Engineer in the Making

I need to start saving for college.

I have a little engineer on my hands.

Lego Master to be

N's assembled several Lego building sets since Christmas and he wants more.   I'm encouraging him to play with them now that they are built, and he does...but what he really wants to do is BUILD.

He received a small, 50 piece set from his teachers for a Christmas gift.  Since I'd already taught him how to read the directions - there are only pictures - he knew what to do.  I just sat next to him and turned the pages.

Now he's looking at the back of the Lego instruction books and examining all the sets he doesn't  have.  Great marketing, Lego.  I'm daily reminding him of all the wonderful Legos he already  has and that he needs to get really good at those first.

I'm not really surprised.  N has always been fascinated with how things work - his favorite for years has been automatic doors.  When he was two, we lost him at the MN Zoo...he'd gone all the way through the Tropics Trail back to the entrance (we were halfway through for those who know what I'm talking about) and was running through the doors.  Open, run, turn....wait...open, run, turn, wait.... I was  this close to a heart attack that day.

And daily, he is still in awe of light switches, gears, and machines. 

He spent a lot of time this summer examining the gears!

But his curiosity got him in a bit of trouble this week.

Unbeknownst to me, because he admitted doing it "a long time ago," yesterday morning....he turned off the refigerator.

I knew right away it was him once I discovered it.  C is too short and M doesn't give a rip about knobs or buttons.  Because if you turn it to off, the fridge light goes off and it makes a sound.  Then you turn it on, and it fires back on.  I can just picture him...turn...off...turn back...on.  Eureka! 

Everything was warm. The freezer was thawed.

Gah.

We had a little talk...I wasn't too hard on him, I think.  It's not like I've ever explicitly taught him about that little knob way above his head in the refrigerator and what it does and why we never touch it.

Now he knows, so hopefully history won't repeat itself.

I spent some time cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer, tossing and salvaging what I thought I could.  I don't schedule those types of cleanings, so when something like this happens, it's always a good time to clean.  

And tonight we are having a special dinner party serving up a bunch of the thawed goods. 

I'd like to think that one day he'll appreciate all my home cooking...the day he's eating ramen noodles studying engineering in college.