Toddlers and Scholars

We enjoyed a visit yesterday from Great-aunts Virginia (from Bolivia) and Evie (from Kansas).

All three boys got haircuts last night. Here’s a picture of Andrew post-cut and Jonathan pre-cut. We could still tell them apart.

Ben continues to make progress crawling.

***

And the not-so-fun news: We’re all sick.

• Andrew and Jonathan are exploring their limits on just about everything–which means a lot of crayon on the walls, clothes down the heating duct (yep, that was a fun one), butter in the hair. . . It helps that Jonathan likes to give a running commentary on what’s happening (“me draw on the wall!” “Drew take kleenex out!”"Me make Ben eat crackers!”)
• Benjamin had a well-baby doctor visit this morning. It was very boring. He weighs 17 pounds and is at the 75th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight (which he hasn’t deviated from since birth). He had 3 shots which means that he is taking an unusually long nap this afternoon.
• We’re starting to have some almost-meaningful dinner conversation. Recently David asked Andrew if he wanted more couscous. Andrew: “Nope, I want more peach peach.” Another time I noticed that Benjamin woke up from his nap in the swing. Jonathan said, “Sure enough!”
• Ben is crawling. Not speeding-across-the-floor crawling yet, but he’s definitely mobile. And he’s definitely happy about this. I’m not sure if I am.
• One of our daily highlights is the visit from the mail truck. A&J like to stand on the couch and watch out the window as he delivers mail to our box. When we’re driving in the car they often spot mail trucks off in the distance and get tremendously excited.
• It’s potty training week here at our house–or at least that was the intention. We’re only a few days into it, but it is not going well. Not that we expected it to be easy, but I think we underestimated how hard it would be to get two energetic boys to cooperate while caring for a baby at the same time. A&J made sticker charts and each have put at least one sticker on in the last two days. But if I had a sticker chart for every mess we’ve cleaned up it would be nearly full by now. We’re open to advice if anyone has any.
• 

It used to be that when we heard the first thumps from the boys’ room in the morning, we’d rush upstairs to stop the destruction. This morning we heard a thump and then silence. When Lisa went to investigate, she discovered that they had each climbed out of their cribs, found books on the shelves, and then climbed back into their cribs to read.

It’s a beautiful fall weekend in Ohio. David presented his paper this afternoon in Albuquerque. He’ll post on his trip later. Meanwhile, the rest of us are enjoying time at Grandma Phyllis’s house. Here are some of the things we’ve been doing:

Carving vegetables into salamanders

borrowing Grandpa’s jackets for the cold weather

Building forts

Reading books

I also made several casseroles for the freezer (hopefully more tomorrow) and took some family pictures for some friends. We’re having a lot of fun, but we’re looking forward to having David and Grandpa Steve back from thier travels tomorrow night.

After teaching this afternoon, we hit the road. First, we swing by Huntington, Indiana, to visit Kevin and Lydia Miller. Then we head to London, Ohio. At 6 a.m. Friday morning I fly out of Dayton for Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I’ll be presenting a paper at this panel at the American Studies Association. While I’m there, I’ll be staying with Kurt Beachy, an old friend from Rosedale. I’ll also be spending Sunday with Maurice and Sadie Miller, who are extended relations of some sort and pastors at a CMC hispanic church. That evening I return to Ohio, where’ll rejoin Lisa and the boys who will be staying with Grandma Phyllis. Grandpa Steve returns late that night too from a week-long trip on the West Coast.