Key-go Bob Dole

I hope you read foe-uh-nett-ick-ah-lee.

Calvin can't talk...yet. The little man speaks volumes with his swirling blonde curls in the back but his words are still being formed. This evening we were driving home from the World's Largest Barbeque and he turned to the window and held a 2 minute conversation of grunts and tongue clicking that made us giggle up front. Indeed Calvin won't even do sign language to communicate -- not because he doesn't know how - because we have seen him do it. He will sign 'please', 'more', and 'thank you' but only when you are not looking which kind of defeats the purpose of sign language.  When we ask, he refuses to sign and resorts to grunting and clicking. It's like eating dinner with a 22 lbs Yetti.

Brigham on the other hand is a regular Bob Dole because the way Bob Dole sees the economy heading just makes Bob Dole recognize that Bob Dole has got to do something about it and fast; Brigham only refers to himself in the third person. For example, "Briggie hurt Briggie's arm." "Or the classic, "Briggie need Briggie's blanket" and my personal favorite - "Briggie kick Briggie's door!" Used as a warning of what the consequences a torqued off Dad, who is dragging a misbehaving child to the back of the house for room time, would face if he locked the child in the room.

Michelle has a written rule in this house that Adam has not, nor ever will be able to fully fulfill: it is that every Sunday morning when we get ready for church he is required to tell her how beautiful she looks and that this current outfit, unlike the 8 before it, is the perfect compliment to her face, the lighting, the moon, and the outfits the 60 other women at church will be wearing (though they've also changed 7-15 times as well so it is statistically impossible no matter what super-human telepathic powers a man may have to calculate the logarithmic functions that determine the "perfect outfit.") Michelle's husband is a failure.

Luckily for Adam, Brig is not so dimwitted as his father. The other day he sat down and was flipping through a wedding photo album with his mother and when he saw her all dolled up he said, "Mommy a princess." Mommy's can't have favorites but they can love some children more than others, right Aaron?

One of my favorite communications to watch is for these boys to interact with one another. Calvin clocks his brothers every move like it is the greatest thing ever. A rather disobedient Brigham will get down from the table, without permission, and run behind his brothers high chair building anticipation. When the restrained Cal just about can't take it any more Brig will pop out from one side or the other playing a giggle filled game of peek-a-boo with his brother who squeals with delight in the highest pitches of human hearing. Some day both of our boys will hit puberty and the neighborhood dogs will be grateful.

Brig has his own set of pronunciations for certain words. Like "key-go" which is obviously "Here you go" in Brighamese. For the longest time when ever Brigham would refer to Calvin he wouldn't say his name, only "Baby." Now try saying 'baby' while putting great emphasis on the first syllable, trailing off towards the end and spitting because it disgusts you. Further combine it with the Brighamese 'Here you go' and you have "Key-go BAYbee!" used whenever he is being forced to return a toy which rightfully belonged to the usurper of firstborn privilege.  

They are both very smart.  Once after a rather difficult bedtime sequence a frustrated mother placed a boy in a bed, some books by his side and excused herself to the hallway were he could remain safe and she could count to ten.  He cried out "Briggie love Mommy" as she left and contrary to household custom, in her anger, she did not reply.  He eventually fell asleep and the next morning when all had passed she went in to wake her boy.  He was awake waiting for her and the first thing he said as she was walking through the door was, "Mommy say Love Brig!"  He'd been hurt by careless words and remembered it all through the night and furthermore determined that the situation needed to be remedied.  I loved the fact that he was assertive enough to say something to his mother and demand that it be made right.  

Again I reassert that these are the greatest boys in the world and the challenge still stands.  I love them and enjoy being with them and their mother more than I can tell you in these electronic pages. 

**I recommend turning off the music on the side bar and clicking the HQ button on the bottom of this viewer window, it's worth the extra download time.**

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Late addition:

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And because most of you haven't seen this before, here is a video that Grandma Susie made for Brig last year on his first birthday.