Not Gonna Let Him Hide Under a Bushel

It isn't easy being Cuckoo's brother. That boy demands to be the center of attention, and people don't mind leaving him there. He's outgoing. He's loud. He's hilarious. He is always surrounded by a gaggle of people.

Turken, on the other hand, is quiet. He's reserved. He doesn't have any interest in being the center of any crowd. He's hilarious, too, but one must be quiet and patient and observant to see it.

Today, I'm gonna let you get to know Turken a bit better.

******** 1 ********

The boy is keeping a journal. Every day when we get in the car, he immediately gets out his notebook and starts writing about his day. After about a week of this, I asked him if I could read it.

LIZZI!! Ask WonderAunty if she recognizes the pen!

He replied, "No. When I'm done I'm going to charge people a dollar to read it."

Last week he had a day with an extra long entry and ran a special sneak preview. Buttercup got to read it, but it cost her a quarter.

So basically, he's made more with his writing than I have in four years of writing a blog.

*********** 2 **********

This is his comfort...thing?

It is named Blankyhead.

'Cause it's the head off of his baby blanket.

Minus the stuffing.

Blankyhead frequently travels with us, but we never know when or where or how.

He's hitched a ride in Turken's pocket in order to go to church. He's been tucked in the cuff of Turken's sleeve, just like grandmas carry their tissues.

When we went to Chicago, he spent the entire first day in Turken's sock.

I don't know how it hasn't been lost these many years. Hopefully, it never will be. I'm thinking it will be pretty darn difficult to find one that matches exactly.

******* 3 ********

He's lost a tooth or four.

There's one more loose one he is wiggling tirelessly.  Apparently he isn't a fan of actually biting into his food.

That, or he really likes the special treatment of all apples, pears, carrots, and other crunchy food items being cut into bites or strips.

(FYI: I have applied the proper amount of Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream (It's not just for hands!) to that chapped face of his to cure the ring around the mouth.)

*********** 4 **********

He came home with this in his Friday folder.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take the photo until after I made him redo the paper.

Have you ever heard the critique about standardized tests that some kids get questions wrong because they don't have the experiences to completely understand the question?

Well, when Turken was trying to redo #3, he just couldn't find a word that fit. It seemed obvious to me, but he was absolutely flummoxed.

Me (grabbing a pen and holding it up): Which of those words can I do with a pen?
Him: OOOOHHH!!! I thought it was a pen like the chicken pen!!

Missing that question meant the whole page was jacked up.

So, yeah, it's not only possible, but very likely that kids who grow up in different circumstances just may have trouble figuring out what the question on a national standardized test was asking.

******** 5 **********

He can conquer monkey bars...

like a BOSS!

I've never in my life been able to do the monkey bars, so...color me impressed.

Have a lovely day!