Thursday, January 26, 2012

A Day with Jonas & Cars

Jonas is home sick today with a fever and cough. I'm enjoying some one-on-one time with him. The first thing he wanted to do today was read his Lightning McQueen book. It has 5 stories in one book. That's 130 pages of Cars lore. It's been a favorite of both Gill and Jonas' since we bought it 6 months ago at the daycare book sale.

After the book, I suggested breakfast and Sesame Street. Jonas opted for cinnamon toast and Cars 2. He totally turned his nose up at Sesame Street. I am shocked and a little sad.

Even though Jonas has seen Cars 2 about 10 times already, I'm finally taking the time to watch some of it with him. It's a clever film but fast paced. And now I can finally understand what new word Jonas has been using: Finn McMissile is the secret agent car, narrated by Michael Cain.

Yesterday, after picking up the boys from daycare, we stopped by the library. Before we went in, I reviewed the rules with Jonas: no running away, no climbing the shelves, and use a quiet voice. Jonas has been a predictable "runner" at every outing, so I am often loathe to take the two boys anywhere on my own. Yesterday's trip to the library went better than in the past, though Jonas marred his near perfect behavior by running away from me right before getting back into the car. The highlight of the trip was when Jonas recognized a book on the shelf....some book about a boy who can't help but cover himself in paint. Each of the boys had a fabric bag for books, so we put the paint book in Jonas' bag. Gill promptly copied him by pulling a random book off the shelf and putting it in his own bag. He is a constant copy cat. A few minutes later, when I attempted to add some books to Gill's bag, he pitched a fit, falling to the floor where he lay on his back and cried pathetically. At that point, I made a rather speedy transition to the checkout desk. We read at least 4 of the 15 books we brought home before bedtime, including A Frog on a Log in the Bog and The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle. (The Eric Carle books always seem to be a favorite).

A random funny thing that Jonas does now is refer to Gill as "that one." And he waits until the absolute last minute to go to the potty, dancing around, holding his crotch, announcing his need to tee-tee. It's pretty funny to watch his little body dance in front of the toilet as he works to get his pants and underwear out of the way.

He has finally and firmly reached the age of independent play. One of his favorite things are his fabric expandable tunnels. He connects them to "houses" he constructs by turning over the chairs he and Gill got for Christmas. Sometimes, blankets are draped to create more "house." His other favorite playthings are laundry baskets. He uses them to become a turtle or hermit crab, lugging them up and down the stairs. He also uses the vacuum cleaning tools (especially the extension hose) as his sword. They often end up in Ed's car where they languish for weeks until the house become deplorably dirty from the lack of appropriate vacuum cleaning tools.

I guess we should stop spending money on expensive toys. I particularly hate the plethora of hot wheels and track that stays scattered throughout the house and playroom. Some days, it feels like I spend at least an hour moving things back into the proper place (including Ed's stuff). I often wonder what things might look like if I just stopped doing that. Hm.....

But I wouldn't change a thing, and know that I'll one day miss those scattered toys littering the floor.

Monday, January 2, 2012

New Year Reflections

Our boys are approaching the age of true engagement. They play with each other, sometimes fighting, but mostly playing, and can have conversations with us. Gill's conversations, of course, are more statements of need or an assertion of "no" or "yes" but he clearly understands so much of what's going on. It's delightful. Ed and I enjoy so much of our time with them. Occasionally, one or the other of us gets to take time with just one boy. Jonas might join me in feeding Tiga at the Johnson's house. Gill might come along with me to the store. Yesterday, while Gill and Ed napped, Jonas and I went to the neighbors' house (Tracy and Dave) for an open house brunch. He was mostly mindful, and I immensely enjoyed having him with me.

Today, we brought the boys to Little Monkey Business because it is bitterly cold outside....too cold to play, and we've been home together for 3 days now. It was time to get out and let them run wild.

The place was quite busy with like-minded parents, so it seemed challenging at first. Jonas played while Gill hung back, seeming to be a bit overwhelmed by the crowd of kids and parents. Eventually, Gill warmed up and the place thinned out. Climbing into an elaborate structure to reach a slide, Jonas was having a blast. Gill wanted to join. Because we couldn't easily reach Gill to help him, I told Jonas to look out for him. We discovered that he took this rather seriously. He would wait for Gill at the top of the slide, then pull him down with him. Jonas would slide down on his belly, feet first, arms outstretched, pulling Gill down in the same position (on his belly) but head first, arms outstretched. They looked like a pair of giggling love bugs. It was precious. Jonas would hang on the slide, patiently waiting for the slower Gill to make it through the obstacle. At one point, another kid tried to push him down the slide by pushing on his head. Jonas got quite upset. He is a sensitive kid when it comes to bullying. Gill can often make him cry, though Gill is often the one crying. However, when Gill cries, it is in anger and outrage that he can't have someone. Jonas usually cries because his feelings are hurt.

Jonas is our picky eater. He told me yesterday that he doesn't like meat. He prefers anything sweet or starchy. Corn, pancakes, bread / toast, fries, candy, cookies, green beans (canned only), fish sticks, waffles, grapes, french toast, cereal, hot dogs, sausage, pizza, pears and pickles. Gill's repertoire of favorite foods is a bit wider; he loves olives and will try almost anything. I worry about the levels of sugar and salt they ingest.

Speaking of eating, Gill loves to use his tongue - when he eats and otherwise. He is obsessed with the pacifier, though seems to not notice when it's not in his mouth. Today when I handed him a drink, he put his hand to his mouth to remove the pacifier that wasn't there. He often does this. He really only needs it at night, though we let him have it anytime. While he's playing, we can see him with his tongue sort of hanging out. Last night, he ate his cookies with no hands, reaching down with his mouth like a dog to lick the icing. See the video here. What's up with that?

Jonas knows one "curse-word" - dammit, and when he senses my frustration, will sometimes caution me not to say it, even though I haven't. "Don't say dammit Momma. It's a bad word." Right now, he is watching Power Rangers on the iPad. I don't like to let him watch that, but he apparently found it on his own on Netflix. Why does he like it? I can't understand it.

We read books to the boys at night. Usually, Gill is upstairs before Jonas, so he picks a few out early. All you have to do is tell him to get a book, and he runs (not walks) to the shelf and pulls out some of his favorites. Right now, he likes "Brown Bear" and "The Bridge is Up" The picture dictionary is always a favorite, and any book that has fold out flaps is a hit. It's amazing how much they both like to read.