Laser Bugs

I used to play with Rebecca's cat, making him chase a laser beam in order to burn off a few calories (off the cat).  I never realized that children and cats are so much alike.  They both like chasing laser bugs.  At least the laser bug can be spared sudden death at the hands of the boys.  Come to think of it, the boys enjoy Kitty's ball with feathers attached that makes bird noises, too.  And Nathan has demonstrated he likes cat food.  Who needs pets if they have children?  Although, Kitty's litter needs changing once or twice a week.  Those boys have some diaper changes that can't wait. 

The practical life lesson for the week was sweeping with a dustpan and broom.  I thought the fallen leaves from my orange tree would be the perfect opportunity for a lesson for the boys.  They were excited about the new experience, especially Andrew, who insisted upon repeating the lesson over and over again.  The problem was that leaves are easily swept up, but after they've been crushed by scooping them out of the dustpan, scattering them on the floor and starting over three times, they start to crumble into minute particles.  Fortunately, Gramma's skills are rather developed and she knows her way around a dustpan and broom.  It's great to be able to impress someone with my sweeping technique.  I can't remember the last time that struck someone else as remarkable.

Shinichi Suzuki always said  "look at your children while they sleep to remind yourself how much you love them."  God had a perfect plan when he made sleeping children so heart warming.  Grampa always says, "Never wake a sleeping child."  I'm sure that's so you can continue warming your heart as long as possible.

Brothers are connected in so many wonderful ways.

Twins vs. teens

One of the most wonderful things about small children is how transparent they are.  Whatever they think is written all over their faces.  And you usually know what their next thought will be.  That's an uncomplicated mind to observe and admire.

Nathan and Andrew had decided to play with the same toy.  Gramma was quickly in the game  with the thought, "get ready for a distraction."  Before that thought turned into action, Andrew had taken possession (even small children know it's 9/10ths of the law) so Nathan, clearly frustrated, decided his only recourse was to sink his teeth into the problem (his brother).  Gramma, who's brain is now racing at top speed, grabbed Andrew up in her arms and gave him her attention.  Nathan watched in astonishment and unbelief.  How did that happen?  He got the toy and Gramma!  You could see the click in his brain when he decided he had lost round 1 and round 2 and was absolutely not going to let round 3 get the best of him.  He left the room, practially stamping his feet headed for the staircase, scrambling up just as fast as his four legs (he's part monkey) would go.  Now, he had Gramma's attention!  He was 3/4's of the way up when he turned around and laughed, knowing I would be 3 steps behind.

I enjoyed the rainbow of emotions that had just passed before my eyes, remembering my children's teen years.  You saw dark clouds covering their thoughts, but never the clear rainbow of their minds.  If only the biggest problem in teen years was trying to keep them from biting each other.  And if only the troubles would have turned so quickly into laughter.  I didn't notice the rainbow in my children while they were small, because I wasn't aware it was a vision I needed to hold onto in order to get through the lean years.  Grandchildren are the opportunity to live with better vision.

Never drink and drive!

I think I'll just rest here, against Grammpa's legs.  I'll know if he tries to get away.  And he'll protect me from Nathan.

The boys, being true Goedkens, enjoy pumpkin pie for a snack.  They are starting to eat on their own.  Mastery is a little ways off, but some things are worth struggling over.  Andrew keeps an eye on Kitty, while he eats.  Grampa, on the other hand isn't ready for the boys to grow up so fast.  Ryan Joseph used to eat with a wash cloth next to him to clean off his fingers between bites.  At least the boys are spared that.

Cars and bugs, kisses and hugs.

The boys have a new car with a back seat (sort of).  It has a pull down trunk you can sit on.  Of course, it's the hot toy right now.  But fortunately the boys are learning to share and take turns.  Andrew was heading toward the car, when Nathan spotted him moving in that direction.  I think he keeps one eye on his brother at all times.  Nathan made a dash for the car and cut Andrew off, jumped into the car, slammed the door shut and said, "Nathan's turn."  Andrew just shrugged and sat in the trunk.  I thought of intervening for the sake of fairness, but thought better of it.  Every week that passes with Andrew thinking that Nathan knows who's turn it is, is a week of peace and harmony.  The video you would love to see is Gramma and Grampa "motorizing" their cars around the house with races and surprises.  The boys have no idea we are tall enough to see across the counters and know where the other car is lurking.  But since there was no one to man the camera it can only exist in our memories.  And the fun doubled when Uncle Matt came and rode in the back seat.  Or at least his head did.

Drivers, start your engines!

By the way, Gramma has a new car, too.  Mine's on loan.  Grampa didn't zig when the road did.  So now my car's getting a new front end.  I'm just so glad it wasn't me.  I have enough new front ends to my credit. I don't think their parents will let us teach the boys to drive. 

I'm glad Nathan and Andrew aren't afraid of bugs. But I will have to keep a close eye on them this summer.  I already have to try to keep Rebecca's cat from trying to eat dangerous bugs like bees.   Of course, their mother is a veterinarian.  The critter world is calling to them.. 

There are no free rides at Gramma's.  Even the little people have to pitch in with the work.



And Gramma is teaching us to give serious thought to our sense of fashion.

Twins' Friday - The Bubble Dance

How did Bear and Gorilla get our coats on?

How many times and ways will a child try to pop bubble wrap?  We haven't reached a limit, yet.  We were busy making Gramma's Christmas tree bare.  The boys removed the ornaments from the bottom of the tree and threw them into a box.  Then they took them out of the box and wanted Gramma to put them back on the tree.  Game on!  Gramma did the high ones plus the ornaments that were landing on the floor.  She mnaged to only break one ornament.  I usually wrap my fragile ornaments in layers of bubble wrap.  Game two on!  Nathan and Andrew were deeply involved in making discoveries with bubble wrap.  Andrew wrapped it around his waist, and tried repeatedly to fall hard enough to pop the bubbles.  Not much luck, though.  They did learn stamping on the bubble wrap works better on hard, rather than carpeted floors.  You can create a dance if you stamp really fast.  And if Grampa stretches the bubble tight, it's easier to pop a single bubble.  Andrew's technique was to snap it really fast, which worked very well.  Nathan's technique was to pinch the bubble, which sometimes made a snap and almost always left you with a remnant of plastic on your fingers, which was easily wiped off onto Gramma.  Later, I repeated Grampa's bubble game, having the boys take turns.  They bordered on angellic waiting for their brother to have his turn.  When Nathan's pinch technique failed, I told him to take another turn.  He responded in surprised delight, "two turns?"  Earlier he told me I had two flowers on the counter.  He either understands the concept of two or everything is two.

Their math is a bit untraditional.  Andrew can now count 1-2-3-4-5, although he uses a quintesimal number system, because after 5 comes what sounds like a random assortment of digits from 1-5.  As future engineers, they will have to start working on "nothing."  All engineers do nothing well.  The boys never use zero, yet.  It will be hard to do computer work with no 0. 



Translation of language in video...  balloon......Doo-doo balloon.....Baby (their name for Rebecca's cat).....Daddy.............1, 2, 3..........up..........up, please

I bet you thought I create my stories from a moment here and there during my day with them.  From the video you can tell they are a glimpse of a few fleeting minutes in our day.  Notice the pace. This was taken early in the day.  I lose the energy to hold the camera as the day goes along.

Has anyone seen Andrew?

I'm just hanging out here with Bear and Gorilla.

The best part of New Year's eve is the helium balloons. 

Becky noticed, when she was here, that the boys were duplicating the rhythm of words perfectly, down to the accent of certain syllables, even if they didn't say the word perfectly.  That was only a week ago.  I observed that now they break the words down into syllables that they annunciate perfectly down to syllabic emphasis.  Ba-na-na, piz-za and wa-ter (he emphasizes the T) now have every consonant in place.  Ma-ma and Da-da are being replaced by Mom-mee and Dad-dee.  They sound like someone learning a foreign language.  If you ask a dumb question, they now answer like they think it's a dumb question.  When you ask, "are you finished washing your hands?" Nathan will respond, "no."  And to "Do you want to dry your hands?" the response is "no."  You're left feeling slow and out-smarted.  What's even more interesting (to a grandmother) is that they're deliberately making the change.  I've seen how intently they watch us as they emphasize each sound and gain more control over their environment.  On/off and up/down are repeated over and over, while they hone their verbal skills.  Either that or they're testing Gramma to see how often she will actually repeat the same activity before she wears out.

This will be the "Ghost of Christmases Past"

The Christmas menu must have been a bit challenging this year, even though I planned it in advance.  Christmas eve, the Minnesota company arrived especially anxious to see Nathan and Andrew.  We all sat down to eat pulled chicken sandwiches before going off to church services.  I ran upstairs to change into my "church clothes."  By the time I got back, the family was gathered around the table with salad and sandwiches on their plates.  I looked at the somewhat skimpy meal and asked if anyone wished chips with their meal.  I was assured they were fine, so we ate, rehearsed and then went to church. 

The next day we spent preparing our Christmas dinner.  The family arrived for dinner and during a lull in preparations we opened our presents.  Then back to the final touches on the meal.  The menu laid on the island in plain view, but who reads a menu?  When it was time to carve the turkey and move into the last minute frenzy to get everything on the table, I realized THE DRESSING NEVER GOT INTO THE OVEN.  How to save the dressing?  The only option was to nuke it in the microwave.  I hate cooking in the microwave, but there was no other option.  I warned everyone not to tell me it was the best dressing ever, even if they thought it.  When I went to the fridge and pulled out the casserole dish and pulled off the lid I found BAKED BEANS; not baked.  Baked beans!?  I had to think a minute.  Did I forget to bake those, too.  No, baked beans weren't on the Christmas dinner menu.  They were supposed to be for Christmas eve.  No wonder the plates looked so empty.  We ended up having them with the next evening's dinner.  Never mind that they weren't on the menu for that meal,either.  Someone had to eat the beans. 

Sunday morning I had to play at church, so Terry was going to prepare pancakes for breakfast.  I had made the batter the night before.  But the strangest thing happened... the batter bubbled on the grill and evaporated leaving a brown stain on the grill.  We tried turning down the grill and adding a little more milk to the batter.  But the same thing happened.  Oh, well.  Change the menu.  I had made the pancakes with kefir (my new health trend) and I know Terry was thinking, that was the problem.  I went to church and prayed. 

Sunday afternoon, the menu read turkey and dressing sandwiches (a family tradition from Iowa).  You mix equal parts turkey and dressing and moisten with gravy.  When Terry opened the tupperware with the remaining gravy he noticed it smelled like pancake batter!  Mystery of the evaporating pancakes - solved.  Throughout all of this, I thought this will be the story that rivals the uncooked pumpkin pie Thanksgiving story.  It has reigned almost 20 years as the most told story in the family.

Unwrapping Christmas 2010

What a difference a year has made for Nathan and Andrew.  They are so much more fun and enjoyed Christmas so much.  Becky, David, Kevin and Amanda were the perfect audience.  The boys took their role as the center of attention very seriously.  They learned that they could get a lot of positive affirmation whenever they were kind to their brother.  As they took turns playing with a battery operated toy and then passed it to their brother, the entire table would clap and say, "What a nice boy to share like that."  They could hardly pass it fast enough. 

We know that the boxes the presents come in are the most fun for small children.  But Auntie 'Becca seemed to enjoy the boxes, too.  I am definitely going to remember that next year when I'm shopping for her.  She was in the box playing with the boys.  She's the perfect playmate for them, since she had two brothers.  Second to the boxes, I think the boys enjoyed the Bilabos Rebecca bought for them.  You can see her wearing one in the picture.  They have no purpose, but can be used creatively for much fun.  They will grow with the boys and someday can serve as an ice bucket for their tailgating parties.  I overheard Ryan Joseph telling Jeni, you have to put your hand here as a counterbalance when you spin them.  It's obviously an intellectual toy.

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