the beaked dinosaurs were ornithischian - bird-hipped - and the birds' ancestors were the carnivorous, saurischian theropods, i.e. lizard-hipped - just for a spot of irony.

Dammit, evolution.

Ryan is wonderful. I can't remember what my favorite dinosaur was.

Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus were also right up there with Triceratops.

Pretty sure I dug those guys, though. May I also put in a plug for the generally forgotten Allosaurus? I am just trying to remember all the dinosaurs I put in my first book, The Disastrous Dino War.

oh lucky you billytea, I love talking dinosaurs with toddlers! They know all sorts of facts that adults have forgotten. Oh! You can watch the Walking With The Dinosaurs series with him! So much fun, although the dinosaurs can be rough on the wee world view what with all eating the young and such. I think the first we watched was actually Before The Dinosaurs and in some ways it was the one the kids liked the best because really its focus was on evolutionary adaptation.

Triceratops and Plesiosaur were my favorites. I had a toys of them that I took everywhere for a while.

Oh yes. Dinosaur toys are such fun at that age, aren't they? We were able to pick up a jar of multiple decent-sized plastic dinosaurs - one Stegosaurus is about a foot long - for only $15 or so. Good variety, it even has a Pachycephalosaurus and I think a Dilophosaurus (a proper one, not the fanciful Jurassic Park version). It included two Triceratops, which Ryan is very taken with. (He and his best friend like to play dinosaurs. Said friend goes for T. rex, so there are no disputes.)

The local Australian Geographic store has a plush Triceratops at a fairly reasonable price. It could be a go for Christmas, we'll see.

Ryan is a very smart little boy!

He's doing well. He's quite bright I think - certainly bright enough that it's not going to hold him back - but more than that, he has the temperament. He loves learning, he loves puzzling things out and getting absorbed in them, he loves testing his understanding with us. (And his Daddy loves Presenting him with learning experiences, so that works pretty well.)

May I also put in a plug for the generally forgotten Allosaurus?

I'm old enough to remember it being called Antrodemus (which I preferred).  I was always horribly unfair to Allosaurus. It's possibly my least favourite theropod, for no particularly good reason. "I don't like them! ...They wet their nests!"

oh lucky you billytea, I love talking dinosaurs with toddlers! They know all sorts of facts that adults have forgotten. Oh! You can watch the Walking With The Dinosaurs series with him! So much fun, although the dinosaurs can be rough on the wee world view what with all eating the young and such. I think the first we watched was actually Before The Dinosaurs and in some ways it was the one the kids liked the best because really its focus was on evolutionary adaptation.

Is that the Walking with Monsters series, with things like the Burgess Shale fauna and the gigantic millipede? I love that series, though there are apparently a number of inaccuracies. Nonetheless, it's great stuff. (David Attenborough's First Life is somewhat more rigorous, of course.) I will certainly be watching that with Ryan, though maybe not until he's come to terms with animal predation. I'm still haunted by the time we let him see too much of Frozen Planet, namely a brutal and bloody fight between a timber wolf and a young bison. And my little boy pointing and saying plaintively, "Fall down!" He needed reassurance that there would be "No fall down" in his viewing material for a few weeks thereafter. 

But we will have the Walking series, and I've already started him on some carefully targeted Attenborough. (Whenever he sees Sir David, he asks, "You saw him?" Why, yes I did.) Give him another year or two, and we can possibly do the marathon viewing. By my calculations, watching one episode a night, I have enough nature programming to keep us going for about five months solid. 

bt, when he's old enough to handle the idea of predation, if you get a chance to take him to a live showing of Walking With Dinosaurs, do. I loved it; I felt like a kid, staring up at these life-size dinosaurs walking around and roaring at the audience. They don't really emphasize predation, but they don't pretend it didn't happen. It's a wonderful show.

Triceratops was my favorite dinosaur too.

I also loved rhinoceros when I was small. . . and they are kind of dino-looking mammels, aren't they?

Krotching. Oh my. I know some people just aren't good at spelling, but if it's a hobby one would think one could get a bit closer than that.

Mere words cannot express how I've looked forward to the day when I could talk to Ryan about such matters. And here it is.

billytea, my heart just grew three sizes reading that.

It's Monday, it's raining, I'm still sick (oh hai polka dotted tonsils), and our guidance on this new project is... scant, to put it kindly. Going to doc.

Aww, billytea. I just love reading Ryan stories. He sounds like such a sweetie.

BABY. I haven't cuddled a baby in a while. Hmm. Where can I find a baby... none of my friends here have a baby.

Come to Nashville! Though you might want to wait a week or two, until we're all moved into the new place. But seriously, it would be great to see you again, and you're always welcome in our house. (Also, boo for being sick! I hope you feel better soon.)

Mere words cannot express how I've looked forward to the day when I could talk to Ryan about such matters. And here it is.

Aw, billytea, this is so wonderful to read. I adore your stories about Ryan, and it's so clear how much he loves you and how much joy he brings you. I am also eagerly anticipating the day when Rose is old enough to be so curious about the world. I expect I'll be asking you for some book recommendations when the time comes!

Kate, what's going on with your bedroom ceiling??