Connor,
I am amazed at how many things you are aware of at 2 years old. Most of the time I assume you are oblivious to our grown-up conversations about where we to go that day as you play with your trucks or flop around on the floor. Then, I’m surprised later when you ask about the mall. You really are very observant. We can’t pass a bus or train on the highway without you yelling "yellow bus" or "choo-choo."
I am excited and a little saddened when I see how quickly you absorb your surroundings and learn the ways of the world. A couple of situation really made this resonate in me. We were at Best Buy one day to buy a new printer cartridge. We walked around, played with the keyboards, and looked at the big TVs. At Best Buy, they are always showing movie trailers and other canned content on the TV sets. You were so excited to see a "fire-birebuck" (a.k.a firetruck) on one of the TVs. It turned out to be a clip from Terminator 3, not something I would usually let a 2-year old watch. Within a few moments, Arnold’s character manages to flip the "fire truck" (which turned out to be a crane) in order to delay his pursuer. You instantly got very agitated and started yelling "fire-birebuck crash, fire-birebuck crash." Wanting to shield you from this, I turned the TV off, but you get crying and trying to turn the image back on. By the time you actually pushed the button, the next clip was on. You kept mourning the loss of the "fire-birebuck" for the rest of the day.
The second situation happened last week. Your grandpa Jim had an extended layover in Los Angeles on his way back to Australia. We met him, Maggie and Rebecca near the airport in Santa Monica at the 3rd St. Promenade, a stretch of shops and restaurants along a street closed to traffic. We stopped at a Border’s Bookstore and browsed the aisles. You found an airplane book, one covering the design and construction of the Boeing 777. When it was time to leave, you didn’t want to part with your airplane book. So we tried to find a more appropriate book for you in the children’s section. There was only one airplane book. We purchased it and left the store. Within 10 minutes I realized that this book was not the best idea. The book covered the flying machines from World War II. Although the book was largely illustrated, it contained a few photographs from the war. One page depicted the bombing at Pearl Harbor. You fixated on a photograph of a bombed ship in the harbor. You were convinced it was a crashed airplane and repeatedly cried out, "airplane crash."
Your distress at seeing these images reminded me how calloused we become to the destruction and ruin that is part of life. You are already becoming acquainted with this. How long before you accept these things as normal? I hope you can cling to your innocence a little while longer.