The John Dickson Fridays

It's been a while... let's begin, shall we?

Henry was in his entertainer the other night and John Dickson was truly trying to play with him. There are buttons on the entertainer that have animals on them and they say the animals name, makes the sound, etc. I prompted John Dickson to teach Henry about the animals, and instead of starting to make animal sounds like I expected, he took Henry's hand and gently helped him press all of the buttons. I kid you not. We did not even have to intervene on Henry's behalf - he was doing it that gently. I maybe cried. A little. Maybe.

John Dickson is crazy excited about Christmas, and he doesn't even fully understand the concept yet. Someone (daycare we think?) told him about Christmas trees, and this weekend he has been desperate to "get a christmas tree in my home." We keep telling him they are not for sale yet, and he nods knowingly and says "I get Christmas tree... in a minute." We took the kiddos to the mall yesterday, where, by the way, there was a slight mix up in which there were no size 2 diapers in the diaper bag. Henry sported a size 5. Roll with it. John Dickson loves secrets and often asks me to tell him a secret. So, yesterday, I told him I had a secret for him. And then I whispered in his ear that Santa was at the mall. And then he screamed "SANTA'S AT THE MALL DADDY!!!!!!!!!" Note to self and to readers: do not trust John Dickson with a real secret.

Aaaanyhoo, turns out they let kids just go visit with Santa - no photographing required. So we convince John Dickson to go see the jolly guy by telling him he needs to tell Santa that he wants a Buzz and a Woody (The toy story dolls, not the college experience... dirty dirty minds - you know who you are). So, in true John Dickson form, John Dickson marches right up to him, Santa says "hey little guy!" and John Dickson says "Buzz and Woody!"

Santa gave John Dickson a little wish list card to take with him, and then...

Santa: "You need to come back for pictures before the lines start getting long, so sister will be happy"
Me, in my head: "Did he just say sister?"
Santa: "Right? Where'd your husband go?"
Me, in my head: "I dont know where I got sister from... how does he know my husband is impatient?"
Santa, to John Dickson: "Here you go buddy, take another one for Sissy"

Seriously. Henry, over there with Adam, wearing all blue. Seriously.

It took us a few minutes to leave the Santa area of the mall, because John Dickson thought he was getting a Buzz and a Woody right then and there. When I started trying to explain the elves making his toys in the North Pole, he sort of gave me the funny smile that he smiles when he has no idea what is going on.

So the pack n play is still in our room next to our bed, because well, Henry still sleeps there. We have been fighting John Dickson for months now to stay out of it. The other night I was feeding Henry and John Dickson wanted to get in. I told him no - he listened. I went to go put Henry in his crib, where he spends the first hour long portion of the night and when I came back, surprise surprise, John Dickson in the pack n play. He also likes to straddle the entertainer and make it turn so that it is his own personal carousel. Anyhoo, I told him sternly to get out, right now. He looked at me, pointed to the door and said, with authority "Go feed Henry Mama!!!"

On Saturday afternoon, John Dickson let me rock him to sleep for a nap. I cried a little. Maybe. A little.

Yes Please!

Can someone please pass Henry's rolls?







Can you believe how fat this baby is?!? He goes in for his 4 month check up on the 23rd and we'll know the stats, but I have the feeling he weighs about 35 lbs and is in the 4,847th percentile. I guess we will see. At any rate, The Hen, The Hennis, Henry Bear, Henry, whatever you want to call him, is 4 months old today.

Henry is a rolling machine now and loves to lay on his back, thrash his arms and legs wildly and roll back and forth. He's very talkative these days, and he still remains in the 2 member club "People Who Like Mom's Singing."

Henry is taking 5 ounces every 3-4 hours, and continues to wake up at least every 3 hours at night. Last night he got up 8 times. It's why he's so... what was the term Karin used to describe him... roly poly.

Henry loooooooooves bath time and is a splashing fool!! He's gonna be a water bug, just like his Nana. Did you know my mom got a medal in the Jr Olympics for swimming? You learn something new everyday.

Henry continues to love his seahorse, and has actually started going to sleep like a big boy all by himself with it.

Henry's going to be a big cousin in April to a sweet baby GIRL!!!!!! We cant wait to meet little Emma and her giant headbands.

He's our roly poly cuddle bug and he's 4 months old!!!

A Final Note

I know, I know, Halloween is pretty over, but we still have a pumpkin on our porch, and I want my kids to be able to scroll through the blog that I am sure will by then be an obsolete form of communication and know what their childhoods were like. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I thought John Dickson should know just how tricky he thought he was.



Any idea what is going on here?

That's John Dickson and his plastic pumpkin of candy, hiding under his blanket, or what he likes to think of as his "invisibility cloak" - (did I get that right? I don't do Harry Potter). Anyhoo, if you look carefully, you can see a lollipop stick poking out from under the blanket.

Halloween- The Compulsory Narrative

For some reason my wife insists on pointing out when I guest-write, so I guess I should note that this is an "Adam Blog:"

For the big spooky day, Granna and Papa came to visit (as well as Aunt Lauren and Uncle Jared who came up the night before) and spent some quality time with the two little dudes. Much fun was had and laughs were shared, a masterful dino-pumpkin was even carved, but John Dickson was ready to get to his bidness.

What is his bidness you ask? His bidness is candy. The church we go to here in Piedmont was having a huge Trunk or Treat event that me and the little man decided to hit up. The church grounds were replete with bouncy houses, fire trucks, face painting, hayrides, and the big money item....candy. After (literally) a 45 minute line we entered the car "neighborhood" where Spidey hit up every person for a treat. We got about halfway through when he noticed the taktors pulling the hay rides, and from that point on we were Taktor or Bust. We abandoned our quest to fill the plastic pumpkin (much to my dismay) and got onto the hayride. John Dickson loved it and got really excited to tell me what color the tractor was. A lot.

After debarking the tractor we stumbled upon the magical world of face painting. John Dickson had not yet discovered the joys of the facial arts, but it is not something he will soon forget. He got his very own spider (what else would a Spider Man get?) and, to be truthful, had no idea what was going on until I took him home and showed it to him in the mirror. After that though, he was entranced. He probably stood on the bathroom counter for about 10 minutes studying his awesome new face. Needless to say, we were less than thrilled when it came off in the bath.

The final event of Trunk or Treat were the two massive fire trucks. John Dickson is a fire truck fiend and was over the moon sitting in the seats and playing with the hats. We obviously had to get on both because fire trucks vary quite greatly from one to the next. Or so John Dickson would have me believe.

As a final note, it's entirely possibly I am now addicted to candy.

Halloween - Part John Dickson

An Adam Post:

Moving at spider speed....
Daddy and John Dickson on the hay ride
John Dickson next to the masterfully carved dino-pumpkin.
We let him pick this year and Adam carved it freehand, masterfully.
Ready to get rid of some pumpkin seeds

A little web-slinging to get the party started.

Happy Birthday Aunt Erin!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Erin - Take 1


Aaaand Take 2

Halloween - Part Henry

A quick preview into Henry's first Halloween - no, I didn't forget our firstborn, but lets face it, their Halloweens were very different, and blogger only lets me posts 5 pictures at a time. John Dickson will have his own post(s).

Aunt La La and Uncle Jared came up Saturday night to play and spend the night, so of course they were there Halloween morning! Aunt La La refused to be photographed.



He's gonna make a good dad.

Granna and Papa swung by later that morning for a super scary Halloween brunch. And by super scary, I mean that I made deviled eggs. And also that BiLo's cinnamon rolls were a tad questionable.

This is a GREAT picture -



Granna with her little chicken** -



Wait, where was Henry? He's sad you did not recognize him...



He's right here of course!



**A chicken is not to be confused with a gamecock

"Whats up, John Dickson?"

Ever wonder what is going on in a 2 year old's mind? I had to convince John Dickson to let me record his ramblings by telling him we were making a movie, which is why at the end of the first video, he says "how about a commercial?" Grab a bag of popcorn - this could take a while.





And no one believes us that he never stops talking when he's at home...

Drumroll Please

Ta da!!

As you can see, rolling over makes for a happy Hen!



And these eyes make for a happy Mommy!

Rolling Over and Fairies!!!!

Hen decided today was the day! Adam left him on his back on his baby gym to go help John Dickson go potty. He came back, and Hen was on his tummy! Supposedly he did it several more times at daycare today. We haven't actually seen it, so it is possible the roll over fairy came and flipped him, but we're pretty sure Hen is rolling over now!

Did I mention we switched daycares? We don't have to get in to all that, you should just know that when it was time for Hen to start going, we decided to move both boys to a different school. And let me tell you. Hen is not hurting for any attention! I have had teachers who aren't even in his room tell me that Hen is their favorite. Supposedly whenever teachers go in to relieve Henry's primary teacher, they always go straight for Hen. He's "the most cuddly." And always smiling! Even the director goes in there to see him. When Adam went in the other day, Hen was being rocked and kissed on. He's quite the hit. It makes me feel so much better about leaving him there - my biggest concern with having a baby in daycare was worrying that he didn't get cuddled and loved on enough. It seems he is doing just fine!

John Dickson seems to enjoy the new school, and he's become a champ at singing his ABCs! I have started to think that he likes to mess with me and that he knows more than he lets on. He pretends not to know any letters, but when we were at Leslie's house, he got a W magnet off the fridge, held it upside down and said it was an "M", then turned it over and said it was a "W" and then held it sideways and said it was "number 3." However, we were looking at a Nautica add that had NAUTICA in big letters. We went through each letter with me asking him what it was and him telling me something completely wrong. What's that? Letter C. No, that's an N. What's that? That's a B. No, that's an A. You get the picture. We get to the last letter, and I think he might get it right - afterall, it is the 2nd A. "What's that?" "That's the number 3!" Little stinker.

We love Costco. You probably already knew that about us... we're not my in-laws - our Costco actually needs more customers than just us to stay in business, but we are there pretty much every weekend. I realized just how much when this conversation took place yesterday:

Me: What do you want for Christmas?
John Dickson: I want a fire truck
Me: What else do you want?
John Dickson: And some samples

And can I tell you my mom of the year moment last week? I went to pick up my boys, and I started to buckle Henry in his car seat. I got the top part buckled, and then he spit up. So I stopped and got a wipe and cleaned it up, and then we went and got John Dickson and got in the car. We got home and I got John Dickson out of his seat, and as I did, I happened to look over and notice - I never finished buckling Henry in. So, foregoing any potty mouth words in front of my older child who repeats EVERYTHING, I went for a more appropriate "OH POOOP!!!" John Dickson turned around and looked in his own car seat - then looked at me like I was crazy, and said "no..."

John Dickson had another one of those moments a few weeks ago where he thought I had lost my mind. He had thrown his tower fan yet again, and we had taken it away. It was pretty cool on this night, and I didn't know if John Dickson wanted his ceiling fan on or not, so I asked him. He said yes, so I left it on, turned off the light and I shut his door. He immediately started crying for his fan, so I opened the door and explained to him that his fan was on. He was still crying, so I turned the light back on so that he could see it (and as I type this, I realize he no longer says "roun and roun" - SAD!). Anyhoo, he looks not up at his ceiling fan, but in the spot where the tower fan normally sits, he squints his eyes, and genuinely confused he says "I dont see it!" Of course I had to put it back - that was just too cute.

Those are the latest happenings around here! There were a few hilarious things that happened a few weeks ago that I forgot to post, but you probably think it's too late to hear those now. No? Oh, ok!

So I take the boys to meet Adam at Mellow Mushroom on one of the nights Adam was working late. We're sitting outside having the best greek salad on the planet (yes, better than Zorba's), and a Chinese guy walks by. My child, who takes like 20 minutes to warm up to people he already knows, forgets he is shy and says "bye bye Mexican! Bye bye Mexican!" I kid you not - NO IDEA WHERE HE GOT THAT.

We were in the parking lot another day and John Dickson says "that's an old man right there!" I told him that was rude - he said "that's not rude, Mommy!" He was just stating the facts!

One of the most hilarious moments of John Dickson time happened probably even 2 months ago?? Fine, fine, I'll share. John Dickson hates to nap. We have to hold him down for approximately 90 minutes. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. It's awful. Adam normally does nap duty, and on the days where we win, I hear John Dickson's door open and close very softly, and a very disheveled looking Adam emerges. So I'm in the other room, and things are quiet. I hear the door very softly open and then shut, and I'm quite impressed that Adam has managed to do it again. I look up, and then I look about 3 feet lower, and there is a very triumphant looking little boy. Adam was asleep in John Dickson's bed. John Dickson had put Adam down for a nap. It. was. hilarious.

So while we are majorly backtracking, I have one last story for the books.



It seems every pair of shoes should have a good story, and boy does this pair have a doozy. It was a March day. Adam and I had recently gotten into a little argument because John Dickson was wearing an outfit that had a pair of shoes that went perfectly with the outfit, and Adam had put these shoes on him instead. What? I was pregnant. So Adam has it in his head that I have a problem with these shoes. Not true. Anyway, John Dickson and I were driving home from daycare (its a 25 minute drive). John Dickson wanted his window open. After a quick look back to make sure he wasn't holding anything that he could throw out the window, I roll it down and let him enjoy the spring weather. We are driving along, and John Dickson says "shoes go?" You have got to be kidding me. I'm sure I know exactly where "shoes go." We pull in to the driveway and I check the backseat. No shoes. Just as I suspected. So I call Adam, who was living in Columbia at the time, and now he thinks this is some master plan I have to get rid of shoes that I actually like. I swear up and down he is so wrong!!! (This has to be a record for italics in one post). The next morning, I am taking John Dickson back to daycare, and somewhere about 10 miles from our house, I see a cute little shoe, in the median. Now I'm really aggravated. What good is one shoe? It's just there to taunt me. I keep driving, and low and behold, the other shoe. In the median. Making myself late for work, I pull a U-Turn, pull over and run in the street to gather one shoe - back track and do the same to get the other shoe. Ahhh redemption. I take John Dickson to school and I still cant believe what just happened, so I tell his teacher the story. She tells me every time they open the windows at school, John Dickson throws all of the toys out. Little. Stinker. Here's the funny part though - John Dickson rides on the passenger side, and threw the shoes out of the passenger side. So they should have been in the street, thrown into the lane farthest from the median (which would be on the drivers side), but both shoes were in the median. It was like the shoe fairy delivered them to safety.

I wonder if the shoe fairy is the same as the rolling over fairy...