Two wheels

Spring, here we come!

It was just like watching him learn to walk again -- a couple of awkward steps, and then ta da! He now looks like he's been doing it for years!

train show

Not the best photos, but Henry and Grant had a blast at the model railroad / toy train show this weekend here in Madison.

"Papa, I wish we could live AT the train show so we could see them all the time..."

Just need to bring a stool next year. Boy are my arms tired from lifting them both up to see the displays!

Henrys first concert 4K

Video to follow. Henry and his class did an excellent job showcasing some of their music work from this year.

tired boys

Dentist

Olbrich botanical gardens

Holiday express

In search of the Leydon family Christmas tree

Buddies

crossing the street, Grant says...
"Hold my hand He-ry?"

Fun in the bathroom

Hello ladies...

An Observation

On our designated snack day for Henry's preschool, parents are encouraged to stay and help out in the classroom.  Don't get me wrong, I love to do this, but I have to be in the right frame of mind (I just have to stop thinking about all the items on my "to-do" list and really settle in to just some quality time with my eldest son and his buddies).

So I stayed.
And I played.

And I noticed, as a little girl and Henry were playing grocery store, complete with cash register, that the way they were exchanging money for goods was a little odd. The over sized gold coins are a nice touch. However, I watched as Henry took each coin when we paid for our bananas, box of nilla wafers, and plastic spaghetti with sauce and scanned the coin across the cash register as if it were, that's right, a credit card.

I had a good chuckle to myself and the teacher and we contemplated that, indeed, these children don't see actual currency at work much anymore. The teacher and I related that in our day, we couldn't figure out why our moms would say they didn't have enough money to pay for all those groceries. After all, the checkbook was full of checks!

Henry at 3 (and a half)

Maybe I shouldn't write about Henry.
3 is something I'd rather not remember (it makes me look at Grant with a small lump of fear in my throat).
I was warned.
I was told.
It doesn't matter.
Ready or not. 3 is HARD.
3 is reasoning arguing and foot stamping and mimicking and a roller coaster of emotions. (for both parties)
Its where the rubber meets the road for parenting and you pray that this "phase" is short lived.
Terrible 2s?
A cake walk.
At least for us this is the case.



You see, he wants to help.
Great! (except sometimes he can't, or it takes a lot longer and it's messier, or it simply requires patience, and then still more patience).

And then other times, he does NOT want to help.
Like when I would love for him to dress himself, or pick up toys.

In addition, three must mean new and stronger emotions and opinions. The wrong spoon or plate at a meal can ruin the whole event. And a bowl of ice cream can lead to a spontaneous and boisterous "I LOVE YOU, MOM!"

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Actually, one of the only silver linings about three has been some increased affection. Sometimes about six or seven times a day I get a hug, kiss, and "I love you." 

I store those up for the other days. When my well of patience has run dry.
And we inch along through the day.
Closer and closer to 4.
I have hope that 4 is better.

Truth be told, I don't care what the number is, so long as I can catch a glimpse of my agreeable and sweet little Henry again. And he sticks around for longer and longer stretches. 

Henry's first day of Purple Class

Pedal Power!

We found a "big boy" (how did we get one of those, anyway?) bike on craigs list. Henry is definitely ready. Over the weekend we took a family bike ride on one of Madison's many bike trails and he did really well. He looks small (it is probably a size larger than he needs so it will work next year, too) and big at the same time (he's really doing it! pedaling that mile stretch of trail!).

Henry really does love to ride a bike. He's quickly learning about backward pedal brakes and how much easier this bike will tip over (two spills into the grass are good for a reality check).

Makes Perfect Sense

A morning conversation with Henry went something like this:

Henry, looking at a little Farm Animal book that belongs to Grant: "Oh, there's a chicken on one page...and an egg on the other.  The egg has a crack."
Me: "Yeah, why does that egg have a crack?"
Henry:  "'Cause the chicken sat on it!!"
Me (laughing): "Well, they're pretty careful when they're sitting on the eggs.  It looks like the baby chicky is trying to hatch."
Henry (a long story about chickens and eggs, and baking, and eating...here's a little of what I remember): "Yeah, the egg will crack and then the yolk will come out and then we'll eat the eggs and the chicken. And the chicken will eat the eggs, too."

I'd wager he's not the only one confused about which eggs are for eating and which are for sitting on. We'll work on that this spring, perhaps.

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.

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?!?")

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.

Battles

We walk the daily tightrope between war and peace.
Apparently, I can really ruin his day by cutting his toast, closing a cabinet door, or even standing in the wrong place. The reactions to these infractions are LOUD (poor Grant, he's been exposed to so many more decibels than Henry was at the same age) and escalate very quickly. So I'm choosing my battles. Carefully.

The boy wants to feel like he has choices, like his opinion matters, like he is a big boy (almost 3!?!) He is a big boy. And then again, he's not. It's the struggle to become independent. I can see the writing on the wall, and I think age 3 will be more of a challenge for me than 2 ever was...can I skip ahead to 4?

Current favorites:

car = racecars, and anything that drives fast.

number = 8. it's the only number to set an electric blanket (which, by the way, is hot as blazes!)

outside activity = playing in the snow with his dumptruck

inside activity = playing in the snow with his trucks/cars (yes, bringing snow inside in a bucket can keep him occupied for an hour)

second favorite inside activity = wrestling (I'm not sure how this started, but seems innate among boys)

technicalities

This is not terrible twos anymore. We are so near the land of the 3-year-old...new reasoning skills and all.

Case in point:

Henry requests some milk for supper.
George asks, "Is this your cup?"
Henry replies, "No. It's a mug."
George tries again, "Is this your mug?"
Henry responds, "No, it's your mug."  (true, the Massachusetts mug does belong to Papa).
This prompts George to ask, "Do you want to use it?"
Henry: "yeah."

Sleep, cont'd

Sure, he's sleeping peacefully now. Now that he's squeezed everyone else out of bed. Papa's pillow is comfy.