Doov

When I think of my kids "playing" together, one image usually comes to my mind. That image is them climbing all over each other - jam piling - as we call it around here. This is not my preferred game, but it seems to be the only thing that keeps them entertained. That is until one of them gets hurt (which happens a lot) or I lose it and start to yell at them to stop (which also happens a lot).

The images in this post are not ones of jam piling (though jam piling and the desire to simply be near each other sometimes encompass the same techniques and look very similar). These pictures are just a few of Hailey wanting to be by her brother one day after he got home from school. And him not wanting any part of her affection for him. She has started to call him "Doov" - which is her way of saying "Voov" - which is our nickname for him. "Voov" and its predecessors - Voovee, VooveeQ, Ehvoov, Evyvoovee,Qvee - they are never ending and make no sense whatsoever.

It just makes my heart melt the way she says "Hi Doov!" with such excitement or "Where Doov?" with a look of such genuine concern. Unfortunately, Evan does not feel the same way. When she first started calling him "Doov" he would get so mad for seemingly no reason. After a few more times he finally told me "Mom! Hailey keeps calling me a Doof!".

How in the world does he know the word "doof"?

After I explained to him that she was not calling him a doof, she was just trying to say his name, peace was restored for a short while. Back to jam piling they went.