Jakey notices everything that happens in our neighborhood. He’s like that creepy old lady who peeks out from behind the curtain and observes everyone else’s life, cataloguing it, just waiting. Except he’s two and a half, so it’s not creepy yet.

Give him time, though.

This morning, he asked where our neighbor was when we passed his empty driveway. I said he was probably at work at his veterinary clinic.

“Why is he a veterinarian?”

“Well, I guess he probably likes helping animals. I would guess he also likes science since he had to learn a lot of science to do his job. Do you think you want to be a veterinarian when you get older?”

“No.”

Didn’t even wait a beat, just answered.

“What do you wanna be?”

“Shark.”