Evan Speaks!

Nathan started talking early in his life. He was 5-6 months old when he started with "mama" and "dada". The first time I knew he was saying "da-da" intentionally was when I had my back to him and he loudly said, "da-da-da-da-da-da!!!" after I had seemingly ignored his more civil chatter. Nathan has come a long way with his vocabulary, as most of you have experienced first hand.

They say the younger children sometimes take longer to talk, especially if the firstborn/older siblings are very outspoken as Nathan is. So, we're in the sixth month with Evan, and he's been "talking" baby-talk for a while, but nothing really clear. I wouldn't try to tell him that he's not making sense, as he always has a look of confidence in what he's trying to say.

On Father's Day (06.18.06), I'm confident I heard Evan speak his first clearly spoken words. We were at Paw-Paw and Nana Peck's, swimming in the pool, when Evan spoke! He did not say "mama". He did not say "dada". No, as his big brother had exited the pool and was walking away from Evan and I (still in the water), Evan began to "baby talk" very forcefully toward Nathan: "Ba-da-la-ma-da-ma... NAAA-TAAN!!!" I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say it. Laura said the look on my face was one of shock. I thought about it, and concluded that, as Nathan is going through his two-year-old test-the-boundaries stage, Evan probably hears "NATHAN!" more than just about anything else. I just found it amusing that his first word would be the name of the brother he so clearly adores.

Chuck-E.-Who?

Most kids, when asked where/what they'd like to go/do, will tell you things like, "let's go to the park!", and "Chuck-E-Cheese!" My son (Nathan) answered that question this past Saturday: "You wanna go to Home Depot?", with a big smile and much enthusiasm. I inquired as to what he would like to do there. He said, "We can look at all the fans, and all the lights, and all the lawn mowers, and all the barbeque pits..." So, we loaded up and went to Home Depot! Nathan is also becoming a fan of the Home Depot car (driven by Tony Stewart) from the Nascar Nextel Cup series. He's not really a Tony fan, per se, but he knows the car when he sees it! It's ok, he knows Jeff Gordon, too, Nana! (and he has a Jeff hot wheels car!)

Little Knot-Heads

There have been a few occasions where, in anger, I've called Nathan a "little knot-head" (ie: "quit pushing on your brother, you little knot-head!"). I know there are worse things people have called their kids, but I still felt bad about calling him anything derogatory. In the past two days, both of the boys have suffered self-inflicted "knots" on their heads, prompting this post. On Sunday, Evan was playing on the floor and got a hold of Nathan's wooden hammer (for his little peg bench toy). I realized he was chewing on it just as he pulled it back, looked at it, and popped himself in the eye socket! The sweet baby who rarely cries was wailing for a few minutes after that one. Today, Nathan "took a dive" on the back porch while playing and ended up with a pretty nasty hematoma. We took Nathan to a doctor to get it checked out, and everything seemed fine other than the swelling. He never lost consciousness, and his hearing was normal - selective, as usual. He even told his aunt "I have a golfball on my head!", repeating my description earlier in the evening on the phone. I have a feeling he'll look a lot worse than he feels for some time. So... here are my little knot-heads:

Thankfully, Evan's knot didn't leave a mark.

Nathan's did!

Neanderthal profile.

"Knot? What Knot? I got a sucker!"

Who's The Daddy?

Nathan and I had a rough day yesterday. He "pushed" me all day long. It seemed that anything he knew not to do, along with anything I told him not to do, is exactly what he did! Our discussions and corrective measures were frequent over the course of the day, and I really felt frazzled by the end of it. I was "telling" on him to Laura before we all went to bed, and Nathan marched over to where I was sitting, climbed up on my lap and put his hands on my face, pulling mine right up to his. As our noses were smashed into each others, he looked intently into my eyes, and said firmly, "I love you, Daddy!" It was as if he said, "Ok. Let's not re-hash all the drama of the day for Mommy! Let's put it behind us and move on, Dad! I love you, you love me. LET IT GO, ok?"

Nathan's gonna be a great dad someday. (Someday 25 + years from now!)

I wonder what he'll teach me today.

Lint-erally Speaking...

Nathan was playing with one of those roll-of-masking-tape-turned-inside-out-on-a-stick thingies and was picking up dust, etc. on the sofa, on the walls, and even himself. He asked Laura, "what is this, mommy?!" She told him it was a "tape roller". Later, he ventured back to where I was, and rolled my shorts while I brushed my teeth. "Look at this tape roller!" he said. I informed him that it was called a "lint roller". He repeated, "that's a lint roller!", and scurried down the hall. The next thing we know, he shows up with a sheet of lint on his roller and his pants. "Where did you get all that lint, son?" I asked. "From the dryer!" he said matter-of-factly.

Awww, Man!

This is a favorite phrase of frustration with Nathan. I've heard it used in connection with spilled drinks, food, etc. I've heard him use it when he's "got poops". He's used it when he was covered in sidewalk chalk, when he inserted several screws and a lolipop stick into his CD player, and he's even used it to tell on himself: "Awww, Man! Nathan pulled those flowers off of that plant!" (Yes, he's on this trip of referring to himself in third person right now) Just this past week, I spilled a glass of water all over the table at dinner, and Nathan exclaimed, "AWWWW, MAN! Look what DADDY did!!" (Awww, Man!)

"Fridge-A-Raider" Photo Journal (pt1)

Yeah, yeah... it's cute alright! I just didn't get any pictures of when he got into the pudding! (NOT so cute!)