He's 3!

 

Happy Birthday Henry!

After a morning of swimming at the YMCA with our neighborhood friends, we ate cake! A happy day for a happy birthday.

Can you say Stay-cation?!

Happy Stay-cation!
We've been enjoying a week of vacation without traveling (ok, very little traveling - one overnight in Chicago to see Caroline, who was on a business trip. She must have brought the warmer temperatures with her from Florida). 

The espresso machine has been out, and we're sipping lattes and mochas. We've been doing a few projects, but much of our time has been spent simply hanging out with the kids and catching up on sleep. The espresso drinks are not only for enjoyment. They're a necessity!

Yes, this is the amount snow in our backyard AFTER the "warm" days!

February Thaw

Our January thaw arrived in February. We soaked in as much as we could (taking walks, puddle stomping, and going sock-free)...Grant thought having his piggies on the loose felt SO good.

fancy footwork for a new walker

Grant's hobby of walking is quickly becoming his preferred mode of transportation!

the look

another milestone

Grant can walk!!

Henry almost 3

You know what they say, an apple a day...

Henry's 3 year old stats:
Height: 38.75 inches (78.5%)
Weight: 33lb (71.2%)

We're trying out some new emotions, I think. I hear "I'm mad of you" quite a bit (this usually means he simply hasn't gotten his way, like a cookie for breakfast, or gum before bed, or something similar). Though, I also get asked "Momma, are you happy now?" after I've reached my limit trying to coax him to get his boots on and get to the car so we can actually get to preschool on time. (I try to explain that I'm not mad, I'm just frustrated by his pokey-ness, or defiance, or whatever delay tactic he's employing that day). Nevertheless, he has NO idea just how happy I am when he asks me that question. For I'm truly elated that I am 10 minutes away from freedom. In the next 10 minutes I'll be leaving him at preschool! Ok, well let's not forget I still have Grant with me. But Grant doesn't require constant persuasion to complete everyday tasks.

Speaking of preschool, our first "less-than-positive" feedback arrived last week. His teacher asked me how I get him to help pick up his toys at home. Good question. Henry is not so good at this right now (he used to just follow along with me as I sang the Clean Up song. Now he flat out refuses, which is what is happening at school).  I informed her we're basically down to revoking some privileges (like any screen time). One day, however, I found this interaction quite amusing. I was reading a book, on parenting / discipline strategies no less, and trying to convince Henry that the toys were too unruly and needed to be contained. He asked me what I was doing and I responded "well, I'm reading this book, hoping to find out how to get you to put your toys away" and his response was "I know, Momma! I'll use my hands!!"  Gee, I wish I'd thought of that...

There are monsters in his room. So every night (though for a short while, we thought we'd fixed this with a certain amount of outside time, or open gyms to run off excess energy, plus an electric blanket for a warm, toasty bed which also doubles as a nightlight because the controller box lights up) he's in our room, crawling over sleepy parents to squeeze into the middle and either wiggle, cough, or press chilly toes to our backs. This seems like a very common issue, at least in our neighborhood, every parent I've consulted with children roughly 1 year older than Henry have admitted to this. very. problem. Ugh. At least we know we're not the only ones, and I take comfort in that at times...that somewhere out there, other parents are also having a party between 2 and 4 a.m. We should just get the kids together and go have an actual slumber party ourselves somewhere.

My favorite notes from the generic "After Visit Summary" printout I get to take home from the clinic are as follows:
1. An afternoon nap is usually still needed by the 3-year-old. Please, tell my 3-year-old this bit of information. Actually, refer to the above sleep description, and infer that Henry is tired during the day. So actually, I have gotten a few naps out of him recently. Occasionally even when Grant is napping. Two kids napping in the house gives me an instantly over-stimulated mind. I can hardly think of a thing to do. I'm generally frozen with excitement. I'm giddy. I prep for supper. And then my bubble is burst BIG TIME. When nap is over, Henry is SO cranky. It takes him forever to shake off the grogginess / crabbiness. Then bedtime can be a struggle. So sometimes, I wonder whether it's worth it.

2. More than half of your child's speech can be understood by others. There may be temporary episodes of stuttering during this time. Knows his name, age and sex. Given that Henry had clear speech from an early age, the recent stuttering had me taken aback. I'm so relieved that this is temporary and normal. Now, we can just work on the appropriate responses in social settings. When, for example, we're at the grocery store and a friendly stranger asks, just a first name basis is sufficient. He tends to go overboard and rattle off his full name (that's right, first, middle, and last).

3. The 3-year-old will ask more questions than a district attorney. Nothing is sacred and some questions may throw you for a loop!  We zoomed through a "why" phase a couple of months ago. But now we're really concerned with "what is [X] made of?"  A lot of this has to do with vegetables. We've emphasized that vegetables help us grow big and strong, and we need to keep eating them (read: get back to eating them). "What is this apple made of?" "What is the chair made of?" "What is my cup made of?" "What is a chicken made of?"  (That last one is a doozy.  Any suggestions? Meat?  How much anatomy do we dive into?  Bones, feathers, muscles, etc. Let's remember the follow up question is "what is [X] made of?!?")

Almost walking

Grant is still practicing his walking. He's a little blurry in this photo because once he gets the all clear for the cart, he's off!

I was thankful we went to the doctor last week. As I was recently cleaning his face after a meal, I noticed that there was a bruise on his forehead that was fading, which matched the split lower lip, and George asked me when he chipped his tooth (I have NO idea). A few days before that, he slipped in the bathroom and whacked his eyebrow on the tiled corner. Yes. There will be more bumps and bruises for this kid, until walking is in his repertoire. Then even more will be inevitable as he learns to elbow Henry for some shared play time (we've already seen precursors to this behavior, Henry's response is "no, Grant it's MY turn).

9 month Grant

Grant at 9 months. He'll greet you with a "smile" -- wrinkled nose, teeth showing, and head cocked back, making a snorting sound.

He's the scientist right now. Testing gravity's pull on every object. Food thrown from high chair, toys down the stairs, binkie over the side of the crib. Pick it up. Repeat. He is also a collector. I found a little box Grant was playing with, which contained a rattle, pig figurine, small book, and a matchbox car in it. He likes to see what fits, and what doesn't, and how it sounds when shaken. He trys out many items from the flotsam and jetsam our house holds.

Last Monday we stayed at Henry's preschool for snack day. While I was trying to actually be a helper (getting snow gear on for outdoor playtime) Grant decided he could finally get a little time to explore on his own. I turned around from the line of kids to find that Grant had taste-tested the big, globby paintbrush at the easel. A bright blue line led from his ear to his mouth (only a seasoned parent at this point can boast that the first thought in my head was where is my camera! rather than I hope that paint is non-toxic...) Our days of "helping" at preschool are soon to be limited, I'm afraid. Won't be long and I'll have to drag Grant away from drop off kicking and screaming, I'm sure.

Here are his 9 month stats from the doctor's visit:
Height: 29 inches (79.8%)
Weight: 22 lbs (76.6%)

Snow Day

We spent our snow day shoveling it, hauling it, moving it, scraping it, and loving it. All 16 inches of it this week.

The next day, we visited our conservatory, where the temperature is always a balmy 70 degrees for the tropical rainforest. On a chilly, yet sunny, winter day it was a little piece of summer heaven. Green and warm with flowers and birds. Ahhhh.

Snowdrift

Post-blizzard 2011.
There was a grant-sized snowdrift against our patio door. How exciting.

New sign: lime yogurt

In spite of the battles we have been having, Henry and Grant have taken a keen interest in each other. I know it's natural for siblings to have their own relationship which is separate from the parents, but it's funny to see these details even at such a young age.

Just like we did with Henry, we are using some baby signs with Grant. The basics like 'more', 'all done', 'please', 'sorry' and the like. For Henry, we've branched into a few from an American Sign Language book - 'firefighter', 'police officer' and 'computer'. We've also picked up the habit of putting words in Grant's mouth, by describing to Henry that "Grant doesn't like it when you sit on his head, he's trying to tell you to move." However, I never would have thought 'lime yogurt' would have come up in conversation, let alone develop into a new sign in our little ones' vocabulary...

Our refrigerator has its usual supply of strawberry and blueberry yogurt, so I thought I'd add some variety during a recent shopping trip. I picked up a few oddball flavors, including lime. Having a snack that afternoon, I decided to have the lime yogurt while Grant had peach. Eventually Grant insisted on tasting mine. Henry asked Grant to give us a sign, just to be sure. Basically the next gesture he made became the sign for lime yogurt. (Apparently, you just touch your wrist with the opposite fingers.)

This shot demonstrates how "helpful" Henry can be. Charlotte found him spoon feeding Grant after making a quick trip downstairs to throw in a load of laundry.