Lewis's longest sentence.
"Kick a ball high!" or, if he's looking at the picture from a few days ago of him kicking, "Lewis kick a balll high!"
Posts
"But when it was night the action really started!"
Lewis, Art and I went for a little walk after dinner and found the gaggle of kids that live on our block. Eight kids under the age of six who all ran around like maniacs together for a good hour and a half. Ben showed up later and took these photos. Here they all are climbing in and out and around one of the parent's truck. On the way home Art said, "Yeah, but when it was night the action really started! It was like a show!"
Bug Nature Day.
After naps I biked the kids down to the woods near Minnehaha Creek. We threw rocks in the water, watched stuff float downstream and eventually spent most of our time overturning logs and looking for bugs. We saw many centipedes, some rolly pollys (that's what we called them in Arkansas), spiders, ants, and some super tiny white bugs. It was fun to overturn logs and see what sort of goodies we'd find. We weren't sure if this spider was alive. Art covered his eyes and turned away as a prodded it with a leaf (it was alive). "I don't want to see the spider move," said Art. It was in fact a little scary. Lew holds a worm. Heading back through the words to our bike.
Playing at a new park.
Every once in a while it's fun to take the kids to a new park. We stopped by here after visiting Seward Montessori School for a tour this morning (we're thinking of sending Art eventually).
Lew's accidental art.
This is the new screen on Jessica cell phone after Lew dropped it. It still works, but don't text her...
And here's some more about TWO.
Lewis is TWO! And he had his check-up on Friday. He is 3' 1" tall. He weighs 32lbs 12oz. He's big for his age - 96th percentile - but growing in height and weight evenly so that's good. And no developmental issues or delays. Art brought Bear, his own special bear, for Lewis to hold if he got scared. Art likes to go to Lewis's doctor appointments and be the caring, older brother. After Lewis got his shots and was crying Art quickly snuck Bear under my arm while I was holding Lewis so he could hold Bear and feel better. Art was eager to get on the scale so Lewis wouldn't be scared. And it worked. Lew went right up there after Art did. He played "sneak around" with Lewis while we waited for the flobotomist to come and take a little of Lew's blood. Yep. A little finger prick. And Lewis didn't even flinch! He pulled his hand away a little but he was incredibly cooperative. Then he didn't want to wear the band-aid. When he final...
First attempt.
Last week Art wanted to try riding his bike without training wheels. "They're too loud," he said. So we (Jessica) has been working on it with him.
Listening to Art quiz Papa.
Ben did bedtime while I lounged on the couch today. He had to answer a lot of questions from Art about what we do after he and Lewis go to bed. Ben explained that we stay up and have special time together. "Do you ever just go to sleep?" "No. I pretty much always stay up and have some special time with Mama because we like to have some time together without anybody asking us for anything or saying, 'Watch this! Watch this!' Mama and I also just like being together all alone with no kids around. We can watch tv or play games or give eachother lots of hugs and kisses." Art was quiet for a while and then asked, "What do you do when Mama isn't there, when she's at choir and you're all alone?" I don't know. I'm just tickled by how he wants to know what goes on when he's asleep.
An especially beautiful Nature Day.
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf A slideshow from the Trial Gardens near the rose garden at Lake Harriett.
Twins timelapse.
This is a cool little video I shot from the Twins first ever home opener in their new stadium. I used fancy tilt-shift lenses (rented a few from a photo store, they're super expensive). The video compiles thousands of individual frames and a fun little song I found at the Minnesota Historical Society. check it out! http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/1870915446?isVid=1
More from Lew's Birthday
We went over to Cait and Zach's (Cait is Jessica's cousin) new house for dinner and birthday cake today. Art and Jess made the cake earlier in the day, which, as Jess will readily tell you, uses something like 5 sticks of butter and two bags of dark chocolate chips. It's delicious. Cait and Zach's new home is entirely wonderful, even though I don't have any photos of it (sorry). Art with his dinosaur tattoos, a thoughtful gift from Bubbe on Lewis' birthday. "I always like to get something for the other one, too." Bubbe will eagerly seize on any excuse to buy something for the kids. Or anyone really. It's a great thing. Cait holing Ema, a senior dogizen.
In honor of Lew's birthday.
In honor of Lewis's birthday I shall write about something I've been thinking for several weeks now. I love everything about Lewis's body! Maybe it's just the nature of a toddler body that I love, but I do love it. The narrow shoulders. The short neck. I love the sway back, tiny yet squishy butt and the GIANT belly. I love the giant belly. I love the way his legs look while he's running around and especially when he kicks. It's like a reflex. There's so preparation or follow through, it just shoots out in front of him. I especially love toddler feet. They are always moving. I could be holding him all snuggled before bed and his feet just keep moving. The way I've often thought of it is "expressive". Baby feet are expressive! I love the way his cheeks are still kind of round and firm, like they're made of foam or something. How big a toddler head is compared to his shoulders and how heavy it is for them to carry around. I lov...
Lew's birthday car.
Today is Lewis' birthday! He woke up and found this present sitting in front of his decorated birthday chair. Notice the lovely Owl wrapping paper Jessica found (Ow's are one of Lew's favorite animals). Arthur kindly helped open (and play) with the little car inside (A $5 car Jess found at Bibelot, the kind that keep going and going after you push it).
Learning about litter.
While riding in the car with his window open Art asked, "Mama, can I throw this wrapper out the window?" I told him no because that would be littering. A little later he was holding some keys and asked if he could drop those out the window. Nope, I told him. Then I wouldn't be able to get into the place where I teach. Later, he said, "Can I put my buggar out the window?" YEP! You can put your buggar out the window. "Because it's so tiny. I couldn't find it."
In an effort to please Art
we are reposting these photos from last summer. He's been asking to see the photo of him holding the salamander consistently over the past few days. So, Art, here you go:
Nature Day, animals.
We went to Wood Lake nature center in Richfield today and spend all our time looking at a few animals in small cages and then carrying wood back and forth between two piles. And saw a number of lovely birds, identified by Jessica, our family's official bird identifier.