Master Manipulator

As Henry's language skills improve, he has increased his portfolio of manipulation tactics. Today he told me that he needed to come out of his crib because he needed to poop. And then he needed a tissue. And then he needed to eat more. He picks things that he knows I want him to do just to sweeten the offer.

The other day I asked him if he wanted to go to the park. His new favorite word is "probably." He told me it was "probably locked." (This particular park has limited hours). When I told him it was open, he said it was "probably too far." He also suggests that it is "too cold", "too rainy" or "too hot" if he doesn't want to go somewhere.

My Little Consumer

Henry watches Noggin, which fortunately doesn't have any commercials. I didn't realize how nice that was until he caught a program on another channel recently and immediately started asking for "The Better Batter Ball." He very sweetly kept saying "Ma, Henry try?" Once I realized what he wanted I said, "No Henry, we don't have that." He very helpfully suggested that I "Go to Target, buy for Henry!"

He also spends a lot of time cruising the neighborhood in his stroller. He is very familiar with the stores and instructs me where to stop and what we need. At Jin's Market he tells me that he needs apples and bananas. At the deli he makes the suggestion that I buy him a Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich. Last week he suggested I stop at Starbucks (he knew it by name) and buy some coffee. I laughed and said, "Henry, you can't drink coffee!" He corrected me that the coffee was for me and that he would have chocolate milk.

Oh, Please Help Me.

Henry is showing signs of giving up his nap and Molly has started to creep. She can now get herself a few feet forward and backward. I think crawling is in our very near future. Oh, and she is getting two teeth.

More Annoying Than Candy Land

I always thought there were few games more annoying than Candy Land. Henry has proved me wrong and come up with some doozies.

He pretty much insists on playing with anything that is not a toy. You let it go because he is having fun and it gives you five minutes to do something else. However, the game always reaches that fateful point where he can't perform some part of it and now he needs your help. Immediately. Over and over.

Take the life jacket game. Adam has been waiting for two years for Henry to be interested in going on the boat. The day has finally come! Anyway, this involves Henry wearing a lifejacket from the car, down the floating dock and onto the boat. Because of this, he needs to bring it home to the apartment. Henry looooooooooves his life jacket and wants to wear it constantly. No harm there, right?

Getting it on involves putting his arms properly through the very tight holes, zipping it up, clasping the front and then attaching the clasp between his legs. In the process, he jabbers away about the life jacket, what color it is, who else needs to wear a life jacket...cute right? You then are forced to answer "Ma...yeah? yeah?" over and over about whether he is putting it on correctly (backwards, upside down, inside out, wrong arm...the possibilities are endless). He then needs help zipping it up, but the zipper doesn't go as high as he likes. He gets positively indignant that you can't zip it up to his chin.

Once it is on for three seconds, he wants it off but he can't undo the clasps (but God forbid you help him do the clasps). Once it is off, you guessed it, he wants it back on again. Over and over and over. You try to be nice and give him the warning that this is the "Last Time." He freaks out and tries to repeat the game with Adam. He then runs back and forth like a ping pong ball until one of us finally cracks and gives in.

Biting off more than we can chew!

Right now, we are:

1. Taking away Henry's pacifier
2. Potty Training
3. Moving Henry to a bed
4. Moving Molly to a crib
5. Putting Henry and Molly in the same room

Really not the smartest plan do you think? I guess it is like pulling off a bandaid, if you do it fast it hurts less.

P.S. Taking away the pacifier was Adam's brilliant plan. I overheard him telling Henry to "throw your pacifiers in the garbage, you don't need them anymore." I was screaming "Noooooooooooooooo" inside from the bedroom. He may not need them but I certainly do!

What time does the rooster crow?

Molly still sleeps in our room because she wakes a few times at night. If we were to move her to Henry's room, she might wake him and then I have two small children up at night. So in our room she stays.

She is at her absolute peak of happiness in the morning. Unfortunately for her that means 6am. I wake every morning to what sounds like a crow making their "caw caw" sound but is really my little angel. It is not a quiet noise, she makes it at the top of her lungs. She couples it with rolling back and forth, kicking until one of us wakes up. This weekend, she added yanking on my ponytail repeatedly. She mixes it up by digging her little baby razor nails into your flesh.

At first you are startled by the noise, having blocked it out of your memory from the day before. But after you wrench open your eyes to the harsh daylight, you are greeted with the most beautiful, happy smile you can imagine. It is impossible to ignore her after that!

Mother of the Year

Just in time for Mother's Day, I share another proud mothering moment.

On Saturday night, Molly was sleeping with us and thrashing around. She wasn't hungry so I decided to give her a dry diaper. So not to wake her even more, I did it in our bed. I opened her one piece footed pajamas, took off her diaper and then discovered I didn't have any diapers in our bedroom. Because I was exhausted, I decided to put my head down for "just a second."

Fast forward a few hours later. Adam woke me up and said "Look at Molly!" She was laying on our bed fast asleep. Unfortunately she was naked from the waist down with her pajamas open and laying in a big puddle of pee. Oops!

Tummy Time Champion

How cute is this baby? I know I am her mother, but what a beautiful little face!

I Swear We Don't Ignore Her

On a recent Saturday morning, Henry and Adam were cooking breakfast and I was in the living room reading the paper. Molly was alone in the dining room, playing happily in the neglecto-saucer. She got a little too quiet so I stopped in to check on her. Sadly, she has made the decision to put herself down for a nap being neither of her parents was attentive enough to do so. How sad is this picture?

Henry and the tale of the big boy bed

Henry is being evicted from his crib soon. I dread doing this because he will no longer be contained (ahem trapped) and I know his sleep will deteriorate. However, Molly is growing by leaps and bounds and soon won't fit in her little hammock.

We ordered the mattress, captain's bed and new bedding but due to a snafu with the ordering, the bed is not here yet. I set up the mattress on the floor and Henry slept in it for two nights. Since then, he has moved back to the crib at his request. We should have the new bed in the next week or so, I hope the transition goes smoothly. Less sleep in this house would be a bad thing.

Here is some documentation of the first night in the new bed. The plus side of all of this is there is a new place for me to hide when our bed gets too crowded. I also can encourage Henry to play lots of "Let's pretend Mommy is sleeping games"

What's New With Henry and Molly

Molly is such a sweet baby. She rarely cries, and is quick with a smile and a laugh. She loves Henry and watches him all day. She could nap more and for longer but I don't really have any complaints. She has wormed her way into our bed, despite my best efforts not to have another co-sleeper.

She now blows raspberries out of her mouth which is adorable. She has great neck and stomach strength, much more so than Henry did at this age. Probably because she will actually lay on her stomach for more than three seconds. Every morning, I lay her on our bed for some exercise. She can get herself from one side of the bed to the other by schooching up her rear end and pulling herself with her hands. My prediction is that she will crawl much earlier than Henry did. Her hair appears to be growing in lighter and her eyes are turning hazel or brown. She seems to be getting chubbier, I'd bet she is about 13.5 lbs now.

Henry is changing every day. He has lost a lot of his shyness and will now actually converse with strangers. I was happy when he stopped ignoring the neighbors in the elevator but could do without some of his commentary. "Goodbye Poopy-Toofy" was a recent favorite of mine.

His language becomes increasingly nuanced every day. I love hearing his little exclamations about things..."Hmm, this tastes good!" "Oooh, my tummy made a sound!" "Henry go to the library to read books!"

His favorite friend these days is Elliot. He loves to have him over to our house to play. They run around like madmen and Elliott's mom has to drag him out the door.

He notices everything around him. Recent exciting sightings were a tractor trailer transporting a load of cars, the streetlights on the parkway, construction vehicles galore.

Could She Be More Bored?

Poor Molly gets schlepped around all day, doing whatever Henry is doing. The good part is that she finds him very entertaining, the bad part is that she doesn't get to do nearly as much as Henry did. I looked back at this blog and loved this shot of Henry. I just had to recreate it with Molly who was not nearly as cooperative. Maybe she was peeved that she was playing on a "Henry" bench. Get used to it kid, you should see what it is like being the third child!

There's Something in the Water

It is amazing how you don't notice your child getting bigger until you see a comparison shot. Check out this shot of Henry laying in Molly's Amby Hammock and compare it to his shot as an infant. Yowza, time sure flies!

More Easter 2009

We went to Barry and Tara's (Adam's Brother) house for Easter. As usual, they cooked a big spread and it was a lot of fun. Tara was even brave enough to arrange some egg dying for Henry. Grandpa Joe came through with two of the world's largest Easter baskets. Good thing because Mean Mommy didn't make any. Henry and I did hit the Easter candy pretty hard during the week prior so don't feel too bad for him.

Molly also had her first swing ride that day.

My Little Easter Bunny

I have to admit, having a girl is super fun, especially around the holidays. I had a few wardrobe options for Molly's Easter dress, compliments of Aunt Heather and her endless bag of brand-new hand me downs. Our plans were foiled that morning when Adam tried to put the little while tights on Molly. They were so big and baggy around her calves and ankles and just looked ridiculous. On to Plan B. We put her in this adorable outfit that we received as a gift. Her legs looked like little striped sausages, they were so cute.

Henry however, did not get a special outfit. If you search back you can re-live Easter 2008 with me. That was the cutest little suit and he never wore it once. Little chop-buster.

Well, it started out as fun

They have changed the recommendations AGAIN on when you can start solids. Some sources say four months, some say six months. Since Molly has been so interested in food (lunging after meatballs with her mouth open) the doctor said it was OK to try to feed her. As you can tell by the pictures, she wasn't really keen on the idea. Cereal was a bust, applesauce was a disaster, bananas were lukewarm. Henry is on board with the project though, he begs me to give Molly a BA-nana every morning. Accent on the BA.

Let's Get Physical!

Here is Molly giving the Exersaucer a whirl for the first time. She looks thrilled doesn't she?

My Little Gourmet

"What is crazy Vanessa doing now? These pictures are kind of gross, Henry stuffing crackers into his mouth. Charming."

I post these pictures to illustrate one of Henry's best qualities in my mind. The child will eat almost anything. Here he is happily stuffing goat cheese into his mouth. I know many adults that won't touch the stuff and he was acting like it was a Happy Meal. Other crazy stuff he has eaten lately: mussels, fish stew, salmon, hard boiled eggs, tuna salad, olives, broccoli rabe...He doesn't always like it but he will at least give it a whirl.

The Great Egg Hunt of 2009

This year's Egg Hunt was a lot more successful than last year because he came home with at least one egg. He dumped them out last year and other kids kept snatching them. I was part of the egg stuffing committee this year and we stuffed 1000 eggs and there were not enough. I'd say that 500 kids showed up. This neighborhood has a lot of families and is growing every day. I also worked the bake sale table. If you didn't know better, you'd think we lived in Mayberry and not Manhattan!