahoma and I was watching an endless supply of  telephone polls and rows of crops streaming by when I asked, “How many rabbits do you think are in that field?”  In a way that was obviously inteded to immediately end the conversation my dad replied sharply, “Forty. Seven.”

Preposterous!  I was immediately infuriated… no way.  There’s no way there are that many rabbits in that field.  And, obviously, my question hadn’t been taken seriously.  I don’t remember exactly how I responded… I do remember being deeply offended.

Looking back, I don’t blame my dad at all for his response… in fact, it was quite brilliant.  Because, I don’t remember it, but I’m sure that question was preceded by the likes of… How many mice do you think are in that field?  Why? How many trees are in the world? Why? Why is the sky blue?  Why are leaves green?  What do ducks eat? Why do ducks eat that?  Did Adam have a belly button? Why? What if? How?

That endless stream of questions is just part of my make-up… I can’t help it.  And for better or worse, along with my hands and feet, I passed that on down to Jakob… it’s part of his make-up now, too.  Sometimes that endless stream of “why’s” and “how’s” from the Jakester leads to innocently profound questions like the teachable moment Stacy wrote about.  Sometimes it just makes you want to pull your hair out.

Not sure why I wanted to share that… but our little question asker is getting to be our big question asker faster than it seems possible.

Derek, on the other hand, is definitely in the midst of the language explosion that happens at his age.  It’s incredible to watch it happen in both English and Spanish at the same time.  He has things he knows only in English and stuff he knows only in Spanish… amazing.  When asked, “Como estas?” He proudly replies, “Bien!”  When we tell him to “Say Hi” to somebody new, he carefully looks at them and decides by instinct whether to say “Hola” or “Hi.”  And, he’s always right.

He’s getting so big so fast… and even though he’s got my body and my walk, I think he still looks like a little Stacy.  It’s wonderful how children can be their own unique individuals and yet we can look at them and, at times, see little reflections of ourselves.

Click here for more photos.