Royal "They"

Max in full armor

Ever heard of the Royal "We"? You know, how really important people, such as kings, can speak about themselves in the plural form? Well the other day, Max must have decided he is a super important person, because he had a whole conversation about himself in third-person plural! Often before he has spoken of himself as "You" (as in, 'You want some chicken for dinner!') and he almost always narrates his actions, but this was new to me. We were finishing lunch and it was time for dessert. As I watched him eat his bar, he began narrating (with much gusto) what was happening. It went something like this:

"They drank some MILK! They drank it all GONE! They were THIRSTY! Then they ate some PIE! And it was GOOD! And they were HUUN-GRY!"

All hail King Max!

Blind Date

Max had his first play date in our neighborhood yesterday! There are lots of young families in our parish with stay-at-home moms, and our priest got us in contact with a few. I had been playing phone tag with one woman, and we finally made plans to get together.

We are not naturally early risers, as you all know. We planned to get to their house between 8:30 and 9:00, which meant that I had to get up before 7:30 to get myself and the boys ready in time. Yuck. I know that doesn't sound early to some, but we are all naturally night owls and Max will sleep in til at least 8:30 most mornings if I let him. But amazingly, we were up, dressed and ready to go by 8:25!

8:25 am

We drove less than six blocks to meet Jennifer and her family: a six-year-old boy, twin four-year-old boys and an eight-month-old girl. What a beautiful family! She was so nice, and the kids were sweet and polite. Max had a couple of rough moments ("Want to play the PIANO!") but overall did very well for being a 2 year old in a brand new space.

Jennifer is really connected to NET ministries, an evangelization program that started in the Twin Cities, and she informed me that many of the NET "graduates" end up settling in West St. Paul. They want to stay near each other to have a support system and to let their kids grow up together. That means there are tons of young Catholic families within blocks of us! We knew we loved the area, but we had no idea when we signed our mortgage papers how great the community would be!

Boys to Men

Watching Daddy shovel

Since buying a house, it seems that there have been an endless number of projects ahead of us! Along with the projects, there is also the upkeep- of the yard, the house, the garage, the sidewalk. Our to-do list will never be complete, but it's fun seeing things come together a little at a time.

Assembling the patio furniture

I am so blessed to have a hubby who has tackled all of our projects, making and keeping our home beautiful. And he has done so with a certain little tag-along underfoot the whole time! Since the move, Max has discovered Daddy's tools; he is so attached it's almost as if he can smell them! The minute Paul pulls out a screwdriver or a shovel, Max appears out of nowhere to "help" him. His newest love is the lawnmower. Every time Paul opens the back door to step outside, Max trails him, saying, "Daddy's gonna mow!""Sanding" the path

As a woman, I've never quite had that fascination with tools. I remember mowing the lawn only once growing up (thanks Tony and Ben!) and I was nervous the whole time because it was loud and had a large blade. I think the exact things that scared me (noise and destructive capabilities) draw Max closer. The other day, Paul was in the garage setting up his saw to cut our counter top, with his usual audience of one. He turned on the saw unexpectedly, and Max bolted from the garage, slamming the door behind him! But his curiosity got the best of him and minutes later he was creeping back toward the door, holding my hand, to investigate this new creature.

Installing the counter

When it was time for installation, he had to be right there in the mix, helping Aaron hold up the counter while Paul screwed in the brackets. I love that he's such a little boy. I love that he wants to be just like his Daddy!

Max and I had a rough day yesterday. He's reached the stage where his response to everything is "No!" We even try giving him either-or choices: Would you like this or this? "No!" Yesterday morning was just peppered with no's. He even said it when I hadn't asked him anything! Beyond that, he actually tried pulling Lucian off of my lap twice while I was feeding him, and demanded that I put Lucian in his crib so that I could hold Max instead.

Frustrated, I put him down for his nap, mainly to get him out of my hair. Then I started thinking... maybe he's just feeling left out lately. He used to have my lap to himself, now he has to share it with this little guy who showed up out of nowhere and eats like a pig! He used to get carried whenever he wanted, but now my arms are usually occupied.

So I decided to bake cookies. When Max woke up, the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies greeted him from downstairs. Lucian was sound asleep and he had me all to himself! He had two cookies, then I asked him if he wanted to dance with me.

"Yes!"

We put on Vampire Weekend and danced and spun until Daddy came home. He found us sitting on the floor because I was too dizzy to stand anymore.

It was good for us to have a few minutes to ourselves. It happens so rarely now, I understand how it could be tough on him. Will we do it again soon?

Yes.

Extreme Makeover: Kitchen Edition

As most of you know, when we bought our house the kitchen was, well, less-than-stellar.

We were happy with most everything else about the house, and we decided that a few quick fix-ups would make the kitchen good enough. Of course, a few quick fix-ups turned into a complete gutting of the kitchen: new cupboards, new floor, new counters, and a space for a dishwasher. In November, thanks to Paul Sr, we finished the lion's share of the kitchen renovations, but that dishwasher space stayed vacant and our plans for a butcher block/breakfast bar seemed that they would never become a reality... until now.

Behold... our finished kitchen!!

No longer do I have to explain when I'm showing people around the house, "This is where the dishwasher will go, and over here we're planning a breakfast bar." It will be almost strange to have the space speak for itself now.

I love our new home, and I love the memories we're creating here.

Three short stories to brighten your day

A couple of days ago, Max saw a puppy with a bone on one of Lucian's outfits. It inspired him to pretend that he was a dog, so he barked at me and then asked for a bone to eat. I assured him that he would rather have toast for breakfast than a bone, so after some consideration, he compromised and asked for a "toast bone". Yummy!

Max with his "Toast Bone" and sunhat (which he insisted on wearing inside all day)

Yesterday as we were walking down the stairs to the basement, Max asked me for some "bunny tape". I've never heard of bunny tape, have you? Then he pointed out the duct tape on the landing. "Do you mean Duct Tape, honey?" I asked. Of course! "Duck tape"... he just had the wrong cute little animal.

A duck

Then in the basement, he asked to see something on the shelf across the room. "Wanna see (insert gibberish word here)!" he said. I had no idea what he was asking for. He repeated himself four or five times before he finally marched across the room and pointed at a knick-knack and said, "That thing, right there." Am I already getting attitude from my sweet little two-year-old?

Max with his teddy bear, TeeTee

Congratulations!

Well done, everyone! All of the responses I got for my little quiz had all five pictures identified correctly. I'm glad to know that my boys have their own unique features and can be told apart. It's hard to hide Lucian's monster cheeks, and I was told the two have very different eyes.



For those of you who didn't send me your answers, here are the correct responses so you can see how you did:

1. Max
2. Max
3. Lucian
4. Max
5. Lucian

Well played, let's do it again sometime!