the not alive guys

owen's new favorite "job" is putting piles of coins into a truck-shaped piggy bank and dumping them back out. he's examining the pictures on the coins ... "mom, here's some boats! there's the sea! is that an airplane? there's the sun, it's almost coming up!" but his most common question is about the men on the coins.

"mom, who is that?"

"that is thomas jefferson."

"is he not alive?"

"yes, thomas jefferson is not alive. he lived a long time ago."

"does he not talk?"

"nope, he does not talk anymore."

yesterday he told me he was going to talk to the not alive guys.

"mommy, one day, this not alive guy was talking."

"what did he say?"

"he says, hi, did you do money? and i will say, YES! i did all the money! and he will say, YAY!"

"mommy, come and see daddy!"

"see all the things i put on to him? it's a city."

deep questions

owen and me over coffee and a pile of "table topics" cards ...

Mommy: Who is the most unusual member of your family?
Owen: Jesus! God! Jesus!
M: What was your most memorable meal ever?
O: Forty!
M: What makes you laugh the hardest?
O: (throws pile of cards on the floor) This!
M: What is your biggest complaint?
O: Um, hotels.

things to love about owen: fall edition

he's a few months past his third birthday now. it's amazing to see him, tall and skinny like a little boy instead of a toddler. sometimes he still has the same personality as that little toddler ... going from one room to the next, picking up one thing, then another, always trying to explore the boundaries and "go really far away." but he also has his calmer, quieter moments these days, sitting alone with books, focusing on a "job" until it's done, or announcing, "i'm going to go think in my bed."

here are some things to know about this new big-boy owen:

1. he is an acorn worker. one of his favorite "jobs" to do is gather acorns and put them into containers. well, really, he likes to gather any small things (shells, legos, blocks) and put them in containers (boxes, bins, buckets, etc.). any new container he comes upon is a new vessel for treasures — "mommy! i can have this box and put stuff in!"

one evening as owen was putting acorns in a box in the driveway, adam told him it was time to get ready for bed. owen replied, "DADDY. i am the acorn worker. and there is more acorn work to do." since then, he has been a lego worker, a trash worker, a rock worker ... but acorns are still his first priority.

2. he loves airports and airplanes. particularly 737s ("seven-firty-sevens"), which are the planes flown by southwest airlines and thus the only kind he's ever flown on. he believes all large planes are 737s, and that they are all purple and red. and he often requests that we go to the airport to go on "ramps and special stairs" (moving sidewalks and escalators).

3. he loves to play computer games. PBS Kids has great games on their web site, and owen can play all by himself. his favorite are spelling games with the characters from "superwhy." we're amazed at how easily he took to working the trackpad and buttons ... eventually are babies going to just come out of the womb knowing how to double click?

4. he still eats very little. he's getting a bit more adventurous with the things he'll try, but overall, he almost never eats a full meal. nutritious snacks are our only hope for this boy's diet.

5. he goes to preschool two mornings a week. he's in a class with 19 other 3-year-olds, learning to play together, share, and clean up. he loves it ... looking forward to watching him learn.

6. he is still not completely potty trained. he has wetter days and drier days, but wow. i knew this was going to be quite a journey with my focus-challenged boy, and it definitely has been. hoping it won't be long before we can look back and giggle and say, "wow, remember when owen used to pee his pants all the time?"

7. he loves his swingset. adam and his dad built the boys a swingset for their birthdays in early august, and they love it. owen's favorite thing to do on the swingset these days is "stick work," bringing a pile of sticks up into the playhouse and sending them down the slide one by one. he has also done this kind of work with walnuts, blocks, and balls. he's really building his resumé.

8. he had a total blast at the beach. he played in the sand and the waves, played basketball in the driveway of our rental house, and played especially with daddy's vintage micro-machines, brought out of attic storage by adam's very clever mother. she knew they would be a hit with the little boys of our party, and heavens they were. the micro-machines are now known as "the beach trucks," and they are kept at bana and pap-pap's house but owen would play with them all day every day if he could. (another large pile of small things ... noticing a pattern here?)

9. he's working on giving up his nap. some days he naps, others he doesn't, but overall i can tell that he doesn't need it as much anymore. it's a much harder transition for mommy than it is for owen — going from three-ish hours of mommy/laundry/dishes/etc. time in the afternoon to an interrupted hour or less is quite an adjustment. taking it day by day ... and today he napped. *contented sigh*

10. he also loves to count, sing, dance, jump, yell, watch "little einsteins," listen to the imagination movers, go for walks, wrestle with daddy ... and we love him.

things to love about cooper: fall edition

cooper is, of course, growing all the time. he's a toddler now ... so i bring you ten reasons to love 14-month-old cooper:

1. he can walk and nearly run. he also tries (in vain) to jump like his big brother.
2. he loves to eat, and really could use a bath after almost every meal. (whether he gets one is less certain.)
3. he still favors BALLS over any other toy and will drop everything to run to a ball and kick or throw it with surprising skill.
4. he now requires the presence of both his blanket and his pacifier ... one will not do without the other, and he will not do without them very long.
5. he is gradually learning to point to his ear, eye and nose and to make a few animal sounds ... (between you and me, i never knew how true all the rumors would be about the second child getting less personal attention ... we used to teach owen new things all the time ... not so frequent this time. sorry, coop!)
6. he has entered the phase i like to call "sitting in stuff." laundry baskets, boxes, toy bins, bowls, lids of any kind are fair game for cooper's little feet, and if he can swing it, his bottom too.
7. he is finally sleeping through the night, to our great relief.
8. he's beginning to develop a relationship with books. he used to grab them immediately from the reader's hands and chuck them on the floor. now he has the patience to listen to one, maybe two whole books! and "goodnight moon" is his current favorite. (good thing he has his own copy, since owen's over-loved copy is in three pieces.)
9. he has recently started imitating his brother. owen does a silly walk, cooper silly-walks behind. owen yells "YEAH!", cooper grunts back "UNGH!" in the same tone of voice.
10. he is handsome, sweet, easygoing, a good hugger, and an all-around incredibly precious boy.