Musings on memory

Yesterday when we were getting ready to play in the snow Vanh mentioned his Pooh hat. "Pooh hat blew off, gone in the water," he said. "Daddy couldn't reach it." Which was exactly what happened - late last summer a strong gust of wind blew his Pooh hat into Dow's Lake, where it was given up for lost. The thing is, Vanh didn't have the vocabulary to say much more than "Pooh hat - water," at the time, and the incident hasn't been discussed since. It really struck me how he could retain and articulate such a clear memory without having words for it at the time it happened.

At the same time the boys have added an - interesting? - demand to their repertoire lately. "I need to be carried Mommy (Daddy)," they say, and what they mean is they want you to walk around holding them for a while. No sitting, no standing still, no talking to anyone else - in other words, the exact and only routine that would settle them when they first came home as babies. I tend to scoff a bit at the idea of babies having memories but it really seems like they are working through something.

Playing in the Snow

Talking to people...

Academics

I was happy to have caught his "counting", and didn't realize until I played it back how well he demonstrated plurals too!


N is highly over-rated ayway...

I stopped recording too soon - he continued with an inspiring, "Now I know my ABCs, Now I know, sing with ME!"

(Title changed due to internet weirdos)

It was -31C with the windchill. I like that our old house is a little drafty (lots of fresh air), but there are a few days a year when that fresh air is a bit... nippy. Certainly too nippy to take off your socks and pants and play half-naked, so of course that is exactly what the boys kept doing. I needed a way to keep their feet and legs covered that they couldn't easily remove. I was also thinking about the fact that they were going to a show in an arena later, and envisioning the little piece of skin that pops out between the socks and the pants sometimes, and calculating the of the number of minutes that it takes for skin to freeze at these temps...

They were quite delighted with their tights. Vanh didn't want to take his off!

30 months old

It's a momentous day. The 30-month measurements are in and what many of you have been saying for months is true - Vanh is officially taller. Max is 88cm and Vanh almost 89cm, or 2'11". And, in keeping with tradition, they both weigh 30 pounds. And if there is only one parent to put them to bed they still insist on being carried up together. Yikes.


Oh, and if you are thinking, "Those boys have giant heads," you are right. At 52cm they are at the 99%ile for America, or off the chart for Vietnam. I suspect a lot of their weight is in those heads as well, because their bodies are slender considering they're at the 15%ile for height and the 50th for weight. They still have soft spots, about the size of a quarter.

Two-and-a-half

It was time to celebrate birthday 2 1/2. I got out the camera for the requisite commemorative photos and video, and the boys showed me what they've learned lately:

How to Torture Your Brother
If your brother is waiting for the cloth you are using, be sure to clean every single speck of your face, hands, and highchair tray before passing it to him. Better yet, clean everything twice, especially if he really wants it. He has to wait his turn.

If you finish your cupcake before your brother, announce to the world that the cupcake he is eating is now yours. This will make him immediately stop enjoying his cupcake to defend its ownership. Keep claiming it's yours until he gets too upset to eat.

It may be obvious but it needs to be stated - if it appears your brother is actually trying to take your cupcake hit him.

Once you have been hit you are the victim and need do nothing but howl. Refuse all attempts at apology from your brother. He deserves to feel bad forever.



Just for the record - if I hadn't been filming I probably would have scooped up Max right away - we respond to hitting by consoling the victim first, then dealing with the apology. And I have to point out that the "Don't worry, he knows how to share" strategy that you heard works 99% of the time - just not when the camera is rolling apparently. I think someone knew how rotten he was being, however, as he's never said "Sorry" that quickly before either. All in all not the celebratory milestone video I was going for, but an interesting enough snapshot, at least to me!

Dancing J

The song came on and they just started dancing. The video doesn't capture it properly but it's such a dear little dance...

Stylin' Saturday #18

Two and a half in just a few days. They are really looking like little boys all of a sudden.

Max picked both tops as Vanh wasn't interested. I noticed today that we've graduated from "Tigger mommy! Thomas! MaxVanh!" to "Tigger shirt for Max, Thomas shirt for Vanh."

We may not be having photographic evidence of Stylin' Saturday for a while - as you can see I had to offer fruit candy AND a video in exchange for these "poses", and am not prepared to maintain this level of bribery just for a few photos!

Skating adventures - year two

Remember last year?

The coats and hats are the same, but the enjoyment level has gone up this year:

Baby Van came skating too

Do you see Baby-1 in Vanh's pocket?

Vanh didn't last much longer, but Max skated around for a while and even tried the big rink.

Cutest t-shirts ever

Thank you MeMe!

Stylin' Saturday #17

Okay, I confess, the boys had absolutely nothing to do with these outfits, they are dressed up for Baby Teo's New Year's Day party. But they did choose their tee-shirts for New Year's Eve! And by "choose" I mean "demanded 'digger' and 'dinosaur' loudly until I dug through the summer shirts to find them".