Some Tonys

So, if you didn't know already, Avery is slightly obsessed with outer space. He know the order of all of the planets (in order) as well as weird facts about each of them. We got him a matchbox space shuttle for Christmas and he pretty much plays with it all day long, reenacting the way the booster rockets fall off into the ocean after blast off, etc.

On Sunday the Space Shuttle Discovery took off for a mission to the International Space Station to deliver solar panels to power the space station. (I would not have ever known this before I had Avery). So we have been watching the NASA channel the last few days to learn about the mission. Last night I let him watch a little bit before bed (I secretly wanted to watch Dancing with the Stars and Biggest Loser, I thought I could flip back and forth during the really boring parts). So I turn the TV on in my room and we see an astronaut float into the screen and Avery says, "Look Mom, its Tony!"

I'm thinking, What, really?? He knows the name of the astronauts? So I ask, "Who?"

He says, "Its Tony, the astronaut. Some Tonys are Pop Pops (my dad), and some Tonys are astronauts. That's Tony the astronaut."

At which point Tony the astronaut looks into the camera, waves and give the thumbs up sign.

"He just waved to me!" Avery says. "Some astronauts give the thumbs up and then wave, but Tony waves and then gives the thumbs up."

So I tell Kevin about it later and he informs me that Tony Antonelli, the space shuttle pilot.

It scares me slightly that Avery prefers to watch the NASA channel rather than a cartoon. But hey, maybe someday he'll be up there waving and giving the thumbs up too.