"When I was a baby"

This posting could just as easily be titled "Car monologues."

Sometimes Noah's cranky or I'm lazy when I get in the car with the boys, so I pop in a Tom Chapin or Disney CD. But sometimes Noah gets on a roll and it's fun to let him talk.

This morning, after we had visited my allergist and were on our way to daycare, was one of those mornings. What follows is an attempt at recreating the free-flowing observations of an almost-three year old:

"When I was a baby and I went to the doctor I would cry and the doctor would say, 'You should not cry,' so I would stop. Now I am big and I get a sticker when I go to the doctor.

"But when I was a baby and I was little and we would go to the doctor I could not play with the toys but now I am big and I can play with the grocery toys and the monster truck and the puzzles. Jonah is a baby and can't play with the toys. He just sleeps.

"But sometimes he cries. When we are eating dinner and he cries I say, 'You should not cry, Jonah. This is not a crying table.' And you say, 'Noah, that is not nice.' But Jonah keeps crying. When I was a baby and I was little, I cried, but now I am big and I don't cry at the dinner table."

[pause]

"S. M. D. U. P. I see a sign. Do you see a sign, Mommy?"

"I see lots of signs," I say, not quite sure what sign he means.

"That is a blue sign with white letters. It has an M. M is for you, Mommy. M is also for Maryland. M. A. R. Y. L. E.[sic] N. D. That spells Maryland."

[then he starts singing]

"Maryland, we're all behind you..."

[stops singing]

"Grandma Rebecca and Grandpa Marc live in Maryland, Mommy. Where are Grandma Rebecca and Grandpa Marc?"

"They're probably at work, sweetie."

"Daddy is at work. He lives downtown. Last Tuesday he used to live in Florida at work, but now he is downtown. When I was a baby and I was little, I lived in Jonah's car seat, but now I am big and I have my own car seat and now Jonah lives in the car seat.

"Mommy, do you see a dreidel?"

"I think that's the Porsche sign on the car dealership, sweetie. But it looks like a dreidel, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. When I was a baby I couldn't play with a dreidel, but now I am big..."

[And so the talk continued. A car ride with Noah can definitely be a trip.]

Rolling, rolling

There we were at the doctor's office last week, Jonah and I, awaiting the dreaded shots. The wait was unusually long, so I put Jonah's blanket down on the exam table and decided to give him some "tummy time." For once, he didn't seem to mind too much, and moreover he was doing a good job of scooting his legs forward to such an extent that he was nearly on his forearms and knees.

Suddenly, amidst the scooting, he twisted sideways and flip! He was on his back. Not happily so, though I was quite proud of him. He clearly didn't expect that particular cause and effect. That said, he's since rolled belly-to-back a couple more times, and he's generally been happier about it. And he's still trying valiantly (but in vain) to roll back-to-belly.

In other Jonah news, today at school I sat him in a tripod position (legs straight forward, arms on the sides) and he almost sat up straight. His rather rotund belly (which makes it difficult for him to roll) does a good job of preventing him from falling face forward and eating the carpet when his arms fail him.

Today, however, rather than leaning forward, he leaned slightly backward, holding his arms out sideways as if for balance on a tightrope, and then returned to the tripod position. Definitely a good start. He appeared to be emboldened by this discovery, and pleased, so he leaned backward again with a big grin. Luckily, my arm was there to catch him when he passed the 90 degree mark and quickly fell (again, arms out to the side, this time as if he were doing the Nestea Plunge). He'll get there soon.

Jonah's final developmental step (of this posting) is his discovery of his toes. When Noah was a baby, we used to get a magazine that had poems and such for the pre-toddler set. One poem went as follows:

Little baby, little bear
Eyes wide open, cinnamon hair
Grab your toes and hold on tight
Roly-poly, left and right.

Anyway, Jonah is now at that stage, and it's fun to watch him grab and roll. Just thought I'd share.

That was not painful

Noah can come out with some choice comments sometimes. Well, almost daily. Unfortunately, we frequently forget them by the time the day has ended, and certainly by the time the week has passed and we call family to chat. Some of his quips, though, are too memorable.

The other day, we were getting him ready for bed and he was sitting on the potty, procrastinating as usual. We told him he needed to try to poop, and finally he relented. As his face turned purple, I had a hard time not laughing, but I managed. Suddenly, plop! And then, once his complexion returned to normal, he said (somewhat panting), "That was not painful." (Pause, with much silent laughter on Adam's and my part.) "So I did it. I pooped."

Ah, the honesty of almost-three year olds.

Our other favorite recent comment concerned Jonah's crying (as do many of Noah's comments, actually). I was trying to feed Jonah cereal one night, and he was having none of it. Above the din, Noah yells out, "Jonah! You should not speak to Mommy like that!" My little prince, ever protectful... of his ears.

One final Noah funny, from awhile back. Grandma Rhoda was visiting in early December, and one morning she noticed that Noah's bed wasn't made. So she says to Noah, "Let's make your bed." His response: "Let's not."

OK, so that was funny at the time and we indeed laughed. The second, third, and x-teenth time, however, weren't so amusing. Rather, they sounded a bit bratty. So we put an end to that particular comment.

Then, last weekend, Grandma Rebecca and Grandpa Marc were visiting, and they were playing with Noah in the family room. After several flips of the light switch (going in and out of the tunnel while "on the train"), Noah says, "Let's turn off the light and go into the tunnel," to which Grandma Rebecca responds, "Let's not."

Aha! And we thought he had picked up that phrase at school -- no, he must have done so while we were visiting the Hertzmans over Thanksgiving. The truth comes out!

Anyway, Noah replies to Grandma Rebecca, "That is not a nice thing to say. You should not say 'Let's not.' That is not polite."

Well, at least we know he listens to us, too. For now...

Welcome

Hi all,

Just thought I'd try out a new mode of sharing Noah and Jonah news. As always, you can go to www.hertzmania.com for photos and such, but this blog should (in theory) allow us to share some of the more interesting and amusing events in our sons' lives.

I'll write more later...