Head-banging Henry

No, he hasn't started listening to heavy metal. Henry has picked up a rather odd habit. Even in this blurry cellphone picture, you can see the blue bruise right in the center of his forehead. It is a self-inflicted injury, even though my instinct was to blame Nick. Greg said he did it to himself when Nick wasn't even around.

When Henry is really, really mad, he bangs his head against the hardwood floor repeatedly. We had him at the doctor last weekend (for a fever) and we mentioned that the teething is making him so mad that he sometimes bangs his head. The on-call doctor said he was doing it for attention and to ignore it. I think he's frustrated because he doesn't talk yet, and this is how he expresses himself. It does usually result in us picking him up, so I suppose maybe that's why he does it. I wish he would stop, though.

Nicholas Goes to Culinary School

My son has been my sous chef since he was two years old. He's helped me make all kinds of things, though baking is our specialty, and he is getting slightly better at following directions. So, when I saw a Groupon come up for cooking classes for preschoolers, I clicked the little green "BUY" button right away.

Our lesson was at A Kid's Kitchen in Naperville, and for $55, we bought a series of three one-hour lessons for a 3-5 year old plus an adult. Nick also got an apron and a chef's hat. We had our first class last Sunday, and I would consider it a resounding success. There was only one other team there, so it was almost a private lesson.

We arrived a little early, and this place is made for kids, so our chef had a chalkboard door ready for Nick to decorate. Then it was time to put on his new apron and hat.

Our recipe was rugalach, which is a cream-cheese and butter-based cookie sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Our instructor had the dough ready for Nick to roll out.

She had a great idea--put plastic wrap over the dough before rolling it out. It makes less mess that way. Nick used a french rolling pin. He listened to our chef's directions and tried his best. I was really proud of him. I only had to help a little.

In fact, Nick was able to do pretty much every step on his own. I think this recipe was very well-thought out,  and perfect for little kids. Nick loved painting the melted butter onto the rolled-out dough.

Nick counted out five teaspoons of sugar and stirred it into the cinnamon, all on his own. Then he sprinkled it on the dough and (with my help) used a pizza cutter to cut the dough into triangles.

The trickiest part was rolling up the triangles.

The best part? . . . tasting the rugalach. Nick and I loved going to this class, and he's been asking me all week when we go again. Our next class is tomorrow morning.  I hear we're making an apple gallete.  :)

Nick's First Homework Assignment

Did I mention that I'm a teacher? So, even when I didn't have children, back to school season got me a little excited. Nick starting preschool. . . well, let's just say I was enthusiastic. I was, in fact, shivering with glee when he got his first homework assignment. Yes, I am a dork.

In his hands is a pen that Nick covered with tape during our project. He also glued his paper to the table, at one point. 

It is different being the mom instead of the teacher. We wanted Nick to do as much of this project as possible, because I know how weird it is when a kid brings in a project obviously completed by a parent. Nick is three, though, so he obviously couldn't do this project without help.

Greg helped Nick pick out most of the pictures, but Nick only helped a bit with the cutting. Then, later, Nick and I worked on gluing and labeling together. Nick got Elmer's glue everywhere, but he loved working on this project. The teacher said that Nick's "All About Me" collage quilt square could have photographs, drawn pictures, and magazine pictures. Nick chose all three. He also decided (mostly) where to put the pictures on the paper. Here it is--Nick's first homework assignment ever:

I really like his self-portrait, in the lower left hand corner. I asked him to draw a picture of himself. He wanted me to draw with him. So I drew on one paper and he drew on the other. All of the drawing, including the "N" for Nick, was done independently. He even glued it down himself, which is why there are soggy spots.  Why he has no nose or torso. . . we'll, that's another issue. I seem to remember something from a child development class about kids drawings and how they always start out as a circle with feet. Nick insisted that the feet be wearing "school shoes" though.

We practiced talking about his homework, too. I guess he has to present his paper in school tomorrow. He was able to tell me something about every picture. Hopefully he remembers his reasons tomorrow.

A Pit Stop in Louisville, Kentucky

Actually, it ended up being a little more than a pit stop in Louisville.

We were on our way back from Ashland, KY a few weeks ago, and we'd planned on stopping for lunch in Louisville. I used the wonders of my smartphone to look up places to go, and I found a restaurant with a view of the river.

Yes, that is Nick hiding under the table. He's getting crabby sometimes about having his picture taken. In his defense, he had spent more than three hours in the car that day.

I think this restaurant had the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had. Nick ordered it off the kids' menu, but Greg and I ended up stealing much of it because it was so yummy. The restaurant was in a fancy hotel with jockey statues. Nick wasn't sure what to think.

The jockey statue was about his size. I told him that a jockey is the guy who rides horses in races. He seemed somewhat impressed. Henry, not so much, though he did point repeatedly at the statue, as if to say, "What's up with the short dude?"

After lunch, I found (thanks again to my smartphone) that there was a park along the riverfront that had a playground for little kids. We figured an hour or so of running around would be good for kids who had been in the car for hours and would continue to be in the car until well after bedtime.

The views were great, and the actual park was well-designed. Both boys loved it.

I think Louisville is a nice little city. Greg and I decided we'd like to take a trip there sometime. . . without the kids. Although the park really was beautiful.

Henry is really starting to enjoy going to parks. He's not just an observer anymore!

A few hours of running around at the park meant that both kids were ready to sit in the car for another five hours. Not that they had much of a choice.

A Sleepover in Kentucky

After leaving West Virginia, we headed back to Ashland, Kentucky, to put the kids to bed. The adults stayed up late chatting and drinking wine, and somehow I ended up sleeping late. When I woke up, Greg said Nick was "playing outside." I'm not used to kids being able to play unattended. It was a nice feeling. When I peeked out the door, this is what I saw.

That's a hose, not a sprinkler. I guess they were messing around with it, and one thing led to another, and pretty soon they were both soaked. Oh, and in the photo below, Henry is holding a can of sprinkles he stole from a cabinet.

Nick loved having other kids to play with. Henry did, too, though he tried to pull hair (on both the girls and the dog).

I had a major case of refrigerator envy. Look at the size of the fridge behind them. Yes, the kid is cute, and the husband ain't too bad, either. But be still, my heart. That refrigerator! Greg, if you are reading this, I'd like one of those for Christmas!

Pancakes were had by all, and they were mighty tasty.

Henry attempted to help clean up, but I don't think he was much help.

Nick loved playing with all of the little girl toys. My son is an enlightened guy who likes pretending to cook and drive Barbie around town. Of course, he also found a snorkel and instantly turned it into a machine gun. Henry, on the other hand, always impresses people with how quickly he can absolutely trash a room. He found this nice little art table and created this mess in about four seconds.

This was a really fun visit, and I'm thinking we're going to have to get together with Greg's friends more often. It was worth the drive. Neither boy wanted to leave, though they were excited to get into the new minivan. Well, Nick was excited. Henry was stuck in the wayback. That's another story, though.

An Evening in West Virginia

I'm in the middle of a series of posts about our whirlwind trip through Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. On Saturday, I wrote about our acquisition of a new minivan. Yesterday, I wrote about our Ohio adventures. I left off when we crossed the border into Kentucky. We continued on to Ashland, KY, where a friend of Greg's lives with his wife and two girls. So how did we end up in West Virginia, you ask?

Well, Ashland, Kentucky, is part of a tri-state area, including Ironton, Ohio and Huntington, West Virginia. The three places are very close, and there was a classical music concert down by the river. I'd never been to West Virginia, so visiting a new state was pretty cool.

First, we had dinner at an Asian Hibachi restaurant in Huntington (before the concert). Nick sat next to our friend's daughter, who is nine, I believe. They had a great time. Nick likes older women. She helped Nick with his fortune cookie. I'm thinking that without her help, Nick would've just eaten the whole thing, fortune and all. What's supposed to happen if you eat your fortune instead of reading it?

When we arrived at the concert, we found out that it would be $15 per person, including the children. That was a bit much, but a helpful lady told us that if we just walked down a block we could listen from behind the fence. Plus, there was a park for the kids. So we stayed on the non-paying side of the fence.

The kids had a great time running around and playing on a hill by the river, listening to some classical music.

It was a really lovely night, and the view of the river was gorgeous.

Then we hit the park. Nick loved the swirly slide.

Henry was all about the swings.

After a day spent mostly in the car, this was a great way to relax. I think Saturday evening and night were my favorite part of the whole trip. Socializing with another couple was great, and it was neat how the kids all played together and didn't require much intervention. That doesn't happen often at our house.

This concludes my first visit to West Virginia.  :) We drove back a few minutes into Ohio, then back to Kentucky, and within 30 minutes we were back in Kentucky. Tomorrow I'll write about our stay in Ashland.

Forty-Five Hours in Ohio

Greg and I were just adding it up, and we truly only spent forty-five hours in Ohio. I didn't take many pictures, because I was too busy kid-wrangling and dealing with all of the detritus that comes with traveling with two small children.

On Thursday, immediately after Nick's first day of preschool, we headed onto the expressway to begin our journey. Most of the day was spent traversing the fascinating state of Indiana during a big thunderstorm that seemed to go on forever. We finally crossed the border into Ohio Thursday night around 6 p.m., and after another few hours, we pulled up to the dealership.

There is a lot of paperwork involved in purchasing a new car, and there isn't much to entertain young children while said paperwork is being completed. This dealership also had special sports cars on display. Both of my boys were fascinated with the cars, but weren't allowed to even touch them. So while Greg filled out the paperwork for our new minivan, I chased little boys and wrestled them away with from the muscle cars. We were exhausted by the time we finally got back to the hotel.

The next morning, we hung around the hotel and ordered a room service breakfast. The boys made a mess playing with the garbage cans, and Henry climbed on everything in sight. I'm actually not sure why Nick was chewing on his blanket.

We stayed at the Doubletree, and were really pleased with our choice. The food was great, our room was lovely, and the pool was fun, if a little bit cold. Henry went in with his special "turtle suit" life jacket. While wearing it, he can float on his back peacefully.

Nick was a little more reticent about the water. He finally did join me in the hot tub, but he never strayed from the edge.

We spent some time visiting with Greg's Uncle Todd, too. Nick really loved him and his pool table. Uncle Todd is a bachelor and he has lots of really cool toys, just not the kind that hold up to toddler abuse. So we had to be really careful.

We left Dayton Saturday morning, but didn't cross over into Kentucky until around three in the afternoon. That's because we went through the foothills of the Appalachian mountains in southeastern Ohio. I have never been on roads like that before. It was downright scary going up and down and around the curves. Nick and Greg were calling the sudden drops in the road "ticklebumps." They didn't tickle me, they made me nauseous. The country was beautiful, though. It took so many hours because the speed limits on most of the roads were 35-45 mph. When we finally crossed over into Kentucky, I was relieved that the roads had been cut into the mountains so that they were relatively flat. Ohio was gorgeous, but I couldn't take many more "ticklebumps" at that point.