The M&M Story

M has been working on counting. The development has proceeded approximately in the following manner: 1. Doo, Fee, Door, Ive, Dix, Sebben (not always in this order) 2. Doo, Fee, Door, Dive, Dix, Sebben, Eight, Nen. (at this point, alphabet memorization and numbers converged) 3. Two, Fee, Door, Dive, Double-u, X, Y, Z 4. Two, Fee, Door, Dive, Dix, Double-Eight, Nine, Den. 5. Own, Two, Fee, Door, Dive, Dix, Double-Eight, Nine, Den. (Notice the addition of One here. His counting was one digit off up until this point because he would start with Two. So he would count six garden steps instead of five, for instance. We stuck with double-eight, nine, ten in various forms for a while, and it should be noted that there were times when he got all the way through 1-10 in the way generally accepted by the Arabic-numeral-using world). 6. Own Two, Dee, Door, Sebben, Eight, Nine, Den. (Here’s where we are most of the time now. Double-u and Double-eight have departed, but wit...

Apple Picking 3 Originally uploaded by Maynor . A true best buddy moment. I couldn't hear what C was explaining here, but M listened closely and I'm sure he was able to give some words of wisdom later. Except for the diapers, they're pretty much adults now.

Apple Picking 4 Originally uploaded by Maynor . For this and other photos of apple picking, click on the picture. It will take you to Flickr.com, a screamingly cool place to keep your online photos. It also softens your hands as you do the dishes.

M went to bed at 7:15 last night, as he usually does, having read books in his bed for half an hour or so. He and I have been hauling topsoil around our yard in our wheelbarrows, so before he went to sleep he asked the following: M: Daddy? Daddy: Hey, buddy. M: Jesus love dirt? D: He sure does. Bedtime had been hectic and painful because Susan and I had gotten our signals crossed and each thought the other had changed M's slightly poopy diaper before we went out to haul dirt. M has ultrasensitive cheeks and a couple hours with a little poop just destroys his skin. So bathtime turned into stand-in-the-tub-and-weep-in-pain time. But rash cream eased the soreness and we had crawled into his bed before I remembered toothbrushing. So we skipped it, and that was that. M went to sleep. Until 10:45 pm, when he stood inside his closed door crying for mommy and daddy. We both went in and sat on our knees with him as he explained: "teeth brushing." So we all went in to t...

Hat Originally uploaded by Maynor . M walks up just now: Take it off please take it off please take it off please take it off please *I already had the camera in my hand, so there was no cruel wait to take a snapshot, in case you were worried.

B read Pat the Bunny 9-26-04 Originally uploaded by Maynor . Sunday morning reading in bed. B is fascinated by the plot twist. Pic's a little dark, I know. Sorry. Speaking of which, please note that these pics look darker or lighter depending on your computer. If you can't see them, try adjusting the brightness of your screen.

B and Brian 9-26-04 Originally uploaded by Maynor . B says "Easy peasy." Let's go for something harder. Calculus?

Up until this week, I've blogged the way some of my colleagues take a smoke break--I'll just take ten minutes when I need a break from editing and take a deep breath. The metaphorical deep breath of recording stuff about the boys refuels me the way a literal deep breath of noxious fumes refuels my fellow cube farmers. But it's been tougher in the new job. For one thing, my workspace doesn't lend itself to blogging. My team is getting new digs soon, and in the meantime I have a makeshift work area in the middle of another department. Or sort of to the side of another department. The northwest wall of my "office" is the electrical panel for Elsevier Building 1000. Nothing like absorbing electromagnetic radiation eight hours a day. At least cubicle 2240 was a safe distance from things that might cause sterility. It was also far away from my new neighbors, the People Who Talk Loudly. I've learned more in the last couple days about the girl scouts, skin...

I'm changing jobs this week, so the blogging may be brief. Lots of tales to tell, but no time--so here's a quick exchange between Ace and Mommy at naptime yesterday. (note: for those who joined us late, Ace is a nom de plume. Mommy, however, is her given name.) Mommy: Who are your friends, Ace? Ace: B, CP, LM, KP, KP, JDP, CB. (pause) Mommy? M: Yes, Ace? A: Mommy Ace's best friend.

Miscellaneous tidbits today. Think of this as cleaning out the fridge before the weekend. 1. Miraculously, after several months of ettiquete tutulage, M. has suddenly become polite. For weeks we've been prompting him to say "thank you" and "please," but he's been inconsistent at best. Two days ago Susan handed M. a granola bar, and he turned to walk away and said "thanks!" over his shoulder. We gave each other pleasantly surprised did-he-just-say-what-I-think-he-said looks, and Susan asked, "What did you just say, buddy?" M. stopped and thought. "Thank you ," he said, apparently interpreting our pleasant surprise as a rebuke for casual speech. Since then, he's used please and thank you constantly. He even said "thank you" when I opened the door for him, even though we'd only explained "thank you" as something to say when you are given something. He must have picked up the wider usage from...

Ace can open the cabinet, grab a cup, and--on tiptoes--dispense himself a few moon-shaped pieces of ice and some water from the front of the fridge. It usually works with only minor spillage (unless the water hits the ice in a certain way and he gets sprayed). The other night, he ran out of water while we were reading in bed, but I told him the ice cubes would turn into water. So we read a few more books and sure enough, he had some more water. He was fascinated by it, and we had a toddler lesson on states of matter. This morning, he drank the last cup of Kefir (drinkable yogurt), and asked for more. I had to tell him we were all out. Without missing a beat, he perked up and looked at the fridge. "Ice turn into Kefir??"

Scene: Tuesday morning, 7:30 am. Maynor basement/playroom. Enter Ace and Daddy. A: Dark! Turn light on, peez. D: [flips switch]. A: Dark! Turn light on, peez. D: I already turned it on. A: Dark! D: Take off your sunglasses. A: [lifts glasses] . Light!

It's fascinating to watch linguistic development. It's tempting to think that M just parrots back our words without full understanding, but I think that happens a lot less often than I sometimes realize. As he's forming more and more sentences, for instance, it's clear that he understands sentence structure, including direct and indirect objects : "My give B. booberry." (B. is not old enough to eat a blueberry, btw.) He's been experimenting with pronouns. The use of "My" above was incorrect--he should have used "I", but it was close. He's used "me" for several months, but is just starting to get "you." If he wants me to play baseball, for instance, he'll say "Me and Me play baseball," pointing at Daddy for the first "me" and pointing at himself for the second "me." He still refers to himself as his name (and not me, myself, or I) about 80% of the time. I've wondered how...

Ace is more and more obsessed with the alphabet song. He's got almost every letter, but he lost the ellemenopee. Now he just sticks in a series of N's. "H I J K L N N N N P" I think it was my brother Allen that thought the song went, "H I J K Allen and a P" Ace has also had a problem in the last couple weeks with waking up in the middle of the night, upset. Sometimes we can go in and give him some water or read him a quick book, but usually he wants one of us to crawl into bed with him. Which would be kind of nice occasionally if he would actually sleep with one of us in the bed. Example: The other night he woke up screaming at 3:30 AM and I went in and gave him water and crawled in bed with him and scrtached his back. He seemed to drift off after five minutes, so I scratched a few more times and gently removed my hand. "back, peez." Darn it. So I scratch for a good ten minutes, he's snoring, and my actual scratching turns ...

Daddy and B. Self Portrait Originally uploaded by Maynor . This is our Tribute to Demi Moore's Love Life. I'm sporting the Ashton Kucher haircut, and B. is modeling the Bruce Willis 'do.

Whenever Ace and I play tee-ball in the backyard, and I'm fielding, he refuses to even swing at the ball unless I'm standing a good 30 feet away. If I'm not far enough back, he'll march out to the outfield, find the exact spot to which he plans to hit it, point at the ground and say "Daddy stand here." He then trudges the 30 feet back to the tee, swings the bat, and hits it a good yard or so.

We put particularly stinky diapers in plastic grocery bags and set them next to the front door. I also put my lunch in a plastic grocery bag and set it next to the front door. I know what you're thinking, but I did not sit down for lunch last week, smacking my lips, and open a bag full of dirty diapers. You've been watching too many sitcoms. But a pre-coffee Maynor did pick up both bags last week and head to work. When I parked my car at work, I noticed that I had two bags and realized one was full of healthy treats and a sandwich, and the other was full of poo. Again I should mention that I had not had any coffee yet, and that it was 7:00 am, for pete's sake. Which should explain a little bit why I was so stymied by the decision that lay ahead of me. Namely, would it be better to walk into work carrying a stinky diaper bag and risk passing a Publisher or a VP who might conclude that I had a personal hygiene problem--or at the very least some digestive issues? Or...

M & M Originally uploaded by Maynor . At the end of a long afternoon of playing in the sand and riding in the wagon, it's time to say goodbye and go inside for dinner and a bath. M's huggable friend is one of Neighbor Jack's many great grandkids. If you ask Jack for the name of a grandkid, he says "Don't be asking me all those questions." Thankfully, most of them are old enough to introduce themselves. Most of them are also old enough to know that Jack will let them take the wagon all the way up to the tip-top of the backyard hill, but they have to do it when their mothers are otherwise engaged.

painting puppte theatre Originally uploaded by Maynor . Last week we made a big green puppet theater. Best Friend CP came over later and the two boys entertained us with many, many shows. Most shows were interpretations of the following script: Puppet #1: Hello Puppet #2: Hello Unison: Abcdefgh ijklmnop qrstuv wxyz ...now I know my ABCs, next time won't you sing with me. Puppets tackle each other. Exuent.

sab-bath Originally uploaded by Maynor . The Sunday bath.

Asleep after bath Originally uploaded by Maynor .

pre-bath 1 Originally uploaded by Maynor . Click on this or other pics to go to Flickr.com and see more pics of the fellas.

pre-bath 2 Originally uploaded by Maynor . Click on this or other pics to go to Flickr.com and see more pics of the fellas.

pre-bath 3 Originally uploaded by Maynor . Click on this or other pics to go to Flickr.com and see more pics of the fellas.

pre-bath 5 Originally uploaded by Maynor . Click on this or other pics to go to Flickr.com and see more pics of the fellas.

paper Originally uploaded by Maynor . M. isn't supposed to play with the tp roll, so when he gives into the tempation, he carefully rolls it back up. "They'll never know...."

On the way home from Nana's today, I hear Ace from the back seat: Ace: Daddy! 'Obot! Daddy: What'd you say, buddy? A: Ace is 'Obot! Sure enough, in the mirror, I see him doing a C3P0/eighties dance move. A: 'Obot! 'Obot! 'Obot! Ace was stone faced (he was an 'obot' after all) but Deuce was laughing his 4-month-old butt off.

For the purposes of this blog, I shall hereforth refer to M. as "Ace" and to B. as "Deuce." It's like locking the car door when you're driving. Not really much of an actual help, but it's a small token of security.

The second kid is bald. He has been for some time, like his big brother was. But now he's starting to get some very soft, very short hair covering his head. He's also talkative. He loves making sounds, and laughing , and communicating. He's flirty and smiles that big toothless open-mouthed smile. His biggest deal recently is trying to roll over (he's succeeded here and there), and grabbing toys and bringing them to his mouth. Sleep is his friend. B.'s more like Dad, and M. is more like Mom in that way. M. jumps up in the morning wide awake and ready for the day. B. stretches, rolls around, grunts, and keeps his eyes closed until he absolutely has to open them. An hour or two later, he's ready for a nap. He's a good kid.

M. now knows most of the alphabet song, and asks to sing it regularly. This morning at breakfast, however, it was not the alphabet song that he got a kick out of. It was burping. First, he surprised himself with a large belch, and his mom reminded him to say "excuse me." A minute later, he burped again and this time said "excuse me." Or at least I think it was those three syllables, but they were in a different order. No matter. Then, for the next few minutes, M. would fake burp every few seconds. He got louder and louder and cracked himself up. He thought it was hilarious. And it kinda was. So now, the next step is burping the alphabet.

First Day at Toddler Time Originally uploaded by Maynor . Today was M's first day at Toddler Time, the once-a-week "school." There are ten 2-year-olds, including his cousin. Next week is Red Day--time to wear red and do all sorts of red activities!