Rubik's?

I now truly understand Suzuki's reasoning when, in teaching little toddlers to play the violin, he begins by teaching their parents, while the tots simply watch and observe. This sort of "desired activity" psychology is being clearly manifested in Hunter's sudden, not only supreme interest, but in actual beginning reasoning and budding ability to solve the Rubik's cube. 

I, meticulously following a how-to video the other day, solved it for the first time. Hunter was sort of "around" while I watched the video (with the pause, play, pause, rewind, play, pause pattern). After the first time solving it, I wrote down the algorithms and solved it (ever so painfully) a few more times - it was somewhat addictive. 

Then two nights ago,  right before bed, Hunter told me, "Mom, tomorrow when I wake up, I am going to run into the school room, and I'm going to solve the Rubik's cube, then I'm going to show you."

I was humored by his enthusiasm. Up until now he would occasionally play with the little puzzle but didn't seem to get the inner workings of it all. He would get excited when he could get a few of the same color on one side but that was as far as he ever got.

However, recently he all of the sudden seems to be really picking up on it. He has, with a little coaching from me, solved an entire side. He will fiddle with the thing saying, "right inverted, up inverted, right, down" etc. (usually just randomly saying some combination of those things without actually doing them). He is fascinated with the "magic algorithms", and how, with the right algorithm, you can completely mess it up but then it all comes mysteriously back together in the end. And then yesterday, he actually "solved" the whole thing, just as he promised.

The cube was in some special checkered pattern, made so by some concoction my sister did while she was here. I'm not sure exactly how she did it, but it was only few twists away from it's truly solved state, and it looked really cool. Each side was, for example, a red square, green square, red square, green square, etc., like a checker board.

Well Hunter took the so-solved cube and fixed it back to its original state, several times actually. I'm sure it was only a few twists to do so, but I'm pretty sure that if I would have made an attempt at those "few twists" I would have done more damage than good. Yet he did, somehow, see which twists needed to be done and "solved" it. He then proceeded to mix it up, solve it back, mix it up, solve it back, several times. He wasn't mixing it up too far, but far enough that I couldn't figure out how to do it (he handed it to me and offered that I try at one point - which I couldn't, so he did it for me). 

He hasn't totally figured the whole thing out yet but, he is definitely getting the gist of if. It's amazing what little kids can pick up on, isn't it?

"Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge..." 

Proverbs 22:20

Hunter is 4 years, 10 months old

Curious Mind

So this morning, in the middle of eating his breakfast, Hunter came upstairs and asked me, "Mom, why do Cheerios float to the top in milk instead of sink to the bottom?" (hand motions accompanied)

I'm used to this type of questioning, but, today was particularly humorous, as while I gave him my best attempt at explaining density and buoyancy, he sat there, with his head tilted, elbow resting on a box with his chin cupped so elegantly in his hand, staring intently at me as I continued with my presentation.

Thirty seconds later, as soon as I was done, he sat up, walked out of the room, and said with a smile, "Ok, thanks for letting me know."

He is asking questions all the time but I just started cracking up laughing when he left the room, wondering "What was that about?"

He has, as usual, been full of laughs. He has really been into story-telling lately, coming up with all kinds  of adventures which usually involve him protecting his cousins from the eminent dangers of the jungle or some other animal-laden arena. Last night, he told me that tomorrow he was going to tell me a story, and explained that, "Yeah, I'm going to think about it, and then tomorrow I'll just spit it out!"

His most off the wall comment lately though was theological in nature. He had asked me (for the umpteenth time) why God had decided to make people. My answer, among other things, included that God wanted to have friends. Hunter, after a few moments, told me, "Well God doesn't want to be friends with the Indians, because they don't know that you're supposed to cover your nakedness."

(This was followed by a lengthy explanation, that God still wants to be friends with people even if they're naked, among other things.) The things that go through this kid's head!

"Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently..." 

Deuteronomy 13:14

Hunter is 4 years, 10 months old

February Words of the Day

Some more fun words of the day for this month. This is list is taken from dictionary.com's February 2009 Word of the Day Archive. Go to that link to see expanded definitions and pronunciation of all the words listed here!

To learn more about our word of the day adventures, click here.

1. victuals: supply of food

2. chaff: seed coverings; detritus
3. defalcate: take fraudulently
4. virtuoso: exceptional performer
5. unwitting: lacking knowledge
6. erstwhile: former; formerly
7. denigrate: belittle, attack maliciously
8. highhanded: with haughty disregard
9. toady: someone who is servile
10. osteopath: therapist who manipulates body structure
11. tome: large scholarly book
12. froward: willfully contrary
13. expurgate: to remove offensive parts
14. myopia: nearsightedness
15. pinchbeck: something that is counterfeit
16. interminable: seeming to have no end
17. burnish: to polish and make shiny
18. consternation: a sudden dread
19. tautological: needlessly repetitious
20. ellipsis: omission of word(s)
21. hermetic: airtight; protected
22. nocuous: harmful
23. beseech: ask for earnestly
24. peculate: appropriate fraudulently
25. openhanded: giving freely
26. declaim: speak against
27. hidebound: stubbornly conservative
28. pedant: person holding books in esteem

"Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words."

Genesis 49:21

Hunter is 4 years, 11 months old