My theater training never included Italian accents. My son, however, likes asking me to "talk like Luigi." So I've spent a lot of time lately working on an accent I've never studied. At first my attempts sounded like most pretty pitiful versions of an Italian accent with which you're probably familiar - stick an -a at the enda of randoma words anda see what happens.
While shoveling the snow today, I realized I had learned something about the accent from trying it. The -a doesn't go after random words, but serves to separate two words that would otherwise be joined by consonants. In my example above, the -a between "end of" doesn't help the words flow, but "anda see" does, as would an -a between "what happens." Now because I'm making this up, I don't really know if it's "correct" but it feels sensible. It could also be a matter of rise and flow, or only going after certain consonants because those letters don't end words in Italian, or some other possibility.
One of the ways Hyrum is mildly entertaining is that he thinks all English dialects are "Mary Poppins." He really doesn't care if I sound like Bert or Monty Python or Hermione or Ringo, they're all Mary.
And on the subject, I'll just mention that I have a terrible time doing a German accent. This is funny since I speak German and taught English to Germans, so I've heard a lot of it. The first problem is that the harsh-sounding stereotypical German accent doesn't sound like the attempt of anyone I knew in Germany to speak English. The second problem is that to do it right, I have to think in German and then translate it back into English and it gets mighty complicated to keep up. The best I can do these days is imitate Pres. Uchtdorf, but he speaks with a much clearer English than most Germans would so his voice doesn't scream "Kraut" the way someone on Hogan's Heroes would. Thankfully, Hyrum doesn't want to play act anyone German yet, so I don't have to worry about it.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Learning to write
Hyrum got a toy with multiple uses, one of which is a stencil set for the numbers and letters. Joy noticed that when they stenciled the letters, she would have to hold his hand to help him connect the dots to reform the letters. When it was the numbers, though, he'll do it himself without any help.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
They Grow So Fast
Lavinia is about the size of a carrot, they tell us. And growing rapidly.
Hyrum is now taller than the television on its stand. Not quite three years old, we are moving him up into size 4 and 4T shirts (still size 3 pants). After months of no weight change, he's gained about 2 pounds in a month. In percentage terms, that's the equivalent of me gaining 15 pounds in four weeks. It's growth spurts all the way with this one.
Hyrum is now taller than the television on its stand. Not quite three years old, we are moving him up into size 4 and 4T shirts (still size 3 pants). After months of no weight change, he's gained about 2 pounds in a month. In percentage terms, that's the equivalent of me gaining 15 pounds in four weeks. It's growth spurts all the way with this one.
Looking Forward to Lavinia
Joy: "We are still having a girl! Yeah. We are now 21 weeks along and we think that poor Lavinia has had very little press on this news feed. Derrill felt her kick for the first time last night. Joy started feeling her kick or punch about February 9 (some undetermined stuff before), but has felt her most days since then. The funny part of that was the nurse had just been asking me earlier that week if I was feeling her move yet and I said well not really. I had thought that movement or fluttering by my ribs was the baby earlier and then found out that my uterus wasn't even close to my ribs. So, I chuckled and decided I wasn't really feeling her yet."
D: In all our ultrasounds, she has been a Mover and a Shaker. She squirms, she cartwheels, she spins.
"She nearly makes our doctor swear."
She certainly makes it difficult for him to keep an accurate heartbeat feed. Hyrum, by contrast, was a modest baby, hiding his head from the camera and crossing his legs. Joy could count Hyrum's 10 movements in the morning, but he didn't make much noise otherwise. "Maybe hiccups." I think she'll get to 10 movements daily for Lavinia any time now.
HISTORY OF LAVINIA'S NAME:
Back in the paleolithic era of our marriage, when infants did not rule the earth, "our first attempt at a pregnancy was a short-lived one." The miscarriage helped us get prepared to become parents eventually, changed our outlook on life, and was otherwise a very traumatic experience. Even though it occurred at such an early age, we had felt a real connection with our little embryo and felt that we were expecting a little girl.
"We felt close to her and had prayerfully chosen a name for her: Lavinia Thalia Watson."
This made losing her all the more tragic.
"When I suggested Lavinia, it was because I really felt that she was close to my great-grandmother Lavinia in Heaven."
I wanted to name her after Joy, but Joy was just as adamantly against a child named after herself as she is about a child named after me. So I made up a word. The word I made up was Thalia (TAY-leah). I thought it sounded nice. I later went to a baby name website and discovered that the name was Hebraic for ... Joy. I felt inspired. :?D
"And we just think the two names go best together with Lavinia first.
"When we found out we were expecting this time, I tried really hard to tell myself that I would be equally happy for a boy or a girl. When someone would say 'I think it's a girl,' I would say, 'I dunno. It's probably a boy.' And vice versa, trying to keep my heart open to all the possibilities, knowing there are only two."
When we were pregnant with Hyrum, we were ready with a girl's name, but not a boy's. We had some joke names lying about -- Sassafras was our code name for our first male child, Tinuviel (of Tolkeinian invention) our first girl, and Luigi if there were another boy out there somewhere. We returned home from our Hyrum ultrasound and warned him: 'Your name as of now is Sassafras. If you want something better, you'd better tell us who you are.' After much deliberation, the two names we settled on were surprisingly the first two we wrote down: Hyrum Spencer. This time we were better prepared. Lavinia Thalia if a girl, John Thomas Lazenby Watson if a boy. So now it's John (or John-Thomas or J.T. or whoknows) who has a name in waiting. Given Hyrum's penchants for Mario and Luigi, the code name just doesn't work anymore. But back to Lavinia.
EVERY PREGNANCY IS DIFFERENT
D: In all our ultrasounds, she has been a Mover and a Shaker. She squirms, she cartwheels, she spins.
"She nearly makes our doctor swear."
She certainly makes it difficult for him to keep an accurate heartbeat feed. Hyrum, by contrast, was a modest baby, hiding his head from the camera and crossing his legs. Joy could count Hyrum's 10 movements in the morning, but he didn't make much noise otherwise. "Maybe hiccups." I think she'll get to 10 movements daily for Lavinia any time now.
HISTORY OF LAVINIA'S NAME:
Back in the paleolithic era of our marriage, when infants did not rule the earth, "our first attempt at a pregnancy was a short-lived one." The miscarriage helped us get prepared to become parents eventually, changed our outlook on life, and was otherwise a very traumatic experience. Even though it occurred at such an early age, we had felt a real connection with our little embryo and felt that we were expecting a little girl.
"We felt close to her and had prayerfully chosen a name for her: Lavinia Thalia Watson."
This made losing her all the more tragic.
"When I suggested Lavinia, it was because I really felt that she was close to my great-grandmother Lavinia in Heaven."
I wanted to name her after Joy, but Joy was just as adamantly against a child named after herself as she is about a child named after me. So I made up a word. The word I made up was Thalia (TAY-leah). I thought it sounded nice. I later went to a baby name website and discovered that the name was Hebraic for ... Joy. I felt inspired. :?D
"And we just think the two names go best together with Lavinia first.
"When we found out we were expecting this time, I tried really hard to tell myself that I would be equally happy for a boy or a girl. When someone would say 'I think it's a girl,' I would say, 'I dunno. It's probably a boy.' And vice versa, trying to keep my heart open to all the possibilities, knowing there are only two."
When we were pregnant with Hyrum, we were ready with a girl's name, but not a boy's. We had some joke names lying about -- Sassafras was our code name for our first male child, Tinuviel (of Tolkeinian invention) our first girl, and Luigi if there were another boy out there somewhere. We returned home from our Hyrum ultrasound and warned him: 'Your name as of now is Sassafras. If you want something better, you'd better tell us who you are.' After much deliberation, the two names we settled on were surprisingly the first two we wrote down: Hyrum Spencer. This time we were better prepared. Lavinia Thalia if a girl, John Thomas Lazenby Watson if a boy. So now it's John (or John-Thomas or J.T. or whoknows) who has a name in waiting. Given Hyrum's penchants for Mario and Luigi, the code name just doesn't work anymore. But back to Lavinia.
EVERY PREGNANCY IS DIFFERENT
Saturday, February 19, 2011
A Sleeping Trauma Averted
I was surprised to learn that one of our most visited posts was about the brief time when Hy had a really hard time sleeping at night. We had another episode of that this year, and for very similar reasons, but we came to a similarly happy outcome by totally different methods. The plus side of our old method of taking away access to all his toys and books at night is that Hyrum's room is guaranteed to be clean every night and has been for six months now.
For the last several months, Hyrum has been going to bed with his giant Mickey doll taking up the other half of his bed. If Mickey isn't there, he asks for him. Then he got a plush Mario for Christmas, who also needed to be in the bed. He slept soundly and woke every morning to talk to Mario (instead of Buzz, whose picture had been his morning companion).
Then a few weeks ago we got him a small, hard plastic Luigi toy with some overly-leftover birthday money. Yeah, 10-11 months leftover. I think I've mentioned how ecstatic he is to have both of them together.
It also meant that the first night he slept VERY poorly. He woke up every couple hours, waking Joy up (who has forgotten to wake me up when that happens so I can take care of him). He was sick already and not doing well to begin with. This made the next day much worse.
Joy and I had a family council. She was all for following up with what we do with books: Luigi can't sleep with him. He fell asleep just fine when it was just Mario. Maybe it's just Luigi, or maybe it's the two of them together, who knows? Luigi has to go. I persuaded her that Hyrum can communicate now and he understands consequences much better than he did last year. Let's see if we can invite him into the counseling process and find a solution we all like. She and I came up with two options for him:
1) Every night he could choose to sleep with either Mario or Luigi. If he didn't sleep that night, he would get neither the next night and be able to choose again each night after that.
2) He could sleep with both of them tonight, but if he didn't sleep well then Luigi would never sleep with him again.
We discussed the problem with him and presented the choices. He chose door number 2, just as Joy predicted. That night we reminded Hyrum of what the choice meant and its consequences. He repeated them to me several times: "If I don't sleep, no more Luigi." That fear alone was probably enough to keep him awake all night. Except it didn't. He slept beautifully and continued to sleep beautifully most nights since (excepting when the cough he's had the last week woke him and Joy up).
So the books and toys still stay out of his room at night, but Luigi can stay.
For the last several months, Hyrum has been going to bed with his giant Mickey doll taking up the other half of his bed. If Mickey isn't there, he asks for him. Then he got a plush Mario for Christmas, who also needed to be in the bed. He slept soundly and woke every morning to talk to Mario (instead of Buzz, whose picture had been his morning companion).
Then a few weeks ago we got him a small, hard plastic Luigi toy with some overly-leftover birthday money. Yeah, 10-11 months leftover. I think I've mentioned how ecstatic he is to have both of them together.
It also meant that the first night he slept VERY poorly. He woke up every couple hours, waking Joy up (who has forgotten to wake me up when that happens so I can take care of him). He was sick already and not doing well to begin with. This made the next day much worse.
Joy and I had a family council. She was all for following up with what we do with books: Luigi can't sleep with him. He fell asleep just fine when it was just Mario. Maybe it's just Luigi, or maybe it's the two of them together, who knows? Luigi has to go. I persuaded her that Hyrum can communicate now and he understands consequences much better than he did last year. Let's see if we can invite him into the counseling process and find a solution we all like. She and I came up with two options for him:
1) Every night he could choose to sleep with either Mario or Luigi. If he didn't sleep that night, he would get neither the next night and be able to choose again each night after that.
2) He could sleep with both of them tonight, but if he didn't sleep well then Luigi would never sleep with him again.
We discussed the problem with him and presented the choices. He chose door number 2, just as Joy predicted. That night we reminded Hyrum of what the choice meant and its consequences. He repeated them to me several times: "If I don't sleep, no more Luigi." That fear alone was probably enough to keep him awake all night. Except it didn't. He slept beautifully and continued to sleep beautifully most nights since (excepting when the cough he's had the last week woke him and Joy up).
So the books and toys still stay out of his room at night, but Luigi can stay.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A Theory of Growing Old
I'm starting to get old. *pause for laughter*
A couple months ago I slammed the car trunk on my finger. It hurt, it bled, it freaked out a few shoppers at the nearby store where they searched for gauze, it still shows up as a little bit of black on the tip of my finger. I drove us home through the snow for an hour with a large finger held awkwardly for all of New York to see and mistake for its neighboring finger being waved at them. Ouch.
One day last week I watched as Joy closed the trunk to the car. I thought it looked like her hand was a little too close to the trunk ... yes, the hand she was using to close the trunk, that one was a little close to the trunk. I panicked. I very nearly ran out to her to grab her hand away, or at least yell out a cautionary "Don't close the car trunk on your hand!"
It's like I forgot my wife was an intelligent person. It's like I forgot that, if she does have a fault, lack of a self-preservation instinct is not it.
And I suddenly understood why "old" people were always unnecessarily warning me not to be the biggest idiot who ever walked the earth. They got hurt. They knew a guy who got hurt. Suddenly they're looking out for everybody else out of instinct because it could happen to anybody, anytime, anywhere. When you get to "our" age, after all, things don't heal like they used to.
I would like to imagine that by noticing this unfortunate trend early on, I can apply enough mental Rogaine to stave off, or at least hide, this tendency. I know enough people, however, to believe that while my struggle may be worthwhile, it will likely turn out to be futile as well. Hyrum, Lavinia ... I'm sorry. I know you're (will be) smarter than this,
But don't put your hand in the blender and turn it on.
Please don't run into light sockets with liquid scissors.
Stop trying to stick your elbow in your ear. Stop trying to lick your elbow too.
And whatever you do, DON'T push that big red button, okay?
And get off my lawn.
A couple months ago I slammed the car trunk on my finger. It hurt, it bled, it freaked out a few shoppers at the nearby store where they searched for gauze, it still shows up as a little bit of black on the tip of my finger. I drove us home through the snow for an hour with a large finger held awkwardly for all of New York to see and mistake for its neighboring finger being waved at them. Ouch.
One day last week I watched as Joy closed the trunk to the car. I thought it looked like her hand was a little too close to the trunk ... yes, the hand she was using to close the trunk, that one was a little close to the trunk. I panicked. I very nearly ran out to her to grab her hand away, or at least yell out a cautionary "Don't close the car trunk on your hand!"
It's like I forgot my wife was an intelligent person. It's like I forgot that, if she does have a fault, lack of a self-preservation instinct is not it.
And I suddenly understood why "old" people were always unnecessarily warning me not to be the biggest idiot who ever walked the earth. They got hurt. They knew a guy who got hurt. Suddenly they're looking out for everybody else out of instinct because it could happen to anybody, anytime, anywhere. When you get to "our" age, after all, things don't heal like they used to.
I would like to imagine that by noticing this unfortunate trend early on, I can apply enough mental Rogaine to stave off, or at least hide, this tendency. I know enough people, however, to believe that while my struggle may be worthwhile, it will likely turn out to be futile as well. Hyrum, Lavinia ... I'm sorry. I know you're (will be) smarter than this,But don't put your hand in the blender and turn it on.
Please don't run into light sockets with liquid scissors.
Stop trying to stick your elbow in your ear. Stop trying to lick your elbow too.
And whatever you do, DON'T push that big red button, okay?
And get off my lawn.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Hyrum's Top Ten: 2010
Yes, the moment I'm sure you've ALL been waiting for: Hyrum's Top 10 of 2010, with some new favorites added for good measure. Life's been hectic and blogging scarce or I'd've done it sooner and only realized two weeks ago I hadn't yet. Anyway, here goes:
Top 10 of 2010 by Play Count by Hours
Bob the Builder - 893 Tarantara - 35:38
Hallelujah Chorus (MoTab) - 524 Chorus - 34:21
Tarantara - 450 Musicological Journey Through 12 Days of Christmas - 20:04
Praise the Man (Hoffman) - 228 Pines of Rome - 16:55
76 Trombones - 211 Pomp and Circumstance - 15:13
Mickey Mouse Club March - 201 Bob the Builder - 14:38
Let's Go Fly a Kite - 182 Firebird - 13:31
The Little Drummer Boy - 176 Praise the Man - 13:21
10 Little Indians - 149 Little Drummer Boy - 11:47
Feed the Birds - 146 76 Trombones - 10:47
So Hyrum (and we) spent nearly an entire day and a half last year listening to Tarantara and the Hallelujah Chorus. The amazing thing to me is that Joy still doesn't have either one memorized.
To kick off 2011 I got tired of counting up 800 of this and 100 of that and a top screen that never changed even though he hasn't really listened to some of those top 10 songs in months. So I copied any song he'd listened to more than 25 times to a flash drive, deleted them from the hard drive, and then put them back on again, resetting their counters at 0. I also added a lot more music to his playlist to see if I can induce some new favorites. His current favorites would still rise rapidly to the top and his top playlist for the last 6 months was in the car to give them all some help.
In the last two months then, here's how his new Top Ten is shaking out:
Hark All Ye Nations - 104
Bob the Builder - 100
Looky Look (VeggieTales) - 59
Watch Me Go (I'm a Happy Girl) - 55
Give a Little Whistle - 48
Sixteen Going on Seventeen - 42
Tarantara - 35
WALL-E Dancing - 33
All of Me - 28
Hallelujah Chorus - 28
Lots of new stuff! And the songs he really doesn't care about anymore are drifting slowly away into obscurity while his 2010 Top Three are still hanging out in the 2011 Top Ten.
Hyrum has LOVED The Sound of Music that he got for Christmas, particularly asking me to sing songs from it every night as I put him to bed. It used to be "Sound of Music" was the nightly request until I introduced him to "Consider Yourself" from Oliver!, and that's the current nightly request. Sixteen Going on Seventeen (or the bedtime version "you are 2 going on 3") and Maria's Wedding March are also highly sought after.
Top 10 of 2010 by Play Count by Hours
Bob the Builder - 893 Tarantara - 35:38
Hallelujah Chorus (MoTab) - 524 Chorus - 34:21
Tarantara - 450 Musicological Journey Through 12 Days of Christmas - 20:04
Praise the Man (Hoffman) - 228 Pines of Rome - 16:55
76 Trombones - 211 Pomp and Circumstance - 15:13
Mickey Mouse Club March - 201 Bob the Builder - 14:38
Let's Go Fly a Kite - 182 Firebird - 13:31
The Little Drummer Boy - 176 Praise the Man - 13:21
10 Little Indians - 149 Little Drummer Boy - 11:47
Feed the Birds - 146 76 Trombones - 10:47
So Hyrum (and we) spent nearly an entire day and a half last year listening to Tarantara and the Hallelujah Chorus. The amazing thing to me is that Joy still doesn't have either one memorized.To kick off 2011 I got tired of counting up 800 of this and 100 of that and a top screen that never changed even though he hasn't really listened to some of those top 10 songs in months. So I copied any song he'd listened to more than 25 times to a flash drive, deleted them from the hard drive, and then put them back on again, resetting their counters at 0. I also added a lot more music to his playlist to see if I can induce some new favorites. His current favorites would still rise rapidly to the top and his top playlist for the last 6 months was in the car to give them all some help.
In the last two months then, here's how his new Top Ten is shaking out:
Hark All Ye Nations - 104Bob the Builder - 100
Looky Look (VeggieTales) - 59
Watch Me Go (I'm a Happy Girl) - 55
Give a Little Whistle - 48
Sixteen Going on Seventeen - 42
Tarantara - 35
WALL-E Dancing - 33
All of Me - 28
Hallelujah Chorus - 28
Lots of new stuff! And the songs he really doesn't care about anymore are drifting slowly away into obscurity while his 2010 Top Three are still hanging out in the 2011 Top Ten.
Hyrum has LOVED The Sound of Music that he got for Christmas, particularly asking me to sing songs from it every night as I put him to bed. It used to be "Sound of Music" was the nightly request until I introduced him to "Consider Yourself" from Oliver!, and that's the current nightly request. Sixteen Going on Seventeen (or the bedtime version "you are 2 going on 3") and Maria's Wedding March are also highly sought after.
Hyrum's Stand Up Comedy Routine
Hi there. Hy here.
So let's talk about underwear. Kids underwear is a marketing device. Now I'm okay with this. But they put the marketing on the backside of the underwear. What's up with that?
I want to see my marketing. But then my parents tell me I put my underwear on backwards. I can't see Buzz or Lightning McQueen or any of them on my back! Who came up with this?
So let's talk about underwear. Kids underwear is a marketing device. Now I'm okay with this. But they put the marketing on the backside of the underwear. What's up with that?
I want to see my marketing. But then my parents tell me I put my underwear on backwards. I can't see Buzz or Lightning McQueen or any of them on my back! Who came up with this?
Yesterday's Training
Things Hyrum Notices
Hi there. Hy here to report on some of my exploits.
Mommy, I want to see the calendar. The calendar tells me when Pop is coming to visit. Pop comes in 4 days. Mommy, I'm Pop. You be Boo. Boo comes in July when the baby comes. I see Pop and Boo. When do Steve and Emilee come?
------
Daddy, no Christmas tree. Christmas tree is gone :( . (brightening) After Thanksgiving, have Christmas again.
------
There are two Luigis and two Marios. Daddy, you're one Luigi. Here is the other Luigi. Here is one Mario.
"Where's the other Mario, Hyrum?"
I am Mario! Two Marios, two Luigis.
------
I'm playing a memory game right now. I turn 12 cards upside down and start looking for matches. I turn over one card and then turn over other cards until I find its match.
There's two. Now where's three? I'm looking for three. Oh there it is! :) Number ... number ... number ... Look, Luigi! There's a match!
------
I don't go to Nursery today. I cough. We go get Furies, and Mommy go to choir. I go to clerk's office with Daddy. We have sacrament and go home. We have lunch, take nap, and go get Mommy.
Mommy, I want to see the calendar. The calendar tells me when Pop is coming to visit. Pop comes in 4 days. Mommy, I'm Pop. You be Boo. Boo comes in July when the baby comes. I see Pop and Boo. When do Steve and Emilee come?
------
Daddy, no Christmas tree. Christmas tree is gone :( . (brightening) After Thanksgiving, have Christmas again.
------
There are two Luigis and two Marios. Daddy, you're one Luigi. Here is the other Luigi. Here is one Mario.
"Where's the other Mario, Hyrum?"
I am Mario! Two Marios, two Luigis.
------
I'm playing a memory game right now. I turn 12 cards upside down and start looking for matches. I turn over one card and then turn over other cards until I find its match.
There's two. Now where's three? I'm looking for three. Oh there it is! :) Number ... number ... number ... Look, Luigi! There's a match!
------
I don't go to Nursery today. I cough. We go get Furies, and Mommy go to choir. I go to clerk's office with Daddy. We have sacrament and go home. We have lunch, take nap, and go get Mommy.
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