DS not-quite-4 has given me quite a bit of fodder lately. Here are a few that have stood out:

1. At a funeral last week, he worked the room at the reception by shaking hands with other attendees, making introductions, and offering condolences. At one point, he approached a group of elderly ladies who looked sad, introduced himself, and said, "I'm so sorry for your loss. How did you and [deceased friend] know each other?" He also referred to the armed guard at the interment as, "appropriate and tasteful". LOL!

2. We are a political family and have been campaigning for a local candidate for the upcoming federal election. DS has helped install lawn signs and will personally go up to homeowners and shake their hand to thank them for supporting [candidate's] campaign. He keeps track of our opponents' lawn sign count near us and has made some insightful comments about different neighborhoods' political leanings.

3. This morning, DS was enacting a military training and defense mission with his toys. I asked which sides were fighting and he replied, "it's a Canadian anti-terrorist mission in Syria." He seems to understand some of the dynamics among Russia, Syria, and Iran.

4. While painting some Halloween sun catchers yesterday, DS decided to paint his vampire's tie with a "marbled effect" and he sprinkled red paint over the vampire's face to represent arterial blood spatter.

What is to give light must endure burning.