Washed Away

We are all feeling better now. We all lost a little weight from not eating much for a few days, but Henry is making up for lost time. This kid has not stopped eating for the last four days. He is eating every 2 hours at this point. All day long. He is breaking his personal records for food consumption left and right. He had 4 adult-sized pancakes, two pieces of fake bacon, three strawberries, a half a grapefruit and a glass of juice for breakfast...and was hungry way before lunch. We are going through fruit, granola bars, and goldfish crackers like they're going out of style. He now even has an AFTER dinner snack before bed. We are getting a glimpse of what our lives are going to be like in about eleven years.

As to his ongoing discourse on life and nature with us, he most recently talked to Laura about the thunderstorm last night.

Henry - Mama, do you remember that storm last night?
Mama - Uh huh.

H - Well, there was big normal thunder and damper thunder.
M - What do you mean?

H - Some was big and some was damper.
M - Oh. (still not getting it) Okay sugarbear.

Then Mama remembered what Henry knows of pianos...and their pedals. There are three. One is for softening, one for muting, and one (perhaps his favorite?) for damping or sustaining. Although he isn't quite accurate, Henry believes the one for damping makes the sound of the piano more quiet. Henry was once again using his vocabulary in new and inventive ways, this time to describe the difference between soft thunder and loud thunder.

Or maybe he really meant that some thunder lasts longer than others...hmmm. We'll never know.

Sick Quote

We have all been really sick the last few days. Just imagine all the worst parts about having a stomach virus and then multiply it times three. It's pretty pathetic. But just now, another little grain of wisdom seeped out of our lethargic little bean. While laying on the couch he gave a big sigh, looked up at the ceiling, and whispered: "Life really comes to order."

I'm not really sure what that means...to me or to him...but it sure sounded right at the time.

Bean Appreciation Hour

I haven't been blogging much lately due to...well, life. But there are a few stories that I have been mentally archiving so I could someday retell them and relate how cool The Bean really is to me.

1. Wisdom of the blocks
When Henry was about 2 and a few months, he was playing with blocks kind of like the ones above, except his had even more colors like purple and green and black. He was sitting on the floor in the dining room working with them. At first he was making these sort of repetitive motifs with them. He would make one grouping that might be one red with two greens sideways, and a small blue with a large yellow on top, and then he would repeat that motif and make as many of those as the quantity of blocks would allow. I was amazed by this already and watched as he invented one motif after another and made copies. But I wasn't prepared for the most awesome part. His next project was to group them all into like colors, or as he called them "friends". He would pile up the reds and say, "There we go" triumphantly, and move on to the greens and so on. When he got to the end of his project, he realized that for whatever reason, he only had one orange block. He sat quietly for a moment, holding the single block in his hand and looking at all the other blocks with their "friends". He looked back at the orange, and then a tiny half smile slowly crept across his face, eventually becoming a full-tilt grin, at which point he said joyously to the orange block, "It's okay orange, you can be friends with everybody." He then proceeded to take one block from each of all the other color groups and attached them all together to the orange to form one big multicolored group. He seemed content with that and moved on to another project. I was floored yet again by his compassion and tendency to unite instead of divide, and I felt very lucky to be Henry's friend.
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2. Sacrificial Merry-Go-Round
When we were in Kansas City this last Christmas at Toys R' Us we got Henry the now famous drum kit. Since it was technically from Santa we had to find a way to weasel it into the car without Henry noticing. We decided that I would take him to look at one more section while Mama put it into the car and covered it up. After browsing around we went back to the front of the store to wait for Mama to come back, and here we found a merry-go-round much like the one above. Henry really likes to ride these. He asked if he could ride it and I said he couldn't today because I didn't have any money. "Pweeze, pwetty pweeeze Papa", he begged. I just apologized and told him again that I didn't have any money today. "Okay" he said, and stood patiently waiting for Mama. As we were waiting another kid zipped by him, hopped on, and giggled with glee as it spun to life with the drop of the parental quarter. He watched and didn't say anything. The next morning Henry came into our bed early and rolled around snuggling and telling us about his dreams like he loves to do. When I finally got up and started to get dressed he asked, "Where are you going Papa?" "To work" I said. "Why do you have to go to work?" he continued. "Because I have to make money so we can do fun stuff" I replied. "Oh" he said, and got quiet. I watched him thinking for a second and then stood up on the bed. "Papa", he began. "It's okay. I don't really want to ride those horses, so you can stay home with me today." It might have been one of the sweetest things I have ever seen or heard by a human being. He was willing to sacrifice something that he really loved, so that I would stay home and play with him. I have to say, I almost called in to work that day.
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3. Art
Henry takes his art very seriously. He is making so much of it now that we have created "Henry's Art Gallery" in the hallway on the way to his room. Here are pictures of the east and west wings of the gallery as well as a shot of him at work on the front porch. The medium is chalk on plywood. His pre-school teachers tell us that he often spends the most time of anyone in the class on his creations, paying meticulous attention to things like brush strokes, application of color, and glitter distribution. It is very impressive to see him at work. He draws people and animals now too, and he is becoming very interested in using his new scissors and glue stick. And I am happy to say that last week he decided to learn to write his name, so he will now be signing all his pieces.
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4. Music, Dance
The Bean is an avid music lover. Some of his favorites are Johnny Cash, Blitzen Trapper, Bloc Party, Enon, and Squirrel Nut Zippers. It is an amazing thing to watch his nightly improvisational dance moves . He really works up a sweat as he bounces on his matress we put out on the floor in the living room for safety/fun purposes, and is keen to watch himself in a full-length mirror while he wiggles. I think he is perfecting his techiniques. What is even more beautiful to me is his verbal description of how the music makes him feel, or what he believes it to be about. When he hears a sad song, he sometimes says, "Papa, this is a song about someone who can't find their friends and now they are sad to be alone." Or when he hears a song that has a gentle female vocalist he may say, "Papa, this song sounds like a sweet flower in the sun." Or when he hears some rock or hardcore he'll yell, "Papa! This song is about action! Yeah baby!" He also knows his favorite music extremely well. He tells me, "Okay papa, here is where the cymbals come in", and they do, right on key. Or he'll say, "Listen Papa. Now even the birds will start singing," as the female harmonies creep in behind the lead vocals. It's really fun for me to have a new participant in this kind of musical appreciation.
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5. Understanding
One of my favorite moments as a parent and witness to the Bean miracle is the joy of watching him try to describe something that is new to him in his own way. I am generally amazed by how accurate his descriptions are. The other day he was riding with me in the car when we drove by a house that still had Christmas lights up in the trees outside their home. As we slowly passed the house, the lights twinkled intermittenly as they were alternately exposed and hidden by branches and leaves. "See that Papa?" he said. "Yeah, I see it Henry" I said. "That is how my foot feels when it falls asleep." Yup. That's pretty much exactly how a blood-starved appendage feels. Amazing. All I could say was, "Yeah. That's right buddy. Mine too."
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Henry is at a really fun age for me. Spending time with him is one of the greatest joys of my life, and I can feel nothing but appreciation for the things he is teaching me about myself and the world, and the laughter that he brings into my life. There is no such thing as a recession or work politics or environmental woes or late bills in a house with a kid singing in the bathtub while he plays with his toys and yelling out, "Come in here everybody! I'm cooking up some bad soup made of boogers and dirty diapers!" Sweet!

The Choo Choo Birdhouse

Henry and I made our first birdhouse together last week and hung it up yesterday. I wanted to start building birdhouses for a few reasons. 1. I want to listen to them chirping and singing in the mornings outside my window on the weekends. 2. I feel like I need to replace the habitat they lost when I took down the birdhouses that the people left that lived here before us and when I repaired the eave that had birds living in it. 3. I wanted Henry and I to have a project together that he had a lot of say in how it came together so he could feel something going from an idea to reality under his own power. The shape of this birdhouse and the color scheme were totally his ideas.






The finished product: A psychedelic choo choo-shaped Ritz Carlton for our winged friends. The entrance is in the front of the boiler and they sort of hop through the foyer which leads to another hole where the main living area is in the cab part. New to the market, very sturdy, and very spacious. Amenities include an extended landing platform, air-tight waterproof insulation, and a smoke stack that holds birdseed.

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines

Henry had his first Valentines Day party today. We stayed up way too late last night making homemade valentines, but he got to practice using scissors and glue and his valentines turned out pretty great, so it was worth the effort. I love that he still sits on his feet like this.

Cousin Campbell (A few months late)

Ornery little boys

Laying down with Henry

Mama
Yes Henry
My babies are in my tummy tonight, just like when I was a baby in your tummy.
Okay Henry. Everybody needs to go to sleep.
Mama
Yes Henry
One of my babies is kicking and dancing just like I did when I was a baby in your tummy.
Okay baby. Stop playing with your buddies and go to sleep.
Mama
Yes
You make me happy and laugh when you toot in the car and Papa covers his nose with his shirt and opens the windows.
It makes me laugh too Henry. Okay. No more talking.
Mama
Uh-huh
Papa also makes me happy when he dances back and forth by the door while I play my drums.
I know Baby. Go to sleep.
Mama
Yes
What would happen if I took a star from the sky and put it in a box?
What do you think would happen?
I think it would light up the box like a lightbulb.
Me too. Goodnight.
Mama
Why aren’t you sleeping?
Mama
Yes Henry
I am a superstar at my school
Okay. I am going to go in the other room if you don’t lie quietly and sleep.
Mama.
No more talking Henry.
But Mama
Henry, I am serious. It is time to sleep.
But Mama
Yes
I pooped.

Boy

Baby

I found an old roll of film this weekend with had a couple of funny pictures of the Bean way back in 2007. Back when his hair was straight and he still had fat rolls on his arms and legs. Ahhh...

dance

all he needs is a cleared off mattress and some music. the double finger point is my favorite move.

Week 2

So many people have been asking about Henry's preschool and I have been very bad about responding to your emails...sorry guys. He does love it and there are a lot of ways that friends and family can get involved (including a 5K run in the spring...) and I promise to write you all back and give more details than I have given on the blog just for privacy sake.

I had one of my first official "parent of a school age child" moments on Tuesday when I had to call the school to tell them that Henry was sick and not coming to school. It was very funny to be the one calling in. I can't tell you the number of times I dreamed about being able to do that for myself in high school. My friends and I would call each other to practice our Mom's voices just in case we ever got up the courage to call in sick. I never did. Anyway. Everyone said "Oh he is going to get sick a lot when he starts because he has not spent much time around other kids” and we pooh-poohed saying that we would wash his hands a lot or claiming that all the green leafy veggies would protect him…One week in and he already has his first cold. It’s not a bad cold but I did spend most of the weekend on fever patrol (basically getting up every hour to check his forehead, decide that it is hot and then attempt to take his temperature without waking him and then waking him up and getting grumped at from the kid (and from the husband) then defending myself with claims that he had a high fever but then refusing to give him any medicine because I hate medicating him). The snot situation was so excessive on Tuesday that I decided he should not go to school. It was funny, I called the teacher and then Henry came over and grabbed the phone as said “Miss Murray (not his teachers name but the name of a teacher from one of his books) um yeah dis is Henry. I am sick on dis day and cannot come to school but I will come again on Saturday.” His teacher was a good sport about it. I think I’ll ask her tomorrow if that was the first time that a kid actually called himself in and then made arrangements to make up the day over the weekend :)

But the really great part about Henry missing school was that we got to spend Tuesday morning playing with his trains in the living room while watching the inauguration of our 44th president. Thrilling! I did learn that it is very hard to explain to a 3 year old why it is that you are crying because you are happy. Henry checked on me several times through out the morning “Is you sad Mama or is you happy? Do you need a hug? It’s okay Mama. Don’t be sad. Here you can nuzzle with puppy.”

Henry is asking so many questions these days, it is really fun and sometimes quite a challenge. Like a few weeks ago when he asked “Why do people eat animals?” To which I responded “Let’s ask Papa.” :) Yesterday morning he asked me what a buffalo looks like, what it means to eject something, what does the president do, why do babies live in the Mama’s tummy, why is it not good to stick your finger in your eye, what are belly buttons used for and how come birds fly south for the winter. Good stuff. Kids pick up on so much. But I have to say the best was this morning when I took Henry’s old car seat out of the car and replaced it with a new booster seat and Henry told us, without any prompting, “Now we can put dis old car seat here for my little brodder who is a baby.”

Week 1

Henry’s first week at preschool went really well. He has a couple minor issues regarding how to play with other kids. But his teachers tell us that he is a good listener so they think they he will learn those social skills quickly. He also had a little trouble with sitting still during circle time but, again, listened well and followed instructions when the teacher told him her expectations. On Thursday I came to pick him up and Miss Stephanie told me that Henry had some great dance moves. Apparently they were singing in circle time and Henry hopped up and said “you wanna see some moves? Yook at dis.” And then he proceeded to shake, kick and jump around like only a 3 year old boy can do. After the impromptu performance Miss Stephanie said “Henry you are a great dancer. You are funny too, making everyone laugh.” And Henry said “Yeah. I crack myself up.” His teacher described the kids in his class as “a gentle, mellow group” I am thinking that our little bean is going to shake things up a bit.

Bittersweet

Henry lost his pants in the parking lot of the grocery store yesterday. He was holding our hands, jumping up and down, and singing a make-up song about losing his pants as we hiked across the very busy parking lot in the freezing cold. When we got close to the street in front of the store I looked down to make sure I had a good grip on his hand and noticed that his pants were down to his ankles. I yanked up his pants and we all cracked up (along with the other 2 couples walking behind us).

He starts preschool on Tuesday. Wade attended our first official parent/teacher meeting last week. We felt very grown up and, for me at least, a little strange to be on this end of it. I still remember being the student discussed in those meetings. Plus I can't believe he is 3. Everyone tells you this, but you never really understand it until you go through it---they grow up so fast. I can't believe we have a school-age child among us. Wasn't he learning to hold his head up just last week or something? :)

His school is a community preschool with a lot of parental involvement. We get to spend one day each month in the classroom helping the teachers. We get to bring lots of snacks and participate in several fund raisers and serve on a committee. The school wants the parents to bring their own talents to the classroom so I am sure that Wade will spend some time with the kids and his guitar and I plan on making some tasty treats and doing some fun craft projects with the kids also. We are excited for Henry to make some friends and are hoping that we make some new friends also.

Henry's Nana will be happy to know that he put his birthday money to good use last weekend. We went to Build a Bear and Henry picked a light brown bear to build. He waited in line patiently to stuff his bear and then had a pretty good time picking out an outfit for his new bear. Aunt Susie bought him some checkered shoes and a guitar. Grandpa bought the bear some shorts. And, since this present was from Nana and Nana has been such a big support for Henry as he potty trained (she supplied all of his diapers for the first year of his life and then bought Henry his potty) we bought the bear a pair of big boy underpants to celebrate Henry's new, diaper free, life!

Let's see, what other Henry tid-bits do I have to share? He loves his drums. He is able to thump out the rhythms of a few of his favorite songs and can hit his snare drum so hard that it makes my ears ring. :) He has started describing music by how it makes him feel. He'll say "This is song is sad" or "This song makes me feel frustrated". He still spends some time nearly every day building and playing with his train set. Mostly finding new and more elaborate ways for the trains to crash into each other. In fact he just made a crash and is right now telling me that the crash is called "Dump truck all the sudden smashing the bumper of a blue train." Then he says "Yook at dis crash, Mama. Do you want to see dis?" I better go have a look. It sounds serious.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Henry is hard to catch these days. He is a blurr in almost every photo I take. And he looks way too much like a little boy. (If you don't believe me scroll down to the last picture in this group. Be prepared.) I tried really hard to capture his excitment and joy this Christmas in a photograph and I couldn't get one. But he had a great Christmas. I hope you all did as well. Happy 2009! Santa brought a CD player for Henry. Henry loves music and he also loves books on CD.

And he loves sweets :)

Santa also brought a drum kit . Yes it is loud and yes we are crazy. But he loves it.

Guys

Wade and Henry spend every Friday morning together. At any given time while I am at work I can look at the clock and predict what they are doing. First they sleep in. Wade’s memories of being woken up as a teenager make it difficult for him to wake Henry . Then they lie around in bed together and “wake up slowly”. Finally, when someone’s stomach growls loud enough for the other one to hear it OR Henry says that he is ready for “beckfest” they get up. The go out to breakfast at the same place every week. The wait staff know them and when/if I go in with them on another day they say to me “Oh you’re Henry’s Mom?” Then they take the recycling to the recycling center. Henry loves to help. Then they go to the library. Then they come home and read their library books 3 or 4 times and play until Kelly comes to babysit. I love sitting at my desk imaging my two guys spending the morning together. And I love reading the library books with Henry each night, and him telling me the stories behind them. “We picked dis one Mama because the cat wears shoes. We picked dis one because the choo-choo train goes in the snow.”

Last night we were reading a library book and we were at the page where you have to pick which items Dora needs to give her puppy a bath. Henry quickly pointed out the soap and the towel. “Great job” I said and started to turn the page. “And dis one too Mama.” He points at a book. “If it is a book that goes in the water like my fish book.” “Okay.” I say. “And dis one.” He points to a banana. “If she gets hungry.” “Sure. That would work.” I say. “And dis one” he points at an umbrella “If she is taking a shower”.

Dr Appointment

Henry has his "well baby check" today. He is great. She asked me questions like "can he use 3 word sentences? and "can he count to 3?" and "does he know at least one color?" by then Henry piped in and said "I know lots of colors-my favorites are pink and green."

Height- 39.6 inches (90th percentile)
Weight- 35.8 pounds (80th percentile)
Chattiness- 100th percentile :)

We got his paperwork for preschool because now that he has this down, he can start school in the spring! We are so excited for him.

A few more birthday moments

It's a done deal

We are even venturing out of the house in big boy underpants these days.

ER visit # 2

We made our second trip in 3 years to the ER yesterday. Henry spiked a 102 fever (according to my, apparently, crappy ear thermometer that is currently in with Henry's play doctors kit) and started complaining about pain in his abdomen. His mood changed so quickly from running and playing to asking if he could just lay down on the floor right here and take a little nap, that Wade and I grabbed him and sped to the ER. We were happy to learn that the appendix is on the right side (Henry's pain was on the left and yes I have been studying biology for years and probably should have known that but it was a very stressful situation...and besides my degree is in Ecology..not human biology...anyway...). He looked terrible at the hospital but by the time the doctor got there he was talking a little more and his eyes were more than half way open so we started to relax a bit. The doctor looked him over and said he thought that he might have a virus and to give him ibuprofen and keep an eye on him. His temperature at the hospital was only 99.7, so that is why the ear thermometer is now a toy. Today he has been pretty normal. Susie came over and he spent about 5 minutes walking in circles around her and talking non-stop so we are thinking that he is feeling a little better.
Let's just do a quick round up of medical situation that made Henry's parents want to start drinking-

Choking when he was 1 day old- All the doctors on the peds floor
Head CT- Children's Mercy Hospital visit
Split open forehead- ER visit
Removal of stitches- Doctor's visit
Ringworm on his head- Doctor's visit
Chipped tooth- Dentist visit
Possible ruptured appendix on the left side of his body, a medical first but completely plausible in the mind of a frantic parent- ER visit

Also, 2 "grab the kid and run to the car" near ER visits involving a possibly broken wrist and tooth through the lip.

It is moments like these that leave me feeling certain that Henry will be an only child :)
*Just kidding Mom. And Emily.