That! That! That!

We took the boys to the Shedd Aquarium for a little Memorial Day outing. Not the smartest move to hit a big tourist attraction on a holiday weekend, but despite the crowds, we had a nice time. AJ remembered the aquarium from our prior visits and was excited to see his favorite, Nickel the Sea Turtle, again. I am not sure whether Davey remembered our prior visits, but his enthusiasm for the different things he was seeing gave me the impression that this all felt like it was new for him. He was most excited by a little tank at the end of an exhibit that wasn't very notable except that it had a great eye-level view right at his height. He jabbed his little finger at the glass repeatedly while yelling very loudly "that! that! that!" and pointing at the fish that were floating by.

"That" is definitely on his short list favorite words that is used to describe many things throughout his day. So far he says on a regular basis down, done (these two sound nearly identical when he says them, and I think he uses them interchangeably to get out of his high chair), ba-ba (bottle), AJ, Dada, kitty cat, ball and go go (when he wants to go somewhere). Several months ago he used to say Mama, but now he just puts his arms up and squeals when he wants me to pick him up. I will have to ask Linda if he says any other words in Spanish as well and report back. She said the other day when they were at a local nature center petting some animals he pointed at a guinea pig and said very clearly "I want that!", much to her surprise. (And note to my dad, if you show up at my house with a guinea pig as a gift, I will never forgive you...)

How Am I Supposed To Grow?

Joe was working the dinner hour solo with the boys last week one night when I had to stay late at work, and he was amused by a little exchange that he had with AJ. He had let the boys play with the hose while he worked in the yard, and they were so cold and wet that he had to break from the normal dinner-bath-bed routine and give them a bath to warm up before he did dinner. By the time he got them down to the kitchen, they were ravenous and impatient. Joe heated up some pizza in the microwave but put it in a little too long. (He is notorious for really nuking things until they are boiling hot and unrecognizable as food. One of my pet peeves is when I serve something for dinner straight out of the pot on the stove and he takes one bite and then walks over to the microwave with his plate...urg!) When he told AJ that he would have to wait until the pizza cooled off a little bit before he could eat it, AJ wailed "but how am I supposed to grow if you won't give me any of that good pizza?!?" Joe said AJ was earnestly perplexed at why Joe was withholding food from him and seemed concerned that he would not grow properly if he wasn't fed immediately. Makes me think about how our kids are very fortunate not to know what true hunger is.

Brotherly Love

Not sure if I even dare to type this, but the boys have been playing together lately. It doesn't last long--don't blink or you'll miss it--but for 2-3 minute stretches for the past couple of weeks, they have started to engage in some joint activity of their own plan that amuses them both. One of their games is to chase each other in a circle between AJ's room, Davey's room and the bath right when they get out of the tub. They are both naked and shrieking at the top of their lungs, having a great time. I usually grab a seat on the floor, and as they pass me on each lap, they give me a little "Hiya Mama!" in AJ's case or an extra loud shriek in Davey's case. It sounds like a heard of squealing elephants running around, but at least they are having a good time together.

The other joint play that they have started to try is AJ pushing Davey on a ride-on toy, as pictured above. They usually get one or two good runs in with Davey grinning a huge grin before AJ rams him into the wall or Davey just plain falls off on his own accord. The only issue with this game is that Davey has not yet figured out how to push AJ, so they either need third party assistance for AJ's turn or he gets frustrated that Davey can't push him and gives up.

I can't wait to see this develop from 2-3 minutes into afternoons of playing together. Hey, a mom can dream, right?

Update: shortly after I drafted this post, AJ "accidentally" whacked Davey in the face with a plastic bat when they were both wanting a turn at t-ball, and earlier in the afternoon, Joe caught AJ hauling Davey out of their toy car using full bodily force, which Davey responded to by trying to give AJ a chomp on the arm. Sigh....

Go Cubs Go!

AJ was a lucky little guy who got to take in a Cubs game with his Dada, uncles and Grandma Francie and Papa today. Joe said AJ enjoyed his hot dog and opening and closing his seat. I told Joe that sounds about right for an almost three year old guy.

Davey and I got to enjoy an afternoon together with just the two of us. It was nice to be able to give him some undivided attention, and I think I will try to make a point of doing this with him on a semi-regular basis going forward. I am a second born child myself, so I am always thinking about Davey's experience from my own perspective. He has generally been a daddy's boy but is deep into a mommy phase lately where he constantly wants me to pick him up and carry him everywhere from the moment I lift him out of the crib in the morning until bedtime. When I get home in the evenings, he greets me with screeches of joy and upstretched arms before I can even get my coat off. I will see if I can get a video of his homecoming greeting for you this week.

Touch a Truck

The big excitement of the weekend here was definitely the local Touch a Truck event. The children's museum had this as a fundraiser at a nearby suburb's car dealership. There was a fleet of tow trucks, ice cream trucks, cement mixers, cherry pickers, sewer repair trucks and even a Red Cross disaster response truck and a fire truck. The boys were in toddler heaven. Add hot dogs, pizza and ice cream for lunch and you have the makings of a very good day.

We went to a similar Touch a Truck event about two years ago now back in the fall of 2008 when AJ had just turned 1. It was clear then that AJ was enjoying the experience, but it was event more fun this time to hear him able to articulate his excitement and to see Davey's big grins. Davey's favorite moments of the day may have been when he was whacking his brother with his ice cream cone. The boys' Papa stood in a long line to get the boys ice cream cones, and I don't think Davey had more than a bite of his but he delighted in using the entire cone, ice cream and all, as a stick to whack AJ (see photo above.) Davey also got quite a quick out of driving the fire truck. I think AJ's favs were driving the Ment Mixer (cement mixer) and riding on a train.

Chicaaaaago Accent

For some reason, in the past week or two my ears have been picking up on a distinct Chicago accent that AJ has developed. For those who haven't heard a Chicago accent before, there is a funny old Saturday Night Live skit with the Bears Super Fans that illustrates it pretty well available here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/4171/saturday-night-live-bill-swerkskis-super-fans (or you can just google Saturday Night Live Bears skit). Someone once described it to me as chewing on your vowels in the back of your mouth. Back becomes baaaack, as in "No, Mama! Put it baaaaaack!" That becomes thaaaat, as in "No, Mama, I didn't want thaaaaat!" And so on and so forth.

I am trying to figure out where this accent is coming from. I don't notice our nanny having a Chicago accent. Joe does have a bit of one, but not nearly as pronounced as what AJ has been using lately. I have noticed a little bit of one creeping into my speech in recent years, but certainly nothing to this extent. I guess after being in Chicago on and off for the last 15 years (fifteen! wow!), it is to be expected, but I was still surprised. I consider Chicago my adopted home, but in another three short years, I will have lived here as many years as I lived in Iowa.

So for now at least, we are living in a household where AJ puts his craaaaackers in his baaaack paaaack to take them to the paaaark for his snaaack. I will try to get this on video for you in the coming weeks.