Socks and shoes and uh-oh!

Overheard one morning:

Jonah: What I really want to do is go up on the roof.

Matt (who was, at the time, naked): Well, we need to put some clothes on if we're going to do that.

Jonah: All we need is socks and shoes!

Ava's first word was uh-oh. (Is that a word?) She has now progressed to hi, cheese, and blackberry. Or maybe it's blueberry. We're not totally sure. She can also tell you what a duck says.

Jonah has taken to calling himself John. He claims he is John from They Might Be Giants, but he won't tell me which one. When I ask who the other John is, he says, "John is singing, and I'm the other John."

I'm knee-deep in my first class. I'm doing well (2 As so far!), but it's definitely been an adjustment. I love being in school, but I hate the papers/ presentations/ other assignments--which, I have discovered, in business schools are called "deliverables." I used to say I wanted to be a professional student, but I think that really, I'd prefer to get paid to audit classes, so I can avoid the "deliverables." Anyone know of a career like that?

Video Bonanza

Okay, this is a truly self-indulgent post. But I think the grandmothers might enjoy it.

Video #1: Here's Ava, on the road to becoming a little chatterbox. This one is a few weeks old, and she's already even more talkative than you'll see here.



Video #2: This is primarily for Tiffany. Here's Jonah, enjoying his guitar. This time, without turning the camera sideways. :) Next time I post video, I'll get him "grooving" and singing "Dancing Queen."

In Which the Monkey Begins to Resemble His Mother

Monkey has always been pretty easy-going, but lately, he has really started to assert his own opinions and show his stubborn streak. Here's an excerpt of a recent conversation I had with him:

Me: "Jonah, can you please do [insert task or activity here]?"
Jonah: "No, I cannot." [It's cannot, not can't.]
Me: "Jonah, I think you can."
Jonah: "No, I cannot can!" [Commence screaming, whining, flailing and/or stomping of feet.]

I think part of it is the normal terrible twos stuff, but part of it is also the total and complete upheaval that he's been through over the past 6 weeks.

• We had to say goodbye to our fabulous nanny, Sabine, and our nanny-share partners. Since Amelia's mom had her little sister, and I'm not planning to go back to work full-time, we figured it made more sense for Sabine to work for them once Amelia's mom went back to work.
• I went away for a week.
• Once I got back, we had less than a week before we went away for Thanksgiving.
• Since I got back, day care has been a combination of two part-time babysitters, "emergency" day care at Bright Horizons (a benefit Matt gets from work), and a sporadic day off here and there with Daddy.
• And of course, the baby could come at any time, so we've been trying to prepare him for that. Although I'm not holding my breath, since Jonah was two weeks late!

I stumbled upon an article in the Globe recently about dealing with a three-year-old's specific behavioral issue, and some of the recommendations really struck me. Best of all, the author offered to send anyone who was interested a link to another article she had written that dealt with three-year-old behavior in general. I wrote her for the article, and I think it's really making a difference.

For example, lately, Jonah has been really resisting his bath. It's gotten to the point where he refuses to sit and pretty much screams the whole time. So last night, when he started to yell about how he did not want to take a bath, I thought I'd try some of the article's techniques. I squatted down at his level, and told him that while he had to take a bath, he had the choice of reading a story before his bath, or after his bath.

It worked like a charm, although he made up a new choice, that fortunately was a perfectly acceptable alternative. He grabbed a book off the table, and told me he wanted to read now, and then walked directly into the bathroom with the book. So I followed him in, and while Matt gave him his bath, I read the book to him. He got right into his tub, sat down with no struggles, and listened, laughed, and splashed - with only a minor screaming bout when it was time to rinse his hair.

What a relief! Now if we can just reacclimate him to the bath before his sister is born...because I don't think we'll be able to continue to do bathtime as a two-parent job!

Opening Day and Grapes

It's opening day!



So what do all good Monkeys do?





They put on their Red Sox gear!



(Thanks, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Brian, Samantha, and Landon!)



And here's a peek at one of Monkey's favorite foods.

Interview with a (Monkey) Toddler

Monkey is talking all the time now, and I finally get how it is that parents can understand the seemingly incomprehensible ramblings of their small children. I tried to get him to perform his tricks for the camera, and the (very mixed) results are below. Enjoy!

Ahoy, matey!

I'm sorry I don't have a photo to accompany this little monkey tidbit.

Monkey received a Halloween book from his Nana this year, and he's recently decided that it's time to read about Halloween. The book is one of those baby books that just has pictures of different things along with the names, and no actual story. To make it more interesting, we tell him what the things in the pictures do, or say, or point out what color they are.

One of the photos is of a kid dressed as a pirate. When we get to that page, I always say, "Here's a pirate! What does a pirate say? Arrrrgh!" Well, now Monkey's gotten to that age where he's learning to repeat everything we say. So I can add one more to the list*:

What does a cow say, Monkey? Moo!
What does a duck say, Monkey? Quack!
What does a doggie say, Monkey? Woof woof!

What does a pirate say, Monkey? Arrrrgh!

*Note: this list is not comprehensive. Monkey knows what lots of things say!