Getting Traction

Henry is still trying to figure out the whole crawling thing. Nick tries to help, but I'm not sure if his instructions are helpful. The closest we've come is when we put Henry on the kitchen floor wearing just his diaper. I guess he gets more traction there. Plus, it's always the warmest room in the house, so we don't worry about him getting cold.

Check out this video. Nick was, once again, trying to teach Henry to crawl.

Henry is actually coming pretty close. He has scooted his knees forward somewhat. Now he's just working on the whole rhythm of the thing. 

He's a pretty strong guy. This move in particular looks difficult. 

Even if he's not learning to crawl, Nick is teaching him all sorts of other things. The two of them are going to be trouble once Henry gets a little bit bigger. Adorable trouble, but trouble nonetheless.

My Little Turkey

My camera mostly stayed in its case during Thanksgiving. That is because we were all so overstuffed we just lounged around on the couch, trying not to fall asleep.

Henry wore the cutest little Thanksgiving outfit. On the front, it said "Gobble, Gobble, Gobble." On the bottom, there was a cute baby turkey.  I am very thankful for my little turkey. . . . and my slightly larger and definitely more mobile one, too.

Nick had a new shirt for Thanksgiving as well, but he tore it off in favor of his t-shirt about five minutes after we arrived. I'm glad I snapped a quick picture before he took it off.

My sister made this rainbow layered jello, which was very cool-looking. It was also tasty, but I am astounded at how labor-intensive it must have been to make. Each layer had to be made separately. That is what I call patience.

Henry tried mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries, white jello, and even pumpkin pie. He loved all of them. I think his favorite dish was the cranberry sauce, actually.

I hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving. We did.  :)

Picture Day!

On Wednesday, we got the boys all dressed and took them to the mall to get their pictures taken. Henry looked like a little man in his sweater, jeans, and sneakers.

Yup. He's eating the price tag from his sweater. Of course, Henry smiled all the way up until it was time to get his picture taken. As soon as the camera came out, he adopted a very serious look. That's Henry. Nick had no such problem. He loves the camera. . . and the little cars that eat quarters.

Nick smiled a lot during his pictures. He was fairly well behaved, partially because he knew we'd let him do something special afterwards--lunch with Grandma Toni and then a ride on the coolest car ever. 

You will notice that Nicholas and Henry are wearing matching sweaters. I guessed at the sizes and bought those last year during the after Christmas clearance sales. Yup. I bought clothes for Henry six months before he was even born. 

He seems a little surprised by my determination to get a good deal.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the pictures turned out. Even if Henry wouldn't smile. 

Down on the Farm?

Last night, Nick and Henry and I spent a good hour and a half playing together on the floor. Nick has this nice collection of little plastic animals that are pretty safe for all ages. Nick has animals (and people) from five or six different sets, but the farm is the only home for all of these creatures right now. The other homes (zoo, airplane, rocket ship, etc.) are in the basement. We rotate them out periodically.

That is why the pilot is living on the farm with the zebra, the pig, and yes, the little green alien with three eyes. They all live in perfect harmony in the wicker basket, and lately Nick has been dumping them out every chance he can get.

Henry likes to chew on them a lot.

They have actually been playing side by side more lately, which is interesting to see. Nick seems to get that Henry plays too, and will bring him things to play with, like "Mommy, do you think Henry wants a lion or a giraffe?" 

The reasoning of a three-year-old is quite funny. I love the conversations that Nick and I have. Sometimes he makes sense. . . other times, not so much.

Anyhow, this was a pretty fun way to spend a few hours. 

A Smile From This Little Guy. . .

can make even the worst day better. How can you do anything but smile right back.  :)

I love basking in his baby cuteness.  Henry has such an interesting emerging personality.

I am very much looking forward to my five-day weekend, so that I can see more of Henry's smiles. Also, I can have more story time with Nick, and more snuggle time and play time with both boys. I especially love when Henry and Nicholas play together, and both of them smile and laugh.

Plenty to be thankful for, indeed.

"I am kind of dirty, and I decided I need to have a bath."

One of Nick's birthday presents this year was a set of finger paint soap for the bathtub. He has been asking us for a bath ever since. I told him it was almost time for bed, and here's what he said. "Mommy, I am kind of dirty, and I decided I need to have a bath."

Greg immediately chimed in with, "Nick, you took a shower this morning." Then he said to me, "You know why he's asking for a bath, right? It's those finger paints for the tub." He was right.

I was up for some fun times, though, and I told my boy he could have a bath anyway. "With paint?," he asked? "Yes, Nick," I said. "With paint." Nick and I started out with the red paint, and my bathroom looked like the shower scene from Psycho. Things looked better once I took out the blue paint.

Finger painting is very fun, and Nick is not afraid to get dirty.

We experimented with mixing colors and writing letters with the paint. I made an N and an H, and then Nick made an O. What a mess!

We decided painting time was over when soap got into Nick's eyes. The funny part is, once I got the soap out, he wanted to scrub the paint off the walls himself with the washcloth. I think he enjoyed that as much as the painting, for some reason.  :)

Nicholas is Three Today!

Three years ago today I was in the hospital after becoming a mother for the first time. Today I was in the Target, letting that same little boy pick out a toy. I left Henry at home with Grandma Toni and took Nick out for some one-on-one time with Mommy. I was feeling rather sentimental and wanted Nick all to myself. Since I'm a little bit nuts, I let our three-year-old chose what we'd have for dinner. He chose macaroni and cheese with cupcakes for dessert.

We had Panera's macaroni and cheese for dinner, and Nick picked his own cupcake from a large selection. He chose the one with the cookie on top, because my son is an intelligent little man. It's actually a gingerbread cupcake. A few weeks back there was a Groupon for cupcakes from Cuddle Cupcakes. I took full advantage of that offer. The cupcakes are amazing!

Nick's favorite thing to do with me? Hands down, making cookies tops his list. I wanted to bring some homemade cookies to daycare tomorrow so all of the kids there could celebrate with Nick. We made sugar cookies shaped like cars, and Nick (while in the Target) picked out his own sprinkles. He helped me roll out the dough, cut the cookies, and apply the sprinkles. However, about two seconds after this photo was taken, Nick ruined one of the sheets of cookies. He turned on the water, you see, and soaked them. "I was just washing my hands, Mommy!," he insisted. Anyhow, we still ended up with lots of decent, non-soaked car cookies. It's easy to tell which ones Nick made. 

My favorite part of the evening was just talking with Nick. He had some interesting things to say. Let's listen to the interview:

For some reason, he wouldn't say his age. Whenever I asked Nick his age, both in the morning and at night, all he would say is "I'm Nick." Now, this isn't because he doesn't understand age. We've been talking about turning three for some time, and Nick has been able to count to three (with meaning) for months now. I think he's being stubborn and refusing to say what we want him to say. A strong personality can be rough, but this kid won't give in to peer pressure easily. I'm very proud of him, regardless.

Perhaps that's a good attitude to have about age. If someone asks me, "How old are you, Melissa?," I might be better off if I simply answered, "I'm Melissa." My son seems to have better self-esteem than most, so this method is working for him. 

I hope Nick's third year is full of happiness, learning experiences, and plenty of playing. I never imagined three years ago that I could have such a complex and yet wonderful son.