Up and Over

I still remember  the Montessori approach to putting on winter coats.  I didn't remember that hoods can make it a bit difficult.  I do remember it was sometimes important to stand back as coats with zippers and mittens attached went flying overhead. 

The boys understand Mommy has a black car and Daddy has a blue car.  When Daddy leaves, after we all have breakfast together, we look out the laundry room window and watch his blue car drive away, while the boys say, "Daddy's blue car, Daddy's blue car." Gramma's car is champagne gold.  We'll have to work on that.

Who're you calling a monkey?

I remember how excited my children were to eat bananas like a monkey.  Now, I realize having children prepares you to be a grandparent.

Twins Work Is Never Done

 

Gramma found a way to put the boys' love of water to good use.  We wouldn't have needed to replace our dishwasher and could have put the money we saved toward our higher water bills.  A weeks' worth of dishes are nothing for Nathan and Andrew.  Nathan gets so into his work that he has to be stripped down first.  I also have the cleanest floors, lately. 

Andrews has discovered pockets.  He likes playing the role of "cool dude."  I will have to keep a closer eye on my keys, now.  I remember Uncle Matt's parachute pants; a favorite, because they had so many pockets.  Or perhaps he liked them because the shiny black nylon felt so nice.  I still think they were a "hike" above the baggy pants, he used to lose on the trampoline.

The twins stay overnight at Gramma's and Grampa's

Breakfast at Gramma's is very laid back.  No one bothers you about putting your feet on the table or about pushing yourself away from the table.  If Daddy were here, it would be another story.  I did not include the picture of Grampa's feet on the table.  The boys' parents are hopeful that Nathan and Andrew will understand, what happens at Gramma's has no application to home.  Part of the joy of being a grandparent is making sure things aren't too easy at home.  Nathan knows he's not supposed to push his chair away from the table, at least not until he's complimented the cook.  He's wondering if Gramma doesn't know the rules.

Nathan is heading down the ancestral path of the former Goedken engineers.  I discovered he knew how to work the locks of the high chair seat belts after repeatedly finding them locked.  I wondered if one of the boys had manged to slip of of it without my opening it, or if their grandfather was doing it, or if I was losing my mind.  Eventually, I caught Houdini in the act.  He will repeat this over and over as long as you're willing to open the locks. 

He's also into locking and unlocking my bookcase doors.  Keys are really interesting.  Hi Great-grandfather Lynch used to be able to pick locks.  I'm not sure how a policeman developed that skill.  I used to have three keys, but one went missing for a couple of weeks.  I found it eventually in the couch in their bedroom.  Hmmm..., I wonder how that got there?  Nathan's especially good at unlocking my heart.

Sock puppets. 

Gramma's Pantry

Nathan is now tall enough to open the front door.  No problem; we can lock the front door.  Andrew, not to be outdone, has learned to open all of the doors.  He can now admit himself to the pantry, where all of Gramma's good snacks hide.  There's crackers, cereal and pretzels; all within reach.  We're going to have to rearrange those shelves shortly.  At least before they discover the beer is in there, too. 

Nathan told Rebecca that he wanted to eat. He also signs it.  She asked if he wanted a snack and he agreed vigorously.  When she opened the pantry door, she found Andrew already inside the pantry in the dark.  He can't reach the light switch, but I guess he has no fear of the dark, since he didn't call for help.  "I see you had the same idea," Rebecca told Andrew.

 Ryan Joseph and the boys stayed for dinner.  Gramma had made homemade bread that Nathan tasted as we were getting dinner together.  As dinner was served, Nathan explained he wanted the bread.  Of course being health conscious adults, we all tried to explain he had to eat something else first.  He looked at us as if we had lost our hearing and very clearly said, "bread."  The adults went on with their ludicrous explanation.  Nathan looked at us as if we had all lost our minds, pointed to the bread and repeated, "bread."  By this time Gramma had him on her lap, but it obviously didn't improve her hearing. 

It makes you wonder what they think we're thinking. We've told him time and again to use his words. Nathan didn't get the message that words are powerful, but instead thinks we all have a hearing problem. Adults will tell you, "one bite" and then panic if you make it a big one. They save dessert for last, which makes no sense. They have a pantry of good food and won't let you in it. The outside is just waiting for you and they won't let you go there. They put you down for a nap, when you're clearly not tired. They put their most treasured items up high where you can't reach them.  The cat can eat whenever it wants, but they make us sit at the table and then put everything out of our reach.

Andrew taste tests Gramma's chocolate lava cakes.  It passed the test.

I often try to play or sing for them.  No matter what I want to play I must begin with "The Wheels of the Bus" if we're at the piano, "Yankee Doodle" for horseback riding and "Rock-a-Bye Baby" for the rocking chair.  It's a short repertoire list for someone in my profession.