Micronaxx

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.

The onslaught of verbal creativity at the Nack house continues to pick up steam! Both boys’ abilities and imaginations are really blooming this spring.

Henry has started to truly enjoy being read to, and has abandoned his old practice of bailing out halfway through a book (or even a page). Most of the time he hangs in there for the entire story, although periodically he’ll grab the book and try to shut it with a pre-emptory “The End!” His top two book requests are: “Moo! Moo! Brown!” (Seuss’s Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?), and “Seaside?!” (Calling All Engines, a Thomas book that includes references to the seaside). Henry’s also starting to string together phrases, and every day adds at least one or two to his repetoire, which includes “Hello…Finny!”, “Mom-o’s yogurt”, “Dad-o hold you?”, “Bye bye doggie!”, “Come on, Finnster!”, and “…like it!” (which actually means “I don’t like it.” A favorite at meal times.)

For his part, Finny keeps cranking out comic gold. After climbing up a little climbing wall and sliding down its adjacent slide, Finny declared “Now I’m really a rockstar!” At snack time yesterday, he dutifully noted “I’m really wolfing down these nuts!” He has started calling his brother Henremius (apparently the ancient Roman version of Henry), and has dubbed the little Android-branded robot toy, pictured above, “The Italian.” Not to mention his ongoing fascination with pirates and their names. He is Blackbeard, so he’s appropriately dubbed me “Curlybeard.” At bathtime, the whole family becomes a horde of Bubblebeards! And apparently his new method of grooming involves “polishing” himself with “slop” (aka spit). He is also quite opinionated these days…After being assured that John’s drink at Aqui was juice & not a margarita, he smiled & opined “I think it’s a margarita.”

I swear, we don’t make this stuff up! It’s straight from the birdmens’ mouths!

[One other fun bit: Finn’s taken to narrating his life using language from stories. Once he’s adopted a persona (e.g. Thomas, Lightning McQueen), he might say a sentence normally, then add, “…tooted Thomas,” “…bellowed Lightning,” etc. –J.]