Conversations with Zach

Okay, these are the things I always say I should write down but forget. Bear with me...they may not be that funny to you, but as a mom they are always so priceless coming out of the mouth of a 3 1/2 year old.

Lightning Bugs
The scene: Sitting outside on our front porch "eating" a Popsicle. (Zach was actually running around like crazy talking about spiders and lightning bugs and I was trying to get him to eat his Popsicle.)

Mom: I wonder what lightning bugs eat?
Zach: I don't know. Maybe...they don't eat anything. I think they don't eat nothing.
Mom: Well, they have to eat something that's how things live and grow.

No comment from Zach...he was quiet for awhile and we talked about what kind of dog he wants, etc. (we aren't getting a dog for a long time.)
Zach: I think they go to stores.
Mom: Who goes to stores?
Zach: Lighting bugs. They go to stores...with carts.
Mom: Oh, like we do, just smaller.
Zach: Yep, they live inside the trees and go to stores.
Mom: I see. So they eat just like us. Like tiny hot dog buns and things.
Zach: Yep.
Problem solved.
FYI...at the library today I looked up lightning bugs (see firefly). Zach was right. Not about little stores, but male lightning bugs don't eat anything. The female, of course, eats the male of other species of bugs. Fun fact who knew things could live without eating anything.

The Birthday Cake
Scene: Bedtime. Zach and I are reading several of these mini-books that he has with numbers. Each number book ends with a picture of a birthday cake with the corresponding number of candles. We start talking about what kind of cake Zach would like for his next birthday. Square? round? Batman? etc.
Mom: What kind of cake do you think we should get Dylan?
Zach: I don't know. Maybe a square one.
Mom: I think we should get something Dylan would like on it. Elmo? or maybe Donald Duck? He likes Donald.
Zach: (with big eyes and very serious and whispering) He can hear you.
Mom: Oh! Is it a surprise?
Zach: Yes and he can hear you.
Dylan was asleep in his room next to Zach's. I had no idea your birthday cake was such a secret. This from the boy who could barely keep our Father's Day gift from Craig.