Beatles & Birds

As we've mentioned before, Max is turning out to be quite a musician. Whenever I pick up my guitar, he picks up his and goes to strumming. He walks around singing all kinds of random songs, sometimes making up his own lyrics. Lately, he's gotten into the Beatles and he loves "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da" and "Bungalow Bill". Whenever I come walking in from the bus and have my headphones on, he immediately wants to put them on listen and dance around. You can see he and I rockin' out below, and him getting his groove on to the Fab 4.

Another recent Max obsession: puzzles. He loves them. He'll sit and do 4 or 5 of them (the 24-piece kind) in a row. I help him a little, but he mostly does them "all by myself" ... as he likes to shout when he's done. One funny thing recently: His friend Diego was over for a playdate the other day and he and Max were doing a puzzle together. Joi said she heard Max telling Diego "So look, the ones with the straight edges go on the outside" and "Match up the colors" ... all the things I say to him when we do puzzles together. My little puzzle protege.


And he's also starting a typical boy phase: dinosaurs. He can point out the names of 8-10 different ones. Tonight at the dinner table, he told me that I was a triceratops and he was a spinosaurus. I'm not sure that at 3-years-old I knew what a spinosaurus was. He's really turning a corner ...

'Tis the Season

What a difference a year makes for Max and Christmas. Last year, Santa kinda freaked him out. This year, it's all he talks about. He walks around saying "It's going to be Christmas soon ..." and talking about the toys he wants. He's seen him a couple times at Swanson's Nursery, along with the reindeer and Curly the camel. Santa (and his load of presents) is pretty powerful bargaining chip with a child once he gets the concept of "who's naughty and who's nice."

On another note: Max is constantly saying the most random things at the most random times, like today, he had slept in our bed. He rolled over and looked at me and the first words out of his mouth were: "Daddy, do you have an electric toothbrush?" It just goes to show that you can never truly understand what's going through a toddler's mind and any given moment. Here's some pics of our tree, Max with Santa and the reindeer ... and the new cooktop and butcher block I put in this week! Yay for gas cooking!

King of the Wild Frontier

Max (aka Davey Crockett) had an eventful Halloween. On Friday, he went to a party at ELDC, then to an old folks home, and finally visiting Joi's co-workers. Then on the big day, we went to the library (this time in his cowboy outfit), then stopped to say hi to his neighbor friend Mason (some kind of superhero), then on to the Licton Springs neighborhood fest to meet up with his friend Spike (a little devil), Diego (a baseball player), and Elana (a puppy dog), where they got some candy, saw some skits and music and ran through the woods. Then off to trick-or-treat on a few blocks of our neighborhood Maple Leaf. Max's costume, often confused for Daniel Boone or a mountainman or a hunter, was a big hit. Max even learned the song from the old TV show. Enjoy!

Buggin' Out

Max and daddy had a creepy, crawly time at the Seattle Bug Safari downtown. It was basically a big room with lots of aquariums filled with exotic bird-eating tarantulas, giant Amazonian cockroaches, yellow centipedes and bright blue beetles. Max loved using his magnifying glass to see them and especially the flashlight to shine under the rocks where the big scorpions were hiding. Afterward, we walked over to the Pike Place Market and checked out the mob of tourists and had some yummy things to munch on. A fun day all around! Max's funniest line of the day: "When I grow up, I can crawl in there and eat the millipede's food!"

Max's 3rd birthday

Max had great fun at his birthday party with 10 of his friends from pre-school, daycare and other assorted ways. We ate mini-cupcakes, bowled for prizes, whacked on a pinata (that eventually broke with a little adult assistance) and played some in the backyard. Max's favorite present came from his freind Jonas ... a Batman helicopter! Super cool!

Hello, Cleveland!

After taking a break to work on other "side projects", Max returned to the stage to perform two of his latest favorites: Miss Mary Mack (with handclaps) and Twinkle, Twinkle, Traffic Light.

Stay sharp!

We recently went to the Mariners-Yankees game for Safeco Employee Night. Max made it through about 3 innings before he'd had enough; baseball is kind of slow for lots of people, especially 2 year olds. But he liked looking at the flashing scoreboard, clapping/cheering when everyone else did and some ballpark popcorn. Plus he got to ride bus and he got a free cap! A fun night all around.

Max doesn't miss an opportunity to correct Mom or Dad. Last night, Joi went to a class, which she told Max before she left. About an hour later, as he was helping me make dinner, he asked me "Where's Mommy?" I said, "She's at a meeting." Without missing a beat, he says, "Actually, Daddy, she's at a class." It's as if he knows the answer and is just testing you to see what you'll say.

You gotta be on your toes around Max. He's ready to pounce!

A seat by the man in the water

Last Saturday, while mommy was working, Max and I went on a little bus ride down to the U-District to get a yummy sub at Which Wich, and then to Cowen Park to ride the zip line and run around. Max loves to ride the bus, but its been 5-6 months since he's had a chance, the last time Paw-Paw and GJ were here. As Max and I were hoofing it up the hill to the bus stop, he said to me, "We need to get a seat by the man in the water." I was confused what he meant, but said "OK, that sounds good." When we got up to the bus stop, he exclaimed "There he is!" and I realized what he meant: There's a mural painted on the inside of the bus shelter, behind the bench, of a waterfall and a man sitting in a tube in the lake. Max remembered sitting on the bench, waiting for the bus, "by the man in the water."

It's just amazing to see what imprints on his big two-year-old brain. He vividly remembers an image from 6 months before, yet I go to that bus stop everyday and was still confused by what he meant. It's a not-so-subtle reminder that he hears and sees everything you do and say around him.

Max has such a colorful imagination. With his new favorite toy - Mr. Potato Head - he's been doing little impromptu puppet shows for us behind the big chair in the living room, complete with "Once upon a time ..." and "The end". He often picks up a handful of rocks or wood chips and offers them to us as "chocolate" or "hotdogs" or some other food (always on his mind.) Yesterday, we were at Dahl Playfield and they have a little playhouse for toddlers; he went in and poked his head out the window and hollered: "Dinner's ready! Who wants hamburgers?"

Pariseaults come to Seattle

We had an awesome week with Dick and April and the kids when they came to visit Seattle last week. It was great to have some RI family out here and to show them some of our favorite spots in the city. They stayed pretty busy, visiting the Woodland Park Zoo, Pacific Science Center, Museum of Flight, Children's Museum, assorted parks, beaches, festivals and other places. Uncle Charles played lots of basketball with Andrew and Hannah, while Max and Angela ran around playing games. The highlight of the week for the boys was when Uncle Charles got free tickets to Safeco's suite at the Seahawks pre-season game, along with field passes. We ate like kings (especially Andrew), got to stand right next to the huge football players and had a great time in prime seats. The girls had fun too, painting Max's toes. We're looking forward to them coming again ... or anybody else that wants to come out to the Great Northwest!

Old men and roller coasters

A couple more notable Max quotes from lately:

• Sometimes when he sees an older man, he says "That's another Paw-Paw." (That's what he calls his grandpa.) Well, the other day he was in the store with mommy and he saw a short old man and he said "That's a little Paw-Paw!"

• He was at the park the other day and a man who had a long beard rode up on a bike. He said a very friendly "hi" to Max, who said "hi" back. As he was walking away, Max looked up and said "That's a Santa, mommy!"

• Max put this little pose together. He grabbed the scarecrow and put on his helmet and said "Go get the camera and take a picture, Daddy! It sure will be cute." He was right.
  

And here's some from a recent trip to the Fun Forest at Seattle Center. Max rode the little roller coaster with mommy and loved it!

Mr. Manners

Max said something the other day that made mom and dad's head spin. I asked him if he wanted a bite of my sandwhich, and he replied "Ummmm, no thank you daddy ... but thanks for asking." First, what great manners for a two-year-old, and second, Max turning down food? No way!

Last weekend, we randomly ran across a yard sale benefit for an animal shelter, and they had pony rides. So Max got a short ride on Toby (he called him Togy); he loved it!

Who's really in charge here?

Max (modeling his new faux-hawk at the barber shop, right) is really flexing his independence these days, in cute (and slightly disconcerting) ways. Hopefully, it's just a phase he's going through and it doesn't get too out of control:

• The other day, he and I were wrestling around a little in the living room, and he got bumped and fell down. He got up and hollered "Daddy, you don't need to push me. You need to go to your room!"
• We were driving home from daycare today, and he had a little container of cereal he was picking at. I asked him to share some with me and he gave me a couple pieces. When I asked for a few more, he said "That's enough for right now, Daddy. You need to wait until we get home and then you can have some more."
• This doesn't have anything to do with independence, but one thing he's been saying lately that's really funny is "keep saving" ... as in "I need to put these toys in this bag for keep saving."

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

Most days when dad comes home from work, Max asks if he can put on my company ID badge, so I help him attach it to his waistband, and he gets a big kick out of the pull cord, and he says "Now I can go to work at Safeco!" and runs off.

The cool part is this ... on a few occasions, I've forgotten to get it back from him and put it in my bag so I have it for the next day. So a couple times, I've gotten off the bus downtown the next morning and thought "Uh-oh, I never got my badge back from Max." But each time, I've unzipped the pocket in my bag where I keep it and there it is. Without me telling him to, Max goes and puts it there when he's done.

He loves stuff like that right now, the process stuff, like stirring a pot of oatmeal, getting himself dressed, putting my trumpet back in its case. He's adamant (sometimes stubbornly so) about doing things for himself; he'll exclaim "I want to do some!" And it's nice to be able to say to Max "Go get some shorts on and get your baseball glove" and he'll run off giggling and come back a couple minutes later with the task completed. The stage at which your kid can do most things for themselves is quite a relief for mom and dad, especially going to the bathroom, which he does completely independently now. Mostly, it's gratifying to see him grow into this little free-thinking person, wanting to take some control of his life instead of having mom and dad do everything for him.

But somehow, this hasn't translated so well into getting him to pick up his toys at night ... oh well, a work in progress.

A couple other things to note that Max has been saying/doing lately:

• He prefaces almost everything with "maybe" or "because" as in "Maybe we can have some snacks!" or "Because we need to have some snacks!" (One thing we've never had issues with is getting Max to eat. He consumes as much food as I do, his 210-lb dad ... no exageration.)
• Lately, he'll stroll into a room where Joi and I are and very matter-of-factly say "Hey guys, what's going on?" ... that cracks me up everytime. He also often says "What are we going to do next?" whenever we leave somewhere or stop playing something. For Max, life is a non-stop adventure.
• He's also saying his ABCs in Spanish, and he'll just randomly drop a Spanish word in here or there, like as we're walking out the door, he'll say "Let's go ... vaminos." We have to thank his daycare ELDC for most of this, with an appreciative nod to Dora and Diego.
• One of his favorite things lately is to have a parade through the house. He says "Should we get the trumpet out?" So he gets it out from under the bed, puts the mouthpiece in and hands the horn to me and we march through the house, me playing some march-like ditty and him humming into the mute as if its some kind of horn-like instrument. We have to get some video of this.

As we approach his 3rd birthday in a few months, his old Dad's heart swells when I think about what a perceptive, sweet and charming little dude we have for a son. Raising a two-year-old isn't easy, but Joi and I often talk to each other about how, overall, Max is well-behaved, very rarely throws tantrums and a real pleasure to be around.

For now ... stay tuned.

Trip to the Oregon coast

Here's a video of our recent trip to Nehalem Bay ... a fabulous time had by all, gorgeous beaches and mountains, good weather, Max loved it, we'll be going back for sure next summer. Maybe in a yurt this time!

Max the Busker

All we need now is a harmonica and a dancing monkey, and we can put him out on the corner downtown playing for tips ...

Jetty Island Trip

We went to Jetty Island on Friday in Everett with Max's freind Anjali and her parents Ravi and Deb ... the wacky system for getting back on the ferry meant we could only stay a short time, but we still had a lot of fun. We'll be making a return trip soon!

Kids Rock Fest

Saturday was a super fun day for Max, mom and dad ... we went to the Seattle Children's Music Festival, a collection of aging hipsters playing indie rock and acousticky sing-alongs aimed at the younguns'. It was crowded but entertaining, and best of all, right outside the back door of the Seattle Center's Vera Project where it was held ... a big wading pool! Max liked it more than the music. Plus we walked over to the International Fountain, where they were blasting Michael Jackson music in tribute. The weather was perfect and it was a memorable day! Check out the feature film below (and a funny picture of Max playing drums at the Rockband display at Best Buy ... a young John Bonham, perhaps?) :

Jam sessions galore

We had a BBQ yesterday with about 30 people. The weather was perfect, 75 and sunny. The 10-12 kids had a blast playing in the wading pool, sandbox and Max's rocketship, and everyone overall seemed to have a grand time, the food people brought was delish. Taryn took this little video of the jam session at the end:

Old Macdonald

And here's a video of Max enjoying the music at the Ballard Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago:

Latest Max-isms

Some funny things Max has been saying lately:

• "Daddy, you're going to have to take your shoes off if you're going to come in the house."
• "I don't want to take a nap. I'm a big boy now."
• "I'm not a silly goose. I'm Max Beene!"
• When he needs help with something, like putting his shoes on, he says "Ayude me, mommy" ... Spanish for "help me"
  
• He likes to preface lots of things he says lately with the word "actually" ... as in "Actually, I'd like some strawberries instead of a banana.

Springtime

Today is Mothers Day and I am so happy to be Max's mom. It's hard to believe that I could love this little man as much as I do. Daddy gave me three hours of house cleaning which I'm definitely looking forward to. Lately Max has surprised us in so many delightful ways. He's been baptized and did so good with getting in the water and having it poured on his head (something he usually hates). He goes to the bathroom by himself most of the time. We are completely (disposable) diaper free. He's only wearing wool diapers for nighttime. No more diapers at daycare either! Aside from a few accidents the last month has been an incredible turning point for Max.

Max gets so many comments on how well he speaks and his vocabulary which we are so proud of but the real reward is in getting to know him. He's able to communicate so much with us now about what he's thinking and feeling. It's a real gift to get this insight into the mind of a 2 year old. I can only imagine what's the future holds our beautiful little boy.