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I. Happy Birthday
We went into the older boy's room yesterday morning to sing "Happy Birthday" to our sweet oldest son at 7:30 in the morning. It's hard to put into words how proud I am of him. He is patient with both of his older brothers, he is kind, and we knew he was terribly excited about his day to open presents and eat cake. Here's how the first thirty seconds of the morning went:
J and Me: <singing> "Happy Birthday to you,"
James: <sitting bolt upright and smiling>
Owen: "NOOO!!!! NOO!!! NO! NO! NOOO!!!!
J and Me: <singing> "...Happy Birthday to you,"
James: <ignoring Owen, still smiling>
Owen: "NONONO!!!! NOOO!!!!!"
J and Me: "...Happy Birthday to Ja-ames,"
James: <buries his face in his stuffed animals>
Owen: "NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""
J and Me: "Happy Birthday to you!"
James: "Can I open my presents?"
Owen: "NO! James, it is NOT your burfday!"

II. It's MINE
James opens Cars 3, a gift "from Owen and Felix." He asks whether it is ours to keep now.
Owen: "You cannot keep it. It is mine. I need to have it."
James opens a watch, which is the exact double of the watch that we gave Owen two weeks earlier.
Owen: "I need it."
Me: "You want me to go get your watch from upstairs?"
Owen: "No, I want James' watch."

et cetera...

III. Vertebrates
Me: "Okay, James. The last thing we are going to do today is Science. And let's see...today we're starting birds, and we're going to do the Turkey!"
James: "Okay, can I see?"
Me: <tilting the book towards him and reading> "There are over 9,000 species of birds in the world, and they are the only animals with backbones capable of flight besides bats."
James: "Can I tell you something?"
Me: "Sure!"
James: "I think the author made a mistake, because he forgot about pterodactyls. They can fly and they have backbones."
Me: "Well....yes, that's correct."

IV. CO and Ice
Last Saturday we had a carbon monoxide scare. J texted me as she was heading out of the house and we were heading back to it (from a performance of Treasure Island) that something was funny in the garage. Sure enough, the carbon monoxide alarm was going off when we got home. A visit from the Fire Department and RG&E later, we really didn't have any answers as to why the alarm was set off, except to say that there definitely was a high level in the garage and that our alarms were working correctly. (Our best theory was that the door to the kitchen was cracked open and that the heat from the house trapped in the exhaust from the van backing out even though the garage door was opened.)

But really, what a day for the boys. They got to skip their naps to see Treasure Island, and then within five minutes of being home there was a real fire engine parked in our driveway and some firefighters working in our garage. I took them over to our next-door neighbors while I worked with the Fire Department. Our neighbors, being kind and hospitable people, offered them food and drinks. James had a capri sun and a granola bar. Apparently Owen only wanted a cup of ice. They gave him one. And then, because he is Owen, he told them that he had ice for sale and would sell it to them for "fifty-nine cents."

V. The Digger
Our same neighbors have been doing a lot of work on their house recently. It started with putting up some new siding, which looks great. And then they hired someone to excavate a corner of their foundation to try to repair a leak. The digger operator immediately damaged their brand new siding, of course, and then left his digger parked in our yard overnight. They were deeply apologetic. But the Digger man was back at 7 this morning digging the hole deeper, and he was right outside the boy's room. I had to change Owen's diaper standing up this morning, so he could watch the Digger outside the window.