Life with Two Sweet Boys: March

MAR 6: Isaac really likes to have Jonah in the bathroom with him for long potty visits these days. Jonah likes to close doors. So we often have two boys in the bathroom alone together with the door closed, doing a lot of giggling. On this night, it was while Adam and I were finishing dinner. There was uncontrollable laughter from the bathroom - Isaac's melodic peals and Jonah's husky giggles. I didn't know what they were doing in there, but I loved it.

MAR 8: After dinner, Jonah said: "'side."
Me: "You want to go outside?" (It was dark and not warm.)
Jonah: "YEAH! Bye!" and he started walking to the front door to try to open it.

Tonight we asked the boys if they wanted to take a bath. Jonah turned and walked straight to the stairs. The gate was up, so he called to us: "Ba! Ba!" (bath) Then we heard "Ba...NOW!"
While Adam and I were laughing, Jonah padded back to the kitchen and looked at us, pointed to the stairs dramatically, and said "Ba! Ba!" in his authoritative voice.

MAR 11: I took the boys to the Wild Animal Sanctuary on the plains east of here, with our friend Jack and his mom and sister. The landscape was stunning - see below, then imagine a clearer line of snowcapped peaks topping that sea of yellow; and imagine narrow creek beds, lined in knarled bare trees, running through the prairie.


Of course, I also see a scene like that and think tornadoes. And indeed, the wind was blowing like a hurricane - not just gusting, but a constant, powerful rush of air against our bodies. Isaac ran around to see the big cats in the fields below but then got tired of the wind. When I let Jonah out, he seemed indifferent to the wind and was thrilled to see the cats, amazingly - I hadn't known if he would notice them from such a distance. He kept climbing up on the fence and stood there with the wind whipping his hair, his sturdy body braced against the force, looking down and saying "RAAAH! RAAAH!" because that is what big cats say.

Here are the boys together, watching the tigers in the nearer enclosures below.


MAR 12: We are good friends with our neighbors two doors down, who have a little girl who just turned two. Our boys LOVE Bianca, and she loves playing with them too, but I worry that this will get competitive as they all get older.
At our neighbors' house, the three kids love to run the downstairs loop from foyer to office to dining room to living room and back again, giggling all the while and shrieking when they pop out at each other. It's pretty fun to see them all playing together now that Jonah is big enough, but he still gets left out sometimes. On this night, after they'd tired themselves out, they were hanging out in the living room playing with toys and reading books. Isaac and Bianca must have been excluding Jonah a little bit because soon we started hearing things like "He's stepping on my book!...He threw the puzzle piece at me!" When Jonah gets mad, sad, tired, frustrated, hurt, anything, he starts trying to get on Isaac's nerves. Meanwhile, here is what we saw when we peeked through the doorway - Isaac sitting with his arm around Bianca, talking to her quietly. I think he gave her a kiss on the cheek too.


Jonah was sad to be left out because he loves Bianca and adores his brother...


but in the end, he couldn't keep his eyes open anyway.


MAR 19: Beautiful backseat harmony on the way home from music one evening, not unusual:
Isaac said he was thirsty.
Jonah handed him his water bottle and said "Turn." (as in, your turn)
Isaac drank, then handed it back to Jonah.
Jonah: "THANK you!"
Isaac: "You're WELcome!"

MAR 20: Last month, we noticed that whenever we couldn't find something (usually shoes or socks), Jonah would say "HMMMM" and start walking around the house. I realized that he multiple cue words, "find" and "look for" among them. It's adorable!
Today, he was looking for something, and he communicated it perfectly: "Bea (ds). HMMMM." and he bent down with his bottom in the air to look under his dresser, hoping to spot his beads.
I told him they were on the bed, so he said "be (d)" and walked over to get them. Success.

MAR 21: When it's our turn to aide at Isaac's preschool, Jonah gets to stay with Adam. This is what I found one Monday when Isaac and I came home:




MAR 28th: The boys often play in the living room while I make dinner, and I love hearing them have fun together. On this night, they were giggling and giggling, so I tried to be sneaky and capture some of it on video. You can pick out each of their laughs as they play some made-up game with a baby stroller and a few toys.



MAR 29th: Jonah has started singing a recognizable song for the first time! He walks around the house saying "Pop!...Wee-ull." (Pop goes the weasel)

MAR 30: Jonah loves trains and towers right now. Every morning when he wakes up, he says "Train" and wants to go play in Isaac's room. Every day when he wakes up from nap, he says "I-Dack" and wants to go find his brother right away. And every night before bed, he says "Towr" and wants to build towers with this blocks.

Mar 20: Family Hike at Chautauqua

It was the perfect way to celebrate the first day of spring. The weather was beautiful, and we were craving Beau Jo's again, so we went back to Boulder for hiking and lunch.

It's a 40-minute drive to the trails, but the boys entertain each other in the backseat, and Adam and I get to have a real conversation. Jonah was engrossed in his favorite book at first, but he was very excited to be in the car. It didn't matter where we went; he was ready for some fun.


Jonah was cranky in the pack for some reason, so Adam carried him faster while I walked up the big first hill with Isaac.


Adam and Jonah hung out by the rocks waiting for us while Isaac and I took in the sweeping views. We'd given Isaac the job of water carrier, and the camelbak was pretty heavy on his little shoulders, so he wanted to rest halfway up the hill.



When I agreed to carry the camelbak, Isaac felt light as could be and started running up the trail. It was a good trick, I think - this time, he not only walked every step of our loop but also ran, skipped and jumped. He offered to take the water back now and then, and he trudged along with it, but I was happiest with what it did for his hiking!


Jonah, happy to be on his own feet again, was feeling good in his sunglasses.


Like last time, Jonah insisted on walking.


And I think Isaac ran all the way to this treeline.






Jonah was walking this rocky terrain too, sometimes holding a hand, sometimes not.




Both boys walked this whole path up to this point. Isaac was the champion hiker on this day. We couldn't figure out why Jonah kept getting cranky. He kept alternating between "up" and "walk."




Finally, when Isaac and I had walked ahead and stopped to wait, Adam made a discovery. He came toward us holding a hard plastic, round, pink-flowered object just bigger than a golf ball. It was one of the balls from a Christmas toy, which we keep in Jonah's room.

And guess where Adam had found it: in Jonah's diaper, wedged into his bottom. Poor, poor baby. And we'd made him ride in the harness, not to mention the long car ride to Boulder. No wonder he'd been cranky.

I got the blame at first; after all, I was the one who'd changed his diaper. But what?? Wouldn't I have noticed if a hard pink ball had rolled into the diaper before I closed it? I'm generally more attentive than that...

After a few minutes, Adam thought to ask Isaac if he'd put the pink ball in Jonah's diaper. Isaac said yes. Why? "I just wanted to."

Poor baby.

With the hard object removed, Jonah felt much better.

Basketball boys

Thanks Brian for this picture!

Isaac is taking a Saturday basketball clinic for 3-5 year-olds this spring. The first day, he didn't want to do anything the teacher said, but the second time, he followed directions and had a great time. He still couldn't make a shot (and neither could I!), but by the 3rd class, this had changed too. They use half-sized goals and mini balls, and Isaac was making most of his shots that day! He's also learning to dribble - which mainly means bouncing the ball about 5 times while chasing it wildly around the room. Really, I didn't know what the kids would learn at this age, and I've been surprised at what the coaches have been able to do with them. Best of all - it's really fun.

Jonah loves basketball class too. He is always happiest holding a ball, and he usually picks one up right away to play with. And he loves seeing his favorite friends Adler (his age) and his big brother Landon (Isaac's good buddy, also in the class).

Jonah has learned what the basket is for, and he loves to practice in our backyard. Here he is in March, when he first learned to make a basket:


And a short little video that I love (3/21/11) of Jonah making a basket and then applauding:

Mar 5: Adam's Birthday Hike and Lunch

For his birthday, Adam's request was a hike and lunch in Boulder. My parents were visiting, and it was the perfect outing for a chilly but beautiful Saturday in late winter.



Isaac hiked ahead with my parents while Adam carried Jonah in the pack.







I loved the sight of Isaac walking happily between my parents, holding their hands.


It didn't take long before Jonah was yelling, "Down! Down! Walk!"


We carried him over the muddiest spots...


but walk he did.






He walked slowly on those little legs but with great determination. If we said "Do you want me to carry you?" the answer was "NO!"




Isaac was the one asking to be carried this time.


Jonah allowed it for brief intervals, but then he was struggling to get down again. "Down! Walk walk!"












We showed my parents the Secret Trail and did our favorite Chatauqua loop, and honestly, Jonah walked most of it. I've never heard of a 17-month-old hiking like this.


He tripped pretty often, fell on his knees a lot, but he just got back up. Even when he fell on his face back in the woods, he cried for 30 seconds, then said "Walk!" And he was ready to go some more.








Face of determination.










All that walking made us hungry...The next stop was Beau Jo's for a Mountain Pie. This is becoming our favorite pizza. Jonah calls it "people." As in "people, more!" or "hungry, people!"




Adam and Isaac were hard at work coloring while we waited. My mom always has good ideas to stretch Isaac's imagination and make him think more.




The boys each ate several pieces and guzzled water. There was even tournament basketball on TV. A perfect Saturday.