On holding back the imaginary wall of water in the kitchen using chairs, blankets and his “vas,” his favorite stuffed loveys: “Those are my dam vas.”

On why we aren’t going inside: “I need to stay in the cold to warm down.”

On changes to story time as a result of preschool: “When you hear the sound, daddy, it’s time to turn the page.”

On perhaps my favorite sentence ever: “You can’t have the fire-breathing moose because he’s a little bit fire-breathing.”

On Gabe and his bulldozer: “Here comes a problem!”

On how living in San Diego may have limited his knowledge of weather: “You need wet ears to see wet rain.”

On the deal: “I’m the queen, so I get to kick everybody’s hats. That’s the deal.”

On games, too aptly symbolic for my taste: “You be the darkness and I’ll be the sun, okay?”

On his demand that I stay at his bedside for at least three minutes: “If you go in one minute, I would have to get a crane that’s big and I would have to get in it and I would have to bash you.”

On holistic health care: “If you’ve got a headache, you can rub your rock on your head.”