Happy Brother's Day!

Max was napping and Ryan and I left the boys in the house to listen for him so we could harvest the garden without having to run in and out of the house every two minutes. I'll admit, this is usually a recipe for disaster, but the stars must have been lined up just right this day. Reed poked his head out of the door only once, and just to ask us what letter made the "yuh" sound. A few minutes later he emerged with a card he'd made for Calvin and wanted to show me. "It's Brother's Day!" he announced, declaring a holiday I had once suggested when he asked why Mommy and Daddy got a special day, but kids didn't. The picture he held up had a message written in scribbles, and a painstakingly-scribed "i luv y yuu" above a picture of Calvin in his Lone Ranger costume. Never mind that Reed's rendition of Calvin resembled a racoon with a lasso, this was the sweetest thing EVER. Being the emotional Mommy that I am, I got a little choked up. Reed, the tender-hearted one in the family, gave me a sweet hug and said, with a sheepish grin on his face, "You can take a picture of us." This is the shot we got of the Lone Ranger and Randy.

The Lone Ranger and His Faithful Sidekick, Randy

My summer naptime bribery is that if either big boy actually falls asleep (and the other boy doesn't make a peep) they can watch a short movie after naptime (Oh, how I pray they will comply, since it means double Mommy time!). Since we currently have ZERO television stations and have grown a little tired of our Scooby Doo DVD, we checked out some old-school entertainment from the library: The Lone Ranger. After watching their first episode, they were hooked. They donned cowboy hats and boots and convinced me to make masks out of old stretchy headbands. Eventually, they recruited Papa to draw a pistol on cardboard so they'd be armed and dangerous. But in the early days of playing Lone Ranger, one of them decided that they couldn't both play the Ranger (he is lone, after all). So, being the little brother, Calvin got demoted to sidekick status. That was OK by him once he found a headband and a few feathers. He dubbed himself Randy, insistent that he heard on the show that was the name of the Lone Ranger's friend. No amount of arguing would convince Randy that maybe he has misheard his name. So, I let him go find his friend and get back to outwitting bad guys, galloping around the house.

Several episodes later, two things happened. First, I downloaded the William Tell Overture onto my iPod so I could illicit galloping on a whim. Second, Randy magically changed his name to Tonto, insistent that I had misheard him - he was never Randy. Whatever.

Snapshot in Time

At this age (4) Reed is into:
- Dinosaurs
- Jail (Several times he’s expressed fear that Ryan and I are going to do something bad and go there. Then he’ll have to get “nadopted” by somebody else. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bud!)
- Gardening (He hums while he pulls weeds and waters. Adorable!)
- Chasing Calvin, sitting on him, then retrieving whatever toy he stole and staying on top of him to prevent a recurrent crime
- Nature’s wonders (worms, slugs, twirly wirlies, etc.)
- Talking! Nonstop.

Calvin (2 1/2) is into:
- Shooting various imaginary things with various imaginary guns (sticks, vacuum tubes, etc.)
- Screaming out of excitement, anger, frustration, impatience, and generally any other emotion
- Puzzles (though he screams at least once a minute when attempting one)
- Stealing toys from Reed and running away screaming in excitement at the top of his lungs, then screaming in anger when Reed catches him (see above)
- Collections (balls, alphabet books, Daddy’s hats, phones, similar cars, etc. He’ll carry them around, line them up neatly, or check them out one at a time.)
- Running EVERYwhere

I'm Thinking of...

We started a new game in the car. It started with “I Spy,” but the fact that we were moving faster than some of us could guess necessitated a switch to “I’m Thinking of…” Reed was pretty good at giving clues – “I’m thinking of something lion-y,” but if we guessed too fast, we’d be reprimanded – “Stop arrupting me!” We’ve created a monster, though. Every time we get in the car now, Reed says, “Let’s think of an animal!” Today he was trying to get us to guess an animal that starts with an “h,” is pink and blue and white (and later it morphed to red and black), has slimy skin, is big, and has claws that will get you. Every time we tried to get him to tell us what it was, he’d say, “No! Don’t give up!” Finally, he revealed that it was a lizard. I’m guessing it was the “himaginary lizard.”

Lovin' Summer!

I told Ryan this may have been the best week of my life, with possible competition from our honeymoon. We only had one week of summer before we had to go back to work for a month (summer school, class, grant trip to New Orleans), but man, we made the best of it! We took the boys fishing for the first time (Reed caught three fish--more than I’ve caught in a lifetime).We went camping in Jim and Janice’s back yard – roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in a fire pit and slept in our tent. We tried out our new bikes and pull-behind trailer for several rides. We cleaned out the garage, making room for a vehicle in there for the first time in years. And we filled that spot with a new truck – four-door for easier kiddo access. We’re back to the grind (although summer school is much more relaxed) for a few more weeks, but already I’m excited about the possibilities for July!