Out of the Mouths of Babes

Tonight, while going to bed, Ralph asks me how God put him in my tummy. I tried to take easy way out and tell him it was magic. Then he proceeds with "He just put me up your legs? Did you just step on me and I went up your legs?" No, I said it was just magic. I went to bed one night and when I woke up you were in me. . . then I changed the subject.

just step on me?

Henry: Celebrating 25 months!

(after many attempts of trying to get Henry to 'say cheese' he finally gives in, just a little too much - snapped the tail end of an eyes closed, 'say cheese' grin.)

Henry continues to find more ways to stall at bedtime as long as I am the audience. He likes to point out lights in the room - light on the baby monitor, light on the sound machine on the humidifer, and light on the sound machine. He also likes to 'race' from one end of the crib to the other end and give Elmo and I high-fives. He has just started to drop on of his blankies over the end of the crib and proclaim "oopsy" until it is retrieved. He also likes to give Ralph huggies even after lights out then wants to give daddy huggies.

I do believe Henry is the musician of the family. He loves to sing Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star . . all with much enthusiasm! His language is not developed enough to actually sing all the words but he the tune and key words give the song away.

Speaking of language, Henry has redefined some words. He refers to his button-up jammie shirt as a "coat" (since one puts it on the same way one would put on a coat). He has renamed all balls soccer balls. Unfortunately he still calls Grandpa Grandma.

The first couple of weeks of potty training at 'school' came with a little success as Henry had a few times of success which is more about luck at this point but the last 10 days or so he has gone potty in the little potty right before bedtime most nights. I'll admit we have not put him on a strict schedule at home so the last couple of extended weekends at home probably are not helping.

His war injuries the past month have come in the last few weeks. Last week he tripped in the gym at 'school' and got a fat lip, then today I was told "the wind blew him down" while he was outside and he received another fat lip. Other than that he does get his cheeks pinched occasionally by a friend and I know he still bites once in awhile.

We have started to be less skeptic of the nasal rinse in the last couple of months, especially when it became clear how much it was helping. One morning after the excitement of the rinse faded, Henry put a finger up to his nose and proclaimed "daddy water nose". I don't think he'll ever be a willing participant but I do believe he knows it helps. He is surprisingly patient when getting his ears checked for wax, getting ears cleaned out, and getting ear drops put in his ears.

Henry likes the freedom to run where he wants. He has a hard time listening and holding hands to stay together. He also had a hard time staying still long enough for prayers. When he is in the mood, he will repeat the last word in the line a few times before he gets sidetracked.

Ralph: a moment in time

The entries have been a little Henry heavy lately as I haven’t regularly posted on Ralph after he turned 3 . . .so this is just a “moment in time” as his 4^th birthday is just around the corner!

Ralph will tell you he is now 3 ½, not 3 and his birthday is on March 20. He saw a 20% coupon the other day and proclaims “that’s my birthday”. He also pointed out the 20 on the calendar tonight.

He likes to “run fast” with his new “fast shoes” – best way I could think of to get him to wear new shoes as he was not willing to make the switch. He also likes to have the tongue sticking out with the Velcro behind the tongue rather than in front of the tongue. He much prefers “pull up pants” (ie. elastic) over the nice fitting adjustable waist pants/jeans that snap/button. He likes to wear character socks even though they usually are too big. Yes, my son, is a trend setter!

He seems to be our early riser. On a good day he will sleep at least until 6 am, on a great day – maybe 6:30 am. It is not unusual to have him sleepily walk into our room while we are exercising, pulling a blanket behind him well before 6 am. Lately he is also stalling to go to sleep – asking someone to lay on his floor, coming into Henry’s room if someone is still with Henry, or coming downstairs to with a “I need to tell you something”. He also seems to be in the habit of coming into our room in the middle of the night and asking Mike to lay on his floor at least twice a week, sometimes more. I have half-hardheartedly tried to get him to not get out of bed until the first number is 6 on the alarm clock but we have not been very consistent on reinforcement.

He likes cereal, French toast sticks, waffles, pancakes, and bacon. He could do without eggs and sausage. He continues to like corndogs, mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets. He has added peanut butter and jelly back to his food repertoire and he likes basic baked beans. Luckily he will eat most fruits; vegetables are another story though he did eat brocoli last night without too much coaxing. Sometimes he'll sample food on my plate since it must be fun to eat off others plates but doesn't care for the same items to be on his plate.

He can recognize letters not in sequence – Recently he spelled “Kohls Power Shopping” letter by letter on the ad. He recited “HyVee” from the syrup bottle this morning and then recited the letters. He also asked me if diapers are spelled H-u-g-g-i-e-s. Took me a second to realize there was a diaper box nearby. He is doing okay on writing his name but is going through a silent protest with the letter “a” as we and his teacher got on him him about the tale on the side. He tends to make a line come from the bottom, making it look more like a “q”. He opted to not put the “a” when signing his name on a Christmas thank you card recently.

He really does share well, especially food, with his brother. Toys can sometimes be a challenge but even then he is usually understanding. He likes to try to get Henry to repeat words, still refers to Henry as “my baby”, and really does doing a great job of being “big brother”.

Ralph caught a glimpse of me trying to sway Henry the other night which I normally don’t do but there were an issue with the rocking chairs (Henry was exhibiting his two-year-old maturity and not so happy to see Ralph on one). After I was back downstairs Ralph came downstairs and asked me to take him upstairs which I did and put him in bed. Then he says he needs to show me something and gets out of bed. He then sways back and forth and says “do this to me”. So cute to see my “big” boy want to be my “little” boy just a little longer.