alignment:

Keeping Busy 2004

Fri., Dec 31 Well Max is doing the normal baby stuff that's SO much more interesting when it's your kid. For example:

Walking
Talking (close to 100 words he can use correctly)
Saying "no" (for 6 months now!)
Dancing to Music
Expressing opinions
Making Friends
Blah blah...

He enjoys meeting new people, and traveling to new places. He's very flexible, and did GREAT in Scotland (see photo gallery), despite the fact that we kept him strapped in a car seat for most of the trip. He loved seeing birdies (birds) and birdies (sheep). Of course we could have taken him to the town dump and looked at birdies there, and he probably would have been equally impressed. He was less impressed with the castles and scenery than his parents, but he put up with us with a good humor.

Stories

Here are a couple of stories for those of you who haven't seen him lately:

His current favorite toy is his 'tar (a guitar) that Grandma Jane got him for his birthday. He's had it for a grand total of 2 weeks, and it's been broken at least 4 times! I just don't know how long its going to last. In general he loves music but I think a guitar might be a better toy for a 3 year old. :)

Whenever we walk into the living room he says mo busic (more music) until we turn on the stereo. He knows he can reach the buttons, but that hes not allowed to touch them, so if we dont move quick enough he goes right up and points right at the buttons (without touching) to show us that if we're not going to turn on music for him RIGHT NOW, he's going to do it himself.

Up until about a month ago, Max got very concerned with the silence between songs on a CD. When one song ended, he would say "mo busic" (more music) until the next song started. The really cool thing about this is at 11 months Max was able to tell when a song was *about to* end, and would start saying "mo busic", through the end of the song (where it winds down). The funny thing is I put in a CD he hadn't heard before (Morphine I think), and one of their songs ends for a minute or so. And for that whole time Max said "mo busic" because he knew the silence between songs was coming.

Today he had a runny nose so I wiped it up, and put the Kleenex on the floor, to throw out later. Max said "Whatessit?" (What is it?), and I told him it was trash and I'd get it later. He didn't look too happy about that but he went back to his table and chairs. As he climbed up into his chair it tipped over. He jumped off in time, but it startled him, so he ended up crying. I told him it was OK, and I picked up the chair and gave him a hug. A few seconds later he looked at the tissue as if *it* was the cause of all of his problems. He squirmed out of my arms picked up the tissue, and carried it to the kitchen and put it into the trash, and then smiled and went back to playing. I think he gets the need to clean from his mom, it certainly doesn't come from my side of the family... :)

Reid (who lives upstairs) goes to the same school as Max, although Reid is 2 years old, so is in a different classroom. A week or so ago, Reid got hurt and started crying. Now this is a preschool, so there's ALWAYS a kid crying *somewhere*. But Max was in his room and to very agitated, and bugged his teachers until they took him to find Reid so Max could comfort him. It's amazing that Max can pick out Reid's cry from the 50 or 60 other kids there that day.

Something fun that he did just yesterday was throughout diner he kept saying "cheese", and wasn't interested in anything we offered him. Since he has a bit of a head cold we didn't want to give him too much dairy, so we washed him up and took him down, figuring he was done eating. After we put him down he went straight to recycling, and took out a macaroni and cheese box, and held it up and said "cheese". So we broke down and made some mac and cheese that wasn't *too* heavy on the dairy.

Well 2004 has been a ton of fun, looking forward to 2005. Christine is just amazing with Max (and with all kids actually) and it's really exciting to see. It's exciting to talk as parents about our values, and how we want to teach things, and what messages we're sending when we do things. It's exciting to look at what we can, and should, be doing better as parents, to make it easier for Max to understand this crazy rule-filled world we live in.

-jason

Home News Max Pictures Charlie Grace Ian and beyond (fall 2007) Travel Pictures Mailing List Sign Up: sign up for our email mailing list: [ submit ]		alignment: Keeping Busy 2004 Fri., Dec 31 Well Max is doing the normal baby stuff that's SO much more interesting when it's your kid. For example: Walking Talking (close to 100 words he can use correctly) Saying "no" (for 6 months now!) Dancing to Music Expressing opinions Making Friends Blah blah... He enjoys meeting new people, and traveling to new places. He's very flexible, and did GREAT in Scotland (see photo gallery), despite the fact that we kept him strapped in a car seat for most of the trip. He loved seeing birdies (birds) and birdies (sheep). Of course we could have taken him to the town dump and looked at birdies there, and he probably would have been equally impressed. He was less impressed with the castles and scenery than his parents, but he put up with us with a good humor. Stories Here are a couple of stories for those of you who haven't seen him lately: His current favorite toy is his 'tar (a guitar) that Grandma Jane got him for his birthday. He's had it for a grand total of 2 weeks, and it's been broken at least 4 times! I just don't know how long its going to last. In general he loves music but I think a guitar might be a better toy for a 3 year old. :) Whenever we walk into the living room he says mo busic (more music) until we turn on the stereo. He knows he can reach the buttons, but that hes not allowed to touch them, so if we dont move quick enough he goes right up and points right at the buttons (without touching) to show us that if we're not going to turn on music for him RIGHT NOW, he's going to do it himself. Up until about a month ago, Max got very concerned with the silence between songs on a CD. When one song ended, he would say "mo busic" (more music) until the next song started. The really cool thing about this is at 11 months Max was able to tell when a song was about to end, and would start saying "mo busic", through the end of the song (where it winds down). The funny thing is I put in a CD he hadn't heard before (Morphine I think), and one of their songs ends for a minute or so. And for that whole time Max said "mo busic" because he knew the silence between songs was coming. Today he had a runny nose so I wiped it up, and put the Kleenex on the floor, to throw out later. Max said "Whatessit?" (What is it?), and I told him it was trash and I'd get it later. He didn't look too happy about that but he went back to his table and chairs. As he climbed up into his chair it tipped over. He jumped off in time, but it startled him, so he ended up crying. I told him it was OK, and I picked up the chair and gave him a hug. A few seconds later he looked at the tissue as if it was the cause of all of his problems. He squirmed out of my arms picked up the tissue, and carried it to the kitchen and put it into the trash, and then smiled and went back to playing. I think he gets the need to clean from his mom, it certainly doesn't come from my side of the family... :) Reid (who lives upstairs) goes to the same school as Max, although Reid is 2 years old, so is in a different classroom. A week or so ago, Reid got hurt and started crying. Now this is a preschool, so there's ALWAYS a kid crying somewhere. But Max was in his room and to very agitated, and bugged his teachers until they took him to find Reid so Max could comfort him. It's amazing that Max can pick out Reid's cry from the 50 or 60 other kids there that day. Something fun that he did just yesterday was throughout diner he kept saying "cheese", and wasn't interested in anything we offered him. Since he has a bit of a head cold we didn't want to give him too much dairy, so we washed him up and took him down, figuring he was done eating. After we put him down he went straight to recycling, and took out a macaroni and cheese box, and held it up and said "cheese". So we broke down and made some mac and cheese that wasn't too heavy on the dairy. Well 2004 has been a ton of fun, looking forward to 2005. Christine is just amazing with Max (and with all kids actually) and it's really exciting to see. It's exciting to talk as parents about our values, and how we want to teach things, and what messages we're sending when we do things. It's exciting to look at what we can, and should, be doing better as parents, to make it easier for Max to understand this crazy rule-filled world we live in. -jason


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