What's new with Henry and Molly?

• Henry is quite dramatic and funny. I was helping him in the bathroom recently pull up his underwear. He said to me "Ouch Mommy, you twisted my penis like a pretzel!"
• He gives long explanations. He always ends it by saying "This is how you do it."
• He has been trying to teach Molly how to walk. She is a bit of a reluctant student, I think he is a bit exasperated by her. He holds onto the coffee table and says "Mommy, tell Molly to watch me let go." Remember, I am his translator to Molly. And then he walks off. "See Molly? This is how you do it."
• He has started saying "Oh Dammit!" when he drops something. Since I can't control my laughing, he now says it with a very growling voice. "Ohhhhhh Daammmmmmmmitt." I have tried my best to ignore it and tell him it isn't a nice word. We now have the agreement that although it is very funny, he can't say it around his friends. Quite the role model aren't I?
• Molly has started trying to bite Henry to ward off his advances. All I can say is that it has been a long time coming!
• I have had to rescue Molly twice in the past week as she tries to swim underwater in the bathtub. She sputters and chokes and then is furious that I won't put her back in the water. We have a crazy little lady on our hands we think.
• Molly has a few new tricks at the table. She likes to chew something a few times and then just let it drop out of her mouth. Or, I catch her sitting in her high chair deliberately dropping things on the floor. I guess this is her version of feeding things she doesn't like to the dog.
• When Molly is done or just bored, she likes to start swinging her arms wildly, sending all of her food flying. She then bangs and hurls her cup for dramatic measure. She also likes to spit out whatever liquid she is drinking, just for fun.
• Molly now officially cruises the furniture. She has been pulling up and standing for a while, but now she moves her tiny little feet. Over the past few days she has gotten very brave and moves from object to object.
• Unlike Henry at this age (and still) she plays very well by herself. She crawls from room to room and entertains herself. Sometimes I have to go looking for her. She takes any opportunity to race to the bathroom and pull the toilet paper.
• Today, Henry burst out with a short cry during his nap. I didn't get up because he stopped right away. Molly disappeared for a minute so I went to check on her. She had crawled to their room and pushed open the door. I think she was checking on him! My own little Lassie.
• I came into the living room recently and Molly was standing at the table with Henry's peanut butter and jelly sandwich in her hands, munching away happily. I guess she was hungry and I guess she is not allergic to peanuts. I kid, she had already had a peanut that Henry fed her about 6 months ago.
• I swear that I have heard her say "Hi Dad." I know that isn't that reliable, since I am a born exaggerator (the apple doesn't fall far) but Adam heard it as well.

Happy Birthday Henry!

Dear Henry,

Today is your third birthday. I can no longer deny that you are not a baby or that you are just on the cusp of boyhood. Since I am with you so much, I don't notice the changes in you happening, but in retrospect I can see how far you have come in the past year.

You speak in full sentences and have real opinions. You tell jokes that are actually funny. You have friends of your own. You sleep in a bed and use the toilet. You run like the wind, climb like a billy goat and hang from the monkey bars like a circus boy. You attend soccer and gymnastics alone. You sit and read books to yourself and play little made up games without me. You pick out your own clothing, dress yourself and put on your own shoes. You like to get your own snacks from the refrigerator.

The biggest change that has happened in your life this year is that you became a big brother. When I was pregnant, I thought that you would merely tolerate having a sibling. I will be honest and admit that I thought you would have a hard time sharing our attention. I could not have been more wrong. Seeing you and Molly together has been one of my greatest joys in life. Most of the time, you are incredibly sweet to her. You are always hugging her, kissing her and playing with her. I overhear you calling her "sweetie" and telling her you love her. She is the only person in our family that you will say that to unprompted. I hear you encouraging her and coaching her along. It makes me so happy to know that you will always have each other to lean on.

You are a wonderful boy. You are always willing to share your things and help your friends. You never push or hit other kids and are always willing to take turns. You have such a sweet and happy nature and are such a joy to be around. I laugh when you sing your made up songs or change the words to the old standards. I love that you refuse to give me a straight answer when I am asking you a dumb question. Your dancing and guitar playing are hilarious. I love that you told me that the Memory game was "very bad (i.e. boring)" and that you told someone you were seven years old today. Today, Molly was climbing on Daddy and you said, "Molly, that isn't a mountain. It's Daddy's belly!" Really, I can't make the stuff up.

I was watching you and Molly playing in the tub tonight and thinking of the day you were born. Our life changed for the better in that instant. You make us proud every day and we love you so much.

My Crazy Girl

Although Molly still just babbles, she definitely makes her needs known. She says Mama with definite intent of who she means and Neh Neh when she wants to nurse. She is starting to lift her arms when she wants to be picked up and you cannot mistake when she wants to get out of her high chair.

I pity poor Adam when he is stuck with her and she wants her mama. She will not give him an inch and screams her fool head of until she gets what she wants. As soon as I pick her up she goes silent and smiles. This is only at night when she wants to come to bed with us, the rest of the time she adores her Daddy. I usually drop her into the bed while I finish brushing and getting ready for bed. Adam is trying to sleep and has little miss looney bird screaming next to him.

Recently, I dropped her into her bed awake for her nap. She protested for a minute or so and then stopped. I peeked my head in to check on her and she was sitting up waiting for me. As soon as she saw me she got a big smile on her face and started clapping.

She now wants everything that Henry has, no matter how appropriate it is for babies. Henry didn't have juice for a very long time while Molly gets her very own juice box. Not that I want to give her one but they sight of her sitting in front of Henry begging and pleading melts my heart. Oh, and the screaming moves things along as well. She also had her first lick of a lollipop today compliments of her brother but I want no part of that one.

She even has a trick. We play together on my bed after she wakes from her nap. I say "Night night Molly!" and she laughs and buries her face into the pillow. She feeds off of my laughter and then won't stop doing it. She is quite the little ham already.

Henry's Fall Activities

Since Henry is not three until mid-October, his activities for the fall were somewhat limited. He was too old for certain programs and too young for others. The preschool options in NYC are really terrible. If you want to go part time, there are only 5 day per week, half day options. There really were no 2 or 3 day a week, 3 hour programs. It is surprising that part time doesn't really exist, but I guess the demand really isn't there since most people work.

I also had Molly's schedule to consider. For the shorter programs, I would have to walk him there, walk home and then turn around and do the same thing an hour or so later. This would have screwed with her naps more than necessary and would have been a total pain come wintertime.

So, after much drama, here is what I have drummed up to keep him busy:

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I am doing a co-op homeschool preschool with 4 of his little friends and their moms. We alternate planning each session and whose house we are at. Each class is two hours. It really has been a lot of fun so far. During my first week, I baked blueberry scones with the kids, forced them to do lots of cleaning (thanks Maria Montessori for making that acceptable!), had them set the table, pour drinks, we read and acted out a book and had a dance party to some fun music from around the world. My next class is going to be a pretend post office and grocery store. For our snack we are making yogurt parfaits. This is what happens when you take 5 type A type women and have them quit their paying jobs. They need to direct their boundless energy into something! The good part about this school is that there are two other babies Molly's age for her to play with as well.

On Wednesdays, Henry is going to gymnastics class. His first class was last week and he LOVED it. I was so proud of him, he was very brave. It was his first ever class that he has attended where I am not able to participate. After a rocky start, he stayed with the class, participated and listened to the coach. He even went up afterward to say goodbye alone and said it in a voice that was loud enough to hear. That part got me a little choked up a bit! They have a toddler play space off to the side so Molly has something to do during class. One of her little friends is there as well so she is not lacking playmates.

On Thursdays, we go to a local church for a playgroup.

Fridays are a free day.

On Saturday, Henry goes to soccer with Adam. It is so adorable seeing him with his jersey and two of his best friends are in the class. Seeing him follow/not follow directions is always hilarious. He seems to add a little tweak to everything he does which cracks us up. Molly and I have been tagging along as well, we like to hit the post-practice party at the local coffee shop and the farmer's market that is nearby.

As you can see, he is not really lacking things to do. We also have memberships to the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, NY Aquarium and Museum of Natural History. It should be enough to keep him out of trouble I think!

Molly Update

Molly had her nine month well baby appointment at the pediatrician last week. She is 27.5 inches long and a whopping 16 pounds, 4 ounces. This puts her about the 50-60% percentile for height and the 11% percentile for weight. Her weight is really hilarious to me because she still nurses about seven times per day, AND puts away three huge meals and two snacks. Tonight, she ate a cake sized plate full of pasta bolognese. It is really shocking to us how much she eats. And when she likes it she says "mmmmm mmmm" in between shoveling handfuls of food into her mouth.

I forgot to add a few weeks ago that in addition to her waving she also claps. Had to get that into the blog for posterity.

Third Annual Schnell Family Beach Vacation

This year, we stayed at a new place on Eastern Long Island. We previously stayed at the Surf Club in Montauk, but this year we moved to The Hermitage in Napeague. It is 5 miles from Amagansett and Montauk. We liked the property much better and will definitely stay there again. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and I ate my required number of lobster rolls.

Henry flying a kite for the first time. It was really fun until he started to let go of it whenever we were not paying enough attention to him.

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's ELMO!

Molly hitching a ride on Daddy's chest in the Ergo Henry racing to the beach. On the first day, he made a pronouncement. "Vacation is very good!" It is indeed Henry!

At the Montauk lighthouse, an annual rainy day tradition

Molly enjoying her favorite toy, the cable box. She would yank the card just as Henry was getting really involved in a program, sending him into a tizzy. And they say babies don't really know what they are doing. Hehe.

Molly having some fun with playsilks

Me, pinning Henry down and forcing him to pose with me. Molly taking a break from sand eating

Henry and Adam getting their sand castle operation set up

Henry busting a move at the concert on the Montauk Village Green

Henry taking Molly for a whirl around his dance floor

Henry playing his favorite vacation game, "Super Henry!"

Photos

Leaving the Central Park Zoo in the pedicab after a tantrum filled visit. Note the cars barreling down on us, I thought he would drive us through the park. Note the sourpuss face on Henry

Molly trying to steal Henry's 11am bribe ice-pop right before he let her roll head first off the back of the bench

Photos

Henry taking pictures in Central Park before we went to the zoo Molly practicing her standing on the Henry bench. Poor thing doesn't even have a bench with her own name

Caught!

Henry making crafts with leaves that we gathered the day I decided he should watch less TV. My resolve lasted exactly one day.

Henry and one his best pals (Elliot) pretending to be sleeping

Dutch Wonderland

Photos