Sir Maxalot

March 7 2010

WE WENT OUTSIDE TODAY! Yes, sad that this is news-worthy, but hey, I'm doing my best!

This park is a five minute walk from our house, unfortunately across a very very (very very) busy street. Max rode his bike (I'm surprised he remembered how, it's been so long), but Jackie's not quite ready for that yet!

March 5 2010

Dinnertime is never boring at our house. Tonight Jack cried because I wouldn't give him any more broccoli (had to save some for Sean). This from the boy who dislikes a ton of reasonable foods (most pasta and meat, for example).

March 3 2010

I don't think I've mentioned lately how INCREDIBLY ADORABLE Adi is. (Can I get an 'Amen' Aunt Katy?) And she seems to be doing just fine despite our almost complete neglect of tummy time. (Hear the boys laughing in the background? I can almost guarantee potty words were the source of the hilarity.)

Speaking of boys, not just into hats anymore.

March 1 2010

We've been treated to brother drama every morning for the past week or two. The source of continual conflict? A very well-loved space placemat, and a Lightening McQueen spoon (well it used to be - the Lightening picture has peeled off).

I think Space was the initial article of contention, but the boys did a pretty good job of taking turns picking placemats. However since Jack started loving the Lightening spoon, mornings have been less pleasant. A few days were okay, after we came up with the rule that one boy got Space and the other got Lightening, but it turns out that Lightening is way awesomer than Space, because the boys started claming that it was the other's turn for Space so that they could pick the spoon of choice. In general I think situations like this are good, forcing them to share things and not having their own of everything, but in this case, since we're not coming up with any magic parenting solution, nothing is being accomplished except a whole lot of whining.

And to think, soon Adi will soon join the mix. She is already having to compete with the boys for her toys. Soon we'll be on a three day rotation!

February 27 2010

And now Sean's 30! Happy birthday baby! Two dates in two nights, life is good.

P.S. to Katy because I'm nursing and only have one hand free so I'm conserving effort: I will send the pictures sometime. Including the extra special one.

February 19 2010

The big 3-0. It was less traumatic than I expected.

Probably because I have the best family ever.

And some darn good babysitters.

February 14 2010

Jack is still sick, so what was supposed to be a super fun family sledding date, became a Max-and-Papa sledding date. At least the super fun part came through!

Adi has the bug too, but not quite as bad as Jackie. And she is really good at getting her bug. (I am sooo hilarious.)

Happy Valentine's Day! Sean and I don't get to go on a date because of the Jackster, but so far our day has been fun anyway. We enjoyed a heart-shaped breakfast

(the boys are really into hats at the moment)

and decorated

heart-shaped cookies.

(This was the first time we've tried to encourage Jack to eat rather than decorate - not really looking forward to the germie ones.)

Fondue for dinner. Yay!

February 12 2010

In one week I'll be thirty. THIRTY!!!!

We're a sick house again, these poor kiddos!

And we're still unpacking - trying to earn a new TV by completing this never-ending task. We were aiming for the Super Bowl, but failed, so now the Winter Olympics is (are?) the goal. In general things are looking pretty good.

With a few very big exceptions. (Aunty Katy, that's your room!)

It will be such a relief when we're done.

My class is going well, the "I love math" song is playing in my head all day long (my version of the "I hate math" song from a childhood tape). I've had some conflicts with the professor, and with my own perfectionism (I spent five hours on one problem, staying up until 2 AM because my answer didn't match the book answer, only to find out that there were multiple solutions), but it is so awesome to be doing something I love love love. Which is good because the logistics of it all are a complete pain.

Sean is very much back to work - he is now officially a Captain, woo hoo! His first week back was a drill weekend so he spent Saturday and Sunday learning about building bridges. Michigan is a very cold pace to be spending the weekend on a frozen lake!

Adi started rolling from her back onto her belly the past week or two, and she does it quite frequently, which is funny, because she doesn't particularly like to be on her belly. So she rolls and then expresses her displeasure for having done so. She's still sleeping until between 5 and 6 in the morning... if I "dream feed" her at 9 or so. If I forget, or am too tired to do a pre-bedtime nursing, she's up at 3 or 4. I know that someday I'll be complaining about my teenagers sleeping in until noon, but it's hard to imagine. She's doing great with a bottle and surviving her twice-weekly daycare experience. She doesn't sleep well there, which means she comes home and takes a 4 hour nap. Not going to complain about that!

Jack has started stuttering! What in the world??? Any explanations? He loves his "school" (the daycare) and is so proud to walk in with his own lunch box. He cracks me up. This morning when I split a banana for the boys to share, he said "I gi bi one" ("I get the big one") and "Max gi teeny one". Max spends half of his day as the sweetest boy on the planet. When he went through his Valentine's bag on the way home from school, he said "Mama, I have two lollypops! One for me and one for Jack!". Same with his two new valentine's pencils. Of course Jack got the little lollypop, and the less-desirable pencil. The other half of the time he specializes in bringing out the impatient in me. He's just so slow. And dramatic. When I pick him up from preschool on the days that I have my class, I have to wait for a few minutes while he gets ready. There's a book in the coatroom that I read called "Your Four Year Old: Wild and Wonderful". It perfectly describes him, and helps me appreciate his essence.

February 3 2010

While I know that Max and Jack have very different personalities, I have a hard time articulating exactly how they differ. (Wouldn't it be great if my much-more-observant other half would grace us with his presence on sirmaxalot?) Here's a story to illustrate one difference: I was sickish on Monday and spent as much of the day as possible lying in bed. Jack came into the bedroom and asked me if he could have something to eat ("I won nak Mama"), and I said no for whatever reason. Now if this were two year old Max, or four year old Max (or even, I would guess, < 13 year old Max), there would have been whining and possibly a fit. The whining would have alternated with cajoling ("I have a great idea Mama! Since I stopped whining, I get a snack!") until the next meal or snack time (assuming some sort of consequence didn't intervene).

Now in this case, my sweet Jackie did do some whining of his own, but his displeasure was expressed as he walked out of the bedroom. Easy right? Not so fast. A few moments later Jack came back and shut the door to my room, immediately walking away again. I thought that was odd, but it took me a few minutes to gather the "oomph" to get out of bed. When I did finally emerge, I found Jack at the kitchen table with a plate and huge box of Goldfish, trying to pour himself a nice little snack of tasty crackers. So devious! He closed the door so I wouldn't hear him! And so smart! Max would never ever do this. He will moan and groan about any 'no', but he won't go against it (except in that really irritating not-quite-breaking-the-rule-but-getting-really-close sort of way). It would never occur to Max to take something out of the cupboard without asking first, and certainly not after being told no. Although we may have to start worrying about his little brother being a bad influence! A really cute bad influence at least.