From very early on Margot & I have noticed Henry being a weirdly strong little kid, giving powerful hugs & often trying to climb up things like sinks. Now he’s taken a shine to pulling wagons–often alongside Finn, but just as often containing Finn. One recent evening each one grabbed a wagon & hauled them all the way to the park (nearly half a mile away), and the other day Henry managed to pull Finn some chunk of that distance on his own. Check out the brawny man in action:
If you’re going to drive hundreds of miles with small children, then lie in bed for hours while one jumps excitedly on each of your outstretched arms… well, you could pick a far worse destination than redwood-rich Northern California.
Our trip up to Fortuna, CA saw us…
Without further ado, check out the gallery!
* Finn recounted the experience rather breathlessly to Mom-O: “I was just so excited about it, I couldn’t even give the truck a smooch!!”
We all had a ball cruising the Avenue of the Giants following Margot’s half marathon, just listening to Henry’s mind being blown as he tried to count redwoods: “3! 2! 6! 10!… 3!!” We’ll have more photos to share soon, but in the meantime, behold Margot’s surgical piloting of a large German car through an even larger redwood:
Lately our guys have been enjoying “weirdo smeech” (plural of smooch), a little gross-out trick where we make our tongues into second “lips,” then give each other big wet kisses. During a recent session our little “ear, nose, & throat” men followed by giving me a crazy oral exam: check it out!
Boy oh boy, there are a lot of decisions being made around our house these days. Mr. 3-year-old Finny is testing out boundaries like it’s his job (which, I suppose, it is!). Never shy with an opinion, he’s started experimenting with if/then statements as well as linking together completely disparate ideas or actions. Here are a few examples:
“I will get out of bed now, but I want to stay in my peej (pajamas) for a little while. I will get dressed after breakfast.”
“If Henry’s going to play with my ice cream truck, I’m not going to go into the kitchen with you.”
“I am going to play with my legos over here, and you should go into the kitchen and clean up.”
“First, I am going to eat my banana chips. Then I will eat my toast, and if I am still hungry, I might want a little yogurt.”
“I want to play in the backyard, so we should skip bath tonight.”
He’s also still quite interested in freestyling when it comes to his bedtime routine. This has evolved to a regular little ritual. Finny and Dad-o do “talk a little bit,” then he and I do our song. After I say goodnight and leave the room, Finny gets up, goes to the bathroom (even though he just did that at bathtime), then goes back to bed. The other night he took it a few steps further and after a few minutes of overhearing him rustling around in his room, I opened the door to find the bathroom lights on, his bedroom lights on, his bedroom door open, and him standing in the middle of the rug, seemingly trying to decide what to do next! We settled on a minute of backrubbing, followed by his committment to staying in bed.
Camo-clad Henry “walks with the big dogs in the tall grass,” so to speak–only in our case we’re seeking neighborhood cats (“Gato licking! {slurp!}”).
Downside: Our sewer pipe went haywire, necessitating some expensive driveway surgery (“Double Double, Toilet Trouble!” as Finn declared).
Upside: The boys got a bay window seat to jackhammering plus a garbage truck PLUS a scooper truck! Great morning for tots, or the GREATEST morning?? 🙂
Ever since, the boys have been playing “busy workers” as Henry says. “I’m Adam!” the little guy proclaims, while Finn adds, “I’m Uncle Louie!” (I enjoy imagining my own Uncle Louie being their jackhammering hero.)
When I think back to a little over three years ago, there’s no way I would have ever guessed what my life would be like. Sure, I hoped I would have at least one kid, but there’s just no imagining what motherhood will ultimately be like. I feel so lucky to be the mother of Finny and Henry. They constantly surprise, amaze, and yes, sometimes frustrate me…all of which have expanded and deepened the definition of who I am, and what family means to me. I couldn’t ask for greater gifts than my two boys and my wonderful husband, their Dad-o. I knew soon after meeting him that I wanted him to be the dad to my kids. Viva Dad-o, and viva los Micronaxx!
A recent cosmological discussion at Chez Nack:
Me: “Did you have a good weekend, Finny?”
F: “Yeah!… Are the days hooked together?”
Me: “Yep. The days & nights hook together like train cars.”
F: “Yeah! And they’re pulled by a big engine–a Sky Engine!”
Not to be left out, Henry pointed at a very diffused sun & said, “Look like… big truck!” So now maybe we’ll have a great debate of prime movers, Sky Engines vs. Sky Trucks. 🙂
This weekend was action packed! All four of us drove up to the beautiful redwood forests of Northern California so I could compete in the half-marathon I’d trained for. All three of my guys came to cheer me on and cavort amongst the giant trees.
It was a fantastic weekend. Sunday was race day, and it couldn’t have been any better. The sun was shining, the air was cool, and the course, along the famous Avenue of the Giants, was beautiful. My training paid off, and I finished the race even faster than my target pace. I felt great almost the entire race, only starting to feel tired and a bit sore during the last couple of miles. The last mile went by quickly, with tons of folks from my Team in Training support team cheering me on, and then as I caught a glimpse of John, Finny, and Henry close to the finish line. Here’s a gallery of pics from race day. And for all of you who supported me, both morally and with donations to LLS, your name made it onto my jersey so you were right there with me the entire time!
My experience with Team In Training was fantastic–the training, coaching, support, and inspiration of our honorees made for a truly memorable experience. It just couldn’t have been any better, and I am proud to have participated on behalf of blood cancer patients and their families, whose lives and experiences are affected by the research, time, money, and support they receive from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Back when we decided Finny was big enough to sleep in his big-boy bed, we were absolutely amazed that once he was tucked in for his nap or for the night, he stayed in there and just slept. There were zero attempts at sneaking out of his room, or sleeping in chairs, or on the floor. He loved his bed, and like his mom, he loved his sleep, so it has always been smooth sailing when it comes to bedtime.
Of course, nothing lasts forever…Lately Finny has been keenly interested in finding out what’s going on outside his room after he goes to bed.
Visit #1: It started when he simply wasn’t sleepy at bedtime, so after about an hour of chatting and singing to himself in bed, he got up to use the bathroom. We heard him shuffling around in the bathroom and decided to see what he would do next. Sure enough, a little blond head appeared behind the door, grinning at us, asking us what we were doing. (We were slumped on the couch watching mindless, TV! What else would we be doing at 9:15pm on a Tuesday?) John got up, escorted Finny back to bed, and chatted with him in the dark while rubbing his little back for awhile. Eventually, Finny fell asleep.
Visit #2: Â Once again Finny proclaimed he wasn’t sleepy, and appeared behind the bathroom door again, gently asking if one of us would rub his back, as he was sure that would help him sleep. I went in, we sang, I rubbed the back, and he went to sleep a little while later.
Visit #3: The next night, John and I went upstairs to play Scrabble while we watched TV, so we turned all the lights out downstairs (except for the nightlight in the hall). We were both expecting our small visitor, and were curious to see if he’d figure out we were upstairs. Answer: Yep! We heard his bedroom door open, his little footfalls on the steps, and saw him peek around our bedroom door. He sauntered in with a casual “What are you guys doing?”, checked out what was on TV, and acted as if he might stay awhile! The “back to bed” drill was enacted again.
Visit #4: We thought everything was great–hadn’t heard a peep from Finny after he went to bed, so we went upstairs and went to sleep. At some point in the deep dark middle of the night, I awoke to find him standing right in front of my face, waving a Kleenex around, calmly asking for help blowing his nose. A bit freaked out, I complied, and he took himself back to bed. The following day we discussed his ability to blow and wipe off his own nose without having to come all the way upstairs to ask me for help. He replied “I will never ever do that again.” I clarified that he should definitely come upstairs if anything was wrong–like he didn’t feel good, or was scared, or couldn’t sleep, but not just for nose-blowing.
Visit #5: Last night, Finny went to bed on time, we sang our song and turned out the lights. 12 seconds later he appeared in the kitchen to tell me he wasn’t tired yet and couldn’t sleep. I laughed and said he hadn’t even really tried yet, and to please go back in. 15 minutes later when John arrived from picking up grown-up take-out food, out pops Finny, asking for some of Dad-o’s trademark “talk a little bit” and backrubbing, which he was confident would help him sleep. Â That was the last we heard from him.
I wonder what he’ll come up with tonight!
“You call Mom-O ‘Peanut,'” noted Finn the other day, “and she calls you ‘Peanut,’ and sometimes she calls you ‘Beh Beh’!” (A few days earlier I’d read him a note to me that Margot left, signed, “Love you, Beh Beh” (as in “baby”).) Henry immediately chimed in with “Love you, Beh Beh!,” and now he inserts it as a total non-sequitur in other conversations. I caught one such episode in the tub the other night. Press the gray arrow to hear it:
[audio:http://www.jnack.com/micronaxx/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/LoveYouBehBeh.mp3|titles=LoveYouBehBeh]
The eldest Micronack has suffered a significant loss this week. Sadly, while we were cavorting on the beach on Easter Sunday, Finny’s Thomas engineer hat got lost. We’re not even really sure when it happened–we just know that it was super windy that afternoon, and as I was changing Finny out of his cold, soaking wet clothes into some dry ones, the hat disappeared in the blustery chaos. It’s not just Finny who’s bummed out. We are all sad. That hat is just as much a part of Finny as his buddy Leo! No exaggeration, he’s worn it all day every day for almost a year. There was some justified frowning and pouting from our boy on the way home, and Dad-o and I had to start thinking about how we would replace his cherished cap.
We found a decent substitute online, and ordered it right away. It’s not exactly the same, but it does have Thomas on the front and the railroad crossing sign on the sides. As Finny and I were discussing our trip to the beach last night at bedtime, I asked him what his favorite part of the day was. He enthusiastically replied “going into the water!,” and then quickly and somberly followed up with “But losing my Thomas hat was not so good.” I agreed with him, and assured him that we’d found a new one and it should arrive in the mail within the next few days. I said “It’s not exactly like your old one, but I think you’ll like it.” He looked at me, smiled, and said, “I think I’ll like it, too.”
The upside is that we get to enjoy the rare treat of seeing Finny’s beautiful blond wavy hair until the new hat arrives. 🙂
Yesterday our guys experienced their first taste (literally & figuratively) of the ocean! Henry has been insistently talking about “seaside” (prominently featured in a Thomas story), so it was great to experience the real thing. We visited Natural Bridges State Beach with young pals Cyrus & Hazel, their parents Michael & Juliana, and their visiting friends Konrad, Lisa, and young Max. The boys had a ball wading (with assistance) into the onrushing surf, and though their jaws were chattering (“I’m a helicopter! AhBaBaBaBa…” shivered Finn), we had to drag them out for periodic drying/warming sessions.
Here’s our little gallery, kicking off with Henry’s “Young Man and the Sea” routine.
Boy oh boy, has our little Henry started to bloom! Before I get to the good part, I will back up a little bit…For the past few weeks he’s been one heck of a cranky tot–crying and shrieking at the drop of a hat, even throwing himself on the floor, prostrate, kicking his feet about the most minor incidents. He’s always been a little, shall we say, demanding, but he’d really been taking it to a new level.
Now, I am happy to report, we can see that our little G-Man has really turned a corner, and maybe all the drama and cranking around was just a way for him to show his frustration about what he wanted to be doing and saying but couldn’t quite put together yet. He’s really talking up a storm these days, using nouns, verbs, and even adjectives and adverbs! A few weeks ago, if he wanted something, he might have just said “Ollie!” and started crying. Now, he says “Dad-o get Ollie, please!” or “Get Ollie now?*” This is so exciting for us, and I can’t adequately convey just how much. The fact that he’s able to string words together and express himself is so much nicer than the constant whining and crying that we’d been dealing with. Henry seems to be so much happier, too. He’s smiling a lot more, he’s noticeably more relaxed, and he’s enjoying communicating with his big brother (exclaiming “Toe Party!!!” in the bathtub as he grabs Finny’s toes).
Another fun development is that of Henry entering the realm of the abstract. His little imagination is starting to fire up, and results in him claiming “I’m a squirrel! I’m Thomas! I’m Penny (the Pig character in one of his books)!” Even when Finny’s trying to get him to play along with one of his games, Henry stands up for himself. For instance, Finny will try to make us all quails, and give us quail names**, and when he says to Henry “You’re Chump (the quail)”, Henry replies “I’m a squirrel!”
Regarding Henry’s latest achievements, as Finny might say, “Hooray for Henry! Extra huggies and smooches!”
[* It’s so helpful that he’s started clarifying things by adding “Now.” Oh really, Hen? Your flopping down & screeching were so ambiguous. 😉
** For posterity: The quails are Pump, Dump, and Chump. Chump is the welder who has a little mask & torch. (Yes, there’s a *very* elaborate backstory there…) –J.]
This is your captain speaking. Please, remain calm. Air sickness bags are conveniently located in the seat pocket in front of you. Now please, sit back and enjoy flying the Micronaxx Skies!
Captured yesterday at the Hiller Aviation Museum. (Click for a larger version.)
Finn was rocking some major hat hair this evening, and we compared his ‘do that of a horned owl. He wanted to inspect it one more time before it got washed away, and as we lacked a mirror, I fired up my phone’s video camera. Check out the results, including a rhythmic bead-popping duet (sort of the lowest-key Stomp performance ever):
Little Hen is, let’s say, not shy in expressing his wishes, especially now that he can toss some words around. Lately he conveys his desire to be held by saying, “Dad-O, hold you??*” We’re trying to teach him to have a little patience, but he’s wily: Seeking to draw me nearer his high chair, he’ll offer to pet us. Example:
H: “Pet… Dad-O??”
Me: “Uh… you want to pet me?”
H: “Nah” (meaning “Yah”).
Me: “Uh, okay,” cautiously extending an arm.
H: (seizing the moment & the arm) “Dad-O, hold you??”
He can be trying, this kid, especially as he tends to burst into tears (which he helpfully notes as “Cryin’?! Fussin’?!”) if gratification is delayed. Ah, but then he can be so nice: As we’ve sung in the dark at bedtime the last few nights, he’s combined elements of just-read Pat the Bunny, caressing my stubbly throat & chin and saying, “Pet, Dad-O… soft, face…” What a guy, what a guy; I think we’ll keep him. 🙂
*Nearly every phrase features little pauses, then rises with the tone of an urgent, somewhat pained question.
G-Man gets ecstatic for fro-yo. 🙂
