The Manvilles

Today Jack, Jemma and I went to the doctor for Jemma's appointment. As we were walking down the hallway at the doctor's office with one of the medical assistants, we passed by an open exam room that had a print of Matisse's "Goldfish" hanging on the wall. Jack glanced into the room and said "Hey! Look! A Matisse!". The medical assistant stopped looked at me and said, "He did NOT just say what I think he said." I looked at him, and very proudly (although attempting to be modest) said, "Uh, well, yeah. He did." The medical assistant then ran to the front office with us trailing behind him and loudly and excitedly told the entire front office staff that they would never believe what Jack just said, and he proceeded to tell the story. I attempted to play it down and said, "Well, he has a Matisse book. I mean, he can't do that with every painting he sees." I couldn't have been prouder.

Posted by Ryan at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (350)

Starting this document is long over-due. You  have been charming us with your words since you were about 11 months old. In fact, what we consider your first word, beyond the occasional "Mama" and "Dada", occurred when you were just 11 months old and we were in Paris. I think we were in the Orsay Museum, and I was holding you as we were looking at a painting. You pointed to the painting and, clear as day, said "Duck!". Nevermind that it was actually a chicken, but your Dad and I looked at you with excitement and disbelief, understanding at that precise moment that you were indeed the most brilliant child to ever grace this earth.

I know that because I am starting this record so late, it will be sadly incomplete. But I will do my best to remember your best lines, and also do my best to add to the best lines from now on as they happen.

Posted by Ryan at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your favorite shows at the moment are Dora the Explorer and Diego. We bought you a Dora book a couple months ago and one of the stories is "Dora's Goodnight Wishes." After reading it to you the first time, you got very excited, jumped down off of Daddy's knee, and said with some agitation, "I've got to go...go..go.... and we asked you what you had to go do. You said, I have to go make something" And you said it with urgency. After pressing you further, you finally said, "I have to go...go....make...a wish!". So then we tried to explain to you what a wish was, and after absorbing it, we asked you, "What do you wish for, Jack?" And you said, "I wish for CAKE!". In fact, every time we read you that story, when we get to the end where it asks, "What do you wish for?", you give the same answer, but now very quickly and with a lot of confidence.

Speaking of Dora and Diego, they are teaching you a lot of Spanish. It started at mealtime. When particularly enjoying something, you rub your belly and say "Yum yum yum yum. Delicioso!"

Posted by Ryan at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This conversation took place right after we met our new babysitter, Veronica, for the first time, and she had just left. Note that Jack's way of asking someone to hold him is by saying "Can I hold you?"

Mom: So, Jack, did you like Veronica?

Jack: Bashfully "She's pretty. Maybe I can hold her!

Ummm....

Posted by Ryan at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Jemma, In addition to sitting up by yourself and enjoying watching your brother for hours on end, to see what he is going to do and say next you have an this amazing way to find the tag on an object in seconds flat. Whether it be the towels we are folding, the cloths block, your frog blankey, jacks duck blankey, etc.. You are a very smart little  wonder and I love you so very much.

Posted by Ryan at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)