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Photos

Punks in Bunks!

Another exciting milestone for the Micronaxx: G-Man is now the proud occupant of his own big boy bed–and a bunk bed at that!

Margot did most of the assembly last weekend (with me contributing my usual strong-back/weak-mind stuff), and the dudes are suitably enthralled. They love the presence of “the trundle” that hides underneath the lower bed, though they were a bit disappointed that it’s no good for the requested “zooming around the room.” The plan is to keep the guys in their separate rooms/beds for the foreseeable future, but the bunk gives us nice options for the future.

I grabbed a few reaction videos that we might get to share soon; for now, though, check out the young pirates in their new “ship.“

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Babyslang

Werds

We get a huge kick out of our boys’ verbal stylings. Sometimes, they simply can’t quite pronounce a word correctly, and the results are pretty funny. But other times, (thanks to their goofy Mom-o and Dad-o) they’ve picked up the tendency to play around with language and create a lot of their own words. Here’s a little sampling of both sorts:

Confibian: a vehicle that operates on both land and in water
Deppity: The sheriff’s right hand man
Trankalizer: what you shoot into the butt of a rampaging dinosaur
Toothpoke: what Dad-o likes to use on his teeth after a meal
Constructions: what you have to read in order to build Lego helicopters
Hasta Moo-Lego: Micronaxx interpretation of “hasta luego”

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Photos

Helmet Ecstasy

Q. What’s better than going to a party, getting fed warm homemade tofu, and getting to “threaten” partygoers with promises of “causing mayhem”?
A. Doing all those things and then getting to try on a real firefighter’s helmet!

Thanks to Mom-O’s friend Sue & her husband (the SJFD veteran) for their hospitality.

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Videos

Goin’ Solo (Han & otherwise)

Our guys are pretty physically cautious. Whereas their little buddies bomb around on Strider bikes & swing from monkey bars, our guys tend to creep along.

That’s why I was so pleased to see how much they took to “giant bouncy land” on Saturday night. Both dudes threw themselves into the fun–literally–and kept charging up and down the big slides. Finn decided he was Han Solo riding a tauntaun, making me a ferocious wampa. Here’s a rough little clip of me chasing him. Would you believe that Henry not only followed in Finn’s footsteps, but solo-bombed the big slide himself?

Categories
Christmas Photos

Reindeer CSI!

Long before we had the lads, I started eyeing our long driveway and (cue chin-stroke) planning. What better landing pad for The Big Guy & his team? I just had to wait a few years to put my plans in action!

On Christmas Eve the boys put out a big bowl full of Cheerios to feed the reindeer. After they hit the sack, Margot & I got busy carving a potato into a hoof-shaped stamp. I grabbed the guys’ water-soluble* brown paint from downstairs, dunked the stamp, and got busy stamping away, then drawing some sleigh marks for good measure.

The next morning we trekked outside for a little “CSI” (“Christmas Scene Investigation”). Here are a few shots of the scene we discovered.

*(We hope!)

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Videos

Greetings from Baby New Year

Here’s to a delightfully bizarre 2012. 🙂

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Photos

Happy New Year!

On a brighter note, Happy New Year from Finny & Party Hat Leo (plus Mom-O, Dad-O, and G-Man)!

Categories
Christmas Photos

After the Gold Rush

An inexplicably mustachioed Finnster got wistful realizing that our present-stash had been fully depleted. (And boy, the poor guy cried today while Mom-O started packing away the Christmas decorations.)

Categories
Christmas Photos

Christmas Joy, Part 2

In today’s little gallery, you can see the covetous Finnster admiring some red velvet cake; the guys building Lincoln Logs with Grandpa; goosestepping Henry being “Dr. Bucketfoot;” the guys enjoying “Emergency kit” puzzles from Auntie Laura; and more.

Categories
Christmas Photos

Christmas Joy, Part 1


We’ve had a spectacular Christmas week with the boys, from making our traditional Red Velvet Cake (and licking the beater!), to opening and playing with new toys.

Santa delivered exactly what the boys asked for – Thomas engines, trucks, and more Legos. Needless to say, there have been many derailments, traffic jams, pile-ups, and modified vehicles. For instance, Tow Mater was turned into a Christmas tree-trimming truck! The guys also scored a set of Lincoln Logs, and are keen on learning how to build a top-notch log cabin (following the lead of their resident expert, Grandpa). Here’s our first little gallery of the Christmas proceedings.

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Miscellaneous

Merry Christmas!

From our family to you & yours, we wish you great peace & love.

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Photos Videos

A Very Lego Christmas

John and I went out to the mall a few days ago to wrap up our Christmas shopping for each other. I really wanted to get him his own elaborate Lego kit, because there are not many things John loves more than Legos (me, the kids, and his camera, to be exact). I was gun shy, though, because I didn’t want to get him a gift that he couldn’t really enjoy with the kids, because they’re still a bit too small to manipulate and build with all those tiny pieces (or so I thought!).

So, I left the Lego store empty-handed. Turns out John had also visited the store, and was drooling over a model Chinook helicopter. “Or as Henry likes to call them,” notes Finny, “‘hello-copters.'” He too walked away empty-handed, and a little bit heartbroken, for the same reason as me. As we talked more about it, we both reached the same conclusion, which was that he should go back and get that darn helicopter kit and see if it was something Finny would be able to enjoy alongside him. Worst case scenario, Finny wouldn’t enjoy it, but John would still be left with a Lego helicopter! (Henry, surprisingly, is a fan of the instruction booklets, a.k.a. “constructions.”)

I think the pictures in our little gallery will tell you everything you need to know. I remarked to John that seeing the joy on his face while observing the two of them build the chopper was the true gift. I got to see one of his dreams of fatherhood come true.

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Photos Videos

Thomas at the Seaside

Back in April Henry became a bit obsessed with the subject of Thomas (the Tank Engine) and the seaside. How great, then, that we discovered that Thomas was coming to our very own seaside! The four of us cruised over to Santa Cruz where we met Sir Topham Hatt & even Santa and his elves! G-Man was predictably standoffish, but Finny warmed right up and delivered his wish list. Afterwards we had a ball riding the huge boardwalk carousel & playing on the train tables. Here’s our little gallery, plus a very brief clip:

Categories
Christmas Photos

Tree trimming tots

In this year’s Christmas decorating, we’ve been ably assisted by two very enthusiastic “manger arrangers.” Check out our garland-slingin’, sleigh-bell-ringin’, elf-hat-flingin’ amigos in action.

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Audio Clips

T.A.L.B.

I fondly remember my dad delighting me with bedtime stories, devising ever more elaborate tales of “Mrs. Mootsy” the rabbit, our colorful neighbors the Mosers, and more. We never recorded or transcribed any of them, of course, so the details are lost to history.

Finny & I carry on the tradition via something we’ve dubbed “T.A.L.B.,” short for “Talk A Little Bit.” This nightly ritual started as a recap of the day, but Finn quickly morphed it into a chance to get a bonus (and custom-made) story. Over the last year+ we’ve covered an insane amount of ground (War and Peace? short & simple compared!). Lately the stories have centered on Mr. Elefante (the elephant who lives in an apartment in the bathroom wall) and his friend Rooster, plus the neighbor cats (Tuxie & Samantha) and their endless attempts to turn Rooster into a delicious “chicken sandwich.” Putting posterity way ahead of dignity, here’s just one little slice of the story. Click the little gray arrow to play:

[audio:http://www.jnack.com/choons/TALB.mp3|titles=TALB]

If for some reason that doesn’t work (e.g. you’re on an iPhone), here’s the direct link to the audio file.

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Miscellaneous

Oddly appropriate

Q. What’s possibly our most fitting Yiddish word ever?
A. “Naches” (pronounced “NAKH-es”), meaning “Emotional gratification or pride, especially taken vicariously at the achievement of one’s children.”

We might have to rename the blog “Micronaxx & Meganaches.” L’chaim! 🙂

Categories
Miscellaneous

Henry & the Menacing Ladies

Our friend Maria once gave us Tickle Monster plus a pair of “tickle mitts.” On her recent visit, though, bare hands–with an assist from Henry’s “Bushy-Tailed Menace”–got the job done:

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Videos

The Rough House!

I have such fond childhood memories of partying with my Murray cousins, roughhousing on air mattresses (which we pretended were giant butt cheeks–don’t ask) and so much more. I was therefore especially delighted to get our lads partying with Sarah Murray, her friend Chernoh, and little Patrick Mahoney (Liz’s son). We all worked up a real sweat “brutalizing” the guys, turning Patrick & Finn into burritos, and trading aerial attacks (Crocs, Thomas hat, slipcovers–you name it). Here’s a little taste:

Later, back at Grandma & Grandpa Nack’s, the guys climbed the staircase and said, “We want to fire stuff down, like we did at Chernoh’s house!” Here’s to many happy returns.

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Videos

Squeasel attack!

During her recent visit, our friend Maria told us about her backyard being overrun by “squeasels” (squirrels & weasels). Finn got into showing off the squeasels in his shirt–then going after Maria’s. Check it out:

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Photos

Dear Santa

As transcribed, verbatim, by our wonderful nanny, Coco:

(larger version)