Halfway down the Danube

Early morning

Alan got up at precisely six o'clock this morning.

While I was warming his bottle in the kitchen -- he's a big boy, but he still takes a bottle in the morning -- I looked out the window. Outside, in the cold and perfectly silent sky, a gorgeous full December moon was descending towards the rooftops.

Could a not-quite-two-year-old appreciate something like that? Worth a try.

I picked him up and held him to the windowpane. To my surprise, he went absolutely silent and still. (If you knew my son, you'd know how striking this was.)

"Moon," I said after a few moments.

"Moouh," he immediately replied.

"Moon."

"Moowun."

"Yes. Moon. Where's the moon?"

He raised his arm and pointed straight at it.

And we both fell silent for a little while, looking at the perfectly round and shining moon.

Posted by douglas at December 9, 2003 07:19 PM