For the past few months Max has been experimenting more and more with how things work. We are constantly peppered with questions about the sky, what is inside our bodies, why the dinosaurs died, why people die (and get older) and yes, the favorite, where do babies come from. Along with this Max has started trying to put together his own models of how and why the world works. These lead to some interesting conversations with somewhat distorted logic. Here are a few of my favorites:
Funny Story 1:
Max: (while staring at a pile of carrot sticks) Mom, I don't like crunchy things.
Greta: And why is that honey?
Max: Because Elliot is my friend and Elliot does not like crunchy things, so I don't like crunchy things either.
Greta: (I figure a good null case should cure this logic) I guess you won't be having any of these chips. They are quite crunchy.
Max: No I can have chips. Elliot likes chips.
Funny Story 2:
Max has some of those glow in the dark stars stuck to the underside of the big bed. He sleeps underneath them and we regularly talk about them before we fall asleep. On one particular occasion, as I was trying not to fall asleep in Max's bed, Max piped up with a new idea....
Max: Mom, I think we should replace those stars with real ones!
Greta: And how are we going to do that?
Max: (looking puzzled) I guess we will just have to grow REALLY tall and then pick one out of the sky.
Greta: Max, stars are big burning balls of fire. Don't you think they will be hot?
Max: We can wear oven mitts.
Funny Story 3: (As retold to me by Angel)
One afternoon Angel was waiting at the bus stop with Max and Darwyn on their way back from a visit to the local museum. Two women from the nearby university were waiting at the same stop. Max sat quietly with Angel occasionally glancing over at the women. Then all of the sudden Max turned toward them an let out and ear shattering dinosaur rawr, complete with little dinosaur arms.
Angel: Max, what are you doing?
Max: I'm making friends.
Angel: We don't usually make friends that way.
Max lapses into silence for a few minutes and then turns back to the women.
Max: Pajamas! (Max pauses for a reaction and the women started laughing). Pajamas!
Angel: Max, what are you doing?
Max: If I make them laugh they will be my friends!
I must admit that I am rather fond of this age. Max has started to branch out a lot in his interests. I am no longer confined to hours and hours of trucks. Max is showing an interest in cooking, crafts, gardening, the natural world and especially in other kids. He is really working hard on social skills and he is becoming quite interested in "making friends". He is delightfully inquisitive and is thrilled with new bits of knowledge. He has also developed a keen interest in learning to read now that he has figured out he will be able to read stories whenever he wants! He can identify all his letters and most of the associated sounds and he and daddy have even started sounding out some words. He was tickled pink the first time this actually worked and he identified a word (with quite a bit of daddy's help). He shows less enthusiasm for math, but I did get him interested in counting dried beans. Oh well.
Max and Darwyn colouring
Monday, September 16, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Visit to Tee's
We recently made the long hike to visit my sister Teela who now lives in Virginia. The kids had a fabulous time with their cousins. Staying at Teela's was like being at a posh cabin in the woods. She is surrounded with 2 acres of beautiful hardwood forest, complete with playground for the kids. It was a short walk down the hill to pools and tennis courts and only a few steps farther to the river. We had a fabulous time canoeing, swimming and hiking all right outside Teela's backdoor! Most of the trip doesn't make for good blogging, but I've included a story about our canoeing expedition. I don't have time to write more! Sorry it isn't more polished....
Canoeing: On the last day of our visit we managed to lug the canoe from Teela's backyard down to the river. When I say 'we', I mean Peff and Gus....although Teela and I offered some direction without which I'm sure they would have been lost.
The river near Teela's winds its way through lovely hardwood forest at a rather leisurely pace, so it is possible to canoe upstream most of the way. On the way up, Teela and I paddled and Gus rode with Darwyn (who could not be trusted to stay sitting on her own). There were a couple of spots with rapids, but the water was shallow, so Gus just climbed out and dragged the canoe through the rapids. We even managed to rescue a shoe floating down stream, which we miraculously returned to its owner when we ran across them farther up the river. They apparently tipped in the rapids. We found this quite amusing as they were small and not very deep and we happily discussed how silly they were as we paddled up stream.
On the way down we had a chance to prove our superiority. Gus once again sat in the middle with the kids while Teela and I manned the paddles. Peff was kayaking near by with Merlin riding on the back of the Kayak. The rapids were not large, but they were difficult to navigate because they were so shallow. It was hard to get the full blade of your paddle in the water, which made steering more of a challenge and if you didn't choose the right route, you would wind up beached (or spilled). As we approached the rapids, Teela yelled out a number of directions to Peff, while I tried to remember the route we took up.
Greta: You have to head in the center of that V Teela....I think that is the way we came...or was it on the other side of the rock.
Teela: Peff! Wait and go behind us. We know the route.
Greta: Was this the place with the overhanging tree?
Teela: Wasn't that down stream?....that is where the other canoe tipped
Greta: (noticing that are pace is picking up rapidly) Yes I think this is definitely the spot with the tree. We need to head for the V.
Teela: I think it is too shallow....we need to go around in on the left side. Peff!! Avoid the V!
Greta: (Yelling) Teela! GO LEFT!
At this point Viola started to cry because everyone was screaming at one another and we were catapulting towards the rapids (but not towards the V or the desired deeper route) in a completely uncontrolled manner. Teela attempted to do a powerful sweep stroke to realign the canoe, but she could only get 1/3 of her paddle in the water, so nothing of note happened. I then attempted to pull the nose over myself with a draw (definitely a bad move) and only succeeded in turning the canoe broadside to the quickly advancing water.
At this point, you are probably wondering what idiot taught Teela and I to canoe. It might be hard to believe that we were actually both raised in canoes. It turns out that did little for our navigation skills, but it did payoff in our ability to balance.
If you have canoed in rapids then you know that hitting them broadside is pretty much game over. If you add three kids to that equation you are guaranteed to tip. But as we hit the rapids Teela and I both threw our weight upstream. The boat lurched down stream and then back up again as Teela and I practically doggy paddled out the upstream side. We stayed up right and the boat became lodged in between a couple of rocks.
Teela: Don't worry Viola. We are having fun.
Actually, we were. In spite of how I have made it sound, the "rapids" were barely a ripple in the water. That is why we thought it was ridiculous that anyone could tip their boat. But we were saved only by a rock and years of riding in canoes. The rapids were so mild, that once we got stuck, everyone just climbed out and we lifted the canoe out from between the rocks. Even Darwyn stood in the rapids with little difficulty. Needless to say, the whole experience was a bit humbling.
And here are some of the best photos from the trip, but if you want to see more photos of lesser quality you can find them here.
Canoeing: On the last day of our visit we managed to lug the canoe from Teela's backyard down to the river. When I say 'we', I mean Peff and Gus....although Teela and I offered some direction without which I'm sure they would have been lost.
The river near Teela's winds its way through lovely hardwood forest at a rather leisurely pace, so it is possible to canoe upstream most of the way. On the way up, Teela and I paddled and Gus rode with Darwyn (who could not be trusted to stay sitting on her own). There were a couple of spots with rapids, but the water was shallow, so Gus just climbed out and dragged the canoe through the rapids. We even managed to rescue a shoe floating down stream, which we miraculously returned to its owner when we ran across them farther up the river. They apparently tipped in the rapids. We found this quite amusing as they were small and not very deep and we happily discussed how silly they were as we paddled up stream.
On the way down we had a chance to prove our superiority. Gus once again sat in the middle with the kids while Teela and I manned the paddles. Peff was kayaking near by with Merlin riding on the back of the Kayak. The rapids were not large, but they were difficult to navigate because they were so shallow. It was hard to get the full blade of your paddle in the water, which made steering more of a challenge and if you didn't choose the right route, you would wind up beached (or spilled). As we approached the rapids, Teela yelled out a number of directions to Peff, while I tried to remember the route we took up.
Greta: You have to head in the center of that V Teela....I think that is the way we came...or was it on the other side of the rock.
Teela: Peff! Wait and go behind us. We know the route.
Greta: Was this the place with the overhanging tree?
Teela: Wasn't that down stream?....that is where the other canoe tipped
Greta: (noticing that are pace is picking up rapidly) Yes I think this is definitely the spot with the tree. We need to head for the V.
Teela: I think it is too shallow....we need to go around in on the left side. Peff!! Avoid the V!
Greta: (Yelling) Teela! GO LEFT!
At this point Viola started to cry because everyone was screaming at one another and we were catapulting towards the rapids (but not towards the V or the desired deeper route) in a completely uncontrolled manner. Teela attempted to do a powerful sweep stroke to realign the canoe, but she could only get 1/3 of her paddle in the water, so nothing of note happened. I then attempted to pull the nose over myself with a draw (definitely a bad move) and only succeeded in turning the canoe broadside to the quickly advancing water.
At this point, you are probably wondering what idiot taught Teela and I to canoe. It might be hard to believe that we were actually both raised in canoes. It turns out that did little for our navigation skills, but it did payoff in our ability to balance.
If you have canoed in rapids then you know that hitting them broadside is pretty much game over. If you add three kids to that equation you are guaranteed to tip. But as we hit the rapids Teela and I both threw our weight upstream. The boat lurched down stream and then back up again as Teela and I practically doggy paddled out the upstream side. We stayed up right and the boat became lodged in between a couple of rocks.
Teela: Don't worry Viola. We are having fun.
Actually, we were. In spite of how I have made it sound, the "rapids" were barely a ripple in the water. That is why we thought it was ridiculous that anyone could tip their boat. But we were saved only by a rock and years of riding in canoes. The rapids were so mild, that once we got stuck, everyone just climbed out and we lifted the canoe out from between the rocks. Even Darwyn stood in the rapids with little difficulty. Needless to say, the whole experience was a bit humbling.
And here are some of the best photos from the trip, but if you want to see more photos of lesser quality you can find them here.
 |
| Merlin risking life and limb to clean the eaves trough. |
 |
| Check out the size of this corn! The people are only for scale. |
 |
| Max is really into gardens. He examined each food crop carefully. |
 |
| She might be reading to Darwyn...more likely she is trying to keep her from taking the book. |
Thursday, August 8, 2013
An Angel at the river
Our new au pair arrived at the beginning of July. His name is Ángel (pronounced AHNG-HEL, but you can call him Angel) and he is from Spain. He accompanied us up to the river on his second weekend with us. The easiest way for us to show him the photos we took of him is to place them in a blog post. Enjoy, everyone.
 |
| Before: chopping wood, Canadian style |
 |
| After: the product of Angel's labour, Canadian style |
Monday, July 15, 2013
That's MY Story
Grandpa Gutoski has taken to telling Max stories in front of the campfire. For the adults that get stuck listening to the story, the experience is painful, but Max LOVES it. He cuddles up on Grandpa's lap and begs him for a story, while I sit nearby grumbling that it is already 1 hour past bedtime. Grandpa has no regard for bedtime, and is at the mercy of his grandson's whims and so he launches into yet another story.
Most of grandpa's stories are knock offs from the well known "Magic Tree house" series, in which the main characters travel to new places inside a magic tree house filled with books. They simply open the book to the page they are interested in, wish to be there and viola! And so grandpa begins his tale with a magic tree house built on our very own river property. Max climbs the ladder of the magic tree house and...
Grandpa: Do you know what he saw when he climbed in?
Max: TRUCKS!
Grandpa: no, books.
Max: But I want it to be trucks.
Grandpa: no its books.
Max: But grandpa, I like trucks.
Grandpa: We can't have trucks in the tree house. It's books.
At this Max bursts into tears, sobbing over and over "but I wanted trucks!"
Grandpa: (exasperated) Fine! There are trucks AND books. But the trucks are small.
Max accepts this and Grandpa continues with his story. In the story, Max opens a book about a construction site and wishes that he were there, the treehouse starts to spin and
Max: Grandpa, I want to see dinosaurs.
Grandpa: I thought you liked trucks.
Max: I also like dinosaurs.
Grandpa: Well, we are going to a construction site.
Before Max can interrupt again he finds himself in a deserted construction site exploring heavy machinery. Before long, a construction worker appears and chases Max through the construction site yelling something like "stay away from my trucks". But Max jumps into a bulldozer and starts to drive away and then...
Max: A DINOSAUR comes!
Grandpa: No. There are no dinosaurs...we are at a CONSTRUCTION SITE.
Max: (ignoring grandpa) And its a T-rex and he grabs the construction worker and --
Grandpa: THIS IS MY STORY!!!!
And so it goes....as a pair, Grandpa and Max tell a very entertaining story. My only regret is that I did not get it on video.
Most of grandpa's stories are knock offs from the well known "Magic Tree house" series, in which the main characters travel to new places inside a magic tree house filled with books. They simply open the book to the page they are interested in, wish to be there and viola! And so grandpa begins his tale with a magic tree house built on our very own river property. Max climbs the ladder of the magic tree house and...
Grandpa: Do you know what he saw when he climbed in?
Max: TRUCKS!
Grandpa: no, books.
Max: But I want it to be trucks.
Grandpa: no its books.
Max: But grandpa, I like trucks.
Grandpa: We can't have trucks in the tree house. It's books.
At this Max bursts into tears, sobbing over and over "but I wanted trucks!"
Grandpa: (exasperated) Fine! There are trucks AND books. But the trucks are small.
Max accepts this and Grandpa continues with his story. In the story, Max opens a book about a construction site and wishes that he were there, the treehouse starts to spin and
Max: Grandpa, I want to see dinosaurs.
Grandpa: I thought you liked trucks.
Max: I also like dinosaurs.
Grandpa: Well, we are going to a construction site.
Before Max can interrupt again he finds himself in a deserted construction site exploring heavy machinery. Before long, a construction worker appears and chases Max through the construction site yelling something like "stay away from my trucks". But Max jumps into a bulldozer and starts to drive away and then...
Max: A DINOSAUR comes!
Grandpa: No. There are no dinosaurs...we are at a CONSTRUCTION SITE.
Max: (ignoring grandpa) And its a T-rex and he grabs the construction worker and --
Grandpa: THIS IS MY STORY!!!!
And so it goes....as a pair, Grandpa and Max tell a very entertaining story. My only regret is that I did not get it on video.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Leora and Anwyn visit Waterloo
Max's cousins Leora and Anwyn recently came to visit us in Waterloo. They didn't bring their dad, so I don't have many photos to show for it. We did take a couple of cute photos at the strawberry farm:
I also have a nice album of pictures from our trip to the river on the Canada Day long weekend. Unfortunately, there are not any pictures of Leora because she was the one behind the camera ALL WEEKEND LONG. She claims she was doing her dad proud!
 |
| Check out those eyes! |
 |
| I know this one is sideways....it is the right way up on my computer, but for some reason, blogger wants it sideways. |
 |
| I had to force Leo and Anwyn into this picture, but I still maintain that it is cute. |
 |
| I also forced everyone into this well. Leo and Anwyn complained loudly the whole time about how their dad didn't like staged photos. Ironically, the end result is remarkably "unstaged". |
I also have a nice album of pictures from our trip to the river on the Canada Day long weekend. Unfortunately, there are not any pictures of Leora because she was the one behind the camera ALL WEEKEND LONG. She claims she was doing her dad proud!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Cookie Monster
Max has always approached cookies with casual indifference. He prefers them to zucchini soup, but if there is a truck to be had, the cookie is definitely a second class citizen. This was concrete evidence that Max really couldn't have any of my genes....he must have got the recessive half.
Darwyn, on the other hand, is her mommy's girl. She tried a cookie for the first time a few months ago, and since then has developed a healthy obsession. Unlike most of her other words, she pronounces cookie quite clearly so as not to be misunderstood. She has generalized the word to mean "that good thing", but is instantly aware if there are cookies to be had. If I decide to bake cookies, I better not mention it or she will hang off my leg the entire time demanding "cookie...cookie...cookie". The conversation even degrades into iterations of cookie if she only sees the bag of chocolate chips. That's my girl.
Here are a couple of cute videos though they don't accurately convey her obsession!
Darwyn, on the other hand, is her mommy's girl. She tried a cookie for the first time a few months ago, and since then has developed a healthy obsession. Unlike most of her other words, she pronounces cookie quite clearly so as not to be misunderstood. She has generalized the word to mean "that good thing", but is instantly aware if there are cookies to be had. If I decide to bake cookies, I better not mention it or she will hang off my leg the entire time demanding "cookie...cookie...cookie". The conversation even degrades into iterations of cookie if she only sees the bag of chocolate chips. That's my girl.
Here are a couple of cute videos though they don't accurately convey her obsession!
The best pest in the garden
I couldn't decide whether to put this post on the family blog or my personal blog. Eventually my personal blog won, mostly because it is a little short on posts. For those of you that don't follow my personal blog, you might be interested in this cute story about the kids. Check it out here:
http://hopelesshomesteader.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-best-pest-in-garden.html
http://hopelesshomesteader.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-best-pest-in-garden.html
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Does Darwyn look like mommy?
There has been much discussion around Waterloo about whether Darwyn resembles her me or not. Given her blond hair and blue eyes most are inclined to claim that she looks like Gus (although she is not the exact duplicate that Max is). Anyway, for the benefit of those who did not know me as a toddler I have uploaded a few photos. My apologies for the poor quality of the photos of me (they are old) and the repeat photos of Darwyn.
Baby Darwyn (to refresh your memory):
Baby Greta:
+and+kitten.jpg)
May photos (and a video)
Nothing much to say, just a few cute photos and a video. Enjoy!
 |
| Grandpa cutting Max's hair. That's a little short Grandpa. |
 |
| Max "makes coffee" for everyone at the river |
 |
| The can crusher |
 |
| Max helps |
 |
| Darwyn helps |
 |
| Kathy, Denny and Darwyn |
 |
| Same picture with cool lighting |
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Planet Earth for the whole family
So far Darwyn has shown absolutely no interest in television, but she loves animals. Last night we decided to try watching planet earth as a family. We've done this before with Max and it works well as long as we fast forward through any scenes without animals. To our surprise, Darwyn was FASCINATED by planet earth.
She was so excited by the animals that she kept point and bouncing up and down on my lap while shrieking words that no one else could understand.
At one point we were watching a herd of gazelles grazing. A storm began to blow in and a flash of lightening hit the savanna starting a grass fire. The gazelles began to flee. Both Darwyn and Max were glued to the television. Darwyn perched on the edge of my lap, her little body wound up with tension. She looked from the fire to me and then back again. "Fire" I told her. Finally she pointed at the TV and declared "uh-oh...." as though she thought I had not fully grasped the gravity of the situation. I wish I had it on video...
Max was equally interested in planet earth, although he was more concerned by the displays of animals eating other animals...something he hasn't really understood until now. I still have mixed feelings about whether we should have let him see those scenes, but it is the truth about how nature works and he has been slowly starting to discover it.
Anyway, at one point a fox attacked a goose colony and made off with some goslings. Max was not impressed.
Max (emphatically): I want to HIT the fox! If I were in planet earth I would hit the fox and then he couldn't get the goslings!
Then the fox brought the goslings home to his den of fox pups that were hungry and needed to eat the goslings to survive. You could almost see the conflict play across Max's face.
At another heart breaking moment we watched a wolf take down a baby caribou. Max observed this and then turned to me and declared very gravely "That caribou's mommy is not going to like that..." Staring into the face of my own 3-year-old, his words really packed a lot of punch.
She was so excited by the animals that she kept point and bouncing up and down on my lap while shrieking words that no one else could understand.
At one point we were watching a herd of gazelles grazing. A storm began to blow in and a flash of lightening hit the savanna starting a grass fire. The gazelles began to flee. Both Darwyn and Max were glued to the television. Darwyn perched on the edge of my lap, her little body wound up with tension. She looked from the fire to me and then back again. "Fire" I told her. Finally she pointed at the TV and declared "uh-oh...." as though she thought I had not fully grasped the gravity of the situation. I wish I had it on video...
Max was equally interested in planet earth, although he was more concerned by the displays of animals eating other animals...something he hasn't really understood until now. I still have mixed feelings about whether we should have let him see those scenes, but it is the truth about how nature works and he has been slowly starting to discover it.
Anyway, at one point a fox attacked a goose colony and made off with some goslings. Max was not impressed.
Max (emphatically): I want to HIT the fox! If I were in planet earth I would hit the fox and then he couldn't get the goslings!
Then the fox brought the goslings home to his den of fox pups that were hungry and needed to eat the goslings to survive. You could almost see the conflict play across Max's face.
At another heart breaking moment we watched a wolf take down a baby caribou. Max observed this and then turned to me and declared very gravely "That caribou's mommy is not going to like that..." Staring into the face of my own 3-year-old, his words really packed a lot of punch.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Perimeter has been breached
I'm happy to announce that I was recently offered a postdoctoral position at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo. The position starts June 1 and I only received the good news a few short weeks ago. As some of you are already aware, things were a little tense in recent months as I hurtled full-tilt toward unemployment. Now I have another three years before I need to worry about finding a job. Life is sweet.
Many people in academia don't find it so hard to get a job. But then, many people in academia are also willing to consider positions that are located in excess of six kilometers from wherever they currently happen to live. Not me.
This blog has been pretty quiet these days. The Gutoski-James clan has its hands full. Our kids continue to grow and lots of great stuff is happening. Maybe someday we'll write about it.
Many people in academia don't find it so hard to get a job. But then, many people in academia are also willing to consider positions that are located in excess of six kilometers from wherever they currently happen to live. Not me.
This blog has been pretty quiet these days. The Gutoski-James clan has its hands full. Our kids continue to grow and lots of great stuff is happening. Maybe someday we'll write about it.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Pictures at the river
We recently took our first "summer" river trip of the year. We invited the Scurr family to join us and took some cute photos. Check out the picasa album here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102141069696263032387/AtTheRiverWithTheScurrFamily?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNPoiK-x0MqmTQ&feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/102141069696263032387/AtTheRiverWithTheScurrFamily?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNPoiK-x0MqmTQ&feat=directlink
Darwyn plays in the Laundry
Gus has a habit of hanging the laundry to dry on a rack in our living room. I'm not overly fond of the rack, but our daughter loves it. Her favorite activity is to go over and systematically "unhang" the laundry. But she also enjoys playing peekaboo in Daddy's pajama pants and wearing 5 pairs of mommy's underwear around her neck. What a beautiful necklace! The world really is full of possibilities when you are one.
 |
| Peekaboo! |
 |
| Why didn't I think of this? It is bound to be a new fashion trend. |
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Darwyn's first words
Tonight I was poking through some old blog posts of Max and reminiscing. I noticed a post by Gus on Max's first words and it occurred to me that we have written nothing about Darwyn's first words. It is easy with the second to get distracted. I can only imagine what will happen if we have four. Anyway, I'm not sure how interested you random readers will be in Darwyn's vocabulary, but for her benefit (when she is older) here is a dictionary:
"Mo" is more, but is said somewhat periodically (the alternative is whining and reaching for the food she wants)
"Daddy" - obvious
"Mummy" - also obvious (she used to say geeda, but she only did that a few times and then resorted to mummy)
"Denny" - Dennis (She has also said Kathrin's name, but I can't remember how she pronounces it)
"Ma" - Max (Again, she also says Annie, but I do not remember the pronunciation).
"Titty" - A rather unfortunate attempt at kitty, but not as bad as when Eric used to pronounce Shaky "Shitty".
"Doddy" - Doggy
Dat - That (she's says this a lot, but I'm not certain that it is not just me reading into it and deciding she is saying "that")
"Uh-OH!" - A very favorite word (Or least favorite for Gus and I)
"Ah" - Means "Ya", she does not appear to have a word for no, but screaming and crying and waving her hands around emphatically usually gets the message across.
She says both "Bye" and "Hi" perfectly, but usually only after the person in question has long since departed.
" Up Pee" means up please. Despite considerable effort on my part, she rarely says this, but I have heard her say it perfectly. Usually she just holds her arms up...which is still a step in the right direction because I can now convince her not to scream and cry when she wants up.
I'm sure there are more, but I can't remember them right now (I'm reminded of Mike's attempts to record all of Leora's vocabulary on his palm pilot when Leora was Darwyn's age. As I recall he gave up a few 100 words in). Darwyn is entering a phase where her vocabulary (both spoken and understood) is exploding. She regularly impresses me with how much she can understand, and communicate even without words. If she wants to go outside she gets her shoes and brings them to you, if she wants to eat she goes to her chair and cries, if she wants your help she comes and takes your hand and drags you to the task she is trying to solve. She can also find different requested books in her book bin and bring them to you, but she still has trouble sitting through them (except for peekaboo baby and barnyard dance which she requests repeatedly).
Anyway, I won't try to pull a Mike and record all her words, but at least now she has a record of some of her first words!
"Mo" is more, but is said somewhat periodically (the alternative is whining and reaching for the food she wants)
"Daddy" - obvious
"Mummy" - also obvious (she used to say geeda, but she only did that a few times and then resorted to mummy)
"Denny" - Dennis (She has also said Kathrin's name, but I can't remember how she pronounces it)
"Ma" - Max (Again, she also says Annie, but I do not remember the pronunciation).
"Titty" - A rather unfortunate attempt at kitty, but not as bad as when Eric used to pronounce Shaky "Shitty".
"Doddy" - Doggy
Dat - That (she's says this a lot, but I'm not certain that it is not just me reading into it and deciding she is saying "that")
"Uh-OH!" - A very favorite word (Or least favorite for Gus and I)
"Ah" - Means "Ya", she does not appear to have a word for no, but screaming and crying and waving her hands around emphatically usually gets the message across.
She says both "Bye" and "Hi" perfectly, but usually only after the person in question has long since departed.
" Up Pee" means up please. Despite considerable effort on my part, she rarely says this, but I have heard her say it perfectly. Usually she just holds her arms up...which is still a step in the right direction because I can now convince her not to scream and cry when she wants up.
I'm sure there are more, but I can't remember them right now (I'm reminded of Mike's attempts to record all of Leora's vocabulary on his palm pilot when Leora was Darwyn's age. As I recall he gave up a few 100 words in). Darwyn is entering a phase where her vocabulary (both spoken and understood) is exploding. She regularly impresses me with how much she can understand, and communicate even without words. If she wants to go outside she gets her shoes and brings them to you, if she wants to eat she goes to her chair and cries, if she wants your help she comes and takes your hand and drags you to the task she is trying to solve. She can also find different requested books in her book bin and bring them to you, but she still has trouble sitting through them (except for peekaboo baby and barnyard dance which she requests repeatedly).
Anyway, I won't try to pull a Mike and record all her words, but at least now she has a record of some of her first words!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Happy Birthday Max
Today we celebrated Max's 3rd birthday. If was a much more exciting event than his second birthday, largely because this year he seemed to care. He was still a little confused during the happy birthday song (see video at bottom), but really enjoyed his train cake, all his friends and the bouncy castle we borrowed from friends of ours. Highlights of his day included a special homemade birthday card from his friend Ella, a good game of wrestle in the bouncy castle and the moment he finally got to devour the engine on his birthday cake. I've posted a few pictures and videos here, but for those of you that would like more, you can check out the whole album here (link). Anyway, Happy Birthday Max!
 |
| The birthday cake engine. |
 |
| Max waiting to eat the engine. With the whole hour he spent with his face 2cm from the engine, I doubt anyone else was going to eat it! |
 |
| Max's friend Fiona enjoying the bouncy castle. |
 |
| For the first half hour the bouncy castle was inflated, Max completely ignored it and played on the hammock.... |
 |
| Daddy liked playing on the hammock more than in the bouncy castle too. |
 |
| Max and Ella enjoying the bouncy castle. |
 |
| Max's friend Danny and his mom Anne, decorating a train car. |
 |
| Finally, someone (Elliette) is bouncing! |
Pepper
Grandma Sandi and Grandpa Lee recently came to visit with their new kitten Pepper. She was a real hit with the kids (and Grandma...who couldn't talk about anything else for the whole visit). We managed to snap lots of cute photos.
A cute story:
Grandma has claimed that they only have the kitten "on trial", but as far as I can see there is no trial. Both of them are completely smitten, but their perspective seems to be a little distorted. When driving with just grandma I said "Dad seems to be very fond of the kitten."
Mom: Yes, it was very important for dad. You know...with the unemployment. He was getting depressed and he is much happier with the kitten. I like the kitten, but your dad really needed that cat.
Then driving with dad....
Me: "Mom can't stop talking about that cat."
Dad: It's a good thing we got her. Our house was starting to feel like an old folk's place. I was ok without the kitten, but your mom has really perked up. She really needed that cat.
As far as I can tell they both are a lot better off with the cat. Trial or no....I think we will be seeing a lot of Pepper over the coming years.
A cute story:
Grandma has claimed that they only have the kitten "on trial", but as far as I can see there is no trial. Both of them are completely smitten, but their perspective seems to be a little distorted. When driving with just grandma I said "Dad seems to be very fond of the kitten."
Mom: Yes, it was very important for dad. You know...with the unemployment. He was getting depressed and he is much happier with the kitten. I like the kitten, but your dad really needed that cat.
Then driving with dad....
Me: "Mom can't stop talking about that cat."
Dad: It's a good thing we got her. Our house was starting to feel like an old folk's place. I was ok without the kitten, but your mom has really perked up. She really needed that cat.
As far as I can tell they both are a lot better off with the cat. Trial or no....I think we will be seeing a lot of Pepper over the coming years.
 |
| Darwyn and Pepper on the cat tree |
 |
| Cousin Annie holds the kitty |
 |
| A safe place |
 |
| Grandpa attempting to construct the cat tree. Mother says "Greta, it's modular!" Turns out that modular means impossible to put together. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)