As of December, 1995 Eitan is four years old. In many ways he's a very typical four year old, but being my son, he's also exceptional, one of a kind, and totally deserving of a home page. (But this was prepared in February, and a few months have already passed, so it's time for an update.)We've sat down together a few times and discussed what he'd like to report about himself, and that leads us to:
Things Eitan Likes to Do
Eitan is a world class Simba Fan. When he visits by friends in the afternoon, it's a fair guess that it's not to play with them, but rather to watch The Lion King on their videos. For numerous weeks after first seeing the film he (like probably tens of thousands of other kids) told his parents each morning that he was Simba, and he is amazingly well versed in the intricacies of the plot, though in true four year old fashion he's very prone to explain to us that what "really happened" is something else, according to what he prefers to believe should have happened.
When Eitan's younger brother, Nadav, was born, his parents bought him a doll, believing that through relating to the doll he'd also learn to relate to his brother. He didn't. The doll remained basically untouched and unattended for about two years. And then, all of a sudden, he became "Tuni" - not a doll, he let us know, but actually the youngest member of the family. We've celebrated Tuni's first birthday, learned that he's taken his first steps, and left him alone with various play things when we leave our apartment. Eitan sees to it that Tuni get's tucked in at night just as he is, and in the morning we'll get a report on how well he slept. Eitan doesn't seem to relate to all the stuffed animals he's acquired (that used to fill his bed so that he didn't have room for himself) as he used to, but now Tuni has inherited them, and they've even been given their own names.
One stuffed animal he does relate to is "Willy" - a stuffed whale which his mother has had for many years. It really is a very nice animal, but didn't become one that Eitan was truly attached to until after seeing at least part of the film about the whale Willy. It was then that he acquired his name.
The list of books and stories that Eitan loves would fill numerous home pages, but special mention should be awarded at least to Peter Pan, of which Eitan has at least three versions, two in English and one in Hebrew. Sometimes I like to think Eitan's attachment to this story is because his father has a bit of his own Peter Pan complex, though I have to admit that often Eitan seems to prefer Captain Hook, or the swords that these two adversaries wield.
Eitan tells me that I should write that he loves to draw - though he could have fooled me. He is (do I dare write this again?) an exceptional child, but he doesn't seem to be particularly interested in drawing. He's a bit more attracted to the playdough which he also noted that I should mention, but to his parents it seems that he most enjoys mixing the colors together until they're all an indistinguishable gray, much against our remonstrations not to do so.
He loves the color purple. If the purple bowl that we have isn't available he may prefer not to eat anything at all, and there are numerous other examples of his preference for this color.
Eitan seems to have a thing about clothes. He notices them on other people and will often remark about them. And as to his own, he's much fussier than it seems to us that a "normal" four year old should be. Though we're going through a rather calm period, not too long ago he used to refuse to get dressed if he couldn't wear precisely what he wanted to wear. You'd think he was a teenager.
While on the topic of clothes, in the past Eitan hasn't liked wearing jeans. But just recently he's realized that they have pockets, and "pockets" means that he can store things in them. So he's enjoying wearing jeans more and more, and is always on the lookout for something that he can put in those pockets to carry around.
There are many more things that Eitan loves, but it seems fair to say that his greatest love is talking. I don't know what the standing Guiness world records are on the subject, but I wouldn't be surprised that if he hasn't set them yet, he's definitely in the competition. Reading him a bedtime story is much more like conducting a seminar in which he has something to say about each sentence, usually well before I've finished reading it. Other people seem to use their mouths for occasional eating, but Eitan seems to be too busy talking to have his mouth fulfill additional, less essential, functions.
In short, he's not only my kid, he's a great one as well. He's able to immerse himself fully into everything around him and to find something enjoyable in everything he does.
I'm happy to report that Eitan has a very similar attitude to Piglet's, and that he's always open to excitement and adventure. I hope he stays that way.
That quote from Piglet reminds me of another similar sentence, much less known, but a classic in Israeli children's literature. So of course you're invited to connect to it.
Pooh and Piglet walked home thoughtfully together in the golden evening, and for a long time they were silent.
"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting to-day?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
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