Milestone Minutiae

Emmett was learning to read digital clocks at the same time that we were doing mental math problems before bed. I pointed out to him that he could always look at the clock and get a math problem - add two of the digits, or add the hours to the minutes, or whatever. I only mentioned it once, and it was at least 6-8 weeks ago. Tonight as we were snuggling before bed and I turned down the brightness on his clock a bit. He's been having trouble getting to sleep and I thought brightness might not be helping. He asked me to turn it up, though, because he wanted to see it easily to get math problems! Then, as it was 9:43, he did 9 + 3, and at 9:44 he did 9 + 44.

After swinging today, Luke picked up an apple and brought it into the house. (For some reason, the apple tree is dropping lots of little immature apples right now.) He carried it around for a while, and then I showed him that it fit in the pocket on the front of his tee-shirt. He laughed and said, "Apple in mine shirt." He doesn't confuse me vs. you (I don't remember him ever really doing that, but it's a typical stage). Still, so far always uses "mine" instead of "my." "Lotion in mine hand," or "Bring me mine drink." Tonight he wouldn't let me put his pajama shirt on because he wanted to keep the apple in his pocket. I had to take the apple out after he was asleep so he doesn't wake up when he rolls onto it!

That's how it usually starts, with Luke demanding "Push me on swings!" Emmett is always up for getting pushed on the swings, so I spend a lot of time out back pushing the boys on the swings. I'm lucky the swingset has shade most of the day! Once on Mythbusters, they tested whether it was possible to make a playground swing do a complete 360 degree circle around the bar. I stared counting pushes like this: "One... Two... Three Sixty!" I push a little harder each time and Emmett loves it, squealing and laughing. Luke demands the same treatment, but I don't push him quite as high. Emmett has a friend who swings very high and jumps right off. He hits the ground with a thud like a sack of bricks, but jumps right up to do it again. Emmett wants to jump off too but he's sane, so he's started practicing from much lower. I wonder how high he'll go? Lately Luke has started throwing his head back while swinging. Well, he threw his head back

One day when I was out watching Luke ride his scooter, I started saying, "Go, Luke, Go!" over and over in a singsong voice. He really loved it. The next day he came to me and said, "Say go me go!" It took me a bit to figure out what he wanted, but I did. Now he sings along with me, singing "Go, me go!" He also likes to sing "Go, Emmett, Go! Go Daddy, Go! and Go, Dogs Go!"

That sounds safe, right? So when an e-mail went around about a guy having a make-and-take fireworks class, I immediately signed Emmett up. Emmett and David went to the class, where they cooked up smoke bombs, packed ground blooming flowers, fountains, and other fun looking fireworks. David seemed a little unnerved by how casual the instructor was about it all, but there were no fires during the class and no fingers were lost in the process. We're looking forward to lighting the fireworks next week. Well, all except for that one with the wings. We'll only light that one if we can find a very large and very empty parking lot.

You often find your five-year-old watching a program with the menu taking up three quarters of the screen. Then you notice that the top right quarter where the program is showing isn't that much smaller than your old TV. (He does this because he's trying to turn on some particular program, but he gets distracted by what's showing in the preview pane.)

Tonight while nursing to sleep, Luke poked my breast a couple of times and then said, "ampy." I looked back at him and smiled. "Happy?" I said. He looked back at me and said, more clearly this time, "Empty!"

I guess I should be thankful that it took 21 months for Luke to hit the stage where he shouts "Again!" at the end of each book I read him. Over and over. Previously, I'd hand him the book and he'd happily take it back to the bookcase and get another book. Now it's unusual to read more than one book in a sitting. Sadly, Luke hasn't even figured out taking turns when Emmett is reading with us. He throws little fits when I put his book down to read Emmett's choice. I'm hoping he'll catch on quickly!

Luke has been wanting to feed ducks, so this morning we went to Wheeler Farm where they have lots and lots of ducks. Actually, they have a bunch of ducks and then they have zillions of Canada Geese. We showed up with our bread and the mass of them - over a hundred at least - started slowly moving towards us from almost all sides. It was like Night of the Living Canada Geese out there! I picked up Luke and Emmett stayed close by my side while we fed them. Fortunately Emmett didn't freak out. When our bread was gone they gave us a little more space, but were still all around. Luke decided to pick up a leaf and wave it at the geese, who responded by hissing at him. Yikes! Stepping between them and yelling at the goose wasn't as effective as I'd hoped. Those geese have no fear! But they did move away a little, so I left Luke on the ground. After a while, another family came to feed the geese so we were left in peace to play around the nearby stream. (And they were

Some things quietly work their way into our lives without notice. Here are a couple that I've recently realized: Luke has stopped sucking his thumb. I can't remember the last time I saw him doing it. At Spanish school each day, Emmett makes a craft and "buys" a prize with his tokens. Of course, Luke wants whatever Emmett has just made or purchased. And more often than not, Emmett willingly shares them with Luke. Things he's just gotten. Amazing.