Emens, Ennen & Two Gampas

August 17 > We'd decided that the boys were ready for Stage 3 of their high chairs, which means that the seat is lowered, creating a sort of arm rest on either side; the U-bar is taken off; there is no longer the plastic piece to keep them from sliding down under the U-bar... They were very excited when they saw the "new" chairs in the morning. Here they are, finishing off their lunch and pushing their plates away. Tomi is making his "bloing-o" face...
They were given M&Ms ("Emen," not to be confused with "Ennen," who is their beloved Auntie Ellen) for dessert, and went to work setting up a mini dessert corner for themselves, using a kitchen stool and two of their child-chairs.
August 18 > As we walked home from the farmers market, I was explaining to the boys that their Gramma & Grampa would be coming in a week's time, and that we were going to take a tram and then a bus to meet them at the airport. The barrage of questions and commentaries began in earnest. The best one was when I realised that they thought that TWO GAMPA!* would be taking two planes. I had to explain several times that there was one Grampa and one Gramma and also that they would be taking one plane; and I'm still not sure that the second part makes any sense to them.

We dropped the groceries off and went back out to get diapers and the like. When we were standing in front of our building, Tomi started looking at the sky with a peculiar smile. He looked at me after a few seconds and said, "Plane fly! Gampa plane!" and went back to searching for it in the sky. He looked at me again and asked, "Plane down?" as he made a landing motion with his whole arm. He thought the plane was landing, and that we were going to pick them up just then!

Later, we were playing ball in the city centre, and Leo spotted an ice cream vendor, so...
August 19 > On our way to a BBQ on the outskirts of town, Jean-Philippe told the boys that we would be taking a tram and then a bus to get to Dominique's. And Tomi & Leo started yelping, "Plane tram?! Plane bus?! Gampa plane?! Gamma plane?!" Their papa tried his best to explain that this wasn't the case, and that we'd be taking those trams and busses in five days. But when we arrived at the end stop and got off the bus, the boys looked around and seemed a bit miffed. Then came the question: "Il est où, Gampa plane?" ("Where is Grampa's plane?" in their signature English-French mix.) They had a good time, though, regardless of the fact that the Gampa plane was still five days away!

* When we were in Portland for Ellen & Donnie's wedding in May, the boys refered to their Gramma and Grampa Yerkes as "Two Gamma," because they were having difficulty saying Grampa. Recently, though, they seem to be taking some pains to right this wrong, and often refer to them as Two Gampa - though they more often say Gamma & Gampa...