maxwell's dictionary

max isn't much of a talker. he doesn't really need to be. he will repeat anything and everything (so watch yourself) but the words he chooses to say with no prompting melt my heart.
swing \whin\n. 1. please push me in the pink swing 2. the blue swing will do if someone is already in the pink swing
jump \dum\vb 1. i want to bounce on the trampoline 2. i'm going to jump in the pool whether you're watching or not
no \'no\adv 1. if i say "no" high and sweet, i really mean "yes". 2. if i say "no" low and grumpy, then i mean "no"
what \'wat\adv in response to any question you ask me (we haven't completely figured this one out. he says it all the time. but i'm pretty sure he thinks it means "yes")
ball \'ba\ n. 1. i want that ball 2. i want you to catch the ball 3. i want you to throw that ball at me and if it happens to hit me, i'll laugh and laugh
jakob \day'kuh\n. 1. boy to play with 2. small male person i'm always excited to see 3. someone who can remove me from my crib.
riley \wa'wee\n. 1. best friend 2. someone i love to see/play with/snuggle/accuse of stealing my blankie\bang'din\n.
zoe \zuh'\ n. 1. yea! you're home! 2. please share your snack with me 3. girl bigger than "wawee" who can put me on the trampoline and get me out of the swing 4. girl who occasionally locks me out of her room
hot \ha'\ adj. 1. the trampoline/cement is hot on my feet 2. i'm concerned the food you are trying to feed me is hot 3. i don't want the food you are trying to feed me, so i'll stall
stuck \'tuh\vb 1. come quick! i'm stuck 2. come quick! something i want is stuck 3. come quick! i want you to open this jar/door/toothpaste that i'm probably not supposed to have
max has recently started putting 2 words together. that one \da'win\, daddy's home \daddy oh\, stop it \dop eh\ and want bite \un bye\. they just might be the cutest sentences known to man.

school days

the first week of school went off without a hitch. jakob started 1st grade with mrs. sturch (who we all immediately fell in love with) and was an old pro. "it's just like kindergarten!!" he knew where to meet before school started, what to do in the lunch line and how to sit on the curb while he was waiting for us to pick him up. everyday, mrs. sturch says something like, "i just love him! i want to keep him forever! i wish i had a million more jakobs!" i said to jakob, "wow. mrs. sturch really likes you." he very confidently told me, "yeah. because i'm the best kid in school." zoe was the tiniest bit apprehensive to start this year. she was in a brand new school, so the idea of not being familiar with where to go and what to do made her nervous. plus, none of her best little girly friends were in her class so she was feeling a bit secluded, (and she reminded us that she wouldn't see jakob in the halls...or collin or cameron or jayden or opheina.) but after the second or third day she was right as rain, once again feeling comfortable and happy, and although she doesn't talk about mrs. feduccia much, it's always nice things. so we are looking forward to another beautiful year. (although jakob is already asking if he can skip...pretty please... just this once.)

divide and conquer

there are millions of reasons why i love my little family. the fact that it's easily divisible by 2 is one of my favorites. taking on 2 kids is easy and completely do-able. and no matter how we divide our wee ones, it's even. boys vs. girls. in school kids vs. at home kids. big kids vs. little kids (don't let riley hear you call her little.) good kids vs. bad kids. kidding. i'm KIDding! 2, for us, is pretty simple. but we are trying to spend one on one time with them, too. and we have found that just taking one kid out of the mix (it doesn't matter which one) makes it infinitely easier. but amidst our quest of division, we realized we were never mommy+daddy+child. it was always mommy+children and daddy+children. so we have remedied that. it will be rare, but it will be. we have decided that we will take trips with each child, individually, when they are 8, 12, and 16. hopefully bonding us as parents and child. we decided to make the 8 year old trip a day trip. and let them choose what we do. all day. this summer when we were visiting jp's family in nc, we left the 3 youngest with nana and grandad and took our eldest for a "day in the life of zoe". jp was hinting towards a water park, i kept hoping for a play, but zoe made the final decision. she chose to go to the mall and get her ears pierced, go to build-a-bear and to eat at the nearest restaurant. (i think it was a friday's, or bennigan's or something exactly like it.) we had so much fun. she was thrilled that she got to get dessert (chocolate covered strawberries) and felt so grown up with tiny blue earrings. john paul and i were ecstatic that we could have a conversation with our sweet girl and not be interupted. that we got to hear everything she had to say. and that we had a chance to remember to just look at her. and smile at her. and let her be loved. it was a huge success. she is already planning what she wants to do for her 12 year old trip, and making suggestions for jakob on what he could do next year for his first trip. maybe he will be more easily swayed toward the play. but, i highly doubt that.