Nicole feels

Almost-7-year-old: "Mom, if I wanted to count by 99's, would 198 be next."

Picture the mom trying to quickly calculate 99 plus 99.

Mom: "Ummmm....yeah."

Almost-7-year-old: "So, you would go down a number each time?"

Picture the mom trying to understand exactly what he means.

Almost-7-year-old: "So, next would be...297!"

Mom: "Ummmm....yes!"

Almost-7-year-old goes on to count by 99's through 495.

I think my head is still spinning.

Later in the car he counted in that manner all the way to 1089. Basically, he figured out the pattern. The "front" number goes up, the "end" number goes down. I asked him what made him think about counting by 99. He told me he was thinking about $.99 meals.

I am still amazed that his not-yet-7-year-old-mind can think like that.