Daddy's Notes

1. Lately, the thing I've been most grateful for is a wonderful wife.  I may appear to be a perfect husband and father, but I'm not.  I can be selfish, unintentionally harsh, uncompromising, etc. etc., and Kristin treats me like I am the perfect husband.  So thanks<>
2. Aviva is exactly like a cat: cosmically powerful and intelligent, impossible to control (not that you'd want to control her), and absolutely adorable.  She consistently gives the meanest looks ever seen on an 18-month old and the best hugs, all in the space of about 2 minutes.  Plus, if she doesn't have enough hands to carry her toys, she'll put them in her mouth.  I always see her walking around the house with bottle in one hand, one toy in the other hand, and then her favorite stuffed animal (her giraffe/cow/???) in her mouth.  Super cute.  
3. Aviva loves to get in trouble.  I try to give her the attention she wants/needs, so she doesn't feel the need to get in trouble to get attention.  I'm starting to think she just likes living on the edge.  Her biggest smiles come when I tell her "No" and she doesn't anyway.  Like this morning I told her "no" when she went to go play with a magic marker in Grandma Delsa's bedroom.  I'd never seen her smile so big as she ran as fast as she could straight back to the room.  
4. The only thing that almost makes her as happy is winning.  Like when I tell her I can't play with her and then she overpowers me with her cat-like skills.  She gets really happy and smiles real big when she wins in these situations. 
5. Max is potty training himself.  It's awesome.  Apparently, if you are sufficiently derelict in your parenting, the kids will raise themselves.  That, and a little candy helps.  Last week, we even had a "Potty Party" (which you feel really silly saying, by the way) the first day he stayed dry all day.  I'd post pictures, but we didn't take any.  Bummer.
6. Max cares most about two things: ranch sandwiches and being fast.  The ranch sandwich consists of bread and ranch, no crust, and sometimes a slice of cheese.  His record is 10 in one day, I've been told.  As for being fast, he really, really wants to be fast.  I think it's because he's always racing with some of the big kids and they tell him he's slow.  So recently, he's been learning that vegetables make him fast and sugar makes him slow.  We normally don't let him eat sugary cereals, but when Aunt Shauri buys when, he can have some.  Well Max wants to be so fast, he even forwent Lucky Charms this week in the hopes of being faster.  
7. Max's favorite song these days is the one he calls Grandma's Song and it's from a CD Grandma Delsa gave him.  Not sure what the song is really called, but the first line is "I've got a friend who's just pretend...."  Pretty stinking cute.
8. Here are pictures of Max and Aviva helping me make Max's Potty Party cake: he wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, but Kristin convinced Max his favorite color is green so she could make a pistachio frosting. 

 

Busy Body

Aviva goes crazy if we don't leave the house.  Every morning, once she's had enough of our house, she walks over to the mud room, finds her shoes, and hands them to me to let me know she's ready to get going.  

There aren't a lot of places to get going to in the dead of a Michigan winter, but she's usually happy with our weekly rotation: mall, library, Gym America, Urban Toddler, Lisa's house.  

These photos are of her at Urban Toddler. 

Don't Let the Door Hit You on Your Way Out

This picture may look like cute little Aviva welcoming you into her home.  It's not.  She gets really excited for people to leave.  She's just opening the door to get rid of our guests in this photo.  

Here she is, waving goodbye.  She'll wave goodbye from the moment you start to put on your coat, while you pack all your kids in your car, while you try to maneuver your way down  the driveway, until you are driving down the street.  Then she will slam the door shut and look at me expectantly, ready for my undivided attention. 

Max