Nathan told me he wants to grow up and be a daddy. I was thinking what a sweet thing it was that he looked up to his father so much. Then he continued, "When I'm a daddy, I'll be able to carry Andrew around." Hmmm!?
Andrew was waving his hand and explained to me that he was "hi-ing." I see his developing vocabulary shows an expanding grasp of our language.
We are all excited about Andrew's big news. But no one is more excited than Andrew.
If you ask Nathan, "Could you do something for me?" he will respond, "Sure, I can." And that's before he knows what you want him to do. That's a positive "I can do" attitude.
Nathan also uses language extremely well. He has a strong need for independence and will ask, "Can I do it myself?" or "Can you show me how to do it?" Or he'll tell you, "I want to do it myself." What's unique is that he very politely asks you to be a partner in his independence. This ensures you don't get in his way and that he has an audience that will encourage and applaud him. I wish I had learned that earlier in my life.
Nathan loves practicing the violin.
The boys get excited when it's time for Grampa to fix something. They love his tools and observe carefully.
Grampa needed to repair a hinge on the boys' treasure chest of magnets. Grampa repaired it with a paperclip, a needle-nose pliers and a wire clipper that he calls a side cutter.
Time to test it out.
And it passes the test!
At lunch, we had a bowl of blueberries, strawberries, grapes and apple slices. Andrew had tried a few of his Grampa's Cheetos and had orange fingers, which I told him would be okay to lick, but to be careful not to eat them. As we started to pass the bowl of fruit to Andrew, I realized he would need a spoon to scoop some fruit. He was in search of grapes. I handed him a tablespoon, and he asked if he could scoop them himself. I try to let the boys do as much as they possibly can, so I told him, "Of course." Andrew did a great job of scooping and then proceeded to put the spoon in his mouth. Megan and I watched in disbelief, looked at each other and broke into laughter. I told Andrew that spoon would be his, and got a clean one for the rest of us. If our language is difficult to make heads or tails of, etiquette has to be even more difficult to understand.
I remember our German exchange student, Trie. He had never had vegetables with dip. He took a bite off a carrot and then was about to apply more dip on what was left, when everyone at the table gasped and Terry's hand shot out and grabbed Trie's. "There's no double dipping," Terry told him. How does that translate in German?
At dinner, Grampa asked Andrew if he would like pumpkin pie, monkey bread or ice cream. Andrew responded, "No thank you. I'm waiting for dessert." Grampa told him his wait was over and went through the list again.
Nathan instructs Andrew and Nolan. He can go on and on at great length. Perhaps he will grow up to be a teacher.
Nolan enjoys joining the boys for Twins' Friday Plus One.
The twins take the job of watching Nolan very seriously.
Nolan enjoys being swaddled by Grampa.
He even talked to Grampa this week.
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