It's a wrench that can also be a gun

Today for the first time Max made a tool out of lego that is not a gun.

It's a wrench, but it can also be a gun.  Also, it looks like an uppercase "F".

Max: "Dad, look what I made!"
Dad: Rolls eyes, expecting another gun.  Then in a bored voice:  "What is it?"
Max: "It's a wrench!"
Dad: Startled, perks up, puts on a great show of interest:  "Really?  How does it work?  How did you make it?  What do you use it for?  Tell me all about it!"  etc.
Max: Eagerly answers a couple questions.  Then:  "...and it can also be a gun!  Pshew! Pshew!"
Dad: Grabs the nearest pointed object and jams it directly into an eye socket.

To be fair, Max makes many exotic creations out of lego: construction sites, cities, trains, trucks.  But if it's handheld then it's invariably a gun.  Also, the story is funny and the only exaggeration is me poking out an eye.

Naming Number Three

So for those of you who have not already heard, we are expecting a third baby in late May.  We have only just told the kids and we don't yet know whether the baby is a girl or a boy.  Both kids are very excited, especially Darwyn, who has taken to announcing to anyone who will listen that "mommy has a very small baby in her tummy".  She seems especially perplexed by the fact that my belly is not huge like all the other mummies she has met with babies in their tummies.  She often stares at it suspiciously and then asks me to confirm once again that there really is a baby in there.  It is quite cute.

In other news, Gus has recently been reading lots of 'Calvin and Hobbes' to the kids.  Gus love 'Calvin and Hobbes' and Max has also taken to the more "lower brow" parts of the humor.  Darwyn cares for the series less, but will often listen just to be part of things.  One of the effect of all this 'Calvin and Hobbes' has been to renew Gus's affection for the name Calvin.  He would like nothing better than to name the baby Calvin should it be a boy.

Greta: I don't mind the name Calvin, but I don't really like Calvinism.  It's like giving your kid a name that means "fundamentally horrible in nature".

Gus:  Yes but we aren't naming him after Calvinism, we are naming him after Calvin in 'Calvin and Hobbes'

Greta:  Yes...who was named after Calvinism.

We asked Max....

Greta:  What do you think Max?  Do you think Calvin would be a nice name for the baby if it is a boy?

Max: YES!  And if its a tiger, we can name it Hobbes!

I'm willing to concede on that one....