Micronaxx

The Nack family has welcomed a new Buddy in Blanketude! Our little Henry has finally bonded with his own little soft blankie buddy. As you know, Finn latched onto Leo, his little buddy, at about 7 or 8 months old. Henry never needed a pacifier or any kind of soothing tools to get to sleep–he found his thumb very early on and just pacified himself. Lately, though, Henry’s been protesting quite a bit when we lay him down in the crib–like he doesn’t want to be left alone (although he makes it clear he does not want to be held!).

Luckily for us, back when Henry was brand new, I preemptively picked up a trio of little owl blankies made by the same folks that created our beloved Leo(s). I decided to try offering one, dubbed “Ollie” by Dad-o, to Henry last week when he was starting to get upset about being put in the crib. Boy oh boy did that do the trick! As soon as he grabbed onto Ollie and rubbed Ollie’s little face into his own, he calmed right down and went down without another peep. It’s so incredibly sweet to see how happy Henry gets when he clutches his little friend and cuddles up in the crib.

Finn has taken to “correcting” my pronunciations of various words, carefully and patiently sounding them out so I can hear the “right” way. Examples:

• I say “Carousel;” he says “CARROT-sell!”
• I say “Lanterns;” he says “LAMP-turns!”

More as Dad-O’s education proceeds. 😉

There’s no telling what hilarity is going to ensue when Finny starts chatting with us over dinner. Tonight he was enjoying a bowl of oatmeal with chopped dried apricots (quickly dubbed “oopricoots” by our little guy) when he spied me grabbing a miniature brownie from a package on the counter. Ever vigilant, he asked me what I was eating. Instead of trying to wade through the details of describing a miniature brownie, I simply called it a “muffin.”

Seeing that the “muffin” in question was chocolate, Finny declared “All done with dinner! Finny would like a muffin!” I told him he needed to finish his oatmeal and oopricoots, and then we’d talk about having some muffin. He wasn’t really going for it, so I suggested that we count 10 more bites of oatmeal, and if he ate all ten, then he could have the muffin. For laughs, I told him we’d count backwards, from 10 down to one.

Following is a dramatic retelling of the countdown.

M: “Ok, big lion-bite! that’s 10”

F: “Now muffin!”

M: “Well, not yet, we have 9 more bites to go. Nine! Way to go!”

F: “Uh-huh, muffin.”

M: “We’re still doing oatmeal. Eight! Seven!”

F: “Now muffin!”

M: “Not yet, six more bites. Six!”

F: “All done with oatmeal! Muffin!”

M: “Okay, what number comes before six?”

F: “Muffin!”

M: “Five…then what’s next? Not three but…”

F: “Muffin!”

M: “Well I was shooting for ‘4’, but now we’re at three. Three more..”

F: “Finny want that muffin!”

He made his way valiantly to the last bite, at which point he was richly rewarded with the muffin. It disappeared into his boca with nary a crumb remaining!

Our little Quique (a nickname for Enrique) had his 9-month checkup today. He was an absolute dream at Dr. S’s office while we waited for the poking, prodding, and shots. He currently clocks in at 22 lbs. 10 oz., and 28 inches tall. That makes him a little smaller than his big bro at the same age. He’s got eight chompers with more starting to make their way to the top–the doc said she could see that his back molar area was a bit swollen already.

Dr. S. asked if he responds to his name, but I said that I didn’t think so, based on the fact that we have about a million nicknames for him–he’s probably not too sure what his real name is! But he’s on track with all the other milestones for his age–proto-crawling, clapping, pincer grasp, babbling and playing peek-a-boo, and starting to wave.

We wrapped up our day with a session on the front porch settee, watching the world go by in the early evening. Henry was placid as could be, quietly observing everything that crossed his path. We’ll go back to Dr. S. for his 12-month checkup sooner than we know it!

Dateline San Jose: I’m pleased to report that Dad-O and the boys remain alive and well during our first Mom-free weekend!

Yesterday we took Margot to the airport so that she could join her pals in Seattle for a jazz fest & some good times. Finn is convinced she’s off to see “Pilates ladies” plus “Hip Cat and Minnie,” jazz-loving characters from one of his books.

The passage of time was helped immeasurably by the presence of our pals Adolfo, Romina, and 18-month-old Bruno, visiting from Buenos Aires. The weather being perfect, we enjoyed a park picnic with “Meat Hut” sandwiches and later a trip to our favorite pizza place. Bruno was bowled over by all the Thomas paraphernalia at our house, the park, and Target, waving like a little madman at the trains. He dubbed Finn’s chocolate milk bottle “Coca (Cola),” so Finn & I have been playing “Coca, coca!” for the last 24 hours. The three boys even got special fireman sticker-badges from the crew who backed their big red rig up to the sandwich shop.

Adolfo & Romina are the South American Margot & me when it comes to playing with words, and they always refer to Henry as “Henry Seamus”–though not knowing Irish pronunciations (how would they?), they’ve been pronouncing the latter “Sea-Moose.” Conjures up quite a visual, doesn’t it? And when I I told them that “Seamus” means “James,” they had big fun dubbing the little guy “Enrique Jaime,” saying the name makes him a shoo-in to star on a Mexican telenovela. 🙂

In any case, the boys are just stirring from their naps, and Margot should be touching down in a few hours. We can’t wait to see & share all the photos Adolfo snapped.

“I once was lost but now am found…” — Leo, Lion Buddy to the Stars

Finny, Dad-O, and our beloved, dirty-tailed little friend had quite a scare last Saturday. The three of us had headed to local hardware store/child sensory bombardment theater OSH, dubbed “GOSH” by Finn. After spending an inordinate (but delightful) amount of time inspecting sprinklers (“That a little windmill! Make it turn-turn-turn!”), spoingy hoses (“That look like Mom-O!”–presumably in the hair department), and more, we departed to get wood at Home Depot. Well, Finn and I departed, that is. Getting out of the car, I got that gut-turning feeling: Where is the little buddy??

Back we drove as fast as the Ocho would carry us, making a beeline for the shopping carts (no Leo) and Customer Service (no sign of him). Having a team of backup “stunt Leos” strategically cached around our house, I’d already begun prepping Finn with a story about how “maybe a dude brought him back to our house,” calling Margot to prepare a swap. We retraced our steps, checked everywhere, but no dice. And then, at the last minute… our cashier said she’d seen someone throw Leo in the garbage!

An lo, there was much rejoicing! Finn gave Leo a giant “skeez,” hugging his buddy all the way home. Given the little guy’s condition, we did arrange a quick swap (“Oh, Leo has to take a bath”) to a cleaner version. Whew–all’s well that ends well. And thanks again, cashier-lady, wherever you may be.

We just wrapped up a lovely evening with the boys. Apparently it was Nack-Boy Meltdown Theater™ earlier this afternoon, so our nanny prescribed a late afternoon nap for both Henry and Finny. They slept from 4:15 until I got home around 5:15, and when they got up, both were absolutely in top form. Finny was happy and keeping himself busy, and Henry was the most pacific he’s been in ages. Super cuddly and babbly and 100% nice-to-be-around.

We decided to go out to the pizza place for dinner since bedtime would be getting pushed back, and we all had a great time. Finn was excited to watch the pizza man squash the dough in the press, and also thrilled to wash down his pizza with a little chocolate gelato afterwards. Henry remained cool and calm the whole time, quietly eating his dinner and observing the goings on. It was such a nice way to spend the evening. Now Henry’s in bed with nary a peep of protest, and Finn’s on his way, having just finished his bath.