Birds and Bees

Today we all woke up late as last night we slept late as we got caught in house hunting. Arnav woke up crying and when I picked him up from his bed, he cuddled up to me and said
"You saved me"
"Hmm" I acknowledged thinking he was having a nightmare or something
"I was crying and you came and I stopped crying. You saved me" Arnav clarified.

Little Arnav is growing up very fast. This afternoon I subjected them to an impromptu quiz (actually we went to nap and as they were totally out of control I devised something to keep them calm). I asked questions like "what comes after June", "what number is between 17 and 19", "what comes after 39?" etc. alternating between Manav and Arnav. And I was surprised that Arnav actually aced in the maths questions and also did quite well in the days-of-the-week and months-in-a-year but not so well with alphabets. Manav on the other hand answered most questions but was stumped with the "what comes between numbers" questions and took a while to answer the what comes after 29/39/49/59 etc questions. Am sure this doesnt mean anything, just noting my observations. Arnav has jumped up a whole year as he does well with planets but fumbles with lower case F. But he is still a baby. See this
"What does a polar bear eat?"
"Skittles" Arnav responded
"Seals" Manav corrected

Arnav fell asleep but Manav didn't want to nap. He completed his puzzles instead. With the USA map he has been working for a while, but the Solar System was a first. I was amazed that he kept at it and finished it, pausing only once to remark
"The lawnmower is bothering me Mommy. I cannot think with all that noise"
I wondered what you need to think while solving a puzzle but am sure he was on the right track as he did complete the puzzle which even I have a hard time cracking.

Manav with his completed floor puzzles - note bigger than him

While we are discussing education, I must mention Manav was all about "bees" today. This is what we learnt at the lunch and dinner table combined.
"Never ever touch a bee" exclaimed Manav
"Why?" I asked
"They can sting you. Like this (pinching my arm). You can catch them with a net"
"There are three kinds of bees, the worker and the drone and the queen who's all alone , there are three kinds of bees" he started singing complete with tune and actions.
Then came the complete job descriptions of the worker, drone and queen bees. How the queen lays more than 2000 eggs, how they hatch and become larva, then pupa and then bee. And when all the honey is gone from the hive you can go and see the hexagons in them. Caunteya summed it up by
"You're going to graduate (college) from Ms Foley's class"

Now we had an onslaught of fruit flies. Maybe the mangoes are to blame. I begged for help from the boys to get rid of these. Arnav said
"I cannot be-lieve it" with a big pause between 'be' and 'lieve'
"We should catch them with a net. Let's go to Walmart and get a net" Manav offered
"Hmmm...I am not sure. Maybe we should spray something" I wondered
"Now that is a good idea" Manav agreed
"We should hit them with a shooting gun" Arnav gesticulated
"No, Arnav we should spray with the water gun" Manav corrected
"They are NOT fruit flies. They are house flies" Arnav changed the topic entirely.
Lest you get ideas about my house being filthy, that is not the case (yet).

This evening we had planned to go to the park. Well we do every evening but recently with house viewing I have been lagging in that area. Arnav just wouldn't wake up. Manav went and hugged him , slept beside him but still Arnav continued to sleep. Then he brought a loud whistle and blew it non stop till I confiscated it. Then he yelled, laughed, jumped, screamed, still Arnav was asleep. Finally he just went in the room and said in sombre tone
"Arnav wake up. We have to go to the park"
And Arnav woke up.

Some random pictures below.

The flowers in my patio are now in full bloom. Also, the basil and mint are nice and green. Cannot let Manav's lima beans and sunflower go unmentioned, he planted the seeds in school and now we have potted them.

In an attempt to clean the boot of the car I had brought these strollers and stowed them under the bed in the guest bedroom. The boys of course got hold of them and built a building here. They fixed imaginary leaks. Then they made these into ice skis and skated in them. Of course they also used the strollers as they are supposed to - carrying their teddy bears.

Manav with his tennis "knee band" like Papa. Note the clips he added.

The soccer boys

And for-the-camera smiles