Edit: I totally forgot to mention that Henry is clapping and is thrilled whenever he does it! It's precious. We say "yaaaaay" - he claps. Yay adoption!! (That's a Modern Family reference... Henry's the real deal) I also forgot to mention that John Dickson's favorite new thing is to pretend he is a puppy. He will do anything for a pretend puppy treat. It's awesome. "Puppy, you need to put your toys away so you can have a treat." Toys, put away. Life is beautiful. He will also sit, lie down, shake and speak (bark). I know, I know, he's multitalented.
Oh Henry... the child wants so badly to be a big boy. He still has his cuddle moments, especially in the mornings, but he is on the go. He wants to be down on his hands and knees crawling all over the house, or better yet, he wants to be on his feet. I wont be surprised if he is taking steps by 10 or 11 months - the child is fearless, and desperate to be always on the go. His teacher says that with all of the other babies, she encourages them to stand up and stuff like that, but with Henry, she just wants him to sit down. The child loves to let go and *try to stand there by himself, and he comes home with a new bruise everyday. It makes me sad that the baby days are numbered in our house... just not quite sad enough to have another one :-)
Henry has started to eat some finger foods and he LOVES it. Another way he is trying to leave behind babyhood. He had some chunks of banana the other night and had the best time eating it. I told his teacher about it, and today Henry had banana at school. His teacher said she had bananas at home and she wanted to bring one for ol Hen. We always say that one day we will show up and Henry and Ms Sandy will be gone. It's a good problem to have, assuming it doesn't actually happen.
Henry has 4 chompers now and he likes to grit his teeth. He's still not babbling, but he does growl a lot, for better or for worse. He is holding his own sippy cups and sucking them down like a champ. He continues to love his blankie, the spatula for the play grill, and of course, his big brother. He doesn't mind school, but he hates the nursery at church - probably because we kept him in the service with us up until 2 weeks ago.
So that brings us to John Dickson. John Dickson has been a crazy man lately, and he's said some pretty crazy things. So lets back up a little bit. When John Dickson was somewhere around 18 months or so, he decided he was desperate for a sip of Adam's Yuengling. I told Adam to just give the child a sip and then he'd leave him alone.
I give you a minute to judge.
So Adam gives him a sip and it turns out our little plan backfired, as John Dickson liked it. So fast forward to last summer (just over 2). We are at a hotel and Adam is drinking a Guinness. Same story. John Dickson wants it. I tell Adam to let him have a sip - its a dark beer and he definitely won't like it. Heck, I dont like it! I'm sure you know how it ends. The child likes him some Guinness.
Go ahead, judge some more.
All of this to say, we rarely have alcohol in our house, but the few times we have and the few sips John Dickson has gotten have really made quite the impression. John Dickson now says "I gonna be a grown up and eat beer."
Fine, judge some more, but this is the last time.
Then we took him to Trader Joes, and as we walk through the beer and wine section, John Dickson starts YELLING at the top of his lungs, over and over again... "YOU WANT SOME BEER, EVERYONE?? YOU WANT SOME BEER, EVERYONE??" And then he starts going on about super powers. Now I know in his little head, the two were completely unrelated, but I'm sure to other people they thought John Dickson thought beer gives you super powers. I feel confident in this, judging from the laughs.
Don't you wish you weren't out of judge time.
Anyhoo, Sunday afternoon John Dickson was in his room for quiet time. He's been 99.9999% perfectly potty trained for months now, and he's extremely good about going all on his own. He often goes 2 or 3 hours without using the potty. So on Sunday when he went potty right before quiet time and then got out of his room 15 minutes later to go potty again, I was pretty sure he was pulling my leg. Another 10 minutes later, he suddenly "needed to go potty" again. I was almost positive he didn't, but I do hate to take the chance. So I open the door, and John Dickson is grinning ear to ear.
"Sucka!!"
Oh yes. He said that. THREE TIMES. Adam heard it too. I feel like he almost had to have been saying something else, but that grin... I swear he suckered me into opening that door and then he called me out on it.
Unbelievable.We're working on staying dry at night. John Dickson makes it about 6 days out of the week, but he's going to have to have a near perfect record before we do away with the diapers. He even wakes up in the middle of the night to go potty, which is impressive, considering he is wearing a diaper. He's trying really hard! Tonight would have been a trial run had John Dickson not gotten up to use the potty and reminded me he wasn't wearing a diaper... whoops.
I made breakfast casserole yesterday morning for Adam and John Dickson to have for dinner last night, since I had to work late. This morning John Dickson had breakfast casserole for breakfast too. I said "did you know Mommy made that for you?" I was getting ready for work and when I came back in the living room, John Dickson said, all on his own "Thank you for making me this, Mommy." Consequently, I bought him a book from the book fair at school today.
We went to my friend Andrea's house on Sunday for my boys to play with her girls. She has a 4 month old, Bella, and almost 3 year olds - Olivia and Sofia. As you may have gathered, Olivia and Sofia are twins and while not identical, look very much alike. I think Bella, Olivia and Sofia were a little underwhelmed by John Dickson and Henry, as all 3 took a nap while we were there, but John Dickson and Henry had fun anyway. When we got home, Adam asked John Dickson what his new friends' names were, to which he responded "Livia and more Livia." Too funny!
The same day that we took John Dickson to Trader Joes, we were playing around in the living room and Adam was laying on his back, wearing an undershirt. John Dickson climbed on his stomach and kept sticking his head under Adam's shirt. He'd lift his head so the shirt is pulled across his face and he starts yelling "Amanda!!!!!!!!! Amanda!!!!!!!!" I almost died. I don't know where he gets this stuff from.
So, to recap: John Dickson calls us by our first names, likes beer and calls us "sucka!!!" Now don't go putting any money on it, but I believe we are up for parents of the year this year. Obviously I am kidding. John Dickson is very sweet, very well mannered most of the time, is very smart and is very funny. We're really proud of him, and that's why we can laugh about some of the inappropriate things he says.
On to more serious things, John Dickson knows his colors and numbers in spanish. He knows his whole name, and knows the first and last names of Adam, Henry and me. He knows his birthday ("April fist") and knows my birthday. He doesn't know Adam's because Adam hasn't taught him and I don't want him to get confused about mine. Priorities! He knows Papa's birthday is next, and then Daddy's, and then his (or possibly Emma's!) He knows his days of the week and he's learning his months. Actually, one of the first times we started quizzing him on his birthday, he responded "January 10th" very matter of factly. He recognizes his name, and while today is the first time the tables in his class have assigned seats with the children's names on the table, he was able to tell me exactly where he sits.
John Dickson loves to dress like his Daddy, and he has come to know plaid and flannel (or both, if you are lucky) as "work shirts." He came up with that all on his own. My husband loves plaid more than Al Borlen. John Dickson loves to wear his own plaid button down shirts to look like his Daddy, and he says he's going to go work at Clemson. (Did I mention he also knows where we work?) Oh, and he recognizes the word Clemson, even without a tiger paw.
So that's where we are. John Dickson's birthday is less than a month away and we've been busy planning his party! We're on the books for a party at a horse farm - petting zoo, pony rides and cake. We're pretty excited about that. Now we just have to see if I can make a cake that looks like Andy's bed. Time will tell. (Hint: Dont eat the cake)
And in unrelated news, John Dickson has an appointment with the cardiologist a week from Monday. It is just a routine check - EKG and echo. Both boys will be doing it every 2-3 years until adolescence when they will get checked every year. We're sure he's going to check out just fine, but we'll keep you posted. John Dickson also is getting his adenoids out a week from Friday. It's the same doctor who did his tubes, who we love, and while we hate that that little man has to have this minor surgery, we sure are looking forward to a nose that doesn't run, lungs that don't cough all the time and a stomach that doesn't throw up far too often. He's going to be a brand new baby. (Might I add, he does not like to be called "a baby" but he will tell you he's "Mommy's baby." Plays me like a fiddle.) He will also tell you that Mommy has two arms - 1 to hold him and 1 to hold Henry. I mean, I taught him that, but still... melt. my. heart.
Until next time.
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