The Rest of the Story

When last we spoke, I said that I had told Henry we would go to Half Price Books instead of ringing strangers' doorbells...

My real goal in going up there was to get some new nonfiction for Leo. He is really getting interested in that genre. We pull up in the parking lot, and Henry immediately starts saying..."Do they have carts?" And I say "no" - what he is asking is if he has to ride in a grocery cart b/c he LOVES and much prefers to walk. Then he says..."Did you bring the stroller?" b/c he is hoping I can't strap him in the stroller.

Me: No. No stroller.
Henry: I keep my hands to myself.
Me: Yes.
Henry: And hold Mommy's hand.
Me: Yes. Especially in the parking lot.

We slowly make our way across the parking lot and into the store. He lets go of me the second his feet get off the parking lot. When we finally get in the store, the children's section is of course in the faaaaaar back corner of the store. So we zigzag around with me trying to keep him moving in generally the right direction to make forward progress. "This way. Come on. Come on, Henry. Let's go. Stop...no...NO! Put that down. This way. " over and over and over.

We finally make it back to the little children's section, and it's a little square area bordered by bookshelves. There are a few other people there. He marches right over to a stool...climbs up on top of it...scrunches up his face...and begins to grunt. He hadn't gone the day before, so it took him awhile. I just waited for him to finish.

Then it was back out of the store, get the diaper bag, walk two stores down to Babies R Us, wander around in BRU b/c the bathroom is in a different place than in the Plano store, change the diaper while he screams at me..."Don't touch my legs!!!", help him wash his hand BY HIMSELF!!!, get a bento box we needed anyway and new diaper sacks since I used the last one, pay, go home for lunch.

There you go. All the way into town to take a dump.

Look out world...

Henry: Where we going today?
Me: Nowhere. I just want to stay home.
Henry: I want to go see somebody.
Me: Well, who do you want to go see?
Henry: Let's just go push the button and see. (ring a doorbell)

I'm hoping he'll settle for Half-Price Books.

Drinking before noon

(Sorry I have been MIA. I have developed a serious obsession with crochet lately, and I'm a bit overwhelmed at the number of pictures that have backed up on my camera card. One day soon I will sit down and get caught up.)

I must preface this post by saying that Henry seems to have inherited the wonderful Brooks memory - he remembers the most minute details of insignificant outings from a year ago.

This morning, I took Henry to drop-in care so I could go grocery shopping alone. Leo is at daycamp. Shopping with Henry has turned into pure torture, and this keeps me from feeling suicidal (or homicidal) by the end of the trip. We eat out about once a week, and other than that...I prepare or assemble everyone's meals. It is a lot of shopping that usually involves a couple of stops since I get the basics at Wal-Mart and then get produce or specialty items at another store.

At my last stop, I grabbed a glass bottle of green tea out of the cooler by the checkout b/c I was terribly thirsty. So when I went to get Henry, it was in the console between the front seats. Of course, he immediately spotted it - children seem to have some sort of supernatural sense for when new food or drink has wandered into their gravitational sphere. He started having a big screaming meltdown to drink out of the glass bottle.

I told him, "This is a GROWN-UP drink, Henry!" - kidspeak at our house for beer or wine. He immediately calmed down and said..."OOOOOOH, it's a grownup drink" and was perfectly satisfied. "I'll have a gatoraide when we get home," he said.

I know he will remember this and one day realize that mommy was drinking at the grocery store. Which might not be a bad idea, on the days I have to take him with me!!!

Leo's Last Day of Kindergarten

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

*Leo has really grown up this year. He has done very well in Kindergarten - very few discipline problems at all. One very unfortunate biting incident, though.

*Leo's reading has really grown exponentially. There isn't much he can't read. He still loves to be read to at night - usually Daddy reads the goodnight books.

*One of my sweetest memories of Leo from this year is watching him walk home after school every day. Since our house is right behind the school, I usually go out into the alley to meet him b/c Henry is still asleep. I see him come around the front of the school and head my way...and most of the time, he is skipping. It is just the sweetest most innocent thing in the world. So wonderful to watch him so happy everyday.

*Leo got wonderful reports from his Kindergarten teacher and others at school. Great marks on his report card, etc.

*Leo's favorite friend in Kindergarten this year was Nathan.

*Leo is still somewhat of a picky eater. He usually takes a turkey sandwich or grilled chicken strips for lunch. Some of his side choices are pretzels, mandarin oranges, cheese stick, animal crackers, jello, rice, and plain pasta.

*Leo always writes that his favorite family activity is "going camping," so we are going to try to continue that as much as possible. By "going camping," he means...staying in a cabin.

*Leo is still saying a /w/ sound sometimes for the /l/ sound. I will have his speech evaluated soon if this doesn't develop correctly.

*Leo loves his brother. Henry can talk so well at 2.5...they can play pretty well together. They also fight a lot!

*I can now take Leo to the grocery or for a quick run to the store without worrying that it will be a nightmare. This is a definite sign of some maturation!

*Leo can swim ok, but he will be taking swim lessons this summer to become a stronger swimmer.

Henry video

A little video I shot of Henry singing. He is really into potty words! At one point he's telling me he wants to watch himself on the camera..."I want to see Henry's picture on the other side." The Jesus Loves Me verse...that's something they do at preschool. Not a huge fan of telling my kids they're "bad" - we "make bad choices," etc. But, oh well. It's pretty cute. He says "Jesus loves me when I'm good, when I do the things I should. Jesus loves me when I'm bad, though it makes him very sad."