Yesterday morning, Leo woke up crying at 6:30, ready for the day. In the couple of minutes that Holly and I were sitting in bed, groaning about who was going to get up and do what, we heard Max's door open. Great, Max was going to come and take one of us while the other went to deal with Leo.
Wait, did Max just open Leo's door? Do you hear something?
Max went into Leo's room while he was still crying and went up to his crib, saying "It's OK, Leo. I know, I know. It's OK". Leo stopped crying and rolled over to look at Max through the crib slats - that's how we found them.
I'm not even sure what to say about this, but it seems that the two mini Stardoms are getting along just fine.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Let the Games begin!
Max miscellany
It's funny, about five months ago, we set out to write down a list of all of the words that Max could say. Holly was sure it was about 100, I thought it was about double that. Within two or three days of brainstorming and listening to Max, we ran out of space on a two-sided sheet of note paper. Plus we were forgetting words. Plus he was picking up new stuff all the time, including multi-word phrases...in the end, we kind of gave up because the vocabulary was exploding too quickly.
I'm thinking about this because these days, I feel like we could attempt to do the same exercise, but scribbling down cool phrases that he uses that we would have never expected him to know or use properly by 29 months. The result would be the same - every day he says something new that blows our minds. For example, tonight he wanted to have seconds of pasta but we wanted him to eat some more veggies first. He was actually wily enough to take the last carrot he was to eat and palm it under the table, saying "it's all gone". Holly busted him and everyone laughed pretty hard.
Another phrase that he has started using A LOT to deflect blame from himself when he's getting into things that he shouldn't be getting into is "I just looking". Yeah right. Where did he even get this anyway? Must be daycare. The problem is that he says this while he's totally manhandling whatever he's just looking at. The best was when he was trying to break into a box of Smarties that he was "just looking" at.
He has also started to engage Holly and I verbally, by asking questions like "Member when..." or "What farmer drives?" as if to test us. Holly tells me that today, they drove by a storefront that used to have some Santas in it at Christmas. Max said "There no Santas in window" and then, after a moment of silence "Member I saw Santa on fire truck on street?", totally making reference to the Christmas parade TWO MONTHS AGO. That long-term memory really seems to be kicking in.
The last one that I find hilarious is a new one. Max has a couple of books that have somewhat-hidden objects on each page that the reader is supposed to find. Kind of like a toddler Where's Waldo with stuff. Max believes that books serve a single purpose...there are books for reading and books for finding. God forbid you read a word of text in a finding book or he will hit you with a "This book not for reading, it for finding!"
Here's a video for you - often we let videos go too long, waiting for something special to happen. This one was the opposite. It's a video of Max reading to Leo and 2 seconds after I stopped the video he actually said "That's a great book". Holly and I looked at one another, disappointed. But at least we shared the moment :)
NOTE: I've heard that some of the videos have been unavailable lately. I'm not sure if it's a Blogger issue, a browser issue or something else. Tonight I had no trouble with the videos so I'm not sure what's up.
I'm thinking about this because these days, I feel like we could attempt to do the same exercise, but scribbling down cool phrases that he uses that we would have never expected him to know or use properly by 29 months. The result would be the same - every day he says something new that blows our minds. For example, tonight he wanted to have seconds of pasta but we wanted him to eat some more veggies first. He was actually wily enough to take the last carrot he was to eat and palm it under the table, saying "it's all gone". Holly busted him and everyone laughed pretty hard.
Another phrase that he has started using A LOT to deflect blame from himself when he's getting into things that he shouldn't be getting into is "I just looking". Yeah right. Where did he even get this anyway? Must be daycare. The problem is that he says this while he's totally manhandling whatever he's just looking at. The best was when he was trying to break into a box of Smarties that he was "just looking" at.
He has also started to engage Holly and I verbally, by asking questions like "Member when..." or "What farmer drives?" as if to test us. Holly tells me that today, they drove by a storefront that used to have some Santas in it at Christmas. Max said "There no Santas in window" and then, after a moment of silence "Member I saw Santa on fire truck on street?", totally making reference to the Christmas parade TWO MONTHS AGO. That long-term memory really seems to be kicking in.
The last one that I find hilarious is a new one. Max has a couple of books that have somewhat-hidden objects on each page that the reader is supposed to find. Kind of like a toddler Where's Waldo with stuff. Max believes that books serve a single purpose...there are books for reading and books for finding. God forbid you read a word of text in a finding book or he will hit you with a "This book not for reading, it for finding!"
Here's a video for you - often we let videos go too long, waiting for something special to happen. This one was the opposite. It's a video of Max reading to Leo and 2 seconds after I stopped the video he actually said "That's a great book". Holly and I looked at one another, disappointed. But at least we shared the moment :)
NOTE: I've heard that some of the videos have been unavailable lately. I'm not sure if it's a Blogger issue, a browser issue or something else. Tonight I had no trouble with the videos so I'm not sure what's up.
Max's backseat musings
Max, Leo and I were in the van last night to pick up John at work when Max and I had the following conversation:
Me: Look, Max, it's the bus.
Max: It full of people Mama.
Me: Yes, Max. Everyone is going home for dinner. Mummies and daddies are going home from work and the big kids are coming home from school to have dinner with their mummies and daddies.
Max: And grandmas! And GGs! And grandpas!
My heart pretty much melted into a puddle on the spot. John and I marvel all the time how Max has been able to form such an amazing bond with his grandparents and great-grandparents, considering that all but one of them live out of town. I guess we help a little with lots of stories, maps, and photos of out-of-town family. He talks about the important people in his life all the time and remembers the funniest details from phone conversations and visits that happened months ago. He really is a little sponge!
Me: Look, Max, it's the bus.
Max: It full of people Mama.
Me: Yes, Max. Everyone is going home for dinner. Mummies and daddies are going home from work and the big kids are coming home from school to have dinner with their mummies and daddies.
Max: And grandmas! And GGs! And grandpas!
My heart pretty much melted into a puddle on the spot. John and I marvel all the time how Max has been able to form such an amazing bond with his grandparents and great-grandparents, considering that all but one of them live out of town. I guess we help a little with lots of stories, maps, and photos of out-of-town family. He talks about the important people in his life all the time and remembers the funniest details from phone conversations and visits that happened months ago. He really is a little sponge!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Overdue blog post!!
Every now and then this happens. Something super important and blogworthy gets buried under a pile of something else and then it's out of sight, out of mind until one day, I'm loading pictures onto the computer and I go "uh-oh, I haven't really mentioned that this happened. STUPID STUPID STUPID...etc."
This time, it was an Ottawa visit between Christmas and New Year's by Max and Leo's Auntie Kathy and Uncle Murray. It had been buried under the sicknesses and bad sleeps in January and then the recent second wave of sickness by both kids which just now seems to be tapering off. So without further ado, I present to you "What Happened at the End of December".
Leo shows indifference to Auntie Kathy. This is before he morphed into "poops rainbows Leo" in mid-January.
Auntie Jenny reads Max a story during a wonderful visit.
After a visit to the Ottawa train station, Max becomes obsessed with trains. Here, he plays "train" with his aunt and uncle. Everyone is waving their tickets. Oddly enough, Max has a ticket even though he is the conductor.
Fanning the flames of Max's obsession, we all went out to the Ottawa Science and Tech museum. Yes, they have an actual train in the museum.
At the museum, there was a huge LEGO exhibit on the history of transportation. It was crazy. Here, Uncle Murray shows Max how thermodynamics enable a car to move forward.
Max will never drive a real car that looks anything like this. If he does, please don't tell me about it.
The Stardom jam band, soon to be touring with My Morning Jacket.
We waited so long to get this picture. Max never showed any interest in even grabbing for his own feet. Leo, well, he was interested in eating his feet. The trick with this photo is that every time Leo saw the camera, he let go of his feet. This involved some serious guerilla photography.
Auntie Kathy and Max help Leo eat his first meal of solids. It took Leo about 3 or so weeks to figure it out, but now he's eating like a trucker. In fact, miracle of miracles, the eating skills seem to have transferred themselves to drinking as Leo has now had two bottles. Holly is VERY excited.
Murray, very much in good uncle mode, hanging out with his nephew Leo.
Murray, still firmly in good uncle mode, about to go down the slide with Max. (Not pictured is Murray in bad uncle mode, after the slide where Max got his leg stuck in the slide and cried a lot. Then Murray ziplined into a pile of snow, Max laughed a lot and good uncle was back in the house!)
This time, it was an Ottawa visit between Christmas and New Year's by Max and Leo's Auntie Kathy and Uncle Murray. It had been buried under the sicknesses and bad sleeps in January and then the recent second wave of sickness by both kids which just now seems to be tapering off. So without further ado, I present to you "What Happened at the End of December".
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
An afternoon of winter fun!
A few Saturdays ago, our local recreation centre held their annual Winter Carnival. Max is very familiar with Dovercourt because that is where he has taken all of his swimming lessons. They also have an amazing park that we have enjoyed many, many times. The rec centre is on our street about a kilometre away.
We weren't sure what to expect at this carnival but with an amazing sunny and not too cold day, we set out as a family to check it out. Leo nodded off in his car seat so we transferred him to his stroller to tour around. They had tons of activities for kids and adults - sledding, one big skating rink, a fenced in rink for hockey, a horse-drawn carriage ride, snow sculptures, etc. It was awesome!
Max still loves the swings!
Max meets Dovercat. This was about as close as Max would get - he is not the biggest fan of getting up close and personal to mascots. He just loves them from afar. Note Daddy forcing his son into the big, blue furry maw of doom.
It's official - Max's first tobogganing run!
A self-portrait on the carriage ride.
Waving to Daddy and the still (yay!) comatose Leo.
A shot of Max watching as people cleared the hockey rink by shovel. He almost seems to be shoving me out of the way because I'm ruining his meditation.
By the way, PETA may have also gained a very young new member. Max was extremely concerned about the working conditions of the horses pulling the carriage. In his own words: "Mama, horsies sad. Horsies looking! Horsies got no grass!" Max noticed the horses sniffing the snow-covered ground and inferred that they were looking for food. Awesome. His concerns were assuaged after a quick conversation with the horses' handler who assured Max that the horses had plenty of grass and hay back at the barn.
All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon. I love living in this neighbourhood!
We weren't sure what to expect at this carnival but with an amazing sunny and not too cold day, we set out as a family to check it out. Leo nodded off in his car seat so we transferred him to his stroller to tour around. They had tons of activities for kids and adults - sledding, one big skating rink, a fenced in rink for hockey, a horse-drawn carriage ride, snow sculptures, etc. It was awesome!
Max meets Dovercat. This was about as close as Max would get - he is not the biggest fan of getting up close and personal to mascots. He just loves them from afar. Note Daddy forcing his son into the big, blue furry maw of doom.
It's official - Max's first tobogganing run!
A self-portrait on the carriage ride.
Waving to Daddy and the still (yay!) comatose Leo.
A shot of Max watching as people cleared the hockey rink by shovel. He almost seems to be shoving me out of the way because I'm ruining his meditation.
By the way, PETA may have also gained a very young new member. Max was extremely concerned about the working conditions of the horses pulling the carriage. In his own words: "Mama, horsies sad. Horsies looking! Horsies got no grass!" Max noticed the horses sniffing the snow-covered ground and inferred that they were looking for food. Awesome. His concerns were assuaged after a quick conversation with the horses' handler who assured Max that the horses had plenty of grass and hay back at the barn.
All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon. I love living in this neighbourhood!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
How big is Baby Leo? SO BIG!
OK, when did Leo go from tiny baby to big boy? At Costco yesterday, he actually sat in the basket of the shopping cart. I propped him up with my little nursing pillow but still! He looked so grown up sitting up in the cart. He loved looking around too.
He is also mere ounces away from busting out of the infant bucket car seat (weight limit - 20 lbs.) and going into the Britax seat. John weighed him the other night and he's past 19 lbs. Crazy! This will also mean no more sleeping in the car seat when we run errands or pick up Max at daycare so we'll have to adjust our routine a little bit.
I also wanted to post a few photos from an awesome brunch we had with Rob, Jessa and Grace last weekend:
Grace, enjoying one of the He-Man books that we got for her library.
AMAZING brunch prepared by Jessa, accompanied by very special Battlestar Galactica toast!!!
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