The Gulick Family

Gettin' Big

2012-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

The baby days are behind us. Now we have two little toddlers who like to dance and wrestle and fight over toys/chairs/parents/food/everything.

And now for some Max quotes:

Max: I'm goin' to drive a truck when I'm a grownup.
Me: That's great. Wh-
Max: And I'm goin' to honk. And people are in my way. And I honk at dem.
Me: OK.

Max: A daddy T-Rex bited me very bad. And you were der. And you said "Don't bite!" And he was scared.

Me: Max, what did you do at school today?
Max: I didn't shove.
Me: Great!
Max: And I didnt' kick. And I didn't bite. And I didn't push. And I didn't shove.

Eatin' Stew

2012-02-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Charlie loves stew. He's reached a developmental milestone, it seems. His chatter makes it clear that he's thinking like us. It's different than the chatter of a month ago. And, he recognizes things that he didn't before. For example, the elephant in his little book of pictures has never held interest for him. But now that daycare has started its segment on zoo animals, he points at the elephant and tries to tell me lots about it. He looks up at me while he talks, to see that I'm paying attention. It's neat.

Snow

2012-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

A foot of snow dropped on Lincoln this weekend. We took the kids out, went sledding in the back yard, dug a fort in the front yard, and threw a bunch of snowballs. Then we came in for some stew MK made and some bowling with Max's bowling set from his birthday. Not a bad weekend at all.

Max's Birthday

2012-02-03T04:30:00.000-08:00

Max came home after daycare to find balloons and presents waiting for him. He was excited about them, but he was really excited about Charlie-friendly, allergen-free cupcakes MK was planning to make.

Max: Where's mom?
Me: She's bringing home the cupcake ingredients.
Max: OK, she's bringing my birthday.
Me: OK then!

Thanks for the great presents, folks. Here's the cupcake and my favorite cupcake maker:

Max Birthday Video

2012-02-02T20:34:00.000-08:00

Here's Max, opening his first birthday present right after he woke up. The dinosaur was actually from Allison, not Tyler. Tyler got him the cool bowling set, which he has been crashing all evening.

Max is 3

2012-02-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

Max is 3 years old today. Happy Birthday, Max!

Maxwell Muffin

2012-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Max is three TOMORROW, and he looks like a three-year-old. His face is so grown up now, and his coordination is surprising, at least to me. He climbs on the jungle gym at the speed of light. He's interested in everything, especially humor. He gets the subtle jokes in Olivia and guffaws at the slapstick in I'm The Biggest Thing In The Ocean. He makes Charlie laugh and he laughs when Charlie is silly. You may be surprised to find that I'm pretty proud of him. Proud of both of them, actually.

Anyway, Max has been pretty excited about a new character in his nightly bedtime stories: Maxwell Muffin. As you might have guessed, MM is a little boy about Max's age, with a brother named Charlie. Each night, we ask Max what Maxwell Muffin should do in tonight's story. It's an open-ended question - we don't offer any suggestions. Max has picked:

MM goes to the beach and builds a sandcastle
MM goes in a boat
MM goes on the bus
MM goes to school
MM sees a whale
MM gets in trouble
MM has a birthday

Once he gives us the prompt, whoever's putting him down makes up the story. It's fun to watch him as he listens. When MK told him the school story, the teacher asked Maxwell Muffin questions that Max was able to answer, and Max LOVED it. MK's stories help Max grow as a person. Mine help Max grow his ability to suspend disbelief. He's happy either way.

Yesterday, this exchange took place:

MK: Max, you need a nickname.
Max: What's a nickname?
MK: A name people call you. We call Charlie "Charlie Boodle." What should we call you?
Max: Maxwell Muffin.

Chuckles

2012-01-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Charlie's top 8 vocab:

"No."
"Uh-uh." (snarky no)
"My!" (give it back, Max!)
"Bubbles!"
"Ball."
"Down." (as in, unstrap me from this chair)
"Ging-ga, ging-ga, ging-ga." (??)
"Mama, Dada, na-nya." (Max)

Closing The Gap

2012-01-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

Until recently, the boys' 1.5-year age gap has been huge. Charlie couldn't do anything Max could do. Now that Charlie can walk, climb, and even get a word out here and there, that gap doesn't feel quite so big. They play together and laugh together. They want to do the same things - go to parks, wrestle with dad, dance with mom, throw food, climb on the couch when they're not supposed to - and they go to bed at the same time. Rock on.

In other news, poor Charlie has had a rough few days. He spent today sick, but a record-breaking nap in the afternoon has him on the mend.

Breakfast

2012-01-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

This morning's menu:

Max: Apple cinnamon oatmeal, a banana, water

Charlie: Allergen-free waffle, fruit, soy milk

Hair situation: awesome.

Talk

2012-01-24T17:13:00.001-08:00

Me: Max, did you hear your teacher? She'll give you a treat when you potty!

Max: That's CRAZY!

Another one:

Max: Can we go home? I'm hungry. My tummy is growling. I need to put some food in here.

Run, Run

2012-01-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

Since about April of 2011, I've been running pretty regularly. Before then, I never ran. I exercised sporadically, but the last real running I did was in lifeguard training in high school. In 2011, I ran 539 miles, including my first half-marathon (13.1 miles). I ran the half marathon in September, in 2 hours and 18 minutes, which puts my pace at a little under 11 minutes per mile. That's really slow. But, it's running.

MK runs, too, and has completed two half-marathons. We'll run together at Lincoln's half-marathon this year, and I'm excited. I wish I had started running with her earlier - she's been encouraging me to exercise for years. Max is getting in on some one-mile runs. Charlie rolls with us in the stroller.

Anyway, my summer running was much more consistent than my fall running, though my fall wasn't shabby. I've promised myself to improve. This year, I'll run my first marathon. That's twice the distance (not surprisingly) of a half-marathon: 26.2 miles. If I don't improve my pace, it'll take me 4 hours and 36 minutes. I'll likely run the Omaha Marathon in September. It's well-organized and it's where I ran my first half.

Most of the time, I run on a treadmill. My bee allergy makes it difficult for me to run long distances outside in warm weather. I prefer running outdoors.

I'm reading a book by Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (thanks, Lesley!). I can relate to Haruki's take on running, though I'll talk more about that in a later post. In the picture above, those are my tracks, coming and going.

Back In The Saddle

2012-01-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

It's been a heckuva year, and we're only 23 days in. Charlie had a severe reaction at daycare and was given the EpiPen right there, then taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Scared the living daylights out of everyone. Happily for Charlie, the daycare is staffed by pros who handled the emergency without a hitch. Did I mention it was scary?

Anyway, above, Charlie is holding his stacking cups, his favorite toy at the moment. He also likes little cards that have pictures on them. He carries them around, puts them in cups, and chatters about them, pointing to the chickens and other items/animals on them.

Max is doing great. He loves day care, he's making huge strides with potty training (MK has had some great ideas there) and he's really loving to Charlie. When I come into daycare, I pick up Max first because he's in the main room. One of the first things he says is "Can we go get Charlie?" We do and Max gives him a big hug. The other day, Charlie was playing in the main room with the big kids while I put the boys' bags on their hooks. I heard Max saying "No, stop pushing Charlie! He's my brother. Stop pushing my Charlie!"

Sure enough, some of the kids in his class were pushing Charlie. Max was standing between them, fending them off. The teachers took care of things right away, but it was cool to see.

Last Christmas Post of the Year

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

One last post with pics from Christmas. Then it's on to a bright new year: one in which Max will continue to knock our socks off with his vocabulary - and so will Charlie, if the past week has been any indication.

Snug

2012-01-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

Haven't seen a better advertisement for GUND than this.

Flying Hamster

2011-12-29T20:14:00.000-08:00

Someone got Charlie a stuffed hamster. I'm not sure who, I'll have to check the list. This hamster has been flying all over the house ever since Christmas. Good call, hamster-giver.

Yogurt Time

2011-12-27T15:54:00.000-08:00

Max picked out yogurt for him and Grandma just for her visit.

Grandma's visit

2011-12-26T17:32:00.000-08:00

Grandma is visiting and the kids are freaking out. So are we, actually. Grandma offered to do some babysitting. Seriously.

Footbath Fiasco

2011-12-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

To Max's delight, the footwash I got for MK was not really meant for her new water-swirling footbath.

The Night Before Christmas

2011-12-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

Here's MK and Max, reading The Night Before Christmas. Charlie passed out early tonight.

Stocking: Hung WIth Care

2011-12-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

Max is ready for Santa. His stocking is ready to go and he's been checking on it periodically to see if Santa pulled a fast one. He's also been telling us that he'll hear Santa on the roof. No way am I going up there. But yes, the thought occurred to me.

Santa's List

2011-12-21T22:08:00.000-08:00

At dinner tonight, as Max was picking at his veggies:

Max: Where's Santa?

MK: He's making last-minute changes to his Naughty and Nice lists. Which list are you on?

Max: I'm a duck.

Turns out, Max was thinking of his Mickey Mouse Christmas DVD, in which Donald Duck has a long wish list for Christmas. Max was a little confused by Santa's multiple lists and people's wish lists in what was clearly a high-stakes situation, so he decided to side with Donald. Not half bad reasoning.

Hug

2011-12-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Both kids are into hugging these days. Max greets Charlie with a hug when we get him at the end of daycare each day. They're also starting to misbehave together. That's just what we need - Max and Charlie conspiring against us. Of course, sometimes, it's pretty cute:

Charlie's First Haircut

2011-12-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Charlie had his first haircut this weekend. He's 16 months old, and hasn't needed one until now.

He was distracted by a comb (he likes to comb his hair) at first, then he sat with his trademark furrowed brow for awhile. He cried a little bit after a while, but calmed down quickly. As you would expect, he was smiley and friendly to the stylist and everyone at the haircut place.

Another big deal: Charlie says "Hello," now. MK heard him say it when he picked up the phone and put it to his ear. Cool, cool, cool. You are growing up, Charlie!

Above is the before, below is the after.

Birthday

2011-12-17T12:35:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday.

Me: It's my birthday today, Max.

Max: Your birthday! OK I'm going to make eggs.

Me: You're going to make eggs for me?

Max: No, I'm not. I'm going to make eggs for me!

Since then, he's been doing this endless loop:

Max: Happy birthday, dad!

Me: Thanks!

Max: You're WELCOME!

Each "You're welcome" gets a different, funny voice that makes him laugh.

Santa Drama

2011-12-16T04:19:00.000-08:00

Max is warming up to Santa - sort of. Last year, he screamed whenever we went in the general direction of the Santa at the company Christmas party. This year, at the same party, he stood about 30 feet from Santa and yelled "I want a train!" Also, he waved.

Then we went to the Santa house at the mall, which is a tiny little house where kids can get pictures with Santa. The Santa was great and actually had Max sitting on his lap, smiling, and giving him high-fives by the end, but these pictures were more fun. The Santa station was great and gave us permission to post the pics on the blog.

Advent Time

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Max loves the new advent calendar from Gma & Gpa Y. He gets that he's supposed to put the Velcro stickers on it, though I'm not sure he gets that he's counting down the days until Christmas. He keeps telling MK "It's Christmas Eve!" and MK says "Not yet, Max." And then Max screams "Yes it is! It IS Christmas Eve!" And then he throws a tantrum. Happy Holidays.

And here's Charlie, also happy:

And MK, looking very pretty, if somewhat irritated:

Charlie

2011-12-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

Charlie communicates more every day. I can't believe how fast he's growing up. It's weird to think that we'll soon have two kids chattering away!

Snow

2011-12-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

Snow, snow, snow. We got a few inches of snowman-making snow Saturday, so we bundled up and headed into it. We sledded down the hill in the front yard, then built a snowman and gave him four arms, a hat, and no face. Max had tons of fun and was happy to come back inside and warm up with a snack afterwards. Video below!

Spill

2011-12-03T06:05:00.001-08:00

It's raining. Max just looked at the wet deck and said, "Someone spilled!"

Decoration Station

2011-11-30T19:22:00.000-08:00

Max and Charlie helped us decorate the Christmas tree this year. Max really helped and even got a lift from Gpa Y so he could put the star on top of the tree. Charlie mostly played with the ornaments, but that's cool. That's cool. At least he didn't eat any.

Note that there's another post below this one from today!

Christmas Time Is Here At Last

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Max is getting so big. So is Charlie. Max likes to sing along with the songs from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Last year, he couldn't even say "Santa" correctly. He said "Santan." (It was pretty cool, actually.) When we were walking to the park on Monday, he said "This is hard, Dad." I agreed. "Maybe we can crawl like snails," he suggested. Then he looked up and saw the swings in the distance. "Look, we're getting closer!"

Last year, Charlie was a fat little baby. This year, he says "Hi," "Tatu," (thank you), "Mama," "Dada," and, best of all, "Mine!" He screams that as he chases Max when Max rips a toy out of his hands and runs away.

Family Fun

2011-11-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here are Max and Charlie, ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Gma & Gpa Y joined us from Chicago to eat an entirely Charlie-friendly meal: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, brussel sprouts & bacon, and even a Charlie-friendly apple pie (minus the crust for Charlie).

It was great to have the Yandels over for thanksgiving. The kids loved playing with them and reading books (Charlie spent a lot of time showing them how he can put things into buckets). We celebrated Maureen's birthday, and MK and I got to get out of the house for an evening. Awesome weekend.

Max's best line from the weekend, upon listening, open-mouthed, as MK described the (minor) oven burn on her arm: "Oh mommy, you got to be CAREful. You got to wear gloves!"

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Now that's a turkey!

Max is looking forward to seeing Gma & Gpa Y. He had a little trouble sleeping last night and had lots of questions about Gma & Gpa. He's not quite sure what "the day after tomorrow" means.

Charlie and Max were cracking each other up at dinner last night. They can just barely reach each other from their seats, so Max stretches out and Charlie strectches out and they have finger wars. It involves lots of laughter and the occasional hurt digit. Also, when Max and I went to pick up Charlie from his room at daycare yesterday, Charlie ran up to Max and Max gave him a big hug. Max is going to be a really good big brother to Charlie. He already is.

I know this picture is blurry, but we like it. Charlie loves basketballs, kickballs, etc. Put him in the Y's big basketball gym, and he's a happy dude.

We have a lot to be thankful for. Have a happy holiday.

Christmas Card Time

2011-11-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

We had a chaotic, but fun (and successful) photo shoot for the Christmas card this weekend. The kids were wrestling and running around a like couple of one- and two-year-olds. MK kept them in front of the camera and I took as many shots as I could get. Today's pics are previews from the shoot - not the pic you'll see in the card. The rocking horse makes a great prop, but it didn't appear in the final pic pick.

Gear Up

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

The cold is coming, but Max and Charlie are ready for it, with warm hats that have earflaps. Must have those earflaps in this windy, windy state. Max is looking forward to Christmas and likes to sing along to "Rudolph," "We Are Santa's Elves," and other, er, hits. He made Charlie and I sit around at daycare while he "cooked" for us at the toy kitchen again. This phase had better last until Christmas.

Winter Kinda Stinks

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Charlie's having a rough winter - and it's still fall. He wrapped up four days of fever with a head-to-toe rash that is indistinguishable from the hives he gets when having an anaphalactic reaction to food (except that it's harmless). By the end of today we had visited the ER (lobby only) once and the pediatrician twice.

On the first trip to the doctor, Max said "Look, two garbage trucks!"

"You're right," I said. "That's a lot of garbage trucks."

"No it's not," my polite son exclaimed increduously. "Dat's TWO garbage trucks, not FIVE, dad. Dat's not a lot."

In case you ever wondered what the minimum number of items is to qualify as "a lot," now you know. Courtesy of Max.

Moving Stuff

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Charlie likes tomove stuff. He puts stuff into his trucks, he moves the trucks, he dumps thestuff. He puts things into cups, he moves the cups, he dumps them.

He putsthings into the garbage can whenever the lid isn't locked. He doesn't evenbother looking to see whatever he just dumped in there - he lifts the lid,drops the item, and walks away while the lid closes. He doesn't look back as he turns (with his arms held in front of him for balance) and Frankenstein-walks away. His mission isaccomplished and there are more things to move.

Another new Charlie move: when we're in the basement, he often walks to the footof the stairs, looks at us very seriously, waves, says "bah bah," andthen starts to crawl up the stairs. Then we grab him :)

Grandma Goodness

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

The boys do love to hang out with their grandparents. This weekend, Gma G hung out with them and taught them some new games. Here she is with Max, playing Dinosaur Yellow Ball, which involves whacking the ball at each other with a dinosaur while making dino sounds.

She also watched them while MK and I caught up on a few projects - that was a huge help.One of those projects didn't go as well as I'd planned, though. I put some safety latches on the few cabinets that don't already have them. Today, Max walked up and handed me one of the latches. "It was a hard one," he said. "I tried it a lot." So, I'll be getting a new brand of latch.

When Gma leaves, it's tough. Max was talking about her all day. He cheered up when I pointed out that Gma & Gpa Y were coming for Thanksgiving.

Poor Charlie is sick for the fourth weekend in a row. Ugh. And with his ear tube surgery coming up, we want him as healthy as possible.

Talking, Talking

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks again for coming out to see us, Jeannie. We had a blast.

The kids have been talking up a storm, lately. Charlie says "Bah," to mean ball, bottle, and bye. He says "uh-oh," which was one of his first words (maybe his first, like Max), but which dropped out of his limited vocabulary for a long time. He says "mama" when he wants his mom. Not so much with the "dada" yet, the little punk. He also says "Hi" when he sees people.

When someone (particularly Max) says something Charlie likes, he mimics the sound of the phrase. It's fun to hear him do that with the song Baby Beluga. He also understands a lot of what we say.

Max is also talking a lot. He tells me tons about what he did at school, who bit him and what toys he played with ("Not bit, dad. He BITED me.") He likes when I tell him stories about real things and he asks me questions that are meant to start the story. I scratched my hand while putting up some Halloween decorations and he still asks me every day "What happened, dad?" Then I tell him about the scratch and show him the scab and he comments "That's not good. Not good at all. You need a Band-Aid." He also likes to ask me "Who is coming to visit, dad?" And when I say "Grandma," he says "Oooooh, that's ex-CIT-ing!"

He and Charlie are getting along great. They chase each other all over the house, laughing and giggling. Not bad times, these.

Backyard Fun

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

The kids sure like to kick the ball around. We have a big back yard with plenty of room for play.

Sisters Weekend

2011-11-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

Mary Kate has been pretty stoked that Jeannie was coming this weekend. Now, she's here, and they've been having a great time. They've played with the kids. They've taken Charlie to the ER lobby (didn't go into the ER, he ended up being OK), they've gone for runs, and they've watched more Harry Potter than anyone should in one weekend.

Aunt Jeannie Is In The House

2011-11-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

Aunt Jeannie is a celebrity here in Lincoln. Well, at our house, anyway. She played kickball with the kids in the back yard, then helped them get ready for bed (including dancing and story reading). So MK and I think she's awesome, too :) Now she's helping MK pick out new recipes for allergy-free food for Charlie. Our move toward an allergen-free household is picking up steam. And tofu.

Here's a minute and a half of some backyard fun:

Even more Halloween

2011-11-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is a cool shot that MIT Photography took for us at the Cooper YMCA halloween party.

Trick-or-Treat

2011-11-01T04:46:00.000-07:00

Good time!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

The pumpkins have been carved, the Halloween parties attended, and now there's nothing left to do but hit the streets and trick-or-treat. Max and Charlie are ready. Actually, Max is much more ready than his brother. Charlie had a close call Saturday after we fed him a soy product that turned out to have milk in it. That marks panicked dash to the ER #2 in as many Saturdays. (Last weekend was the infiltrate in his lung.) He's feeling better now, but taking it easy. Here he is, in the ER after getting epinephrine, an IV, and steroids. Bryan LGH did right by him from the second we came through the door.

Max is pumped, and big, and talking a mile a minute. He's so interested in what we're doing and saying and how he can get involved. Sometimes, he gets a bit ahead of himself: he was arguing with me today because I wouldn't let him drive the car. "No, I drive," he said. "You sit der." He pointed to the passenger seat.

After MK, Max and I carved the pumpkins, we stacked them on a fence post for year #2 of our new Halloween tradition: the pumpkin totem pole. Have a great Halloween.

Hectic Halloween

2011-10-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of MK looking sparkly. We were in line at the mini train station, waiting for the mini train at the Children's Zoo as part of Boo At The Zoo. It's a great time for the kids - they go through 40 tents, trick-or-treating, and they also get to spot a camel or two on the way. (And the businesses who sponsor the tents get to toss coupons alongside treats into the bags.) The kids had a great time.

So, it's a busy schedule: we did Boo At The Zoo Wednesday, daycare's halloween party Thursday, and the YMCA's great big kid bash (bounce houses and all kinds of neat stuff) tonight. The kids ought to be pretty strung out by tomorrow, hopefully they'll be rested by the time Rod and Lesley come for dinner.

Here's Happy Max:

Max and Charlie cracking each other up,

And sad Max disappointed that the train left without him. Had to wait his turn, poor little thing :)

The Dinner Monster

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

This being the week before Halloween, I thought I'd show you something really scary: Charlie eating stew. He dumps his bowl as soon as it's in front of him, then starts grabbing handfuls of what's left. He knows how to use a fork, but forks are for suckers.

Here's some more gore, for you. One of the many things that makes MK a great mom is that she cooks healthy, delicious food for Charlie (and us, but we're not allergic to so many foods as he is). She always sends him to daycare with good meals.

And here's Max, who sometimes reminds me of a cat. MK, too. A cat who loves books.

Costume Time

2011-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

It was quite a weekend - another trip to the ER for Charlie. But, he's doing better. Halloween festivities are still planned.

Max Art Interview

2011-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

We asked Max to tell us about his art. He was excited about being allowed to stand on the couch for once, not to mention proud of getting so much attention, so it's a pretty jumpy movie.

Charlie

2011-10-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

It won't be long before Charlie gets ear tubes. In fact, he gets them on or just before Halloween. He's going to have a great winter, I can feel it. He's certainly having a great fall. A great life, actually. He's as consistently happy as Max. We're lucky to have such cheery kids.

Dancing

2011-10-19T04:39:00.000-07:00

Bedtime is preceded by dancing. Max has great dance moves and runs mini races. Charlie wiggles and bobs.

What's that? You can't wait for the weekend to see a movie of them dancing? Neither can we. Here it is:

Booster Seats For Everyone

2011-10-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Charlie has moved to a booster seat, so he and Max are both sitting in regular chairs these days. This is a pic of the first meal with thenew seating arrangement. That's also the last time they sat next to each other, because Charlie kept dipping his hand into Max's food. The food was safe for Charlie, but keeping your hands in your own food bowl is just a better way to be. Maybe even keeping your hands out of the bowl would be better. We'll explain that to spaghetti-face, but for now, they're not sitting together.

ABCs

2011-10-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Max was singing his ABCs in an attempt to stall before going into daycare the other day.

Bryan LGH Adam's Race

2011-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Max and Charlie ran their first race. Charlie rolled it, really, but Max ran and walked nearly all of the one-mile fun run down 27th street.

In fact, he went right past the turnaround point and we had to turn him around. He was pretty distraught because he thought we were pulling him out of the race. When we crossed the finish line, Max immediately said, "I want to do another one." He liked "we go UP hill. We go DOWN hill," and he was a cute, happy little dude. After the fun run ended, the 10K started. I did not like going up and down the hills nearly as much as he had.

Max Art

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mary Kate has been looking for art to go over the couch ever since we moved in. In the end, she found it in Max's daycare bag. Max is pretty pleased with the whole thing, and so are we: it brightens up the room. Max posed with his piece for us.

He gets a little smile whenever MK or I comment on how much we like the art. He's proud that we put it up.

Bedtime Stories & Caterpillar Chasing

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Charlie hasn't had as much exposure to books as Max had, so we've been upping the amound of time spent reading to him. These days, he likes to point at things that interest him and he LOVES to play catch: he'll throw something in a random direction, you'll retrieve it, he'll stumble over to you and take it, then he'll start again. He also likes to put things away and is very good at throwings (everything) into the trash. He's also into climbing stairs on the playgrounds we visit. And did I mention chasing caterpillars? There are tons of big, furry, reasonably fast caterpillars on the playgrounds, and Charlie can spot them from a mile away.

Another newfound skill is his ability to parrot words we say. He doesn't quite say the words, but he tries and gets the basic sounds out. Growing, growing.

Here he is, sporting his allergy shirt, which reads: "No eggs, dairy, nuts, or peas. No strawberries or beans!" We need to add bananas and generally rice, too.

Cherry

2011-10-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today, Max was playing with a stuffed doggie he got from Gma Y.

"Max, what's your doggie's name?" asked MK.

"Cherry," Max said.

"Why is he named 'Cherry?'"

"Because," Max replied, increduously. "He's a dog."

Feedin' The Goats

2011-10-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Max likes to feed the goats. Here's a quick video of him...feeding goats.

Even More Zoo

2011-10-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, more zoo pics.

Max @ The Zoo

2011-10-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Max asks us to take him to the zoo on a regular basis. Most of the time, his pleas fall on deaf ears, but this weekend he lucked out. Here he is, climbing the giant spider Web, which is one of hte coolest playground toys I've seen. (He feels the same way.) Nearby is a monkey house with a bunch of squirrel monkeys. There's also a climbing net there, so the kids can watch the monkeys play and the monkeys can watch the kids play. And it works - Max watched the monkeys, then said "I want to climb like the monkeys!" and ran to the net. He promptly climbed to the top, with me only holding his arms in case he slipped. Charlie likes the zoo, too he was particularly interested in the penquins and the gigantic turtles.

Julie Visit

2011-10-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Julie came this weekend and made the boys laugh. They were on their best behavior for her, which was a treat for us. We even got a little sleep this weekend. Not as much as an ordinary night - I don't remember the last time that happened - but more than usual. Julie brought cool Halloween PJs for the kids. We had a great time with you Julie, thanks for coming out!

Max Interview

2011-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview with Max, 2.5 years.

Out Of Pictures

2011-09-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

As unlikely as this sounds, I've run out of new pictures of the kids, so I'm raiding my phone. Here are a few old-ish ones. Above is Max after a blue lollipop. Below are the kids at a park near the Schers.

And, best for last, the race car cart at HyVee. They love this thing. But boy, do they get wild.

I'll put a movie up this weekend, so don't miss it. It's called "Max Interview."

Wednesday

2011-09-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of Max reading about monkeys. Specifically, the ones that jumped on the bed, 'til one fell off. Max was on his way to see his grandparents. Max loves reading books and likes to "read" them out loud. He tells interesting stories. I'll catch him on video sometime.

Also, a pic from just before the start of the Corporate Cup MK ran in Omaha:

And a pic from just before the start of the Omaha Half I ran the next week:

Max A Million Sentences

2011-09-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

"I want to go to da ZOO! And see the dinosaurs." Which dinosaurs? "A 'ceratops."

When Charlie was crying: "I think Charlie wants a snack."

"Momma, I don't want to be angry at you."

"Scuse me Momma, I want to get to your purse." Sorry, no. "Then I go under the table." He ducked under the table and ran to the purse.

"I don't want to yell at Santa." He loves Bossy Bear (which he got from Aunt Allison) and he is scandalized by Bossy Bear yelling "I want all the toys!" at Santa. Max pointed out that "You should share them with everyone."

Neat trick: Max was having trouble climbing into the stroller because it kept rolling backwards. So, he ran around to the back and used his foot to lock the brake. Then he ran to the front again and clambered up. I don't know how he knew about the brake.

When I came back from the race: "Oh, Daddy went to a race."

"I'm sick. My ear hurts." His ear turned out to be OK. This isn't particularly cute, but it's a HUGE deal for us. He's able to tell us where he's hurting. That ought to help this winter.

"I want green book, with Apple. The tree." This was him telling me the bedtime story he was looking for. He searched the shelves and couldn't find it, so I helped and we eventually found the book: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It's a book that can be read a couple different ways, some of which are somewhat depressing, some not. Am I saying my boy is amazing? Of course I am. Don't you read this blog? Charlie too. He was playing with a little musical toy today with a single, tiny button. I pushed the button and he danced to the music. When the music stopped, he leaned over and pressed the button to start the music. Then back to dancing he went. Uh-maze-ing.

2011-09-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Charlie has turned a corner, development-wise. He's putting things into cups (and taking them out and putting them in and taking them out) and he's interested in doing everything we do. He's very good at drinking from a cup. He's a little excited to show off for Mom in this video, so he doesn't do quite as good a job as he was doing earlier.

More Costume Cuteness

2011-09-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's post got rave reviews, so here's another of Charlie in his dog costume. He was unhappy about something, so I responded as any good dad would - by taking a picture and posting it online.

Charlie and Max had shots today. Charlie had three vaccinations and Max had his flu shot. MK and I tried to explain shots to Max. "It will hurt a little and you'll say 'Ouch!'" He responded "I not get hurt, it OK."

"It's going to hurt," I said. "I'm going to say 'Ouch!'" Max said. It was starting to sink in - sort of. "I won't cry," he said.

When the time came, he was the bravest two-year-old I've seen. It hurt, but he got over it, reminded us that we promised to take him to the park, and told Charlie he would say "Ouch!" I'm not sure what Charlie uttered in baby-speak, but I think it was more than "Ouch." Thanks to the great nurse who handled things quickly and expertly. He and Max had a great time at the park

Is It Time For Halloween Costumes? Yes, Yes It Is

2011-09-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Charlie's Halloween costume is a dog, thanks to Max. Max has been insisting ever since the trip to Chicago that Charlie should be Lewis (Gma G's dog) for Halloween. This costume turned up at a kids clothing sale for three bucks, and he's been in it pretty much ever since. Not really. Pretty much.

In other news, Charlie likes laundry baskets. A ton.

Lincoln Parks

2011-09-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

Max and Charlie visited not one, not two, but THREE playgrounds this weekend. Max gives the slides a go and then heads for the swings. He's just fine with the big kid swings, but when there's a pair of baby swings around, he likes to go in one next to his little brother. Charlie, for his part, seems to like the swings. He doesn't get too worked up about them but he smiles plenty and nibbles on the swing when he can get away with it.

Mary Kate completed another 10K race this weekend (6.2 miles - she ran a 13.1-mile half marathon last weekend) and Max was thrilled to be at the finish line to greet her. He watched for her and cheered when she came around the bend. After dinner, Max said "C'mon Mommy, c'mon, Daddy, c'mon, Charlie. Let's dance." And so we did, in the living room, until story time.

Hangaber

2011-09-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Max is an articulate little two year old, but he still mangles words from time to time. That's good news for us - we don't want to miss out on the cuteness. His best word right now is "hangaber," for "hamburger." I think I've already mentioned he says "Lighting McClean" for "Lightning McQueen," from Cars. Anyway, back to the hangaber. Shortly after playing with Gpa Y at the activity table at the museum (in the pic), Max had himself a hangaber. True to form, he ate the top and bottom buns while dad polished off the rest. Max's style of eating is just fine by me.

Today, as we went past the new CVS that's being built, Max said "I going build biiiig house. Den I live in it. No, I not going live in it. I too small. You take it, Daddy." We were on our way to see the doctor, who confirmed what we suspected: Charlie has ear infections in both ears. Ouch. Now we know why he was grumpy all day. Poor guy. He perked up when he got some meds in him and he did some great dancing. He really loves to dance.

Fish & Grandparents

2011-09-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend, the boys saw all of their grandparents and visited the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. They had a great time, but poor Max had a rough go of it. He was sick for the first half of the trip and exhausted for the second half. Mary Kate ran the Chicago Half Marathon and did great (congrats, MK!) while I, who caught Max's fever, missed the race.

Charlie had a great time and enjoyed showing everyone his dance moves. He sways, he wiggles, he twirls, and he walks sideways. It's something to see.

Family Time

2011-09-09T01:20:00.000-07:00

You wouldn't know it to read this blog, but MK and I also take pictures of each other. Why, we even have a few pictures of us together! Here's a couple shots of us. And, of course, of the boys.

Hoppy Frog Day

2011-09-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

For some reason, there are a lot of frogs in our neighborhood. Some of them climb (hop?) onto the house and sit for hours in weird places...like the window above our door. I don't know if this is the same frog that sometimes sits on our window sill. I do know that Max was very happy to see him up there. Max loves frogs. The last time Gma G came over, he excitedly showed her what the last frog left on our window sill. To him, it was a sign the frog might come back. And, what do you know? Eventually, it did.

Growing Boy

2011-09-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

Charlie is growing up and hitting milestones. He walks. He babbles. He even recognizes certain words. Today, when I picked him up from daycare, I said "Let's go see Mom" and he looked around, wondering where his mom was. He tries to repeat us when we talk, and he tries to copyMax. When he sees clothes, he grabs them and tries to put them in his dresser. He's a smart, sweet little dude and he's growing up and becoming a real toddler. Today's picture is of him sleeping in a cot at daycare for the first time. He loves the cot.

Look, Mama!

2011-09-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

Making funny faces is Max's new-found talent. He's been cracking us up all weekend.

We went to the park on the other side of the neighborhood this weekend and Max really dug the swings. We tried to get his shadow feet to touch the shadow of the swing's top rail and we reached it, with me pushing and Max swinging his feet. Times like these, I wish my dad could see these kids.

Max Is Ready

2011-08-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Max is ready for the trip to Chicago, even though it's not happening for a while. He's been talking about grandparents at daycare and talking about them at home. Today, he wished Gma G. a happy birthday and chatted with her on the phone. I'm going to try to upload a video of him talking about grandparents.

Max also told me that he doesn't like Old MacDonald (as in, Had A Farm). He asked me to sing the song about the monkies in the trees, which resulted in lots of guesswork. Finally, he sang part of it and we were able to scrape together a passable moneky song. Max is into music these days, particularly when it means he can bang on something with a stick. Charlie likes to dance to the beat. How are these my kids?

Good Weekend

2011-08-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Charlie and Max had a LOT of fun this weekend. MK and I did too, but not nearly as much as these two. They play with each other every chance they get. Max gets really worked up and really wild, and Charlie loves it. When Max leans in close to Charlie's face and screams, MK and I cringe and expect Charlie to be intimidated. Or irritated. Instead, he giggles and bats at Max's face playfully. When we put them in the wagon, they play the whole way to the park. There have been some skirmishes, but nothing fancy. For the most part, they get along. I don't expect them to always get along so well and I'm enjoying it while it's here.

MK gave Max and Charlie a bunch of spoons and metal dishes this weekend. "Let's dance, Charlie," Max said, and off he went to bang his new drum. Charlie followed to try to climb on top of Max, which is what Charlie does.

Cozy Coupe Gets Some Love

2011-08-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

When I first bought the cozy coupe for Max, I was really excited. But it bored him pretty quickly and only narrowly avoided becoming part of our garage sale this summer. Now, suddenly, Max loves the cozy coupe again--and so does Charlie. He likes to sit in it and open and close the door. The door is awesome.

The Alligator Frog Of Southwest Lincoln

2011-08-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

The neighborhood park has a bouncing alligator (or a frog, depending on how Max is feeling) that seats two kids. Max, who couldn't possibly climb onto it last fall, now scampers up and rides the heck out of it. Then he hops down and runs for the ladder, with us chasing after him. He can climb the ladder without help, but mean mom and dad insist on helping.

Sometimes, Max takes Charlie for a ride on the alligator frog. Charlie loves it. He even tries to help rock it. He's been rocking the rocking horse that used to be Max's, at home.

Chatterbug

2011-08-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Charlie is talking up a storm of gibberish these days. He sings in the car, the stroller, and the wagon. He grunts loudly and then looks at us with big eyes to see if we are as shocked as he is about what's just taken place. He laughs when he plays with us, and he giggles like crazy when he wrestles with Max.

It's not all made-up language, though. He has a few real words up his sleeve, one of which he might really know. He says "mama" and looks at MK, so we're starting to think he knows that one. He also says "dada," but he just does it when I tell him "Say dada." And he says "uh oh," but mostly when he's mimicing Max.

Today, we went for a walk in the wagon and bought some lemonade from a stand some neighbors had put up. Max and Charlie spent the wagon ride eating the ice out of the cups. I think Max actually drank some of the lemonade before a tug of war resulted in two soggy, sticky kids. I'm surprised the lemonade made it nearly to the park.

More Mangled

2011-08-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yep, Max was bitten on the face today. We now know what's going on, though. He's been picking fights at school. He started the fight that led to the scratch, and he started the fight that led to the bite. Apparently, he was slapping a kid in the face today, and wouldn't stop when the kid asked him to stop, so the kid explained it to him up close.

Max is not the only one causing trouble this week.Turns out, it's common for kids to have a rough couple weeks after moving up to a new classroom. Max misses "Anea," his teacher Andrea, and his other teachers. He still sees Ms. Brittany, which is good. It doesn't help that Charlie had his birthday last weekend. Max wants a birthday too, and all the attention on Charlie was hard for him to take. Next week should be better, the teachers tell us, and after that he should be through the woods. Or in the hospital.

Mangled Max

2011-08-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Max has had a tough week. First, he ran on the couch (a big no-no) and tripped, banging and scraping his nose against the arm of the couch. Next, a playmate bit him on the thumb. "He bited me," said Max. "I cried." And then a playground scuffle led to that nasty scratch on his right cheek. He's his happy, cheery self, though. He's a little obsessed with the long-gone birthday cake from last weekend, but it'll pass.

Today Max hugged Charlie at the end of daycare, as he always does (sometimes Charlie loses his balance and falls over, which is much cuter than it sounds) when a little girl came up and said "I hug too." She tried to hug him and Max held her at arm's length saying "I don't want to hug you." I told him to be nice, and he let her give him a hug, but he kept his arms at his sides and looked at me, all huffy. What a sweet kid, eh?

Grandparents Rock

2011-08-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

Charlie's birthday bash included all three grandparents and Uncle Ty. Lucky, lucky, happy kids.

Happy Anniversary

2011-08-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary, MK. Eleven years! Two kids! Yikes. Today's not the day (Aug 15th was) but it's a packed schedule come August each year, and our anniversaries always seem to be done in pieces along the way. The biggest piece will be when we run the half marathon together in Chicago in Sept. Now that's an anniversary celebration.

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

2011-08-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Charlie is one year old today. One year and a day ago, MK and I went out to dinner while my mom babysat Max. We were celebrating our anniversary, which was a few days before. We came home and shortly after that, Charlie decided it was time. He was born in the early afternoon on the15th.

Since then, there has been a lot of of smiles, laughs, and smelly, smelly diapers. Charlie, you are a sweet boy and a great fit in our family. Max loves being your big brother, and we love being your parents. Like your brother, you have a good heart. That's a great thing to have.

By the way, the birthday cake Charlie is eating is a special one, made by The Cup in Lincoln. The cake has no egg, dairy, or any other ingredients he's allergic to. He ate the cake without any reaction at all. Woot!

And thanks to everyone who came to Charlie's birthday party! It was a lot of fun.

Good Birthday

2011-08-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

It was a great birthday for Charlie, thanks to everyone for making it so much fun! You'll be seeing plenty of pics this week.

Gettin' ready to celebrate

2011-08-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

The grandparents are here and the boys are wired, as you can see. Here's Charlie with Uncle Ty, Gma G., and Gpa Y.

Mr. Happy Pants

2011-08-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Charlie is about to turn one. We celebrate this weekend, which means grandparents galore. Charlie's ready for them. Now that he's walking, we have two kids going in different directions all the time. Yikes.

Yep, I said he's walking. He can walk across the room - and he often does. He uses the furniture and walls when he can, then launches himself into the open, where he usually does just fine. He even stops to dance and clap occasionally, as he's doing above. We look forward to seeing you, grandparents!

More Pretend

2011-08-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

Max saw the puppet show stage at the library, exclaimed "A puppet!" and immediately put on a show with lots of mooing. (That's a cow he's holding.) Our library is pretty cool, as far as fun creative props. And it has my Clive Cussler audio books, so I'm good. Nothing like a good dangling participle or two to perk up my morning drive to work. Cussler's bad grammar is almost as awesome as the narrator's misplaced emphasis when pronouncing words. He has twice (once in each of the two books I've listened to) said "seh-CREE-ted away" when he meant "secreted."

Max, A Santa & A Sandbox

2011-08-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

Charlie was visiting his aunt Jeannie and uncle Aaron with MK this week, so the pictures are all of Max. Here he is, playing with a little sandbox I "made" for him by filling a little tub with sand. Got the idea from his Grandma. He grabbed his fake lizard and went to town while I removed all those weeds you see in the background.

A funny thing happened to us this weekend. Max had watched "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" earlier in the day, so when he saw the Santa-like cashier at the grocery store, he leaned forward and whispered (very loudly) "Daddy, it's Santa!" Being quick-witted, I immediately came up with a plan: ignore Max and get the bags into the cart as fast as I could. Max then said "You're Santa" to him.

"He knows," the cashier said, handing me his business card. He is indeed a Santa and you can have him visit you when the holiday rolls around. How awesome. So Santa turns to Max and says "Give me a high-five," at which point Max screamed. Max feels the same way about Santa that he does about Homer, the Saltdogs mascot: he's fascinated by him, but a little terrified, too.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2011-08-08T01:12:00.000-07:00

Max's first baseball game turned out to be a rainout - and no ordinary rainout. When all this started, it looked like a great day for a game. It was overcast, which is what had been forecast, but didn't look like rain. We were sitting in the third row on the ground on the first base side (about 15 feet from the on-deck batters) and we had a great view of the catcher and right-handed batters. We had a great view of everything, actually.

Max was born for baseball. He watched the game intently, he loved clapping in time with the crowd, and he kept a sharp eye out for Homer, the Saltdogs mascot (someone in a dog costume). Max is terrified of Homer up close, but likes to watch him from a distance. This would have been a perfect place to do it, but Homer didn't appear by the third inning, which is when it started to rain.

At this point, few people were getting up to leave, but I wasn't interested in getting Max soaked. By the time we reached the main structure, which has a roof, a crazy wind whipped up and the rain went nuts. Everyone in the stadium huddled under the roofs as the storm went over us. Kids were screaming, water blew in and soaked everyone. No fun. I was holding Max and he looked at me with big eyes and said "Let's get out of here!" But we couldn't. Then Homer walked right past us and Max lost it. Crazy storms that make the news = tolerable. Homer the mascot up close = panic time.

About 20 minutes later, the storm gave us a break and we headed to the car. There were branches all over the road, the stoplights weren't working (not even flashing), and the storm picked up again. Max had a tough time sleeping last night. We'll try again later this summer. He sure liked talking about the game today.

Sun In The Rain

2011-08-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

It was pouring buckets this morning, but Max woke up cheery and had a great breakfast. He and I went to have dinner with my good friend Mike, who was in town on business. On the way there, Max's steady chatter went something like this:

Hey, dat our Mike! No, dat not OUR Mike. I don't KNOW where Mike is. Ooooh a monkey! (he points to the trees) Dats too high I can't climb der. A monkey is not Mike! DERS our Mike! Nooo. I don't know.

Nonstop, all the way there. And as we walked through downtown he would occasionally alert us with "a truck! Look out!"

Out & About

2011-08-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

We aren't playing outside too much lately, thanks to the heat. It's nice to have all this time inside with the kids. They've explored every corner of the house, which has caused us to vacuum every corner. We've played with the little tent. We've made countless forts from the cushions. We've drawn pictures, read books and books and books, practiced brushing our teeth and half-heartedly (on Max's end) attempted pottying. Max has requested (and received) bath time in the middle of the day simply to play with the bubbles. Fun stuff.

That's not to say we never get out. We get as far as the grocery store, where Charlie smiles at people and vegetables alike and Max careens through the aisles with a mini cart, challenging MK's culinary talents by picking out random veggies. The staff is probably relieved when we make our noisy exit.

Charlie Boodle

2011-08-01T05:05:00.000-07:00

Charlie Boodle, as he's known around the house (even Max calls him that), smiles a lot. Just about everyone who makes eye contact with him gets a big, gap-toothed grin. I think he's feeling much better now that he's on his new diet. That would be the no bananas, dairy, eggs, legumes (particularly peanuts), strawberries, and tree nuts. Oh, and rice, thanks to two reactions. Yes, we know rice allergies are very rare. Yes, he's reacted to a rice scratch test.

Where was I? Oh, right - his new diet is giving him all the more reason to smile. This weekend, he and Max were cracking each other up like nothing else.

Make Believe

2011-07-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

Max is getting into make believe. At Lost In Fun, he spent a lot of his time in the pretend kitchen, whipping up breakfast for us. At the Children's Museum, he enjoyed pretending he was driving various cars, trucks, and a plane. And when he saw the firetruck, well that was it. Every morning, just before we reach daycare, I point out the fire station and Max looks to see if the doors are open. When they are, he'll go ballistic and announce at the top of his lungs whether he saw the big one AND the small one, or just big one.

Play

2011-07-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Charlie and Max took on all three levels of the Lincoln Children's Museum this weekend. It was another good weekend to be inside, but it was a little cooler than last, so we all got some time outside, too.

Two Steps

2011-07-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here's Charlie, taking a break from walking. He takes two-step strolls these days. They're wobbly steps that end up putting him right where you see him now, but he doesn't seem to mind. And when furniture is in reach, he's all set. He walks back and forth along the length of the couch, no problem. He just needs to have his hands on it to stay steady. We're still three good weeks away from his birthday, so I think he has a real shot at walking before he turns one. Way to go, Charlie.

Story Time

2011-07-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Max sang his ABCs last night. I'm surprised he knows the whole alphabet already. He talks, talks, talks. On the way home from daycare today, a firetruck went zooming past and Max just about flipped. The rest of the ride was him begging me to "catch him" and chattering about the fire truck and how it was a "BIGGGG" firetruck, and "where going, Daddy?"

Charlie is still feeling grumpy, except when Max wants to play. Max likes to chase Charlie (which Charlie looooves) and he likes to show Charlie what big boys can do, such as open doors. Charlie is taking notes.

Too Hot Outside

2011-07-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

It was a humid, hot weekend, so we spent much of it indoors. Max was bouncing off the walls - he was so wired. Charlie has been sick for a week, so he's pretty tame right now, but he still had a good time. He discovered that he can climb onto Max's bed, so he made a beeline for it whenever we put him down - even when we put him on the floor in the living room. He's fast. He seems to be on the mend. I hope, I hope.

Max continues to say great, great stuff.

Max: Daddy, es monster imy room.

Me: A monster?

Max: Es go check. C'mon!

So in we went. There, he told me that monsters and dragons are scaaaary. He held his hands out and made a face to show me what being scared looks like.

Here's Max the ghost: