One for the Kids

Ever since I abandoned the baby-centric confines of American Babies, I've been posting more frequently because I can get back to bitching irreponsibly about everything without seeming like I'm stealing thunder from the kids. However, it's been a while since I've talked about the kids directly, and not in a pedestrian sort of way. So here it is. To prove that they're still around.

It's hard to talk about Alex first without talking about his face. He looks like he's been in a couple of barfights that he's won, judging from the smile that always finds it place on his face. He's got scratches and scabs from his own doing, and he always looks a bit blotchy. Yesterday we went to the playground and it wasn't exactly summer weather. Lingering around 40s or so, and he had just a long sleeve shirt and a jacket on. After a few minutes, I looked at him, looked at the other kids in the playground, and my boy is the only tyke that's drenched in sweat. You could tell from the way his hair's all matted down. I don't suppose Hawaii would be a good idea for this internal combustable boy.

Communicating with Alex is still a bit of a challenge. Even though he does know a lot of words and is observant, he is either slurring his words or mispronouncing them so he's only understandable half the time, or he's just too distract and crazy to express himself. I get a little frustrated at that sometimes, because the only way to actively get his attention is to play with him. I guess that's normal for most boys his age, but it would be nice to be able to talk a little bit. When he talks though, he does have a bit of humor behind it. Most of the times it's unintentional. The other night when my wife called, he ended the call by saying, "Dokie Dokie, Bye Bye, Mommy."

He's got the big brother thing streak in him, a trait that causes him to pick on his little sister frequently, but he occasionally throws her off by being a really nice big brother as well, sharing with her and giving her what she wants, regardless of whether she deserved it in the first place. He still turns a deaf ear to authority from time to time, toeing that line between what he can get away with. I know it's normal, though it does drive me up the wall when he's cheerful about his defiance.

Like me, he's got a healthy dose of anal retentiveness, and he'd always want something verified or done if he's got his mind set on it. The big thing now is that he wants his hug and kiss before bed. No more than once, but definitely a hug and kiss is required. Then, oddly, he'll say, "We hug and kiss already huh, Daddy?" And you'll have to say, "Yeah, we hug and kiss already." If you don't, he'll just repeat it over and over again, with increased anxiety and volume, until you acknowledge it by repetition. I haven't found out exactly what happens if you never reply, but then again, nuclear fallout, controlled or not, is illegal in this neighborhood.

He's really looking forward to the notion of school, I think he likes to socialize, play with video games, guns, and other boys. I'm sure there's nothing he'd love more than to go crazy with other boys.

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Zoe surprises me sometimes, she's picked up this huge pool of vocabulary and there's nothing she loves more than to talk. Talk. Talk. Sometimes it's fun to talk to her, but sometimes it feels a bit like a strange run-in with an old high school classmate, the real chatty one, and you can wait for her to find someone else to talk to. But all in all, she does pick up a lot of things from us and from the TV.

Lately she's picked up a fear of bugs, whereby she'll run and start bawling like a Muppet. She didn't used to be this way, maybe she just realized that she ain't so big after all. She still likes to be known as a Ballerina, and it sorta bothers me that we can't afford classes for her.

Her dramatic flair did peak for a little while - a bump from her brother or a tumble will send her into a open-jawed wail - of course, if you witnessed the incident or know how quickly she snaps out of it if the right stimulus came along, you'd know that she's just testing how much drama she's allowed to dish out without being called on it. That little girl's learning emotion manipulation already. She serves ham daily and mugs for the camera.

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It's weird to have them both this close and to see them develop into their own personalities. Both Alex and Zoe have somehow picked up things that neither my wife and I do very much, that aggressive boyness that Alex has and the girliness that Zoe has. But it's nice in its own way to see them find their voices and beliefs, yet frightening to know that it's way beyond our control.