Jacob's Dragon

"Mom, I want a DRAGON made of WOOD!"
Jacob stared at me expectantly yesterday, as if I could produce his dream dragon with the snap of my fingers.
I can't snap my fingers, just so you know.
But I did make him a dragon. He wanted one just like Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon...
"Mom. He is blue. He has a broken wing on his tail, but mine doesn't have to be broken. I want him to have fire that comes in and out of his mouth. His fire is blue, not red. His wings need to go up and down. His legs shouldn't be bent; they have to be straight so he can stand up. He needs horns on his head..."

Phew! I promised Jacob I'd work on it during quiet time, even though I specifically found the fire and the wings quite daunting. Later that night he dragged me into the garage, pulled up a chair, and set about not-so-quietly observing just how I was going to make this thing. I decided to start with a 2x4. ("That will work, mommy.") I drew on the dragon's body, sans legs and wings, and cut him out on my band saw. Jacob watched. I cut out the dragon's front and back legs from a 1x6. Jacob approved. We had to stop there because we needed a dowel to run through the legs and the body so the legs could move. Jacob acquiesced. We went to our brand-new Lowes and proceeded to train at least three members of the staff on what a "dowel" is. When we got home we attached the legs. Jacob was a little disappointed in how floppy they were. "He keeps falling down!"
This morning was a long one with Jacob telling me every three minutes to "make the wings!" I promised him we would do it after we took Bekah to school, and wouldn't you know, the second we pulled into the garage Jacob was there with his dragon. I lucked out and had a pair of tiny hinges so we attached them with those ornery things. Again, Jacob approved, showing me how well the dragon could fly now that he had his big wings. Later we attached the rest of the wings and secured the legs a little so he could stand and then painted him sparkly blue. Voila! He is pretty cool, if I must say so myself. Even Jacob approves. :) Now I just have to figure out how to make him breathe fire. Yikes.