Tonight Brayton and I were looking at some old pictures in a scrapbook that Colette made a few years ago. The scrapbook contained pictures of Colette and I when we were kids Brayton's age.
In one photo that Brayton and I looked at, Grandpa Gordon was sitting in a recliner with me on one knee and Ryan on the other. It was probably circa 1976 or 1977, so I would have been about 3 and Ryan about 1 and a half.
Brayton saw this photo, and said:
"What is Grandpa Gordon doing with Brayton and Maria."
I almost fell over. I explained to Brayton that the photo was when Daddy and Uncle Ryan were young children like he and Lauren are. He seemed to understand because he then added, "Daddy, did you eat all your food and grow up tall?"
Shortly thereafter, we came upon a photo of Colette standing next to a large doll. Colette must have been about 3 or 4 years old. Brayton asked:
"Daddy, what is Lauren doing?"
I explained to him that the picture was actually of Mommy when she was a little girl. He seemed to shrug this off and didn't have any more questions.
I will try to get these pictures scanned and uploaded so they become part of the official record of this blog.
After looking at a bunch of pictures in the scrapbook, Brayton and I proceeded to work on the puzzel of the United States. Colette told me that he could easily recognize and name about half the states already and put them in their proper places.
I didn't doubt her story, but was still shocked as Brayton proceeded with no help from me to pick out Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Hawaii, Idaho (he said Idaho has potatoes), Lousiana, Iowa (where Brayton lives), Nebraska (where Uncle Ryan lives), and Florida.
It seems that he is having an easier time learning the larger states in the western half of the country. He knew exactly where all of them went on the puzzle.
I bet there are not too many 3 year olds who know half their states.
