What Will They Be? (Part Two)

I swore that I would be one of those dads who kept up on his blog and saw his friends all the time and yet, here I am, almost a month since my last blog and missing a lot of friendships I used to have.  As the boys get older life does become more complicated and centered around the family.  They do new things all the time and weekends are filled with activities and catching up on housework.  There are a million blog ideas that run through my head but, by the time I get to writing, something new has happened and I've forgotten what was interesting just a couple days ago.

It's not that the boys are doing anything amazing right now.  No one is eradicating world hunger, performing Bach symphony #1 in D Major, or solving derivatives using the chain rule (don't ask me what the is...it's just the most complicated math thingy I could find on a quick Google search).  They are just doing what toddlers do.  They are doing puzzles with 4 and 6 pieces (and working on the 9 piece puzzle but haven't gotten that yet), peeing in the potty from time to time which makes me do an inane "Pee Pee In the Potty" song and dance, and cook me such delicious things in their play kitchen like a drink of orange juice, milk and coffee flavored with hot dogs.  I guess they haven't learned that I'm a vegetarian.

While all of these ideas of funny blog topics bounce around in my head, it has been hard to actually find the time and energy to sit down and write any.  Besides fatherhood I'm busy with planning a trip, making appointments, preparing a workshop, etc.  So, like any good writer, I steal from someone else.  This time, however, I'm stealing from myself.

A year and a half ago I wrote a prediction of what my kids might be years from now.  I keep thinking it would be fun to see how things change year to year and I'm finally getting around to writing the entry.  I hope I'll remember to do this every year.  Here is the update at two years old.

Aaron is definitely the energetic boy.  He needs a job that lets him move instead of sitting at desk all day.  Trains are his obsession.  When he wakes up in the morning and after his nap his first words are usually "Play trains?"  He loves airplanes and buses, too.  He is not a good eater so I think being a chef is out of the question, although in the last few weeks he has tried broccoli (loved it once, hated it once), tasted my sesame noodles and I even convinced him to take a few bites of a pizza although the idea of cheese - especially melted cheese - usually is a turn off for him.  Aaron has also learned to share a lot of the time, is now into Sesame Street, and likes to sing constantly.  His favorite games now are tickle fights and Hide & Seek.

My prediction is that Aaron will be a pilot who sings to the control tower and lives on milk, berries and mac 'n cheese.

Jeff is happy to sit in the swings at the park all day, although now that he has figured out how to climb up the slides he likes doing that too.  Jeff loves books and puzzles.  He has learned to do some simple puzzles with the picture facing down and just use the white backs of the pieces which impresses me.  We have a 10 foot long ABC puzzle and he does that one a few times a day.  Jeff can identify all 26 letters in English and sign language and his signing is better than some students I have taught.  He is usually willing to try new foods and loves to brush his teeth.  He is in a very independent stage now and "Jeff do it" is heard many, many, many times throughout the day regardless of whether or not Jeff can actually do it.  He enjoys watching me juggle and tries to juggle himself.

My prediction is that Jeff will be a linguist who will eventually make the crosswords for the New York Times.