Buddy

I remember sitting in the back seat of Seth and Catherine's rental car one Passover, Henry in the middle and Andrew on the other side. Andrew called Henry "Buddy" and Henry, in his little not-quite-one-year-old voice repeated the word - "BUD-dy." It was so cute. Then, whenever Hen would see a picture of Andrew, he would point and say excitedly, "Buddy!"

I don't know when I started calling Maddox "Buddy," but it seems to have stuck. Sometimes I feel bad, because it seems sort of generic (on the other hand, he may be perfectly glad to be called Buddy rather than Moshe PuPu, as we sometimes call him now), but I can't help myself, it just comes naturally to my lips.

Chava has never really jumped to call Maddox Maddox. I don't even think I can put letters to what she does with the pronunciation of his name (although I should try, because it might be just as fun as telling you that she calls the rabbit at M's school the "yabbit"). She's got the "Ma" part down, it's really the second syllable she has a hard time with. But she's solved that problem. She just calls him "Buddy."

Dress Up

I am less concerned about Maddox's interest in cross-dressing than I am about Chava's utter insistence that she be able to shop freely in Maddox's dresser. She loves his boxer shorts and especially likes to wear them over her own pants. I think her teen years are going to be very interesting.

Jewish homies

WWJD?

Let's just say, hypothetically, that you had a child about to turn 4, whose favorite word in the whole world was buttcrack. Would you, throwing caution to the wind, actually make him a buttcrack birthday cake for his party? Buttcake?

What dinner sounds like at our house

Me: Maddox, what would you like to drink?
Maddox: A glass of.... BUTTCRACK!
Me: Please don't use that word. Would you like milk or water?
Maddox: I would like watery BUTTCRACK!
Maddox: Chava, can you say BUTTCRACK?
Chava: Butt cream!
Maddox: No, BUTTCRACK!
Chava: ButtPASTE!
Maddox: No, BUTTCRACK BUTTCRACK BUTTCRACK!!!
Chava (at the top of her lungs): BUTTCRACK!

Pictures from while we were away

Someone can fill me in on exactly what was going on here.

Things that suck

1. Still having pictures in the camera from the weekend we were in Vegas that I haven't uploaded.
2. Maddox enjoying using "butt" in every sentence he speaks (with extra points for incorporating "crack" or "paste" along with it).
3. Chava getting up at 4:30 a.m. for the day yesterday.
4. Maddox having some annoying freak out thing last night from 11:16 til about 3.

Things that don't suck:

1. Seeing Chava's feet in little size 6 bowling shoes.
2. Maddox taking a two hour nap yesterday.
3. Grumpaw and Nonna feeding us all weekend and then giving us meals for the upcoming week.
4. Going out for lunch today with Al on a gift card a student gave me (to a place famous for their chocolate desserts, hurrah!).
   

Smartass

This morning I made Maddox's favorite breakfast - eggs, bacon, and bagels. I was busy cooking the eggs, shmearing the bagels, and was letting the bacon cool. Maddox was clamoring for his breakfast ceaselessly. Finally, I said, "Maddox! Look at me! I am one person and I can only do one thing at a time!" He replied, "But you have two hands....."

Apple picking, the series

A Weekend in Amherst

We started off on Saturday strolling around the UMass campus (clearly, not fasting). The kids loved the pond (where Al caught a bunch of little fish in the net right off the bat) but the big hit was the badminton racquets from Grammy and Bob's house. We also went up to the 23rd floor of the library to look out the window. The kids were not so interested in the view but loved playing hide and seek in the stacks. Luckily, no students were studying at 10 a.m. on a Saturday.




























After naptime we headed out to Atkins for a donut (for energy!) and some apple picking.

I don't have much to report

Maddox has been sleeping a little better. Chava is still a little tazmanian devil but in a cute way. Especially now that she has pigtails in more often. We are gearing up for our big weekend away (no kids and VEGAS, baby!) in two weeks. I think I'll stock plenty of booze and chocolate for the adults (because, let's be honest, that's who I'm worried about). We have been mentioning it to Maddox but not dwelling on it, but I don't think he's really put it together at all. Ahhh well, he'll be in for a rude awakening.

Posessed by the devil, or....?

Maddox has been a real pill the last few days. Tantruming over everything, trying to convince us that he's sick so he won't have to go to school/eat dinner/do anything but watch t.v., up a lot at night, you get the picture. Friends tell me it's just being 3, and it will all magically change when he turns 4. It did improve this a.m. after he ate three pieces of pastrami, a waffle with yogurt and syrup, and then a cup of yogurt. Growth spurt, anyone?

The pastrami boy at work.














Trying to convince his sister that she, too, wants to eat pastrami at 7 a.m.














She gives me the look like, "Mom, what up with Maddox?!"

Yesterday

Chava ate bird poop at the playground. And then laughed - LAUGHED! - when I tried to grab it out of her mouth. That's why we're punishing her by sending her to Bright Horizons today, just in case she asks you.

Some major events over the weekend...

that I sadly have no pictures of. But first, pictures at the new Children's Museum (HBS rented it out Saturday night and it was a huge hit with our kids):





































But the MUCH bigger deal was that we went to Ikea on Sunday and Maddox actually asked to go to the kids' place where you can drop them off (and LEAVE them) for 45 minutes. I did not have the camera, but if I did you would have seen this on my face:

Grammy Chronicles a Day with Chava

The great thing is, I totally KNOW this day. It takes about two hours to walk two blocks with Chava because she wants to go up on every neighbor's porch, and she wants to put every rock/button/cigarette butt she finds in her mouth (although if she finds old paper or a crushed bottle, she immediately identifies it as "trash" and looks for a trash can), she wants to touch every animal ("touch doggie!") and she needs lots of snacks. Then she finishes off the day with a little nudie time, a change of clothes (probably because she had yogurt for snack and smeared the entire cup of it on herself) and then the special, sparkly purple dress-up hat while making the "surprise face" (one of my personal favorites) at the end of the day. Now she makes that surprise face with her little hand covering her mouth. Then I eat her up.

More Crab Fest (thank goodness for the relatives)

My favorites are the nekkid Chavie swimming with Josh, the look on Maddox's face when Andrew nails him with a cup of water, and Maddox listening to Uncle Michael's Magic Shoe story - he's so happy! I also love the different generations of cousins and siblings and, of course, Uncle PuPu. Thanks to Annie, Josh and Mom for the great pictures.























































































































































Here is our hair guru at work.