Playing in His Kitchen

Playing in His Kitchen, originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

While I was packing his lunch this morning, he was pretending to make me dinner. (My dinner apparently involved microwaved celery and apples and a fresh pear.)

We got to school a little late but we got there in the middle of a DANCE PARTY for all the 2s classes. His eyes really lit up–it was cute. (Also, his friend Isabella announced his arrival, “Henry’s here! Henry’s here!”)

Last night we went swimming with the Bendises at the River Place Athletic Club. Sabrina is an impressive swimmer! HL was a bit of a scaredy cat, which surprised me.

At School, Week of 2-1-10

From HL’s teachers:

Hello Everyone!

We have had a wonderful week learning about Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees. We collected fallen tree items from the ground on a nature walk, and then talked about what each of those things was. We wrote down what the kids said about them, and it’ll be posted on the bulletin board if you are interested. Morah Devorah showed us puppets on Tuesday and told us the story of the sad hill in relation to the holiday. Then we also made a tree for our bulletin board using shredded paper, markers, crayons and dots. The kids loved the projects this week. We also had a fun art class with Sandi and music with Kim.

Next week we will start our unit on music! I think the kids will really enjoy this unit since many of them show a great deal of interest in singing and playing instruments. Mya will bring in her guitar to sing some songs with the kids. We will also play some different instruments including drums, and then try to make a drum of our own. We will also read books about music, and listen to some different kinds of music in the classroom (perhaps incorporating our weekly dance party).

Please continue to look in your child’s cubby to make sure the following are still there:

Extra clothing (please include socks)
diapers

Have a great weekend!
Mya and Jessica

animal farm

animal farm, originally uploaded by xtopalopaquetl.

Uncle Chris took this of HL playing at his table.

Two Trips to the Cupcake Store in ONE WEEK!

Two Trips to the Cupcake Store in ONE WEEK!, originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

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Henry Rocks Shirt

Henry Rocks Shirt, originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

He’s asking me, “Where Mr. Brian?”

BabyCenter Update

Since I posted Tallulah’s BabyCenter update on her blog, I thought I might go ahead and post Henry’s on his–for grandparents or anyone else who might be playing along at home:

Your 2-year-old now

Your child is more in control of her movements. Now she can play with small objects easily and stack (not just knock over) towers of blocks. She can also concentrate for slightly longer periods of time, as much as 20 minutes if she’s deeply engaged. Sometimes she’ll become so absorbed in playing that she’ll resent your interruption. You can make transitions easier by warning her in advance, as in, “You can play with the blocks for five more minutes, but then it’s dinnertime.” If you have a flexible schedule, you may want to give her a few warnings before you insist that she finish up her play.

Your life now

A busy preschooler means an ever-messier house. And it’s not just the toys and books strewn everywhere. Preschoolers also like to remove things from shelves and drawers. They draw on walls. They spill juice, tear paper, fling clothes.

Preschooler messes have many different triggers behind them. Part of the upheaval is preschoolers’ live-in-the-moment mode; easily distracted, they abandon one thing right where it is and move onto the next. Curiosity plays a role, too. Your preschooler just has to know what’s in this cupboard or what happens when she pulls every last tissue from the box. It takes time and practice — encouraged by lots of parental patience — to learn that there’s a right place for dirty socks and a wrong place for crayons. Keep your expectations for tidiness low while your preschooler climbs this learning curve.

Getting Ready for Baby Sister

First the good news:

I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think we’re just about weaned. He hasn’t nursed in three days, anyway. He still asks–particularly at night and more than once last night since his dad was away and he had all that attendant insecurity–but he’s pretty easily distracted and surprisingly responsive to the idea that though he’ll always be my baby, he’s not a little baby anymore. Then I try to talk about some of the great things about being a little boy. That seems to do it. I’m not going to check it off the list until it’s been a week, but three days is pretty good.

We’re also doing well with bedtime and nap time, though he’s not yet interested in sleeping in his AWESOME BIG BOY BED. For the moment, his awesome big boy bed is an awesome cat bed. Wah wah.

He still uses his high chair, which we’ll need for Tallulah eventually, but we’ve probably got a while yet. Still, I’ve got it on my list.  We’re going to need to transition him to a booster seat at the table.

Now the “meh” news:

Yesterday I asked Henry if he wanted a baby doll to help him practice for his little sister.  (A few people had suggested it and I’d dismissed it at first–because he’s never shown a lick of interest in anything people-shaped–but yesterday at school he played with a doll for a bit during drop off, so I figured maybe we’d give it a shot.)

“Yes!”

“Do you want Mommy to order you one, or do you want to pick one out yourself?”

“Pick it out!”

Okay, so before dinner we stopped by a toy store.  Of course, as soon as we walked in he wanted to know, “Where da animals at?”

I told him he could go look at the animals after we picked out a Tallulah doll, so he grabbed the first doll he could reach and again demanded animals.  (The doll he grabbed was African-American.  I’m not sure if that was just happenstance or if it was because Sabrina, his best friend here, was adopted from Africa.  I’d like to think it was because of Sabrina but he didn’t seem terribly deliberate.)

I asked him if he was sure that was the doll he wanted.  He switched it with another (this one a blonde caucasian, but honestly he didn’t seem to be paying attention) and called for animals.  I’m fairly certain he switched the dolls in hopes of shutting me up and getting to the animals.  At that point it was clear this was a losing battle so we headed for the Schleich bins with the blonde doll in tow.

Honestly, I should have put the doll back.  He spent all of maybe two minutes picking it out and most of that was under duress.  He then spent ten minutes with the animals figurines and literally had to be carried away in tears.  (Can you tell I don’t like the doll?  I’m sure it doesn’t help that I think it’s kind of ugly.  And not in that so-ugly-it’s-cute way.  Just ugly-ugly.)

We did play pretend with doll Tallulah a bit this morning, but I really had to take the lead.  He was at his most engaged when she was opening imaginary presents (“Animals for Tuella!”) and when we put a “bambaid” on her leg.

It might catch on if we push it but I don’t have high hopes.  If I hadn’t taken the tag off, I’d probably return it.

–Mom

the cupcake meets the cow

the cupcake meets the cow, originally uploaded by xtopalopaquetl.

Uncle Chris took this one of HL and his cow at the cupcake store.

At the Pizza Store

At the Pizza Store, originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

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HL at the Cupcake Store

HL at the Cupcake Store, originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

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