The Engineer

I have a superhero of my very own... Captain Owen. I'm in possession of an astronaut-in-training named Kai. Jay is my partner-in-crime and right (and left) hand man.

Now I'd like to introduce the world to my little engineer.....Drew.

He "reads" books about inventions that are meant for boys twice his age. But no matter, he pours over his books devouring the pictures and stories about how plastic came to be or that the first dentures were held in place by painful springs. He sits transfixed.

This is a boy who likes Discovery Channel and Animal Planet and feels that "Dora" and "Diego" are beneath him. Quite frankly, I agree. I mean, what 5 year old knows practically every fish in the Gulf of Mexico by sight AND the food value of said fish? My little engineer, that's who.

Drew's process of play is procedural. Every person, object or toy has a reason and an order of events which they must follow. When other children are throwing caution to the wind, Drew is calculating where the wind is coming from and how that might affect his intricately assembled ship made out of found objects.

He isn't prone to sudden outbursts of love and affection or unplanned displays of childhood abandon. When I get an unsolicited, "I love you, Mom" I cherish the moment because one might not come for a little while.

He is gangly and awkward with a snaggly, bucked-tooth grin. (Which I take no credit for. Jay is the one that muddied up that gene pool.)

He has hair so thick that it repels water and limbs so long that he trips over his own shadow. After he lands in a heap and pauses a minute to contemplate the forces of nature that sent him tumbling to the ground, he gets up resembling a baby giraffe trying to figure out what to do with all that yardage of limbs.

I could run in front of the TV waving buckets of candy, blasting a bugle and twirling fire batons, and Drew would not even notice. He can concentrate better than anyone I've ever known.

He's in a tough spot. He isn't a precocious redhead like Owen or an adorable, squishy baby like Kai. But he has a brilliant mind and a tender heart.

I hope I don't ruin him. I hope that I can understand him enough to be a good parent to him. I hope I can help him to dream big. And I hope I can instill in him a confidence to follow whatever dreams he dreams up.

For now, his dreams are manifested with his Lego's and pipe cleaners and army men. Pretty brilliant, if you ask me.....an unbiased and completely impartial observer. Right?

He was missing a hanger....so he engineered his own.

Drew's battlefield.
Mr. Potato Head is surrounded.

Everything is very precise and orderly.
And Ms. Corn is a goner.

It was pipe cleaner day and he made me a bracelet of "gems."
And spectacles for himself.
We were very bored.