tuesdays with max

December 27, 2012

2012-01-23T23:44:00.002-06:00

Max the happy holiday boy
Max & Alex big gift from Santa this year was a pet fish, which together they named Christmas Blue. The boys had been asking for a pet for a long time and we somewhat promised they could have one when we moved into the new house. Santa made good on our sorta promise.

The boys also got ukeleles under the cool "green" Christmas tree mama had commissioned from the West Elm gang (made from Bongo Java pallets).

Perhaps the best gift of all was that they got to spend more time with their Alaskan cousins -- especially five-year-old twins Joseph & Joshua (who Max was amazingly able to tell apart by the end of their visit). As much as Max loves all his cousins, I think Max enjoyed being the big cousin for a change. And Alex enjoyed having cousins more his size too.

Xmas Maxism: I told the Boys that Grandma Sue would love for them to call her. "Why?" Max asked. "To say Merry Christmas," I said. "Well if we know what she wants why do we need to call?" Max responded.

December 20, 2011

2012-01-23T23:26:00.000-06:00

Max the traveller
Max and family went on a cruise to celebrate abuela & abuelos 50th wedding anniversary. The pictures tell most of the story.

December 13, 2011

2012-01-23T23:05:00.001-06:00

Max the soup man
Max recently decided that he likes soup: tomato soup, lentil soup, whatever soup. Her Max enjoys a bowl of mamas lentil soup.

December 6, 2011

2012-01-23T22:49:00.001-06:00

Max the reader
Max & Alex listened closely while mama read and hid from the camera on this Tuesday.

Max continues to surprise us with what he knows. "That truck has 12 wheels," he told mama. "How do you know?" she asked. "It has four rows with three tires, that's 12 right?"

Hmm. So that's what that's what skip counting means that he's told us about.

One thing he continues to think about is death -- especially concerning his Grandpa Phil.

"I hope they find Grandpa Phil up there," he said referring to the sky. "Maybe someone in a rocket ship will find him.

Max also gave me a nickname fairly recently. I had hoped it would go away. But it hasn't yet. So I report it here now. For some reason I'm Papa Pig. (Now you know why I haven't reported it 'til now.)

November 29, 2011

2012-01-23T22:37:00.000-06:00

Max the movie critic

Max shared his bed, his room and his floor to all sorts of relatives for Thanksgiving movie night. The Chicago contingent came (Grandma, Uncle McGee, Aunt Wendy, Ryan, Cole & Brooke) along with all the local Paz family regulars plus a couple friends. All in all 30+ people helped us celebrate our first Clayton Ave. Thanksgiving!

The X Boys loved playing with their Chicago cousins, who they don't get to see much. We went bowling and swimming and played soccer and chess and had all sorts of fun.

November 22, 2011

2012-01-20T09:39:00.000-06:00

Max the fan
Max and family attended cousin Nicolas theater debut at Abintra. Max dressed up for the occasion in the Japanese outfit we got from our favorite sushi master years ago.

On the way home from the show Max and Alex started asking about bad guys, they're latest obsession.

"Are bad guys real," Max asked.

I tried to explain that some people do make bad choices.

"I wish there were no bullets," he said.

Oh, how I agree.

November 15, 2011

2012-01-20T09:31:00.007-06:00

Max da man
Max & Alex decided tonight was naked dinner night. The two of them stripped down to underwear before eating.

The X Boys went to their first hockey game this week. We had fourth row seats, which are better seats than I ever had in my life! The boys loved it. And despite the game going into over time and being past 9pm, they insisted on staying for all of it. (They fell fast asleep as we waited more than 20 minutes to get out of the parking garage after the game).

We've tried to teach them to be good sports by stressing it's not whether you win or lose as long as you had fun. "You're a winner if you had fun," we say.

Perhaps we've gone a little to far. When the Predators lost in OT, Max asked "Did they win?" "No," I said. "Daddy, they had fun so they did win."

Hmm. Maybe I should call the coach and ask?

And then there was this exchange between brothers and mama.

"I don't know if my restaurant should serve just adults or children too?," Max asked.

"It's your restaurant Max," mama explained. "You can do what you want."

"What about my children?" Alex asked.

"I'm sure Max will find a way that your children can come, Alex," mama said trying to reassure a worried three-year-old.

"I'm not sure I can come because I'll be on a rocket ship with mama, papa and Max and all my children," Alex explained.

"I'm not sure I can come becauser I'll be at my restaurant," Max said already showing signs of a workaholic entrepreneur.

"Well I can't come to your restaurant Max because I'll be in a rocket ship," Alex said.

"Children can't go in a rocket ship," Max said. And when Alex looked worried Max added "I can take care of your children while you're in the rocket ship."

We also took Max to see the classroom he'll be at next year at Abintra. So weird and exciting to see him graduating!

November 8, 2011

2012-01-20T09:01:00.001-06:00

Max the sleepy
Max was moving kind of slow this morning getting ready for school.

"Max, anything wrong," I asked.

"I'm not very fast in the morning," he replied.

Just more evidence that he's like his papa.

Maxism: "My best thing of the day is they didn't call me Alex at swimming class."

November 1, 2011

2011-11-10T20:54:00.002-06:00

Max and Alex: Halloween wrestlers
Max and Alex dressed as Mexican wrestlers for their first "real" trick or treating Halloween. Up until this year the boys knocked on one house before retreating to our house to hand out treats to the loads of kids in that 'hood.

This year the boys asked "Can we go to more than one house?"

With our insistence on healthy food and restriction on sugar, we weren't sure how it would work but we said yes. We started at the Z's house. Papa went to the door first to "make sure someone was home." He slipped them some healthy treats which were then passed to the boys when they finally got brave enough to come to the door. We then moved to a very kid friendly street and continued the routine. It all couldn't have been better.

"Raisins!" Max exclaimed as he found two small boxes of raisins amongst all the candy bars in a bowl at one house. "Alex! We got the last two boxes of raisins!" he announced loudly coming away from the house. Later it was "Papa, they had Larabars." Or "Mama, you won't believe it but they had healthy chocolate."

Some parents may have thought we were strange. Others congratulated us on being caring parents.

No matter. Our kids were happy and we had fun.

Maxism of the week: I took a new route to school this week going mainly on Woodmont. Alex asked if it was called Woodmont because there was wood on the street. I said that maybe way back when that was true. Or maybe it was because it had lots of woody trees along the street or maybe....The three of us came up with many options. Finally I said maybe it was because the guy who made the street had a boy named Woody and a boy named Monte and named the street after them.

Max thought about it for awhile and then said "It wouldn't have been the guy who made the street it would have been the guy who made the sign."

Proved to me that boy knows who makes the final decision!

October 25, 2011

2011-11-10T20:45:00.005-06:00

Max the soccer stud
Max proves he's ready for that modeling career in an admitted Saturday photo on this Tuesday blog. Just had to show off his soccer duds and this cool dude.

When picking Max up from school one day the guide told mama that we are getting our money's worth at that school. "Max is constantly working and wanting more lessons," she said.

October 18, 2011

2011-11-10T20:10:00.005-06:00

Max the ballplayer
Max and I played catch at our park this week after he and Alex got new gloves. Someone stole the box of athletic stuffs we had left sitting outside the old house. My glove is still sitting somewhere in a box waiting to be opened. Playing catch barehanded with Max remembered me of when I did same with my dad. I thought he was so tough because he didn't wear a glove. And like Max, I wanted him to wear one -- perhaps because I wanted to believe I could throw hard enough for him to need one.

Our new house was part of the first Nashville green home tour. That was cool.

The Big Thing of the week was the Aunt Alma scare. She was rushed to the hospital after being home alone with a way too fast heart beat for a long time. She got a defibrillator and luckily all ended up okay.

October 11, 2011

2011-11-10T19:36:00.008-06:00

Max and Alex: the X Boys catch some Z's
Max and Alex have separate beds, but sometimes they end up sleeping together. When I came home after midnight, this is what I found.

Max deserved a good night sleep after a long week of practicing words and reading. Something switched recently and Max went from being all into math into all into learning how to read.

The week featured a parent-guide meeting. The best thing we heard about Max was that the guides said they would truly miss him next year. "Max teaches me to be happy," one of them said.

We also heard how Max has helped his brother transition but hasn't been an over-bearing force.

What more could we (and Alex) ask for?

Max talked more about his desire to open a restaurant when he gets older. "You going to call it something like To the Max" mama asked. "I'm not going to be the only one working there," said our humble guy.

We developed the idea of time out nights this week. Usually I'll lay down with one boy at bed time while mama lies with the other. We rotate each note. Mondays mama has been doing dance class and it's just us three boys in one bed. So instead of rotating, we call it a time out night and start the rotation the next day.

October 4, 2011

2011-11-10T09:56:00.007-06:00

Max the big brother
Max helped Alex with his Walk around the Sun celebration at school this Tuesday. The ritual helps honor each student's birthday. The parents come and show a picture for each year the child is old and tells a brief story of what they were like at that age. The child then carries a globe around a sun to signify they turned another year older.

Alex's 3rd birthday was the same day school started. The school requests that parents stay away for several weeks at the beginning of the semester for the children to get used to the routine of the day. Thus, Alex got to extend his August birthday into October.

Alex showed a bit of hesitation when it was his turn to walk around the sun. Max instinctively got up and helped his brother around the room.

The whole thing was beautiful.

September 27, 2011

2011-10-23T16:52:00.005-05:00

Max the bed sharer
Max and extended family squeezed into his pod for bed time. Cousin Sophia made it a sleepover and the three cousins and mama made a cozy foursome for booktime.

The week feature a bunch of school stories.

During a writing lesson, Max was practicing writing words of things around the house. He had no trouble with words like lamp, bed and table. "Couch," said the guide. "We don't have a couch," Max replied. "What about a sofa?" she asked. "No," he answered. She tried again using the Spanish pronunciation. "We don't have one of those either, " Max insisted. We sheepishly laughed when the guide told us the story. The house building project caused us to cut some budgets -- including the furniture budget.

Another writing story: After school Max kept asking me for pencil and paper so he could practice his writing. I kept trying to change the subject because I was in a hurry to leave. "I want to practice my writing," he insisted. "I'll help you when I get home," I said. "I don't need you," Max said. "I need pencil and paper."

Mama and I attended an Abintra open house during the week. We had a chance to see how the students of all ages are taught lessons using the Montessori method. We were particularly impressed with the math teacher. "It's more important that they learn the concept than if they are accurate," he explained. "Everyone makes mistakes. Not everyone knows how to do these things" More proof that we love that school.

On the way to school one day Max said "I like Abintra days more than no Abintra days."

September 20, 2011

2011-10-21T22:45:00.005-05:00

Max and friend
Max shows off the new CD by friend David Meade, also known as Davey Ukelele. Look for Max in an upcoming CD video!

Got great stories about the X Boys at a school wine and cheese. Max, we were told, does a great job of protecting his younger brother while giving him space to learn on his own. What could be better?

We also heard that twice Max hit other kids. Once in response to a schoolmate pushing his brother. Max apparently took off the child's baseball hat and slapped him with it. Another time someone wouldn't let Max play with the one school ball. Not a good idea. Thus, Max hit him.

Max isn't always the tough guy, we learned Once Alex came running to find his big brother in the bathroom. "Alex came to tell me someone pushed him," Max said. "What did you do?" "He pushed me too," Max replied.

September 13, 2011

2011-10-21T22:18:00.006-05:00

Max the bookman
Max takes time for one of his favorite past times: reading.

He also spent time this week organizing his books on this new shelves by type: chapter books, soft books, big books and silly books.

Another favorite hobby has become hip hop dancing. This all started when we went to see award-winning hip hop group "Massive Monkees."

When I saw Max climbing at the park a few days later I said "Max, you're a monkey." "No I'm not," he replied. "I'm a massive monkey"

Kind of similarly, he asked "Now that Michael Jackson is dead, who is the king of hip hop?" "You, Max. You," I said.

(add video)

Perhaps the highlight of the week was our getting new mattresses. Thus, after about two years of sleeping in the same bed, the X Boys started sleeping in their own beds.

September 6, 2011

2011-10-21T21:58:00.003-05:00

Max and his big bed
Max, Alex and papa take a break from deep cleaning day. I climbed on top of their coolest beds in town to dust the top of the straw bale walls and the cool storage places Roger built into these rolling rooms.

Max continues to try to figure out the world. This week mama found the song Mission of my soul. She played it and explained to the boys that this was our wedding song and the first one we danced to as a married couple. Max disappeared for a moment. When we found him he was balling.

"What's wrong?"

"I miss grandpa Phil," he said. "He left us."

We have no clue how he associated grandpa with the wedding. But he did. And he gets that he won't ever see his grandpa. And he feels that he missed something.

Max also contemplated something else less deep. For some reason he remembered finding Flip, his first stuffed animal, on the new bicycle he got from Santa Christmas morning. Flip had been missing for since we took a trip to California a few weeks earlier. Noone seemed to mention that his favorite dog was missing.

"Maybe Santa Claus noticed that Flip was missing and he made me a new one," Max said.

Maybe.

August 30, 2011

2011-10-21T21:49:00.004-05:00

Max & Mama crash
Max and the rest of us finally moved into our new house. We slept there on Tuesday on Alex's birthday. We then had the moving trucks on Thursday and officially made the move Friday.

The move finally felt real when we read the good bye letter from the magic mirror.

My favorite thing of every day has been when you boys look into me and wonder what's inside.

Do I hold a new toy? A favorite stuffed animal? Money for your piggy bank? Perhaps a new book? Or maybe I've put together something silly like your pigeon driving a bus.

Your excitement has inspired me to be generous and creative.

I remember the first time Max opened me up after bath time and found Flip inside waiting for him.

And I remember the day Alex figured out that I was a magic Mirror and demanded that he too get a chance to look inside.

I've sen you both grow from little babies who took baths with your mama or papa to toddlers who dmand constant attention to these two big boys who brush their own teeth.

I've seen you grow to a point where you are almost too big for mama to lift up to me an dso big papa struggles to make it work.

Now my X boys are moving into a new house -- one designed just for them. You have your own beds, a bathroom that will better hold your thothbrushes nd lots of room -- indoor and outdoor-- to play.

I'm so happy for you both.

It has been my pleasure being your Magi Mirror for all these years.

I'll miss you both.

More importantly, I'll remember you two forever and fee that I was part of making the first years of your life happy times. I hope I also aparked your curiousity, encouraged your imagination and gave you some good laugs.

All the best,

Your Magic Mirror.

The letter worked in terms of making it all real to the boys -- especially Max. Our big boy teared up when the letter was over. He started to realize the one home he knew all his life was no more. He asked to write a letter to the mirror.

Dear Magic Mirror,
I hope to see you again

This house, good bye.

I love you.

Max.

The X Boys quickly adjusted to living in the new house and found new things to do -- especially ride their plasma cars all over the open rooms.

Max did tear up one day and say "I like the old house better." "Why?" I asked. "I miss the Magic Mirror."

August 23, 2011

2011-10-21T21:44:00.004-05:00

Max celebrates Alex's birthday
Max and brother Alex get silly at Alex's 3rd birthday party. The boys played with their new school friends, cousins and other cohorts.

We celebrated Alex's birthday just like Max's, with a sleepover at the new house! The boys loved being in their new space.

August 16, 2011

2011-10-21T21:34:00.005-05:00

Max the zoo keeper
Max feeds an anteater during our back of the house visit to the zoo. We also got to be right next to kangaroos.

As good as a time that Max had, he decided that he doesn't want to be a zoo keeper. When he grows up he wants to be a chef and a baseball player.

August 9, 2011

2011-08-12T23:35:00.012-05:00

Max the cook
Max and Alex help mama make pizza for dinner. As someone in the restaurant business, I'm not sure I'm excited about it, but Max told me recently he wants to be a baseball player and a chef.

We went bowling this week and Max seemed much more interested in seeing the numerous photos I took of him than the bowling itself. He'd throw the ball down the lane and then run to see the video.

I love seeing how Max views the world. He told me that boys and girls are different. "How?" I asked.

"Boys have pens and they burp a lot."

August 2, 2011

2011-08-12T23:35:00.008-05:00

Max the lover
Max shows his sweetest side as he quietly checks out mama's necklace and lets her love on him.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about how Alex calmed down Max. This week Max returned the favor.

Alex's gung ho attitude about school started to wane a bit this week as he showed a bit of apprehension.

"Max, you'll hold my hand at school won't you?" Alex asked.

"We can't hold hands," Max said.

As tears started to form in his brother's eyes, Max quickly added "We can hold hands outside or at our cubbies."

Alex smiled.

July 26, 2011

2011-08-12T23:34:00.005-05:00

Max the brother
Max an Alex demonstrate their relationship at bath time. They alternate between playing imaginative games with their ducks and such and messiness by splashing water all over the place. They also switch from hugs and wrestling faster than I can snap photos.

I hate to tell grandma the Maxism of the week:
On our drive back to Chicago from Wisconsin, I told the boys that we'd be getting back later than expected.

"Are we going to do anything when we get there?" Max asked.

"Ii think grandma is ging to to want to love on you," I said.

"I hope not," he said.

July 19 , 2011

2011-08-12T23:32:00.004-05:00

Max makes his bed
Max is pictured here taking a break from helping to make his cool new bed. The X Boys' moveable room was created by almost former-neighbor Roger and Just Plane Wood. The pods are on casters and contain a bed, shelving and closets. The pods were installed a few days after Tuesday, but I'm so far behind on this blog I took the best photo I could close to July 12!

Max's newest game is to continuously ask about his extended family. "Who is your grandmother? Who is your great grandmother?" He'll go as far back as "great great great" grandparent.

The week also featured a rare Max Meltdown. We were headed for a march to a close by restaurant for dinner. Max wanted to lead the march but fell behind when he ran back into the house for something. When he discovered that Alex & mama started to walk there, the meltdown began. Eventually I told him that he and I would stay home until he calmed down. As you would expect, this only made it all worse.

Alex saved the day. He came back to see where his brother was. When I told him to go ahead, Alex said "We're all going together."

That kid has a love of his brother, a calming nature and seems to always know what to say.

July 12, 2011

2011-08-12T23:03:00.007-05:00

Max discovers the world
Max and family headed off to Chicago and Wisconsin to visit family and have new adventures. The weekend in Wisconsin featured discovering the outdoors, as we stayed at Cousin Sue & Mike's compound along with the cousins Ryan, Cole and Brooke. We hiked, swam and tried to be cheeseheads.

In Chicago, the X Boys got some Grandma Sue time before and after the visit to the country.

Max also discovered a new game. During the few hour drive North, we played a version of 20 Questions whereby we took turns thinking of a person we all knew and had the rest of the family ask yes/no questions until we came up with the answer. Typical Max, once he learned the game he decided to branch out. By his third turn his person we had to guess was "a dog on a balloon that's white with orange polka dots." Believe it or not, he stumped all of us with that one.

July 5, 2011

2011-07-17T22:44:00.004-05:00

Max the cuddler
Max and Alex share a moment on the couch before we head out to Chicago for a week!

Max continues to show an interest in math wanting to do adding and doubling problems. And the brothers are each developing their own story telling talents. Alex of course gets big-eyed and very serious when he tells even the most ridiculous tales. Max tends to have a big smile on his face when telling stories.

Max made another big discovery this week. I walked into the living room to see him playing with his pene.

"Daddy, I have a ball in my pene," he said.

"Yes, Max I know," I replied, while I continued walking not wanting to talk about something I wasn't sure how to talk about.

"No, I really do," he said.

"Actually you have two."

"Two? I have two?" he said while looking excitedly for the second one. "I do. I have two balls!"

And then after awhile...

"What are they?"

What was I supposed to tell a five year old?

"Skin," I said. "Their just skin."

And then I walked away while he continued to explore.

June 28, 2011

2011-07-17T22:25:00.002-05:00

Max the shy swimmer
It's getting harder to get a Tuesday with Max photo lately. Max is still quite the performer. Yet sometimes he seems a bit put off by the camera.

"Why isn't there 'Some Day with Alex," he asked me.

"There is, sorta," I said not sure how to explain his brother's blog and once again getting that guilty feeling for not doing a similar one for Alex.

Max does like being behind the camera. Lately I find all sorts of shots of feet, stuffed animals and various pieces of our furniture that Max has taken. Thank goodness for digital cameras.

Family history is another thing Max is asking about lately. He wants to know about mama and my grandparents and great grand parents and whether we're going to be great great grandparents. Some of it has to do with his still trying to figure out this death thing. "Are your grandparents dead?" he asks. And when I say "Yes" he wants to know "Why?"

And somehow it all gets back to Grandpa Phil. "He would have loved to seen the big boy you are," I tell him. And it's true. Max is quite the athlete, loves books and enjoys the theater -- just like his grandpa.

"And he never got to see Alex," Max adds.

And that makes us all sad.

June 21, 2011

2011-07-17T22:17:00.005-05:00

Max y Alex the sleeping
I checked on the X Boys when I got home late from poker to catch them in a great sleeping pose. Mama said Max claimed to be hot, so he took of his shirt.

Max also has started making up nicknames for Alex. Sometimes it's Alley. Mainly it's "Buka," a word Max almost convinced me means "burp" in Spanish. Luckily I know just enough Spanish and more than enough about my boy to know he was joking!

Week also featured Father's Day.

"Father's Day is the best day of the year," Max said which made me darn proud until he added "Just like Mother's Day."

Max also showed off how proud of his brother he is.

"Guess who peed in the toilet? Max asked when I got home Monday.

I played dump even though I saw a smiling Alex. "Mommy," I guessed.

"Here's a hint," Max added. "Peed with a pene."

And before I got a chance to guess Max added "A little one."

Later, when I left the family to go play poker Max said "Don't leave. Stay here forever."

June 14, 2011

2011-07-17T22:05:00.005-05:00

Max the beautician
Max helps pull off mama's mask.

We see Max's growth lately from his questions. He asked mama why some people eat meat when we don't because we don't think it's healthy. "Everybody makes their own choices," mama said.

"But what if they're right?" Max asked?

Hmmm. Maybe having a kid who thinks for himself isn't such a good idea!

June 7, 2011

2011-06-16T23:41:00.003-05:00

Max hangs on
Max doesn't let being sick keep him from climbing and running and well, just being Max. A few spots on his face got us to take him to the doc.

We took off Max's training wheels. Haven't yet tried riding it this way yet.

Max seems to be getting somewhat tired of this "Tuesdays with Max" thing. He sometimes resists taking photos.

"How come there is no day with Alex?"

Mainly to give mama a break, the boys had a sleepover at the new house. Grilled cheese, watermelon and lemon water dinner at farmer's market, a bit of playing at the park, a cold shower at the new house, two short books, and it was sleep for all of us.

The boys found a book about heroes at the library.

"Alex, who is your hero," mama asked.

"Max," he said.

May 31, 2011

2011-06-16T22:46:00.007-05:00

Max turns five
Max has been sick about three times in his life. Unfortunately, one of those times was his fifth birthday.

His birthday party was at the Cumberland Science Center and his guest list was family, cousins, Grandma Sue and a few Abintra classmates.

Amongst his gifts were the guitar he wanted, a microphone and a new house (almost).

We told Max he'd be getting a new house for his birthday since we thought it would be done in time. We signed off on it being completed for the bank loan the next day. However, it'll be a few weeks before all the painting and fixings are completed.

Instead, we surprised the X Boys with a sleepover at the new house with us waking up there on Max's birthday. The boys didn't want to go into the house. I carried a very reluctant Max in. When they saw the air mattresses they got excited and ran over and were ready for book and bed time!

The night was magical. Alex got a bit homesick and started crying. Then all of a sudden the blue night light came on as it got dark outside. "Blue light," Alex got excited. He's a bit obsessed with blue these days. Then the LED light started projecting the planets on the tall ceilings. "Wow," we all said. "This house is magical." Alex calmed down. Everyone went to sleep.

The week also featured a couple of school events. Max had his annual Walk Around the Sun at Abintra. This great ritual features the parents showing a picture from each year of Max's life. He then walks around the sun that's placed in the middle of the room holding a small globe to signify he got a year older.

A few hours later, we went to Alex's end-of-year event. Max surprised Alex by coming. That morning Alex asked if Max was coming. Max knowing he'd be there played along "I wish I could be there," he said. Max hid when we got to the school as we saw Alex walking just ahead of us. He was so excited to surprise his brother.

And Alex was so happy when he saw Max in the audience.

Alex mainly had a case of stage fright as his class sang a few songs and did hand gestures. Non-the-less, his big brother gave him a big thumbs up and a big hug after the performance.

May 24, 2011

2011-06-16T22:35:00.003-05:00

Max y Alex: the fashionistas
Two weeks in a row I feature the Max Man as a fashion model. He's way cooler than I ever was.

Maxism: "I don't like cicadas. I wish they weren't animals."

May 17, 2011

2011-06-16T22:14:00.002-05:00

Max the cool
Max looks cool just hanging on the couch.

Maxism: After a few people commented on his outfit (not this outfit).

"How come everyone said they liked my pands and my shoes but no one said they liked my shirt?"

May 10, 2011

2011-06-16T21:58:00.004-05:00

Max the lunch artist
Max doesn't just eat lunch at school, he decorates it too!

The week featured Mother's Day. Max and Alex decided that mama would want a gift certificate to Popo, an upscale toy store. I've learned long ago that when these boys make up their mind, it's better to do what they want rather than try to convince them to do something else. When we got to the store, the X Boys tour around the place helped convince themselves that perhaps they could find just what she wanted. Max decided on a harmonica. Alex picked a dinosaur kit.

"Do you think she'll share her presents?" they both asked fairly regularly over the two days leading up to mother's day.

She of course shared.

Max also has decided that mama needs to give him back rubs at night to help him sleep. We learned this is something one of his guides at school does when he has trouble resting.

Max has also on his own created a new drawing technique at school. The guides report that he found a new way to work with the metal insets. He lays them, traces them like he was taught and then he moves them slightly and traces them again.

Weird thing to me:

1. He's again showing he likes to find his own way of doing things, which reminds me of me.

2. I remember doing geometric drawings as a kid.

Sometimes he's so like me it scares me.

Then again, mama found a picture of herself at about Max's current age. I hate to admit it, but she looks a lot like Max -- only with longer hair.

May 3, 2011

2011-05-12T11:06:00.007-05:00

Max y Alex: cinco de Mayo
Okay, do the math. May 5, 2011 was not a Tuesday.

Explanation: no Tuesday with Max photo.

Another bad: photo not very good.

Worse: no Tuesday with Max notes.

April 25, 2011

2011-05-12T10:54:00.000-05:00

Max & Alex model glasses
The boys' favorite babysitter Abbie brought them silly glasses, which was almost as fun as running around the house with her.

Sorry, but I got nothing jotted down in my notebook for this week!

April 18, 2011

2011-05-12T10:35:00.000-05:00

Max the bubbler
Max and Alex blow bubbles at mama's week late birthday celebration in Sevier Park.

Max continues to grow intellectually. We've been practicing our "halfs and doubles" in the car going from 1 to 2 to 4 to 8. This week he put together that when he is five and Alex is three, the two of them together will be eight. Hmmm.

The trip to Chicago got Max asking questions about death. Grandpa Phil died just before Opening Day four years ago and our tradition became to go to the game..

We're not quite sure how to deal with the issue of death. We don't go much further than answering his questions. Thankfully (to us) he only goes so far before finding something else to do.

"Is grandpa Phil dead?" "What happened?"Is he ever going to come back?" "Are you going to died mama?" "Can we go to the park?"

Maxisim: We told Max that Alex's teachers reported that Alex lights up whenever they talk about his brother. "Tell them they can talk about me whenever they want."

April 11, 2011

2011-05-12T10:11:00.000-05:00

Max & Co. and Tradition
We went to Chicago this week for our annual Opening Day celebration to remember my dad who died four years ago just before the start of the baseball season. (The game wasn't on Tuesday, but I really liked this photo.)

We had a great time in Chicago visiting with cousins and grandma. Max didn't want to leave. We told him we had to go back on Sunday so he could start school on Monday.

"After school can I come back to Chicago and live forever?"

The trip also saw the evolution of Max turning into a fish. He swam and swam in grandma's pool. He showed off everything he has been learning in swim class.

At the Puma store, he showed off his dancing. After trying on new shoes, he made sure they were good for dancing. Max wanted to know if they were good for running too. I mistakenly asked the young sales clerk hoping he'd just say "oh yeah" to make Max feel better. "They're really good for skateboarding," the clerk said. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh," I thought knowing what was coming next.

"Can I get a skateboard?" Max asked.

Maxism: After listening to John Lennon's Beautiful Boy and while brother Alex slept next to him: "Why is it beautiful boy and not beautiful brother"

April 4, 2011

2011-05-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

Max the architect
Perhaps inspired by our building a new house, Max has lately been into design his own block buildings. (Admittedly, the block house is better than the photo!).

The week featured mama & papa's sixth anniversary. We went to see Tony Bennett a few days before to celebrate.

The boys joined us on our anniversary on a return to the pedestrian bridge where we got married. The boys were so excited to celebrate. They insisted on wearing their newish matching guevera shirts (admittedly, they looked better than me!)

March 22, 2011

2011-04-04T22:01:00.003-05:00

Max reads with friends
Max's classmate and daddy came for a visit and after the X Boys showed off their dance moves and drumming skills, they sat to listen to a story.

Max's new passion is drumming. He's managed to save about 15 empty plastic water bottles (for which us green peoples are ashamed of for buying) and a few cardboard boxes for his drums and a couple sets of chopsticks he uses for drumsticks. Showing that he is a true Montessori kid, Max puts everything away when he's done.

March 15, 2011

2011-04-04T21:45:00.003-05:00

Max, papa and Alex on the edge
The Bernstein boys pose on the loft in our new house as mama nervously takes the photo. (After seeing the photo I can see why she didn't want to keep taking photos until we got a good one).

March 8, 2011

2011-03-08T11:07:00.005-06:00

Max laughs at kissing Alex
Max laughed as Alex tried to kiss him over and over during supper.

This was a busy week as Max learned some math and teamwork and practiced his baseball and observation skills.

On the drive home from school one day I started doing doubling and halves with Max (multiplication and division). Not sure how it started but I started holding up one finger. "What's double one?" "Two," he'd say as I held up two fingers. "What's double two?" as I held up two fingers on each hand (at a stop light of course). Then we'd double four to eight and then cut back down to one by doing halves. He seemed to get it and enjoy it.

After school, we tend to play sports outside now that the whether is getting nicer. Up until now it was usually a competition to see who could get the ball from who or who could stop who from scoring a goal. This week Max learned to "be a team." I taught him to pass to me, then I'll pass it back as you run up and score a goal. Now when we go outside it's "Can we be a team?"

Baseball is still Max's sport. This week I bought him a new Wiffle bat and ball. We made home plate by the sidewalk near the porch. He missed a few and then made me duck to miss the hard balls he'd line right back at me. Then he hit one over our new neighbor's fence -- the neighbor we haven't really gotten along with since he built the house on the lot next to us. The guy was very nice and let us retrieve the ball. It just all reminded me of the days of being afraid to go into certain neighbors' yards when we hit the ball too far. Somethings just get passed on through the generations without anything being said.

Max also showed off his observation skills. He asked me another one of those questions that I have no way of knowing and then he deduced the answer. "Does Alex take naps at school?" "I don't know," I responded.

"I saw him take a blanket and a sheet and his baby so he must sleep," Max said.

Is he going to be a baseball player or a detective? Hard to tell at this point.

March 1, 2011

2011-03-08T11:05:00.004-06:00

Max catches his food
Max used his butterfly net to capture a cucumber, sweet peppers and other goodies for dinner. (Yes, it's not a great picture. But it was taken on a Tuesday).

Max has been going with me to my Wednesday basketball games. He sits in the stands, eats his dinner and the practices his dribbling while I play.

"I want to be a basketball player when I grow up and play with daddy," he said.

I realized, to him, that's the big time, playing with daddy.

Such an honor.

And it brings up such weird thoughts.

When he's old enough to play in this 30- and 40-something game, I'll be in my mid- to late-70s. We'll basically trade places. He'll pick me up, pack my dinner and I'll watch him play as I dribble my food down my chin.

Maxism of the week: Max & Alex were playing a new game in the tub. "We're twins," they'd take turns yelling. "You really think you two look exactly alike," I asked.

"Yes," Max said. And then he looked down. "Well, my pene is bigger."

February 22, 2011

2011-03-08T10:42:00.006-06:00

Max the tickler
Max was caught on camera doing one of his favorite things: playing with his brother.

Maxism of the week: Max was imitating somebody so I asked him what daddy says. Without thinking much he said "I'm old and tired."
Mama loved that one. What does mama say? "La, la, la, la, la, la, la."

Got to be more careful what I say around those kids.

And I've come to realize that although he's only four, this includes world events. Max continued to ask about Mubarak in Egypt. We've tried to explain developments in simple terms. "He won't leave even though his people want him too." "He hasn't done what the people want." And so forth.

"There are two kinds of presidents," Max said out of the blue on our drive home from school. "Presidents like Mubarek and presidents like Obama."

Perhaps even more insightful, later in the week he asked "Did we fight for our freedom?" And after a brief history lesson he followed up with "When?"

February 15, 2011

2011-03-08T10:33:00.005-06:00

Max the Model
Max came with to help me select some new glasses. I wanted something different and cool. I wish I could pull off red glasses like this kid.

I'm not upset that my four-year-old is cooler than me. I've even matured enough to honestly say I'm not upset that my four-year-old is cooler than I ever was.

Maxism of the week: He came home from school practicing making numbers. Mama admired his sixes. "I'm the master of six," he declared.

Alexism of the week: Max tooted at the table. We did our usual "What was that?" routine trying to be silly.

Alex said "Was it a mouse?"

Guess he's got the Bernstein humor gene too.

February 8, 2011

2011-03-08T10:18:00.004-06:00

Max the Hatter
Max and Alex put on their Cat in the Hat hats and performed (with Picole the dog) once again the monkey dance from Seussical the musical.

The week featured more news about the revolution in Egypt. Max overheard us talking about it one day and thus asks nightly at the dinner table "How is the President of Egypt?" "Why won't he leave?" and other insightful questions.

The boys and I started spending most Monday nights together as mama heads off to Indian dance class. (except of course those Mondays that I also have poker). To help calm them this Monday I lay in bed with them telling them stories of the Monster with Green Hair. The story started as a scary story of a scary monster. When Alex seemed a bit too scared, the monster turned funny. When the family in the story ran out of strawberries to calm the monster, the papa said "How 'bout a peach?" The boys cracked up and then started adding their own. "How 'bout an apple?" Alex said when the family ran out of peaches. "How 'bout a wallermellon?" Max said in the way Max says it.

After that story, the boys helped make up a story about a turtle.

Funny also is how I picked a monster with green hair. Somehow I continue to channel my dad at strange times. He often told the story of how a kid with green hair stole his brother's bicycle. He would have loved to know that despite my complaints I continue to copy him.

Later that night, the three of us sat on the couch.

"This is the life," Max said.

"This is the world," Alex said.

I love those boys.

February 1, 2011

2011-02-13T21:36:00.005-06:00

Max & the monster face family
Max, Alex and mama made monster faces in the upstairs of our new house. We went to check on the insulation installation. Somehow it brought the monster out in everyone.

We had one of those parenting lessons this week. I saw an ad that a church was going to show Charlie Chaplin movies along with a live organ player and decided that I needed to take the boys. I'm sure it was an attempt to give them a part of my childhood. I remember going to see the silent films at the theater and then again at Dr. Jazz Ice Cream parlour in Chicago. Irma had found memories of going to see the silent films too, she she agreed.

I then decided it would be a good idea to introduce Chaplin to the boys before we went. YouTube can be a wonderful tool -- but you need to be careful. I showed clips of Chaplin doing the fork dance and of him walking silly and some other short clips. Then I put on a short while I went upstairs to change.

Oops.

I put on The Kid. In it, a baby is taken away by some bad guys. Max got scared. Irma said she never saw him that scared. We tried to explain it was just a movie and they weren't really bad guys. But the thing really shook him up.

We went to the movies anyway but you could tell the excitement he had all day was gone. He laughed a bit when Chaplin walked silly (he was drunk, but we told Max it was from drinking some funny water). He wasn't too sorry that we left early.

Perhaps it was a double double apprehensive weekend.

Max seemed a bit more apprehensive at skating practice this week after his big fall.

Admittedly, skating has made this macho dad hold his macho pride in his son back a bit. Max has always been so incredibly advanced for his age with all sports. Skating so far hasn't been his thing.

Yeah, I know I'm reading too much into it. He's only had about four lessons.

The week also featured Alex's observation day at Abintra. This is a day that he goes into the classroom and the staff judges whether he is ready to start in the fall. He, of course, did wonderfully (if I do say so myself).

During his work time, Alex made a picture for Max. He gave it to his brother in the car after.

"It looks like he's ready to go," Max concluded.

"Did you like Abintra?" Max asked.

"Too much," Alex replied.

January 25, 2011

2011-01-30T21:50:00.006-06:00

Max on the 25th
Max was caught playing for this February 25th, 2011 photo.

Yep, that's all I got. I'm writing this entry a few weeks late and the only note I have is "count by numbers book." I have no idea what that means.

January 18, 2011

2011-01-30T21:48:00.006-06:00

Max the shoeless comedian
Max told me he laughed so hard his shoe fell off. I took the picture to document it.

Max called for a family meeting this week. He told us that Alex needed a new Superhero name because he no longer was a Baby and thus Bongo Baby wouldn't work.

We all agreed to think about it.

After picking him up at school I suggested we brainstorm and come up with a name. I mentioned a couple that he didn't like. Then I pulled over to a mailbox to mail some letters.

"I need to put these in the mailbox," I said.

"I don't think that's a very good (superhero) name," Max replied.

I'll say it again: the kid cracks me up.

The week also featured a bad skating fall. I was skating with him. And it seemed like a split second I skated ahead with my back to him when I heard screams. Max fell forehead first (and it was the first time we didn't have his helmet). An instructor carried him off. A off duty nurse checked him out and said "He looks fine but he could have a concussion." By the time we got to Doctor K's office he seemed fine -- a diagnosis that was confirmed. Doc K is also a father of a teenage hockey player. "He needs to wear a helmet," he said.

We got lucky. We pledged to not skate without a helmet.

January 11, 2011

2011-01-30T21:43:00.004-06:00

Max celebrates papa's b-day
Max celebrated papa's b-day six days before Tuesday, but since I control this blog I got to include this picture as a Tuesday photo. I also figured it was okay because the X Boys were do excited to celebrate my birthday.

"The birds are singing happy birthday," Max told me.

Us three boys put on a show for mama. Max & Alex decided the show was going to be about a sleepover. When I asked if I could be in the show Max said "We'll need a bigger blanket."

We then decided to do the show in three parts. We'd huddle in the bedroom and take turns coming up with what was going to happen in the scene. I went first and decided we'd start with "I can't sleep." Max went next and suggested we needed to get stuffed animals. Alex seemed to have a case of stage fright because he couldn't come up with what we should do in Scene Three. I made a couple of suggestions.

"You already had your turn," Max said.

The kid cracks me up.

Speaking of which, we were driving around and decided we needed to stop to get water. "Let's go to Hot & Cold," Max said. "Why all the way over there to get water?" I asked. "Because we don't have to pay."

He seems to have a word of the week. Not sure where he gets these. But he'll use a new word in appropriate and inappropriate situations. For a long time his word was "disgusting." He'd use this when he didn't like a particular food or when I told him the car next to me was driving badly. "That's disgusting," he'd say. This week he's changed to "embarrassing." He'll use it when he realizes he put his shirt on backwards, when I want to hug him in public or if he can't find his stuffed animal. "It's so embarrassing," he says.

He also likes to voice his displeasure when things take too long. "When will we get there?" "About 15 more minutes," I'll say. "It's going to take forever." Or "Can I watch a cartoon?" "When you put on your clothes," I'll reply." "That's going to take forever."

He doesn't seem to have a sense of time.

Other updates:

The boys are taking bath time separately more often now. Seems to be a good way to keep tired boys from splashing each other, touching each other and generally bugging each other.

Max announced he likes math. Grandpa Phil would have been so proud.

We went to the doctor to deal with Alex's two-week long cough. (Doc basically said "this too shall pass). Max weighed in at 44 pounds. Alex at 29.

Max makes a broccoli face
(This would have been the Tuesday picture if I didn't cheat and use one from my birthday.)

January 4, 2010

2011-01-08T23:09:00.005-06:00

Max & Friends
Max and Alex joined their cousins for a surprise party for Nicolas' birthday on Aunt Norma's birthday (long story).

The week featured more Max-isms, Max the deep thinker and perhaps the coming out of Max the performer.

Max's questions show that he is trying to make sense of the world. One day he asked me "Did you move to Nashville to get married?" Another day he asked "Are we going to have a peace table at our new house?" (something he has at his school).

Max also has grown as a performer. He loves to play the Seussical soundtrack and dance for whomever is around. This week he danced for the washing machine repair man and at his friend Ariel's house.

He's also performing his rapping rhyming routine with papa whereby papa throws out a line like "Do you have a penny?" and Max on the fly responds with something like "I have an Uncle Kenny." or "Do you wanna go to Chicago" is followed up by "I wanna go to Bongo." Lately whenever someone is around (like at the holiday family gatherings) he asks if he can do his rhyming.

Perhaps the best thing of the week to Max was his getting his first belt.

December 28, 2010

2011-01-07T23:00:00.007-06:00

Max the surprised!
Max and Alex sleepily walked into the living room to see what Santa brought.

Max got the thing he'd been asking for: a new bike.

His reaction to another gift made the holiday for mama and papa.

The big boy red bike that Santa left was way out front. But what Max first got excited about was what was on the bicycle seat.

"Flip is back," Max said.

And for now, we'll just say it was a Christmas miracle. Someday we'll tell Max the whole story.

Alex also got a red bike: a balance bike. Santa over-estimated Alex's size and the bike is still a bit big for him. He was very excited with the new piggy bank Santa left and the piano horn brother Max bought for him. Alex got Max a new bongo drum.

The Maxism of the week focused on Max's desire for a bike and his worry about the logistics of the whole Santa/Christmas tree thing. "The tree needs to be bigger to fit my bike," he said.

People react to excitement in different ways. The classic tale is how a mother lifts a car that pins her child down. On this Christmas morning the excitement caused Max to learn to read. He picked up Santa's letter and just started reading. "You boys love each other and are good to your family and I love you," he read -- which wasn't far off!

After papa read the letter at bed time, Max said "Santa is so nice, next year I want to leave him a flower."

Max's "Best thing of the day" as said when we went to sleep: "Giving Alex the horn."

Mama got a 2010 video montage of the family and a watch and slippers which she quickly exchanged for a different watch.

Papa got a Montessori math checkerboard and beads.

The extended family came over later for the gift exchange.

Darn wonderful Christmas!

December 21, 2010

2011-01-07T22:53:00.004-06:00

Max the builder
Max took his tools to help out at the new house construction site. His favorite things at the house are to use his hammer, climb the small tree in front or lead tours up to his loft space.

We took Alex to the doc this week to get his constant cough checked out. Sure enough, it's one of those coughs that will take two to three weeks to stop. No big deal.

While there we had the boys weighed and measured. Alex came in at 29 lbs. Max proved to be square: 42 inches and 42 pounds!

December 14, 2010

2011-01-07T22:49:00.003-06:00

Max & Alex: the musical
Max and Alex dressed up in their new too small Seuss pajamas and Cat in the Hat hats first thing in the morning and performed their dance routine to the Seussical soundtrack.

Then later in the day they went outside to try to catch one of the few snowflakes on their tongues.