This report from Sarah about a conversation with Jamie at bedtime recently:
Jamie: Mommy, will you lie me with for some seconds? or, maybe,
ten minutes?
Mommy: Yes, sweetie.
Jamie: Let’s talk.
Mommy: Okay. What should we talk about?
Jamie: Dinosaurs. Can I just say something to God?
Mommy: Yes.
Jamie: (look at ceiling): God, please don’t let there be any fireworks,
or scary noises, or thunder or lightning, and please don’t let the criminals come and take my stuff or me or my family, and please don’t let me dream about fireworks or scary things or thunder or lightning. Now let’s talk Mommy.
Mommy: Okay.
Jamie: Let’s talk about T-rexes.
Mommy: T-rexes are pretty big and scary.
Jamie: They had big teeth.
Mommy: Yes, and little short arms (demonstrates).
Jamie: They couldn’t give hugs.
Mommy: No. (Lots of hugs are had, and Jamie goes to bed).
Friday, April 25, 2008
Attention please!
Attention is a big thing around our house these days. Certainly, Sarah and I have very little time to pay attention to each other and any way we often feel we are losing our attention spans amidst the ever-changing chaos of Boy-land here. But we have noticed, now that Connor is able to demand so much of our attention, the degree to which a large part of Jamie's behavior is directly tied to his need to reclaim that attention in whatever form possible, even if it's us saying "Jamie STOP IT!!!" 20 times in the span of 5 minutes.
Sometimes he is up front about this. One of his funny Jamie-isms is that when he wants us to listen to some noise he's making he will proclaim, "Hear this!" It makes it sound like he's about to make some sort of large philosophical statement, but what often follows are nonsensical noises he's invented or the various sounds of his baby-lion alter ego (it is both fierce and loving). Or perhaps some surprising bit of information that he's gleaned from our nightly science lesson/book reading such as "Dung flies are always on the lookout for animal poop!"
He is also aware that his own attention can be rather easily diverted. He loves to read books about space, but is sometimes not engaged by the scientific language. As I was reading about the descent module of the Soyuz capsule (a timely topic) the other night before bed, he was drawing shapes on the wall with his foot. Suddenly he asked me, "Dad do you ever feel like I'm not listening to you?"
Sometimes he is up front about this. One of his funny Jamie-isms is that when he wants us to listen to some noise he's making he will proclaim, "Hear this!" It makes it sound like he's about to make some sort of large philosophical statement, but what often follows are nonsensical noises he's invented or the various sounds of his baby-lion alter ego (it is both fierce and loving). Or perhaps some surprising bit of information that he's gleaned from our nightly science lesson/book reading such as "Dung flies are always on the lookout for animal poop!"
He is also aware that his own attention can be rather easily diverted. He loves to read books about space, but is sometimes not engaged by the scientific language. As I was reading about the descent module of the Soyuz capsule (a timely topic) the other night before bed, he was drawing shapes on the wall with his foot. Suddenly he asked me, "Dad do you ever feel like I'm not listening to you?"
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Nice is as nice does
Connor is a very direct, enthusiastic young person. He tends to do everything full force, going from great joy to great sorrow in a heartbeat and then back again. He also had a sort of cheerful, destructive side, being more reckless about hitting and destroying things than Jamie was. We've been trying to teach him some moderation. He's very interested in animals for instance, but tends to show his enthusiasm by punk-slapping whatever creature comes across his path. So, we've taught him to touch "nice" and shown him a petting motion. This helps, but still when he gets excited he tends to sort of hit/pet all the while proclaiming "NIIIIICE!" Recently at the zoo he started chasing birds around the picnic area, hand poised, shouting the magic word over and over. The birds were not convinced.
Sometimes we're on the receiving end of the niceness. It's a little scary to be lying on the floor and see this cherubic child standing over you with his arm cocked and a slightly crazed look in his eye, repeating "NIIICE!"
Sometimes he also says "Nice" in reference to nothing obvious, leading us to wonder what kind of thought crime he might be policing himself for.
Sometimes we're on the receiving end of the niceness. It's a little scary to be lying on the floor and see this cherubic child standing over you with his arm cocked and a slightly crazed look in his eye, repeating "NIIICE!"
Sometimes he also says "Nice" in reference to nothing obvious, leading us to wonder what kind of thought crime he might be policing himself for.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
How to defuse the situation
Yesterday after the boys came home from school we took them, as we often do these days when it is still not too hot, to the playground. Jamie was particularly excited to go and play with some new sidewalk chalk we got him and he drew, with great enthusiasm, a number of highly abstract compositions.
By the time we got back to the house for dinner, however, things were breaking down. I think both boys sort of bottle things up while they are at school, and are tired at night, and so can be a little emotionally fragile. It started with Jamie being told we couldn't read a book to him at the moment because we were getting dinner ready. While he was lying on the couch sulking about this, Connor lay down next to him and proceeded to begin kicking Jamie's head repeatedly, laughing happily all the while. We put a stop to that, but Connor then decided to try to pull the juice cup out of Jamie's hands (his own cup was no longer of any interest). By the time we had separated them, it had turned into one of those magic, happy times when both boys are simultaneously crying at the top of their lungs. Jamie had a hard time coming out of it and eventually was sent to his room for a time out. He still didn't really come out of it, however, and continued complaining. In exasperation we said, "Jamie, if we're such bad parents, why don't you call the police and have us arrested?" At which point he screamed, "Noooooo! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" We totally melted at this of course, and many hugs were had and things settled down.
Meanwhile, Connor had taken the opportunity to get a hold of Jamie's juice cup at last and was happily gulping away.
By the time we got back to the house for dinner, however, things were breaking down. I think both boys sort of bottle things up while they are at school, and are tired at night, and so can be a little emotionally fragile. It started with Jamie being told we couldn't read a book to him at the moment because we were getting dinner ready. While he was lying on the couch sulking about this, Connor lay down next to him and proceeded to begin kicking Jamie's head repeatedly, laughing happily all the while. We put a stop to that, but Connor then decided to try to pull the juice cup out of Jamie's hands (his own cup was no longer of any interest). By the time we had separated them, it had turned into one of those magic, happy times when both boys are simultaneously crying at the top of their lungs. Jamie had a hard time coming out of it and eventually was sent to his room for a time out. He still didn't really come out of it, however, and continued complaining. In exasperation we said, "Jamie, if we're such bad parents, why don't you call the police and have us arrested?" At which point he screamed, "Noooooo! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" We totally melted at this of course, and many hugs were had and things settled down.
Meanwhile, Connor had taken the opportunity to get a hold of Jamie's juice cup at last and was happily gulping away.
Blisso!
Connor speaks extraordinarily well. He has a huge vocabulary now and is very careful about his pronunciation. It helps that he has some more teeth now so he can form the works a little better. He is also a very good mimic and can repeat words back, or at least approximate them, immediately. For long words he gets the first sound and then fudges the rest of the syllables. A favorite lately has been "bamamamas" for bananas.
A funny manifestation of his speed in learning new words and using them came earlier this week, when he came home from school with a rather enormous blister on his big toe. He was rather fascinated by it, but we were concerned enough to get him in to the doctor that night to make sure it didn't get infected. We didn't see our regular doc but one of the other physicians in the practice, whom we refer to as "Dr. Cheney" because of his decidedly dour demeanor. Connor looked on with great interest as the blister was treated. The little guy must have heard the word "blister" a hundred times by then, so he pointed and said "Blisso!" Dr. Cheney looked at him in surprise, so, just to be sure, Connor said it again, this time with feeling, "BlissOOO!!" And to my great surprise Dr. Cheney really cracked up, noting with understatement, "He speaks very well for a baby." I am sure my Nonna, Marie, was looking down and agreeing, thinking, "He's very advanced for his age." (She was fond of noting this of her great-grandchildren).
A funny manifestation of his speed in learning new words and using them came earlier this week, when he came home from school with a rather enormous blister on his big toe. He was rather fascinated by it, but we were concerned enough to get him in to the doctor that night to make sure it didn't get infected. We didn't see our regular doc but one of the other physicians in the practice, whom we refer to as "Dr. Cheney" because of his decidedly dour demeanor. Connor looked on with great interest as the blister was treated. The little guy must have heard the word "blister" a hundred times by then, so he pointed and said "Blisso!" Dr. Cheney looked at him in surprise, so, just to be sure, Connor said it again, this time with feeling, "BlissOOO!!" And to my great surprise Dr. Cheney really cracked up, noting with understatement, "He speaks very well for a baby." I am sure my Nonna, Marie, was looking down and agreeing, thinking, "He's very advanced for his age." (She was fond of noting this of her great-grandchildren).
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Save the date!
This past weekend we went over for a playdate with Jamie's friend, B (name withheld for privacy), a certain red-headed 5-year-old girl with whom Jamie is quite smitten. We have joked for a while that it would be fun if he and B got married. For a long time she was about a head taller than him and him and we thought it would be very cute if they were like that even when they were married. He's actually sprouted up so much in the past couple of months, however, she's only got an inch or two on him now.
Anyway, B has a backyard and a hose, so the creation of mud was inevitable. They had a great time getting their hands really mucked up, but kept things under control for a while. Slowly, inexorably, however, they got more and more ambitious and this meant taking off clothes. Before long, they were quite naked and totally covered in mud. Fortunately, they could just be hosed down and taken inside.
Jamie later claimed that it was the "best time ever" and Bella must have enjoyed it too, because her mom reported that she later said that she was going to marry Jamie when she got older.
Anyway, B has a backyard and a hose, so the creation of mud was inevitable. They had a great time getting their hands really mucked up, but kept things under control for a while. Slowly, inexorably, however, they got more and more ambitious and this meant taking off clothes. Before long, they were quite naked and totally covered in mud. Fortunately, they could just be hosed down and taken inside.
Jamie later claimed that it was the "best time ever" and Bella must have enjoyed it too, because her mom reported that she later said that she was going to marry Jamie when she got older.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Run away! Run away!!
This post doesn't directly concern the boys, but like everything else, it revolves around them. As some of you know we have a gate up that conveniently blocks both the staircase and the kitchen. There are times when this seems to symbolically divide the space into a large kids area in the living room, where chaos reigns, and a much smaller adult area in the kitchen. Sarah and I have found ourselves at times standing in the kitchen, doing nothing, just being there for the sake of being at some slight remove from Thing 1 and Thing 2 and their antics.
We've also taken to calling the small corner of the kitchen that is out of sight of the living room the "grown-up corner" because we can hide there. usually this only happens when we want to eat something that we don't want the boys to see, chocolate for instance. Connor is already very alert to the slightest indication of crinkling wrapper paper and will begin proclaiming "TEEEET! TEEEET" (treat) very loudly if he has any inkling that something is in the offing.
We've also taken to calling the small corner of the kitchen that is out of sight of the living room the "grown-up corner" because we can hide there. usually this only happens when we want to eat something that we don't want the boys to see, chocolate for instance. Connor is already very alert to the slightest indication of crinkling wrapper paper and will begin proclaiming "TEEEET! TEEEET" (treat) very loudly if he has any inkling that something is in the offing.
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