Ferocious, non-native, and squished.

Mama, how do you spell "Parliament?" I want to look it up on your iPod.

I'm going to use the butt-smack technique to get myself up the stairs.

Baba's a fungi! Baba's a fungi!

I need to see that Jeep closer. I think the bike on it has disc brakes.

Help, I'm being attacked by a horrid...ugly...ferocious...non-native MAMA!

Suzuki: Janusz, that's not a hug, that's a generic "squish."
Julian (piling on top): Is this a "genetic squish?"

Roger and Ellen have to have math-y brains to plan how to do all their projects (knitting and woodworking).

Sorry I'm so "huggy" today, Mama.

(Tucking Mama into bed early): I almost forgot to sprinkle some sweet dreams on you (sprinkle, sprinkle). And some cozy chamomile...to keep you cozy!

Kidhood.

Mama, do you like inclined planes?

Janusz: Julian, you should play music with your friend Tobi sometime.
Julian: We have different taste in music. He likes rock.

Suzuki: Let's bake something for your school fundraiser fair tomorrow.

Julian: Can't you just give the money to my school? Instead of using the money to buy the ingredients and using the gas?

I have a question for you guys. Mama, Baba, what kind of things do you have going around in your mind? Mama, I think you have music go around in your head, right? I have names and songs. Baba, what do you have going around in your head?

...That was way back in your kidhood, right Baba?

Can I please have some attention in a competitive way, like a game?

Suzuki: I put your cereal in your bowl so you just need to add the milk.
Julian: I didn’t hear the beginning, but I can infer what you said.

Mama, which one is bigger, Nepune or Uranus? Uranus. Wow, "Uranus" must be pretty big!

Mama, you're really good at going downhill on your bike but not very good at going uphill. You need to be good at both to be a good biker.

Suzuki: We're having quiet time until you're done brushing your teeth and then we'll blab and blab.

Julian: We should have blab time at the end of each day...Let's have chit chat time. The first topic will be bikes and you choose the next topic.

l'm Going to Go "Water the Mushroom"

On a walk through the forest, a delicious mushroom caught Janusz's eye. Julian was worried it might be poisonous, so, he quickly peed upon it. It was not collected.

Can you pay bills in diamonds?

(We were talking about paganism.) I think that nature is the best thing to base a religion on.

(We were talking about racial profiling by police of African-Americans.) They should treat them better, because Africa is where all the people on the earth are from.

Suzuki: Bring down another roll of toilet paper, please.
Julian: We need a toilet paper reminder.
S: What's that?
J: Basically, the last piece of paper should be made of sandpaper.

Mama, do you want to see an interesting diagram of a washing machine? Some things seem really complicated until you can take a look at how they work, and then you realize how simple they are.

Mama, look at the bottom hinge of the car door. See how complicated it is? It has different degrees so you can open it in different stages.

Who am I?

Julian went to visit an old growth redwood named Big Tree in Mendocino, CA. I told him that when I was last there, I could feel vibrations coming from the trunk.  Julian: Do you know why? The muscles of the tree are pulling water out of the ground and sending it to the top.

Suzuki: Janusz took Grandpa's ashes to the top of James Peak (on the anniversary of his death).
Julian: Could he see Grandpa from there?

With a hint of PowerBait.

I was riding my bike home yesterday and I accidentally burned some rubber!

[At this point in your life, what could you see yourself being interested in for a long time? Maybe for a career?] A paleontologist or a geologist. And I think those things might be related. I definitely don't want to be an office worker when I grow up, that's for sure! Science, technology, math, music, art. Cooking wouldn't be bad. If I had a farm, I could drive the Kubota.

(Upon tasting the trout they caught in Yosemite, Julian declared it "super good, with a hint of PowerBait.")

Come on, Baba, tell us all the funny stories you have in that brilliant mind of yours.

Don't water that plant so much, Mama. It's a native.

Right now I'm not into fast things so much as strong things. Fast things are too loud. What's the use of a fast car? Strong things are more useful.

[Julian, want to come with me on a mini-adventure?] No thanks. I'm having too much fun right now with paper, pencils, and duct tape.

Let's do something fun. Let's play instruments together. Let's make something up.

Mama, you don't have enough odd colors of makeup.

[How much do you think it rained, Julian?] Oh, about a gallon.

What is rubber cement used for anyway? You know what I use it for? To make fake boogers.

I'm trying not to ride in a car as much as possible this year.

Hey Mama, will you get me a belly button protector? Or will you get me a belly button detector?

[Have a great time at astronomy camp, Julian.] OK, and I'll try to get some knowledge!

When you come home from a long trip, our wood stairs out front smell really good--like home.

Thanks for leaving my skylight open last night. I heard a Peregrine Falcon!

Nine. To the nines.

(Opening his gift using fingernail scissors to preserve the newspaper comics wrapping): I think Grandma taped it so much because whatever's inside it might try to escape.

[The gift inside was the book Physiology and Biochemistry in Modern Medicine (1922) with a secret cut-out bottle shape inside that Grandpa had made long ago.]: I guess "Modern" isn't so modern anymore! And I guess it's shaped like a medicine bottle because it's a book about medicine. 

[For his birthday dinner, Julian asked that we dress up in our blue shirts and insisted we wear pins. He also wore a bowler hat (not pictured). He used some of his own money to extra-tip the waiter at his favorite Chinese restaurant, sadly going out of business.]

(Re: the gift of a mammoth flashlight/spotlight thing, also from Grandma): LOOK WHAT I GOT!!! 

The thing about tongue twisters is that you need to say them out loud or your tongue doesn't get twisted.

Whenever you guys don't know that I have a tooth under the pillow, the tooth fairy doesn't come. I think you guys call her. What's the tooth fairy's number?

I'm going to play the violin because my harmonicas are tasting really bad right now.

Mama, I have two tips for you on your bowing. Try to stay more like this and like this (demonstrating).

Can I play your tender (tenor) guitar?

(Coming up the stairs in the morning): I skipped every other step to help wake myself up!

(When Flycatcher babies were nesting in the eave of our front door): I have an idea. Let's avoid using that door and go around.

(When asked why he likes to go fishing): For the joy of catching the fish and feeding my family.

We're not fishers, Mama. We're anglers.

Mama, do you want to cast off the deck? It's really fun!

Baseball is about losing.

Baseball is about losing. I started reading Grandpa's book about baseball.

I'm neutral. I'm not a little kid or a grown-up.

You know what would be a really important present for me? A disk battery. I put a motor onto a paper airplane and the AAA battery was too heavy.

[At Mama's work, Julian was sent to bring the CEO to a meeting room to a signing of a million dollar loan agreement. On his way there, the CEO said, "Wait a minute, I might need a pen for this." Julian said, "Yes, it IS a signing." Then in the meeting room, the CEO said, "OK, where do I sign?" Julian, pointing, said, "It says 'Sign Here' right here."]

I'm a good dancer. I'm good at the Staying Alive and the Egyptian Boogie.

What's your favorite coordinate?

I'm going to play Twister against myself!

S: Can you find alternative words for rad/cool/awesome that are less boring?
J: How about "fuzzy?" "You're fuzzy. You're smooth. You're silky, Mama!"

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POETRY BY JULIAN:

I am from
I am from the jurassic period
I am from the ocean
I am from the color green
I am from my mom
I am from lakes
I am from everywhere
I am from the moon
I am from leo
I am from the night
I am from the sky
I am from fun
I am from Titus
I am from non-fiction
I am from nature
I am from my self
I am from Aikido
I am from my home
I am from Monty Python
I am from Pangea
I am from pie
I am from the number Pi
I am from penguins
I am from peas
I am from model trains

May my heart always be open to Earth, tree, books, school, life, butterflies, superman, model train, baseball, piano, the color green, the water, the redwoods, trains, especially the sound of model trains, my mom and dad, dinosaurs, the color green, climbing trees, nature, legos, airplanes, basketball, summer, fall, winter, spring, world, grass, ketchup, and math. All these things my heart is open to!

Can you hear the ants marching in a line, one line going to their nest and one going to the food source?
I love to hear the bubbles coming out of the ketchup bottle, it goes into the pita where my lamb burger is. After that when I eat it, it tastes good.
Can you hear lizard skittering down my path? I don't recommend catching them because they might have ticks.
I love to hear the alarm clock when it rings in the morning at 7:00.
Can you hear the clicking of LEGOS when you put them together and take them apart?

I love being in nature with trees, grass, plants and animals. I also love being at home with my model trains. It's very nice to make a huge layout with lots of trains. I think it's nice when eating my muesli that my mom made. It tastes soooo goooooddd. It's nice and sweet. I can taste all the ingredients, quick oats, raisins, cranberries. I love it!!!!!!!!

In the stillness of the night I see dragons soaring above the tree tops, with moon light shining on its smooth wings. I imagine little Lego people coming to life, building little buildings and when I am about to wake up they take everything down and make it look the same. On the weekend when I play with my Legos I like to make little scenes with my Legos.

---------------------------------------------------------------

S: You are a good poet, Julian.
J: Everyone is. You just let your words flow.

Sneeze With Your Eyes Open

Mama, do you like arrays? (Would I like a raise?) No, ARRAYS.

I wonder if there is such a thing as a Pronouncing Bee.

Mama, when you grow up and you're a scientist, what kind of scientist do you want to be?

Have you heard of the kind of poker where every time you lose, you take a piece of clothing off? Kristen told me about it.

You're a Myosaurus dinosaur. Do you know what that means? That you're a good mom. A very good mom.

What is your favorite paleontologist tool, Mama?

Suzuki: Can I have a kiss?
Julian: Only if you promise to sneeze with your eyes open next time.

Is there reception on the moon?

Julian (watching Suzuki apply eyeliner): You look weird.
Suzuki: That hurts my feelings.
Julian: I mean, why don't you just look like yourself?

I'm going upstairs to listen to music. I haven't gotten my daily dose of funk in a long time.

If you could change one thing about me, what would it be?

If you were President, and you could change one thing about the U.S., what would it be?

Preserve! Preserve! Preserve The Mama! In Amber! Make Sure, Make Sure She Doesn't Die. Preserve the Mama!

(Pointing to the weave on the rattan): See, I'm like Grandpa. It skipped over a generation.

I like to talk to "X" best. "Y" doesn't have enough concepts.

(To the tune of Woody Guthrie's Little Sack of Sugar): "Little hunk of sugar, I could eat you up." Mama, from now on, your name is Hunk O' Sugar.

Mama, do you promise not to do anything interesting while I brush my teeth?

eight and a half Stink Bushels

Mama, would you please be so kind as to stop distracting me?

What's your favorite animal, Baba? Mine is probably Dust Mite. No, Tardigrade! I'm going to write a story, "Tardigrade Goes to School."

Is there a measurement for stinking, like pounds or miles? That would be so cool.

What's your favorite thing to do, Mama? I think dancing, doing crossword puzzles, and skateboarding are my favorites.

Can you put some more Funk on my music player?

(Whilst snuggling in bed): Let's get in our futuristic submarine. It's got a green windshield. That makes it kind of futuristic and alien-ish, right?

The Julian Inquisition.

How many organisms are in the world? How many organisms are in me? How many atoms are in the world? Do more and more atoms come into the world? No? Then, how do we grow? How many countries are in the world? How many cities and towns and things? Who's alive that has the most farts in the world?

Mama: Those sticks are now off limits.
J: I know where you put them.
M: You can't touch them.
J: I can if I time travel.

Why do we have to watch a movie (drama)? [Because we like them.] Well, I don't. They're too hypnotizing for me.

I can't wait for next weekend. We're going to watch a whole Monty Python movie...and here's the fun part: They have really strong accents!

There could be a game Who Can Smell Garlic From the Farthest? The winner gets a whole head of garlic--or maybe two--and everybody else gets a clove.

Isn't it interesting that you can bring up a concept and a whole conversation just pops up? Because the chains link. Sometimes they can go on for hours. Hey, no writing down!

Could we ever be completely touching? [Well, I guess we were when you were inside me.] But didn't we have force fields around us? [Maybe so.] It was nice being there. You didn't have to pay taxes, there's good food, a nice temperature. I never got sick, I don't think.