The John Dickson Fridays

That title makes no sense. I know.

2 year olds are hilarious, plain and simple. They are also thieves. Last week Adam went to pick up John Dickson from school, who ran to him. Adam scooped him up and they left. Out in the parking lot, John Dickson got a proud little grin and quietly said "I have piggy outside." He had stolen a pig from daycare. I'm sure he was excited to have the pig outside, as he has been told multiple times to quit throwing toys out the window... anyway, Adam figured they'd just return it the next day, so he let John Dickson take it with him. John Dickson got buckled in and said "I have piggy in truck!" He was too excited. When it was time to get the pig to take back to daycare, John Dickson said "Daddy get it." I told him Daddy doesnt know where it is. He said "Mommy get it." I told him only he knew where it was. He said "I cant reach it." I found it wedged into the handle of the washing machine. Little stinker.

The other night at dinner, John Dickson got the same proud grin on his face, as he spastically yelled "Ameda!!" over and over again. Who is Ameda? Ameda is Amanda, formerly known as "Mommy."

John Dickson continues to be creative in his tactics to get out of his bed. Or to avoid going to bed. Last night, instead of going to bed, he claimed he wanted to "look at Henny." So, naturally, he won.

Lastly, John Dickson has been telling little fibs about going to the potty so that he can get candy. He told us that he "went pee pee" the other night. We looked, the potty was dry, and we told him he did not in fact do anything. He said he did. We said he didn't. He picked up his potty, turned it over over the big potty, and said "I already did it." For someone so smart, he sure thinks little of our intelligence!!

Oh well, we love him.

First Bath

Our first bath...




makes us very sweet...




and a little sleepy :-

Patience

John Dickson has a new little brother. Henry has an appetite that cannot wait. We have two little boys who can really get going when they decide they want to team up on us and exercise their lungs. We're all practicing patience around here... but these two take the cake:

Our Boys

People Meet Henry

It's true, Henry has been busy entertaining his dedicated fans these past two weeks. First, he would like to give his Nana a big big thank you for all of her help for 10 whole nights. What would we have done without her? Oh, its easy. 1) Not slept. 2) Not had any home cooked meals. 3) Lots and lots and lots and lots of dishes (note to self: get new dishwasher) 4) Lots and lots and lots of laundry (I forgot how bodily fluidy new babies are...) 5) Grocery shopping and 6) More toddler entertaining than we had the energy for





John Dickson was so disappointed when he came home from school on Tuesday to find Nana gone. He got out her golf club, looked around for a second, and then it dawned on him: "where Nana doh?" Grumps couldn't stay the week, but he came up for the big day and came back for the next weekend. After he left:

John Dickson: "I need it. I need it."
Adam: "What do you need?"
John Dickson: "I need Grumps back."

John Dickson: "Daddy get it?"
Adam: "Daddy get what?"
John Dickson: "Daddy get Grumps truck"

Leslie came for a visit to meet Henry Bear and to make John Dickson laugh like this:



And we got the super exciting surprise of seeing Ali and Enga! Thank you high school teacher conferences in Greenville!!! Ali and English stopped by to deliver some always yummy food and to snuggle the little guy. Henry tried to make out with Ali. Twice. Apparently she made quite the impression.



Jess came by the hospital before we left, and then she left to go to San Diego. Indefinitely. So. Bummed. We'll miss her like crazy, but are super excited for her new job and CANT WAIT to go visit. Leave Adam with the boys... head out west with Leslie... nap on the beach... see California... yes, sounds perfect. Anyway, I didnt get any pictures of Jess on my camera, but she got a few, and as soon as I get my hands on them, I'll be sure to post.

And Henry got to meet his Great Aunt Barbara!!! Barbara stopped by for a fun visit, delivering a superhero starter kit to John Dickson. He runs around the house now in his fun red cape. It is too cute. And he and Adam shoot spider webs at each other, Spiderman style. That and his impersonation of Adam doing horse sounds are my two new favorite things that little man does. Again, Barbara got pictures, but I didn't thanks to a dead battery, so we'll just have to wait until we get our hands on those.
We'll have to get our boys out to the Griffiths very soon, as John Dickson wont stop talking about the black cow and 2 horseys. And "Bahba".

Sadly, we have no pictures of Henry meeting Sarah, nor do we have any of her amazing chicken pot pie left. De-licious. Despite not capturing the meeting on camera, it was still really good to see her. People shouldn't leave where I work until I leave. Nobody listens.

And John Dickson had a couple of rough days adjusting to Henry, although he loves Henry like crazy and has not taken it out on him in the slightest. But this weekend, he was a new little man. He picked his potty training back up, and is finally telling us when he needs to go (hooray!!!). And he has been behaving like an angel.
He has been pretending the baby tub is his car, and he will ask for the keys and either "go to store. get batteries." or "go monkey joes." He has learned that you can fix anything with a battery and a screw driver. He wanted some faux doors to open on a fire truck, and he kept asking Adam for a screw driver. Then he asked for batteries. He wants daddy to "biscuit" everything. (Biscuit = fix it) Daddy is pretty much his hero.

Cousin Love

Erin and Ella came today to meet Mr Henry, along with Granna and Papa. John Dickson, as usual, wasn't sure what to think of Ella at first...



But he quickly warmed up :-)



We tried to get a good cousin group shot, but it was the 5 minutes out of the day that Henry decided to show off his lungs. (Did I mention how wonderfully easy he is so far?)

Instead we got this sweet picture.



And Henry did a lot of this.

Hollywild - Summer Addition

Ok, so apparently lack of sleep is catching up with me, as I definitely just misspelled "edition." I'll leave as is for your entertainment. Anyhoo, to pile on the good news, Adam got a job offer from Clemson, where he will be starting on Monday, managing the organic chemistry labs. So, for their last hoorah, and for John Dickson to have some special attention, they headed to Hollywild. You might recall this is the same place we went for the lights at Christmas and had a zebra stick his head in our car - which, was awesome - but otherwise we have never been. I made sure to tell Adam to take lots of pictures. However, I failed to specify that the pictures were of John Dickson, not the animals. Anyway, here's what I got:

That 2nd picture is John Dickson on the safari bus where the animals come up to the sides and eat your food. Since then he wont stop talking about riding the bus, camels, goats, buffalo, horseys and cows. He's going to be just like his dad.

Melt. My. Heart.

This was supposed to be Henry's tummy time, but John Dickson had a better idea. And seeing as how Henry was using tummy time to try to take a snooze on his belly, we had to agree that John Dickson's idea was better.

My boys.

I dare you to find something sweeter than this!

Fine, you win.

Proud big brother!!

A Few More Hospital Pictures

My friend Ashley said she needed some more pictures, and I'm always happy to show off my little ones!!

John Dickson and Henry checking each other out

Henry getting ready for his first ride in the car

The going home outfit. If that hat fit, it might not look like the ride home involved a safari, led by tour guide Henry. Pretty sweet, no?

Our little snoozer

The hearing test

Home Sweet Home

We got to bring our Henry Bear home on Monday night, and man was it good to get home! It's just hard to get some quality sleep when you have a little dude who needs to eat every 2-3 hours, a nurse who has to check in every 2 hours, and a visit from the OBGYN & anesthesiologist, and no one wants to coordinate visits. Since we've been home, Henry has been doing great! He is pretty good about 3 hour eating stretches, sleeps like an angel, and is a very happy and content baby when he's awake. He really just has one rule, which involves never changing his diaper...

We went in at 7:00 Sunday morning, after a night and morning of contractions. I thought I might have been having some, but I wasn't really sure until they got me hooked up to the monitors and I was able to ask. We thought I might be able to skip the pitocin, but it turns out I needed it afterall. Labor was quite similar to that with John Dickson - weirdly so. We got to the hospital at the same time, had my water broken around the same time, got the epidural at the exact same time... so I thought perhaps Henry would be born at 3:59, just like John Dickson. My doctor came in to check on me at 4:01, and I joked with him that we were already 2 minutes late. He wanted me to push a couple of times, and then all of a sudden yelled at me to stop, warned me not to laugh, and he ran to throw on all of his baby delivering gear, have the bed transformed into delivery mode, fetch a 2nd nurse, and at 4:07, 6 minutes later, Henry was born. I knew 2nd babies were supposed to be easier, but I never thought laughing him out would be a problem... what do I know?

Side note: Henry's best friend, Brody, arrived the very next day, courtesy of my friend Karin. We tried our best to coordinate our babies' birthdays, but planning only goes so far! Henry cant wait to meet his new buddy!

So how is John Dickson handling all of this? Well, he's currently on a sleeping hiatus, and has subsequently been a bit on the grumpus side, but otherwise, he is embracing big brotherhood. He loves his little brother and loves to watch out for him. If the music goes off on the swing, he immediately notifies us. He likes to make sure Henry has his blanket, and today when Henry got an adorable lion in the mail (courtesy of the Mameles), John Dickson immediately identified it as Henry's and took it to him. He has gotten to hold Henry a few times, and he very gently pats Henry on the head. He also loves to give him kisses. He really is a great big brother! He went back to school today, to try to get back on a normal routine, and his teachers said he talked a lot about Henry. What can I say? We make some sweet kids. Sweet and big. 8 lbs 5 oz at 11 days early... sheesh.

And how is the Ad-man handling all of this? I'd say he is very much made for fatherhood. He's amazing with John Dickson, but its been a while since we've had a newborn around here, and parenthood is very different with a 2 year old than with a tiny baby. It's fun to start over again, and nothing makes me melt more than seeing him with our little ones.

Pictures to come - in the meantime, thank you to everyone for all of the love, support, gifts, visits and cards! We definitely feel very blessed.

Henry Hollen Kelley

Henry Hollen Kelley
8 lbs 5 oz
20.75 inches
July 11, 2010 4:07 pm

Henry Redux Remix-Papoose addition

Henry's Here Redux

Henry's Here!!!

Not a lot of text just yet, but a few pictures to celebrate the arrival of our newest little guy. I hope all is well with everyone, mother and baby are perfect (and probably going home today (Monday))!!

And 1...

2...

With only 2 days to go, John Dickson has been doing his part to try to help us readjust to sleepless nights. He decided to hang out for about 2 1/2 hours last night. As much as those late nights stink, sometimes it is worth the trade off - sleeping til 9:30 the next morning!

And in case there are any readers in the medical profession, we'd like some weigh in on what we call late night selective paralysis. You see, once John Dickson goes to bed, he loses the ability to reach any of the stuffed animals, books, or tools that are in his bed. In fact, he will bypass said items to come straight to the door to cry for us to hand him donkey, screwdriver, green puppy, elmo, blanket, pillow... the list goes on. And then of course there are the 2am emergencies, when he realizes that he fell asleep without his bucket. How are we supposed to successfully raise a 2nd child, when we cant even make sure our 1st has his bucket to go to bed?!?!? That's parenting 101, right?