Chef Henry's Microwave Creation and Nick's Behavioral Celebration

I've been crazy busy this week, so when Henry offered to make me a microwave dinner at the Cafe N' Play, I was totally down with his plan. I sat in the kitchen area reading a murder mystery while Sir Henry cooked away.

He's quite thorough with the ingredients, though he got very frustrated when they all wouldn't fit into the toy microwave.

I took all of these pictures with my new Ipad mini. I spent all last weekend preparing for a speech I gave as part of a panel discussion of ELL Professionals over at North Central College on Tuesday. My preparations were really stressful, and I got very nervous once I realized that 60+ students had registered to listen to our panel of four presenters.  I think it went fairly well, and I received a speaker's fee. Therefore, I felt I deserved a little present: the Ipad mini. So far, I love it, though I'm still learning to speak Mac.

Henry's play is getting more realistic and structured lately, though he still loves throwing things. I'm also starting to recognize a few more of his words. This morning he treated all of us to a garbled version of "Five Little Monkeys, Jumping on the Bed." It was nearly understandable, and we were so proud.  :)

I don't want to leave Nick out of the glory. He spent three hours at the Cafe N Play and never once needed a time out. In fact, a little boy around his age came over and started pulling his hair really hard, trying to get in front of him on the slide. Nick just sat tight and yelled for me. The boy's mother got there at the same time and disentangled her son's fingers. I told Nick how proud I was that he hadn't hit or pushed the boy. I gave him a big hug because I want him to know that self-control is valued. Then I helped him put on this dragon/construction worker costume.

Another Nicholas triumph? Tonight, for one of the first times ever, Nick sat quietly and listened to the story. He didn't interrupt, yell, or get up once. He even asked a question afterwards.

I need to remember days like today when I get frustrated with my boys' behavior.

Henry jumped over the caterpillar!

I've been taking Henry to a parent-child dance class for the last few months. This class is usually pretty fun, but if someone were watching from the outside, they would be laughing really hard. The instructor dances, the mommies try to copy her, and the toddlers look at us like are we're completely nuts. It's really all about learning to follow directions and having fun moving around, and I do think Henry is doing that. He loves the class and he sure has fun! They wear hats, play with shakers, and try all kinds of dance moves.

Every week, the teacher puts a stuffed caterpillar on a plastic star. She wants the kids to hold up a furry flower and jump over the caterpillar. Then (if anyone makes it that far) they're supposed to turn in a circle and take a bow or curtsy. Every kid takes a turn, and there are differing degrees of success. I would say that none of the one and two-year-olds in this class ever follow all the directions, and some of them even stay attached to a parent's leg.

Sometimes Henry stomps on the caterpillar, sometimes he picks up the plastic star and runs across the room with it. Sometimes he tries to feed the flower to the caterpillar.

This week, Henry actually followed most of the directions. Watch this!

Henry was the star of our little toddler dance class, at least for a minute or so. Everyone clapped for him, and he wore a huge grin.  While I completely realize that this moment of glory is a tiny (and maybe rather silly) accomplishment, I am still filled with excitement when I watch it. Go Henry! 

We've Got Some Lego Ladies Up In Here!

It's official: Nick's Lego village now includes two lovely Lego Ladies.

I decided it was time to go co-ed after the following discussion the other night.

Nick: Mommy, what's another name for a girl Lego guy?
Me: A Lego lady, maybe?
Nick: Okay, then, we need to get some Lego ladies up in here. The guys are lonely in our skyscraper!

 I did think it was curious that none of Nick's Lego sets came with any female Lego people. It's not that I have anything against Lego men, it's just that. . . . a world populated only by men is kind of boring. And, as Nick said, his guys were lonely. Especially the one in the green overalls. He lost his head.

When I was in the store today, I ventured into the purple and pink aisle and found the "Lego Friends." Besides having better hairdos than their male counterparts, the Lego Ladies are also taller and have rounded shoes. I was afraid their kits would be too girly, but I was pleasantly surprised. I got Nick a jetski set and an ice cream cart, both of which we put together tonight. Note all three Lego men cruising on it in the picture above. I love how the headless man is, of course, the driver.

Although I only have sons, I try very hard to allow them to form their own opinions of gender roles. Nick and Henry love to wrestle and poke one another with sticks, but they also adore walking around in my shoes and sampling my eyeshadow. (They always pick the most expensive kind to play with, unfortunately.) Traditional gender roles don't really fly around here. For example, Nick once said something to the effect of, "Mommies don't clean! Only Daddies clean." In our home, this statement is more true than it probably is in most places.

Therefore, I made sure Nick knew that the lady in purple (she comes with a name. Emma, I believe) is perfectly capable of being the foreman (forewoman?) on the skyscraper-building project.

Nick was completely okay with this. I told him that Emma's friend Kate (the one who came with the jetski) needs to get something to wear other than a bikini top before she can come into the construction zone.

In the same vein, we had the disgruntled, bald gentlemen with the five-o'clock-shadow pull the bright pink ice-cream cart around.I was rather confused as to why jetskis and ice cream carts are only sold with the sets marketed for girls. Boys like those things, too! In my Utopian Lego World, the Lego Guys could get their hair done, eat ice cream, and then participate with their Lego Lady friends in the demolition of a small building. Strange how all of the boy-themed sets are all styled on either good vs. evil battles OR outright destruction. Nick has a mining set that comes with dynamite and even an exploding boulder.

Nick tried Emma's hair on the disgruntled Lego man with the five-o'clock shadow, and I think he looks a little more pleased with his life.

Nick is very happy with his new Lego Ladies. He put all of the male and female Lego People inside the skyscraper for the night. We'll see if some of my Facebook friends are correct and Lego Babies end up being born soon.

Clover-Diggers and Dandelion-Stompers

The unseasonably warm weather today inspired me to take the boys outside for some fresh air and exercise. They like to copy what I'm doing, so today we worked in the front yard. We dug up clover, which is slowly devouring my front lawn and landscaping.

Nick is actually heavy enough and strong enough to use the small shovel this year. He dug up several huge clumps of clover, then ripped out the roots!

I'm not sure how this much clover got into my landscaping, but by the end of last year it was everywhere. We dig it up and it just keeps coming back. This year, I'm determined to fight the clover.

"Insidious clover!" 

Nick listened carefully to my gardening chatter and asked questions. "Mommy, what does insidious mean?" I explained that clover is insidious because at first there's just a little bit growing slowly, but then pretty soon it takes over and kills the other plants. Nick kept repeating that word, over and over again, chanting it at the clover as he dug with the shovel. "Insidious! Insidious! Indisious! Innisious!"

Henry tried stomping on my shovel like Nick and I did, but he didn't accomplish much. 

While Henry is definitely bigger and more coordinated than he was last year, he's at a really frustrating stage in his development. He understands so much of what we're doing and talking about, and he wants to help and participate. But his speech is pretty delayed, so he can't talk much, and he's not really big enough to do much damage with a shovel. I still praised him for smacking the clover with his plastic shovel, though.

"Take that, evil clover! Whap! Whap!"

Actually, once we took a break from the digging, Henry ended up being very helpful. He likes to pick dandelions, and he picked every single one from the front lawn. We're talking probably 30 dandelions. Henry can't say flower yet, so he said something that sounded like "owwa!" when presenting them in a pile at my feet. He reminds me of how cats sometimes proudly drop a dead mouse in front of their owners.

Have a dandelion problem? Henry works cheap and he's cheerful when on the job. 

Once he got started, Henry didn't stop until every dandelion was picked. 

I forgot how much exercise I can get just from being outside with the boys. Henry-chasing keeps me pretty busy, and I usually can't sit outside for too long without plucking, digging, or weeding something. Today I was pulling out the old sticks from my autumn joy. The boys assisted and then used the sticks for poking.

"This stick would make a great light saber!"

"Hmm, this one looks just about the right size for poking my big brother." 

I had to explain the difference between tulips and dandelions to Henry. He really, really, really wanted to pull one of these pink ones.

"Come on, Mom, just one? You let me pick the little yellow ones and even clapped for me!"

When I'm feeling down, being outside in the sunshine is the best way I can think of to help myself feel better. Spring is such a hopeful season, and watching (or chasing) my kids around the yard almost always seems to improve my mood. Though I will say that they needed quite the bath tonight. Gardening is dirty work!

The Best Thing About Spring

In my opinion, the best part about spring is getting the boys outside more. We like to take little walks in the woods and let the kids explore. We went to Hammel Woods Forest Preserve, which has a beautiful trail by the river.

Climbing on rocks, looking for the signs of spring, and admiring the river all made our trip enjoyable. This spring has been kind of rough, with cold weather, flooding, and very few nice days. We've tried to catch the sunshine whenever we can.

The boys favorite pastime was throwing rocks and sticks into the river. Their socks and shoes got a little damp, but they loved watching the water and seeing what happened when things fell into the water.

Nick is particularly fascinated by bodies of water, and every time we see a pond, stream, creek, or puddle, he wants to throw something into it. 

Henry spent lots of time poking things with sticks. He was also interested in his shadow and how it moved.

I am hoping for some better weather in May, so we can have the boys outside a whole lot more.

Wordless Wednesday: Children with Churros

Howling at, well, everything!

This week has been howl-worthy, that's for sure. After a massive downpour on Wednesday, we were virtually trapped in the house until Saturday morning, due to the flooding. For the first time ever, I had rain days off from school, mostly due to the fact that many roads were underwater. So by the time Saturday arrived, complete with sunshine, we were ready to get out of the house. Our planned event, The "Go Fly a Kite" festival in Wheaton, was canceled because the park was underwater. I had to find a plan b, so I consulted the almighty google. My answer: Big Run Wolf Ranch was having an open house.

No, this is not a wolf. Max is a Great Pyrenees dog, and the friendliest canine I've ever met. He even tolerated the plethora of Henry hugs, which aren't always gentle. This ranch is out in Lockport, which is maybe a half hour or so from our house, but I couldn't bring the stroller. I took the boys on a shuttle bus, and I can't carry Henry and a stroller onto the bus at the same time. Chasing, therefore, was my exercise for Saturday. No wonder it's called "Big Run Wolf Ranch." I did so very much running.

Because this ranch is run exclusively to take care of animals who cannot make it in the wild, I felt pretty good about supporting its cause by visiting. The wolves were magnificent, and they tolerated my children howling at them pretty well. I guess they're used to it by now. These are arctic wolves.

We did some chicken chasing, as well as some turkey chasing. Henry excels at this sport.

They liked the free range birds the best, especially the roosters, who did indeed "Cock-a-doodle-doo."

While we were checking out the wolves and the cougar, Nick and Henry kept running for the creek. I was afraid of having to jump in to save them, so I had to carry Henry most of the way.

The sunshine was refreshing after an entire week of rain, even if it was pretty chilly. I wonder if you burn more calories with the  adrenaline rushes that come when your children head for a creek and you must catch them in time?

SOAR (Save Our American Raptors) was visiting this event, and Nick loved watching the birds of prey. They had a peregrine falcon, a great horned owl, a bald eagle, and several hawks. It was really neat seeing them up close, but every time I put Henry down, he ran toward them. He was determined to become a snack for that eagle. Either that or he just wanted to pet him.

The second I snapped the picture below, I had to grab Henry, because he was trying to climb under the barricade.

One of the birds was injured, and Nick was concerned. Nick said he wanted to help the birds, and I told him the best way to do that is to donate money. He took some singles out of my purse, and then Henry copied and did the same thing. Henry is fascinated by money lately. Maybe it's because he doesn't see it much--I usually pay with a debit card.

Another fundraising effort was the face painting. Nick had a valuable lesson in waiting his turn, because I had Henry go first. Doesn't he look cute as a wolf? He even has the doggie ears on his hood to go with the face paint.

Nick decided he wanted to be a porcupine. I think he is sure prickly enough, especially on days when he doesn't have a nap. What do you think?

Since it is a wolf ranch, after all, Nick decided to practice his howling. Henry tried to copy him, but he sounded more like an owl.

I asked Nick what his favorite animal was at the ranch, and he said "The skunk. He was soft." This is true. I have never pet a skunk before, but this one seemed as tame as a cat, albeit with longer claws.

I let each boy pick out a stuffed animal as a remembrance of our trip. Nick chose a skunk. I wasn't surprised. After all, he can be quite the stinker. Henry chose a very cuddly wolf.

All that howling and running around made us hungry, so we found Honeyfield Restaurant, ready to feed the beast inside all of us. Nick's beast wanted chocolate chip pancakes, and I indulged him. He also tried to create his own juice by mixing jelly into his water glass. I have to give him credit for scientific ingenuity, but the experiment was a wash. Meaning, of course, that I had to wash all of his clothes as soon as we returned home.

Henry pigged out on sausage and waffles, and wolfed them right down.

When all the howling and scarfing was done, nap time beckoned.