What's your "theory" on why my grandson always has to be holding something in his hand?

Aden is 6, almost 7. Ever since he was old enough to grasp things he almost ALWAYS has had something to hold in his hand. When he was 3 I found an old eye lash curler and set it aside for him. It was perfect to hold in his little hand, plus it had moving parts. The more moving parts, the better. He loves trying to figure out what makes things work.

A couple years ago Rick and I snagged Aden and his sister to go road tripping, to see what there was to see. We found ourselves walking in a rocky ravine. It really required some balance and climbing, and rocks would move under our feet. Aden was making me nervous because he had something in BOTH hands and would not put them down!

His mom said that one time he got a hold of a rock that looked like a submarine. It was a pretty good sized rock. He tripped on the sidewalk, and instead of letting go of the rock to catch himself, he took a face plant!

Here is a picture I took yesterday. He’s holding a root out of the way so his sister could dig a hole for a new rose bush. He has some rocket thing in his hand that shoots discs. Later on he set that down in favor of this punched tin candle lantern thing I had on the deck. He liked it because it had a door that opened and closed. It wasn’t very holdable, 1) because it had the texture of a cheese grater, only worse, and 2), it was about 8 inches in diameter. But it had a handle. At one point we went to the front yard to scatter some flower seeds. I told Aden he’d need two hands, so he put it down. But the instant he was done with the seeds he asked if he could have the lantern back.

He has an amazing memory. When he was 3, 4, he’d recite entire movies that he’d only seen one time. He’d speak each character’s lines, sing the songs, and make the sound effects, from beginning to end. He do that, just lost in his own little world. His mom and I would often glance at each other, with our mouths open.

Currently he’s in love with the solar system. He’ll recite obscure facts, reel them off like a recording. He’ll talk atmospheric densities, composition, temperature, everything. We recently got into a discussion about whether or Pluto should be considered a planet. I said they should have left it a regular planet because it was mean to change it after all these years. Poor little Pluto.
He looked at me and said, “No. It’s too little. It is a dwarf planet, Gramma. A dwarf planet. A big rock. And it doesn’t have feelings.”

He talks ALL the time. His mom said once that he’d never have to be worried about getting kidnapped because they’d bring him home in an hour because he would drive them crazy with his chatter! Aden said, “You’re probably right, Mom.”

He’s really smart, but he can be ditzy too. Yesterday I walked to the school to pick him and his sister up. His sister’s other mother was there. We were standing right next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, when Aden came out the door (doors lead to the outside) he saw Amanda and said, “Hi Amanda!” then started looking allll around for me. “Where’s gramma?” he said. Amanda goes “Aden?” He looks at her questioningly…and never saw me RIGHT THERE! RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! I finally started waving my arms and jumping up a down! He goes “Oh! There you are!” Amanda and I just looked at each other and grinned. Trust me…I exchange glances with a LOT of people when Aden’s around!

On the way home, talk talk talk talk, not paying any attention to what was around him, which is not such a good thing when you’re on foot.

Whew. I get tired just talking about him! But I’m telling you all of these personality traits, wondering how it all ties in with him always wanting to be HOLDING something.

As an aside, his mother is ¼ Oriental, and his dad is 100% Wetback, and that is how we wound up with the best looking Beaner in the WHOLE WORLD! This one’s for you, ETPro!