During a recent trip I noticed the cover of More magazine with the tagline “Celebrating What’s Next”.  I have no idea what the contents of this magazine are, and I strongly suspect that I am not their target demographic, but the name and tagline certainly have meaning because Everett has now reached the point where he wants more of everything: more beach, more bath, more train and especially more outside.  Most of the activities Everett is involved in are time-limited either by their very nature or because he loses interest after a while.  Not so with being outside.  He loves it and will stay out indefinitely, even if he is freezing.  And you could have a long, long wait on your hands before he has had enough.  One outside activity we meant to do last year but never got around to was taking Everett out in our kayak.  We bought a kayak a few years ago with the REI gift cards that were given to us as wedding gifts.  It’s a tandem, but is unusual because it has a jump seat for children in the rear cockpit (those who are curious can see details here).  We had already introduced him to the idea by showing him kayaking movies, giving him a life jacket and having some play time with the boat in the yard.  And in April this year we took him out for the first time.  I posted a movie documenting the event here.  We have also started taking him for bike rides in the Burley, which he seems to enjoy a lot once you can get his helmet on him.  Because both the kayak and the Burley are in the garage he will take every opportunity to walk up to the door and ask “More kayak?  More bike?”

The magazine tagline actually has a double meaning for me because I used to babysit the daughter of some dear friends when I lived in Utah.  I think she sensed my lack of experience and saw that this was something she could work to her advantage, so I became less of a babysitter and more of a cruise director.  I would dream up one activity after another for us, and at the end of each one she would look at me with wide eyes and ask “What’s next?!?”.  And she would effortlessly integrate each new activity into a rich fantasy life.  I recall being surprised at how quickly a game of Chinese Checkers transformed into an elaborate romantic tale of a prince and princess along with a large cast of other characters.

More was also one of the first words that Everett reliably communicated to us via sounds and sign language.  Here is an old (old in baby years anyway) video from August 2009.

On a different subject, we recently starting thinking about the idea of potty training.  Gabby and Grandaddy helped out by giving Everett a small toilet for Christmas, which we put in plain sight in his room but otherwise never mentioned.  Beyond that we never really encouraged the idea other than reading “Everyone Poops” from time to time.  Anyway, one day recently he said “I want to go potty”, so we put him on it and he went.  High-fives all around!  I was expecting more books, videos and angst, but I have no doubt this will allow us to save our energy for other issues.  Next step: getting rid of diapers altogether.