The Music Man

It's actually the middle of December, but I started this post this long ago! I know, I'm pathetic!


I think it's pretty apparent, that Max enjoys music. By the way, he is now saying "music." For a long time he pronounced it as "noozit." (I actually thought it was adorable.) He's been able to name that tune since his early two's, has always enjoyed listening and dancing to music. He's now more channeled. He wants a drum, guitar and a not-spicy candy cane for Christmas. That's it. While grocery shopping, he will take straws and sit in the big part of the cart and use all the different food items as his drum set. He makes up songs to describe different things. If I start humming a melody, he can pick it up exactly where I leave off and complete it.


It's exciting. I really think he has a natural ability, already. I want to cultivate, but I don't want to overwhelm. I need to do some research on this to see what are good first steps. If anyone has any experience, please pipe up!


Here are a few photos of Max enjoying one of his early interests:


Playing the "key-tar"




Jammin' with the Key-tar at his school Christmas Program. Playing my trumpet updside down.

Cooper at 17

months that is. . .

Certainly different from his older brother. I remember the 15-18 month time frame to be extremely difficult for Max--well actually maybe it was just difficult for us! Cooper, or, we(!) are not experiencing this same difficulty. So maybe he's different, we're different, whatever the case may be, it's nice.

Communication--Cooper is gaining in his vocabulary. He really attempts to repeat words as we teach them to him, it's just a matter of how clear or understandable they come out. Here's a list of words: water, bubbles, please, thank-you, more, milk, banana(nana), yes / no (both through gesture not verbal), dog, duck, [pants] for dog sound, moo, quack-quack,baa-aaa, neigh, meow, elephant, fish (makes fish lips), roar, oink (acutally it's more of a snort and it's really funny), baby, MaMa(still for both), Max. I think that's about it. For the most part, we can communicate pretty well with Cooper. When he gets mad, he hits and sometimes bites (Max has a nice one on the back of his legs right now).

Play--He is into his baby. Always loves to push things around. Likes to empty the cupboards of food. Likes to imitate anything Max does--so we basically need 2 of everything!! Likes to get books, hand them to you and sit in your lap and read together. He will vocalize like he is reading the book. Likes to paint and draw. Also likes to play our musical instruments.

Food--Eats just about anything. Insists on having it big boy style--i.e., eat the apple whole, don't things up small, uses his own untensils. Which is all great, until he, spits out the apple because he only has teeth in the very front of his mouth and cannot chew it up, bails on the utensils and uses hands to eat oh the messiest of items! Because he does only have his front eight teeth plus the point of one molar, he will use his fingers to help chew food in the front--it's actually quite an effective way for him to eat some foods. When he is done with a particular course, the remaining food and plate or bowl finds its way to the floor. (this is not one ofhis more endearing traits!) Still does not drink a lot of milk. We supplement by giving him whole milk yogurt.

Mobility--He can pretty much get wherever he wants to be, and has started actually walking up the stairs as opposed to crawling. He is not crawling out of his crib yet, but wouldn't be surprised if that happens before the age of 2.

Cooper is funny. He uses his facial expressions to communicate a lot. Frequently he gives the "scowl-then-smile" face to everyone. Below are a couple of pics. One is of him reading on the changing table, and the other is after a course of blueberries.

Wow.

It's been awhile. I'm reminded of a phrase from my past. . .

"Forgive me Father for I have sinned."

"How long has it been since your last post?"

Anyway, really I should be apologizing to the boys. This is, you know, being written for them. Sorry guys.

So, where the heck have we been?

The weekend after Halloween we went to Milwaukee. It happens to be where Peg's mom and younger brother are buried. We have made it an annual event to visit their grave on or around the anniversary of their deaths. The visit to see them is not always easy, but necessary. It's good for Peg's soul. And everytime we have gone, she always tells me that she's glad we came. The weekend is a really nice family time for us. We usually hit the zoo and for the last two years have gone to the Children's Museum. Highlights from this year include Cooper pushing his lawnmower around the hotel, all of us swimming in the hot tub, Max oogling over the 40lbs of chocolate we picked up for our annual bake-a-thon, and Max leading us around the zoo-- oh, and Cooper loving the penguins, calling them duck-ducks, and one more thing, the elephant that was so close we could touch it!!

On to the next fun-filled weekend. This time it was up to Cottage Grove for a quick visit to see our friends. They have two boys, we have two boys, and, we really enjoy spending time together. Jason and Jen are Cooper's godparents, and we really want to foster that relationship. In addition, Jason is our "go-to" guy when we need to discuss guy things about the boys. Highlights of the trip: Max would definitely say playing Jason's drum set and going to the "fair" with Jacob. Cooper would probably say playing with Jacob and Cole's trucks--especially the ones that made noise!, I would say the company and playing with Jason at church and Peg would say again the company and probably the parmesean cheese!! (Wink, Wink -Jason and Jen!!)

What I also missed posting about was the kid's teacher's conferences. Overall, they were good and I will probably touch on them in an individual post for each of them.

We had Thanksgiving at home this year. Just our family. Both of the kids had been sick during the week. Even on Thanksgiving, Cooper was still not back to normal, and we just decided to not stress their bodies with 6 hours of driving. We also thought it wasn't very respectful to expose everyone else to their germs. Although it was quiet, it was a very nice day. Because of their illness/holiday, the kids were only at school 1 day last week!

We are hoping to go get our Christmas tree this coming weekend and decorate the house. Max--or should I say Baby Jesus, is very excited. He and Cooper have their Christmas program for school on Sunday night, we're looking forward to it!

Halloween Recap

When I was picking up Max from school on Tuesday night, I sat on the edge of sandbox where he and a few friends were playing. I said, "Are you all excited? Tomorrow is Halloween!" And, of course, yes they were excited. They all began to ramble off their plans and costumes. Max says, "I am going to be a drummer!" Hmmm. . .surprise to me. I think to myself. I've got my work cut out for me to get him back in the costume he actually has!

In the car we continue our conversation. I learn a little more about his costume. Earlier that morning he discovered that he could fit Cooper's Ghost bucket on his head like a marching band helmet and then he used his own Jack-o-Lantern bucket as a drum. I tried to work some magic and tell him that Cooper needed his bucket for treats, he replied, "Let's go buy another one!" After a little more convincing, he was ok to go back to his original costume. Whew!

We started out the morning right with some pumpkin spice pancakes in the Halloween molds. The kids came with me to work so I could parade them down the hall. They were a hit. Then Mommy shuttled them off to school for more trick-or-treating and Halloween festivities. They were a hit. I picked up the kids at lunchtime and drove them around while they napped. After nap they made an appearance at Mommy's work. They were a hit. We went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood as well as visited some good friends. They were a hit.

Warning: LOTS of pictures below!

Getting ready in the morning.Our little peacock!Max's class. Max is under the letter K.What a kid. While carrying a bucket full of treats, he actually asked for an apple on Halloween!Got any work for me to do Sheila?With Mommy the Zookeeper! Our little bear.

Max told us he was hibernating. (Complete with snoring)Max excited to go door-to-door.Trick-or-treating with Rich and Colleen.Visiting Betty!The essence of Cooper, Halloween 2007!Cooper was big pals with Erv!Again, Cooper would not have sat there without Erv by his side!Erv helping Max scratch behind his ears!

Debbie helping Max discover some of his cool tatoo loot!
Halloween 2007--last call.