"You're a codfish!"

Kate had to work on Saturday so I took the kids to the Desert Museum in the morning to give her some quiet time. We had a really nice time. It was pretty busy but it is a big place so it wasn't bad. Both kids behaved very well almost the entire time with only a couple minor fits. I think their favorites were the snakes, digging in the dirt for fossils and playing on a large concrete tortoise. Miss R also really enjoyed the fish.

The funniest part was when we had lunch. We were seated right next to the cleaning staff who would wipe down the tables when people left. Henry basically attached to the young lady. He sat next to her kicking his feet and blowing on his straw that made a whistling sound. When she went to clean tables he went with her and copied her cleaning motion and looked back at me and said, "I'm cleaning!" The young lady handled the attention of young Henry the flirt very well.

We had read Peter Pan in the morning. In it Peter calls Captain Hook a codfish several times. Henry of course picked up on this and called me, Miss R and a little girl who was about 6 a codfish. It's hard to get mad at him for such a silly line.

Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. After their nap they went to Grammy and Poppy's house for dinner. It was Kate and my anniversary of the day we first met. I won't say how long we've been together but it is a long time. We went out to dinner and then returned to pick up the kids.

The kids were still eating dinner when we returned. They were also watching Peter Pan. We watched the rest with them. Miss R fell asleep on the way home but the energizer bunny that is Henry was still going despite it being fairly late.

Today it was too wet to go anywhere fun so we settled in for a day of hi-jinks at home. Henry was up at 6:30 despite being up fairly late the night before. He is now starting to get out of his bed and wander around rather than just crying and waiting for us to come get him. So far it has been fine but I am a bit concerned he will get into something at some point.

Henry had his breakfast and then when Miss R got up he had breakfast again which is a good thing I think. We read books, played with the nets from some soccer goals we have and used the plastic poles as trumpets and voice modifiers. We also rough housed a bit. I wanted them to take a nap and thought I had better make them tired.

After nap they watched Toy Story with Kate while she did work and I went to the grocery store and made dinner. Miss R was in the zone tonight. She was cracking me up left and right. She is more of a physical comedian versus Henry and all the crazy stuff he says. She has some great facial expressions. Tonight they had some pasta salad for dinner. She ate the pasta but none of the veggies that went with or anything else on her plate. She asked for more pasta and I said she had to have something else on her plate first. She gave me this look like, "Are you serious?!" I cracked up.

Of course she was in such a goofy mood that she didn't want to eat. She spent probably over an hour at the table, eventually eating some other things beside pasta but not a lot. We did let her have some ice cream which she devoured. She ate hers as well as Henry's because he didn't like it (the kid has no sweet tooth). Then she licked the bowl clean.

Henry walked on the treadmill a little bit but mostly he still likes to fall off the most. Then it was bath time.

After bath Kate played matching games with them. Henry is very good at matching the faces on the cards we have. Miss R is a work in progress. I expect at some point the light will come on and she will get it.

Then it was time for bed. Once through The Haunted House and Hamilton and they went to sleep with relatively few protests.

Drama Queen

I had the Winter Olympics on the television to keep me company last night as I worked into the wee hours of the morning. At one point, Jeff had brought Henry to bed with him b/c Henry was restless. But Henry eventually told Jeff, "I want to go to my bed." Around 1AM, Henry walked into the living room, looked at the TV and asked, "What are you watching?" He wasn't too happy that I made him go back to bed. If he didn't have school in the morning, I would have been tempted to let him stay up.

On Friday morning, I found myself being poked in the behind by Henry as I got ready for the day. I said to Henry, "Is there some reason why you are poking my derriere, Henry?" Henry inquired, "This is your derriere?!?" I said, "Yes, indeed." I'm hoping that this word replaces "butt."

It was fruit day at school. We brought blueberries and grapes for the kids to contribute to their classes' fruit salads. After extracting Miss R from my legs, I dropped off Henry. He gave me a kiss and said "Bye, Mommy!" and looked perfectly content to start his day. As I walked back past Miss R's room, she was laying on one of the comfy chairs smiling up at one of her classmates. Nice to see her happy when she doesn't know that I'm watching her.

I didn't pick up the kids until 5:40PM. I had been working at school, still scrambling to edit books chapters. Managed to get all of the NCA submissions assigned to reviewers. Phew. Both kids were in Henry's classroom with Miss Marisa watching them. She said that they really seemed to enjoy being in the same class, which happens when there are so few kids that they have to combine. When I arrived, Miss R was doing some art with her friend Harmoni and Henry was lying on the floor in another area. Miss R gave me a hug first (of course). Henry eventually came to see me. I asked Henry if he wanted to do something fun and then asked him what would be fun to do. He said, "Art!" I wasn't expecting that answer. He also said he wanted to go home and watch "Wall-E." He had to settle, however, for Monkey Business. I said, "How about we go to Monkey Business after we pick up Daddy?" Henry said, "Monkey Business is my favorite!"

We picked up Jeff, went to Monkey Business, and had a nice family evening. The kids ate well at dinner (mac'n'cheese, chicken tenders, and fries plus some of Jeff's Caesar salad). They had fun playing games and climbing on some animals equipment, which is set on some fake grass.

I was watching Miss R and Henry play around. Henry was inside the hippo, and Miss R was trying to climb into the hippo but was frustrated and then got moody. She tends to take out her moodiness on Henry. She used her left hand to push at his stomach. He then retaliated with a shove making her mad and she collapsed to the ground in a dramatic fashion. Jeff walked up to the hippo (from the front) and Miss R's angle and performance gave him a concern. He looked at me like I was crazy when I didn't assist R after her "collapse." Her collapse was totally fake, but she managed convince Jeff, who hadn't seen her slight of hand, which prompted Henry to push back. I told Jeff that her new nickname is going to be Kevin Parrom (a UA forward on the men's b-ball team who Jeff thinks is a dirty player) if she keeps it up. I've decided that I'm not going to coddle. At least not when she brings things on herself. My advice: Don't dish it out if you can't take it.

On the way home, I asked the kids some questions about the book "Mickey Mouse and the Haunted House" to distract them. I asked Henry what Pluto said as he went down, down, down the shoot. Henry replied, "Ow ow ow ooooooooooowwwww!" I asked him what the ghosts said in the passage way. He whispered, "Go away! Go away!" And the he ad added, "Go away, ghosts! Bad ghosts! You go to timeout!"

As I got him out of the car, Henry said, "We had fun at Monkey Business!" The kids made their way to our bathroom to brush their teeth. Both kids made attempts brushing their own teeth.

We snuggled and wrestled in bed. We play the "X marks the spot with the line, line, line" game for awhile. Jeff tickled the kids. Then, Jeff read them "The Haunted House" before bed. Then, it was lights out.

7 waffles!

Wednesday was a pretty ho-hum day. The kids came right home from daycare. I took them for a walk with the dogs. We ran into our neighbors and their dogs. We visited one and she gave us a few sprigs of broccoli from her garden to take home.

Henry amazed me with his memory again. While picking the broccoli he said, "I want a flashlight." I thought it was an odd comment. My neighbor remembered that last time we picked broccoli it was getting dark and we used a flashlight.

The kids ate pretty well for dinner, chicken nuggets and grapes with a few mouthfuls of broccoli and zucchini from Kate and my plate. Miss R even tried the zucchini which shocked me.

After dinner they had a bath and then played around as demonstrated by Kate's video post.

Today I took them to school because Kate has been staying up until 4am every night working on book edits and doing work for an upcoming conference assigning reviewers to papers. In the parking lot they both decided that if I was going to hold their hands then I might as well carry/drag them by their arms. Both their classes were on the playground. Henry hopped on a "bike" and immediately rammed it into another child on a bike. Then he pushed himself down the slight hill to the littler kids playground and ran full speed into another kid on a bike. We must always be sure to keep his insurance paid up.

After school we went to the grocery store. They were both very loud the entire time punctuated with ear splitting shrieks at times. Henry was talking about what I thought were "monsters." However, I eventually deciphered what he was saying as lobsters. So we went to see the lobsters a couple times.

Once home Kate joined us for a walk with the dogs. The kids rode their push trikes. Miss R still doesn't get the steering thing. Henry gets it but enjoys crashing into things so it was a slow walk.

Miss R sported a new look. Kate broke out a Christmas present they hadn't played with yet, a Belle wig from Beauty and the Beast. Miss R looked absolutely adorable in the wig and kept it on through the walk and up until dinner.

For dinner they ate 7 toaster waffles between the two of them. Henry had about 4 1/2 and Miss R 2 1/2. Henry also had a potato patty. Neither would touch their fruit salad. I was rather blown away. I haven't given them waffles for dinner before but I might have to more often.

Today I read from Dr. Sears that toddlers are just picky and he had many tips so when Henry requested waffles for dinner I decided to roll with it. What I find shocking is that he said toddlers stomachs are the size of their fist. How do 4 1/2 waffles and a potato patty fit in something that size? Henry must have a trash compactor for a stomach.

The washcloths we used to wipe their faces with became a fun play object after dinner. Henry holding the cloth up to his chest, "It's a dress. Miss R try it on." Then he said, "Let's get ready for the ball." Clearly he has been getting enough Cinderella. Then Miss R said no, she wanted to go to the dinosaur show. She mentions that frequently. Walking with the Dinosaurs made a big impression on her. Kate and I laughed at how our little boy (who was also wearing a pink princess diaper at his request) wanted to wear a dress and go to the ball, while our little girl wanted to go see dinosaurs.

When it was time for bed Henry took Miss R's doll to the bathroom so we could brush her teeth. Then he put her in Miss R's bed and said goodnight. He sat in the chair Kate and I sit in to read to them, grabbed a Thomas book and started to read. He impressed me by his knowledge of what was on the few different pages he turned to. Then he got in bed and he filled in the blanks to the Hamilton story again. I think he likes scary stories and rhyming stories the best.

Miss R is out but Henry is tossing and turning and coughing. Seems to be able to breathe through his nose but I think there is some drainage. Hopefully he will be able to get a good nights sleep.

"I slipped!"

Will post more details when I get a chance to climb out from under my mountain of work. In the meantime, here's a video of Safety Henry from Wednesday night:

Haircut

Henry started the day at 6:45am which is pretty early since he usually stays up past 9pm or even 10pm chatting away in his bed and not going to sleep. Thankfully he is showing a reemerging interest in cold cereal for breakfast. He still wanted waffles on the side, but it was a slight variation. Oatmeal has lost favor. Miss R is still not eating much, while Henry is ok, but not great.

After daycare Kate took Henry to the eye doctor to readjust his less than a week old glasses. One pair just wasn't fitted right to begin with. The other he had managed to bend so it would slide down his nose constantly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these pairs last at least a few months.

At the office he distinguished himself, as usual. He played with the credit card machine. He stuck his head under the bottom of a bookshelf. He stuck his finger in the latch part of a pocket door and cried out "Ouch, ouch!" This caused the person fitting the glasses concern, but Kate was sure he was faking. She walked over to him and he pulled his finger out. Then he put it back in and called out "Ouch, it's like an alligator!"

After the eye doctor they went to get their hair cut. Henry goes with either Grammy or Kate and the stylist throws Henry's visit in for free. It takes two people because Henry wouldn't dream of sitting still long enough for me to get a haircut (bald reference) let alone someone with functioning follicles. Apparently he was not cooperative for his haircut. He didn't like it and let people know he didn't like it. Somehow Todd did manage to give him a nice looking haircut. It was long overdue. Grammy took him to her place while Kate had her hair cut to keep him from ripping the place apart.

Apparently on the way to get the haircut Henry had a light stick in his hand. He announced, "I'm a bad boy. I want to be a bad boy." Then he proceeded to bang the light stick off anything he could reach from his car seat. Mission accomplished.

Miss R went to visit her brothers today. She was asleep in the van when she arrived home. It took her about 15 minutes to come of her sleepy haze. I made dinner for the two of us, low carb, low sugar pizza. Yum. Actually it was pretty good. She was perfectly content to play around on her own. She is soooo easy to take care of compared to Henry. I didn't have to count to 3 or threaten time out once. I thought she was probably enjoying having some time off from Henry but then she started to ask where he was. So I think she does like him after all.

After dinner, which she barely ate any of, she was playing with the washcloth I used to wipe her face with. She would put it on the dog Roger and kept saying "Roger needs a bathtub." That is certainly true. Then she put the washcloth on his head and said "Tip your head back Roger." That is what we tell her when we rinse her hair. It was very cute. Roger is the most patient dog on the planet. I foresee tea parties and dress up for him as the kids grow older.

We read together and listened to music. It was nice.

When Henry returned he had some dinner. Miss R took another stab at her uneaten pizza. She decided to lick the sauce off a piece. Lovely. Henry smeared sauce all over his face and managed to get a decent amount in his mouth, with help from Kate. He demonstrated that it is possible to eat a mushroom in the middle of a piece without going at it from the side as long as you don't mind getting your face messy.

After dinner it was late, and so they did some walking on the treadmill and then headed off to bed. It's all I can do to stop myself from cranking up the speed and seeing if I can reach that perfect equilibrium of slow enough that they can keep up but fast enough that they still feel the need to hold on for dear life thus keeping them on it and wearing them out. A father's fantasy. Don't tell CPS.

For their night time story I read "The Monster Under the Shed." Henry loves scary stuff and that one is about as scary as Thomas the Tank Engine gets. Henry listened very attentively and laid quietly. He usually likes story time but he was particularly good tonight. It's nice to say he was good once in a while.

No plans for tomorrow that I can think of. We'll see what the day brings.

Return to Grammy and Poppy's

Before talking about today, I want to add something about yesterday's UA game. Late in the game the announcer said "Time out ASU" to which Henry responded "I not go to time out!!" It's funny how sometimes you don't connect things like basketball and toddler discipline, but the kids hear it like it is.

Today the kids wore their dinosaur t-shirts to school. Henry had raptors and Miss R had T-Rex. When Henry put his on he started to roar and then proclaimed "He roars like a lion!" To which I responded, "He roars like a lion?" and Henry straightened me out "No, he's not a lion." I thought that was pretty good, using similes at age 2 3/4.

After school they went to Grammy's house, which they hadn't done for a week or so. Miss R has been going to school in underwear instead of diapers. I forgot to give Grammy a heads up on that one and she proceeded to soak Grammy. She does very well most of the time but there are still some accidents.

The kids did not want to come home. As soon as she saw me Miss R said "No Daddy, no!" and shook her head violently from side to side. She is usually happy to see me and runs and gives me a big hug. Henry never wants to come home. She also fought me getting into the car seat which she normally doesn't do. She was very distraught over not having her shoes, because they had suffered a soaking along with Grammy.

At home Henry did a wonderful job of reading along to Hamilton, a story of a pig who almost eats a wolf. Kate would start the sentences and Henry would fill in the last word and at times would do several words. Sometimes when I'm listening I think I know what word comes next and then Henry says something else and of course, he is always right.

Kate was carrying Henry around on her shoulder just before bed. She had him like a sack of potatoes with his stomach on her shoulders, head in front, feet in back. She kissed him on the back and said "I kissed your back" to which he replied "Kiss my butt!!" Hopefully that one isn't repeated too often or too loudly like the way they have taken to saying "Stinky butt!" at inappropriate moments. Kate notes that she did not actually comply with his request.

Tomorrow Henry gets a haircut and Miss R has a visit with her brothers.

UA Loss, But At Least the Kids Looked Cute

On Sunday morning, the kids were up around 7AM after having not gone to bed until about 11PM. I was dragging. I really wish that I had a tenth of Henry's energy. If I did, the house would be spotless and I would have been able to write two books in the past month in addition to all of my other responsibilities.

We had pancakes, which were delicious. Henry had two bowls of cereal. In the morning, we read books. I headed to work (still working on paper reviewer assignments and book editing), while Jeff took care of the kids. I believe that they finished up watching A Land Before Time 3 that they had started watching the day before. I went to the UA bookstore and got the kids some Wildcat clothing. At 3PM, Jeff brought the kids to my office, we changed them in their outfits, and then we headed to the basketball game.

Jeff thinks that the kids are bad luck. The UA lost to ASU, which is hard to swallow for a UA fan with some historical memory. Henry was hyper. It wasn't an enjoyable game all the way around.

Afterward, we went to Sauce for dinner. The kids ate well.

I guess that's about it. Henry makes such amazing verbal connections frequently that by the time I sit down to write the blog entries, I forget what they were. It's hard to believe that he is only 2.5 adjusted.

We read more books when we got home. Teeth. Then, the kids went to bed.

Alright, I'm going back to editing...

Walking with Dinosaurs, Arena Spectacular

On Saturday, Jeff let the kids watch The Land Before Time 3, which Aunt Jennifer and his cousin had gotten him and Miss R over the summer when we visited Oregon. I had suggested it to Jeff in preparation for our big plans for the evening.

I picked up Chinese food on the way home from my parents' house. The kids ate some rice and some battered chicken. Henry also had a couple bites of broccoli. Their eating, however, wasn't stellar. They ate their fortunate cookies and shared a small cup of tapiocca pudding.

Then, we headed to the TCC for Walking with Dinosaurs, Arena Spectacular. I picked up the tickets at will-call while Jeff parked the car. The traffic had been backed up so we cut it close. Jeff had to run with the kids in tow. Henry and Miss R told him to run faster.

The show was absolutely perfect for the kids. We had wondered whether Miss R in particular would get scared. We wondered whether Henry would get overstimulated (a la Elmo Live!). The show kept the kids entertained. The dinosaur costumes/mechanics were captivating. Miss R sat on my lap for the first half of the show. For the second half, she sat in her seat so that she could have access to the large bag of kettle corn on Henry's lap (it was about as big as he was). The kids enjoyed the second half. The big hit was the finale with the t-rex and t-rex baby. Miss R clapped. I gave her a kiss on her cheek and she told it was "yucky." After we bought some souvenirs, Henry enjoyed stomping in puddles on the way back to the car. The kids made a lot of roaring sounds on the way home.

When we got home, Henry played with his birthday dinosaur made by Jamie and Miss R played with Littlefoot (present from Aunt Jennifer and her cousins).

Henry wanted to ride his dinosaur...























He decided that it would be fun to ride his dinosaur down the slide...
















The kids did not get to sleep until about 10:45PM. It didn't take too long for them to crash.

Safe: No Boo Boos, No Owies

On Friday, the kids had a good day at school...except when another kid bit Miss R on the finger as they went onto the playground. It didn't break the skin but a report was written up, which I will be sending to our family specialist.

On Friday evening, Jeff took care of the kids. I went with my father to the Lincoln Day dinner, which is an event that celebrates the work of GOP precinct leaders in our county. Several people were very nice to me, but they did say that they really wished my mom could have been there. Sen. Kyl and Sen. McCain were the keynote speakers at the event. It was a good event. Although I'm not a partisan, I enjoy watching people get excited over their political ideals (I loved going to both the GOP and Democratic conventions in 2000).

Meanwhile, Jeff broke down and let Henry watch a couple episodes of Sponge Bob. That made Henry very happy.

When I got back home, Henry was in bed, talking to himself. And Miss R was snoring. Henry was pleased to see me. Jeff reported that the kids had cried when I left. Henry told me that he wanted to snuggle. Although I was fairly certain he just didn't want to go to sleep, I was happy to bend on this request. We went to Jeff's and my bed, snuggled, and talked about the various rides at Disneyland. Then, he was ready to go back to his Sponge Bob bed, where we snuggled a little bit more, until he wanted to say good night to Jeff. It was a fabulous way to end the evening.

On Saturday, I had to work. I'm programming chair for my division at our big national conference. I'm in the middle of assigning reviewers to paper submissions. And editing my upcoming book with Bruce Hardy and Kathleen Jamieson. Before I headed out of the house to find solitude, Henry demonstrated his thrill seeking side by placing his stool on top of the treadmill so that he could reach the buttons. Here's video of Henry...

Alas, the treadmill is in our collection area. We hope to be able to straighten that area out in the future. Despite the mess, Henry is so cute that I just had to post the video.

Berry Boy

Jeff picked up the kids yesterday afternoon and took them to Costco where they met up with the grandparents. Jeff reported that they ate a lot and screamed a lot. Poppy was in charge of pushing the kids around the store. Jeff could hear their melodious voices from across the incredibly large building. They LOVED the "cold department." They enjoyed eating taquitos (four rounds...both Jeff and my mom felt compelled to buy some given how many samples they ate).

When I arrived home, the kids were at the dinner table. Henry's hair was completely soaked. I kissed him on the head and told him that he smelled good. Jeff said, "Does he smell like berries?" I guess Henry had decided to dump berry juice on himself. A bath was mandatory after dinner. Miss R was in a mood. She said that she didn't want to wash the conditioner out of her hair.

MISS R: NO LEAN BACK!
KATE: OK, R. You are not allowed to lean back. Whatever you do, do NOT lean back.
MISS R: Aaaaaaaah! [Bursts into tears.]

My reverse psychology techniques didn't have the intended effect.

On Thursday morning, the kids happily went to their classes on the playground. In the afternoon, I picked up Miss R and took her to Gadabout. Jeff picked up Henry and took him to get his new glasses.

Every time I pick up the kids, I ask them "How was your day?" Miss R rarely says anything. But today she said, "Good. How was your day, Mommy?" I was surprised and pleased. Miss R was very cute at Gadabout. Tammy put her on two booster pillows and then left us while she looked for some conditioner. As we waited, Miss R said "Where's Tammy? Where's Tammy?" Tammy did a nice job with Miss R's hair.

Jeff and Henry were at my parents' house when we arrived. Henry had his new glasses on. They look great. Hopefully, they will last. We went out with my parents to Chipotle. My mom got some not unexpected news but hard news nevertheless regarding the analysis of her lymph nodes from last week's surgery. Most likely, she is going to have to go through chemo this spring.

At dinner, Henry landed in timeout b/c he wouldn't eat and wanted to go to the "play area." Unfortunately, he was under the impression that all restaurants have "play areas" like the Tucson Mall. After Jeff put him in timeout, Henry settled down and ate most of his meal. At one point, he got off his chair and announced, "Bye! I'm going to Barnes & Noble" and he walked off. Jeff caught him before he got far. Incidentally, Barnes & Noble wasn't far from the restaurant.

Back at home, the kids had fun jumping up and down on Miss R's bed. They sang the pirate "Yo Ho" song before collapsing backward onto the mattress. I read them the Mickey Mouse and "The Haunted House" book. Then, lights out.

A Trip to the Dentist

On Wednesday morning, we managed to get out of the house for the kids' 8AM dental appointment. Henry and Miss R love the lobby of the dentist's office that has a fort and a pacman videogame table. The kids were great. When they called us back (we were their first patients), Henry said "I'm going to see Dr. Bunch." That made the office staff laugh given how young Henry is.

Dr. Bunch spent most of the time inspecting Miss R's teeth. One of the temporary fillings had come off, but other than that, he actually thought her teeth looked pretty good...considering. So no plans yet for getting her teeth filled. He really wants to wait until her last molars have arrived.

Meanwhile, a nice dental hygenist managed to brush Henry's teeth. I should add that both Henry and Miss R sat in the dental chairs all by themselves. Usually, parents are required to hold the kids until age 3. Henry was very patient. He didn't like the rotating tooth cleaner, but he was good. When Dr. Bunch came over to inspect Henry, Henry said "Hi Dr. Bunch!" I think that Dr. Bunch was surprised that Henry knew his name. It had been about 6 months since Henry's last visit at age 2 years adjusted. Henry's teeth looked great. Nice spacing and all.

We had taken two cars because I had to head straight to work. Jeff took the kids to daycare.

Signing off...

12 Mini Hot Dogs

Jeff said that Henry was being quite imaginative this morning at breakfast. He sees shapes and he images different uses for them. He held his oatmeal spoon at an angle and noticed that it was like a slide.

We listened to the Belly Button CD on the way to school. After we'd listened to it twice at Miss R's request, we then listened to "Totally 80s" at Henry's request. No problems getting them to their classrooms. They've been disappointed that the babies haven't been in the baby rooms (I suspect that the teachers are taking them outside). We dropped Miss R off. As Henry and I entered his classroom, one of his little friends shouted "Hi Henry!" I love that he has cute little friends.

Jeff picked up Henry in the afternoon. Miss R had her sibling visit. Henry wanted to play basketball when he got home. Jeff was busy with groceries, so Henry was stuck with me as his b-ball partner. Unfortunately, the basket is 10 feet high and I was not able hold Henry up high enough for him to make the basketball "hoot."

After b-ball, we sat in the kitchen and went through Henry's Valentine's Day sack. I guess that they forgot to give it to us on Friday. He had cute cards from some of his friends. There were little pieces of candy too. He tried a cherry Tootsie Roll lollipop and then rejected it. Then he wanted to try a piece of Kit Kat, but decided it was yucky. He wanted to try a heart shaped lollipop and then rejected it after a couple licks. This lead me to the question: "Is it possible that Henry is really Jeff's and my child?" He certainly looks like Jeff, but I don't know how on earth we could have possible produced a child who rejects sugar. Jeff suggested that Henry has some weird mutant gene thing going on.

I refrained from eating Henry's sugary rejects. Since MLK Day approximately, Jeff and I have been eating less than 15 grams of sugar per day. I'm no longer craving sugar in a physiological sense, but I know I enjoy sugary stuff. The prospect of going backward and becoming addicted again is not something that I'm willing to do right now.

Henry and Miss R read several books with me before dinner. Interestingly enough, Henry has not been pestering us about the TV that much. He has one book that involves finding objections in a given setting. He does a good job with that.

Henry ate TWELVE mini hot dogs at dinner. Even though they were mini hot dogs, that's still an awful lot of meat. Miss R gnawed on 2-2.5. Henry had fun pretending that the blue berries were basketballs. He rolled and bounced them on the table. He also chewed up one blue berry, spit it out, and said something about "blue berry guts." Miss R thought that was hilarious.

Henry wanted to go to "Duke's Dinner" after dinner. Turned out that he meant "Duke's Diner" from The Princess and the Frog. At one point, he said he was going to get beignets.

Henry and Miss R played "Duke's Diner" in the bathtub. Miss R served Henry several cups of "coffee."

MISS R: Are you done, Henry?
HENRY: Yes. I want more.
[Miss R gets Henry another cup of "coffee"/bath tub water.]
MISS R: Are you done, Henry?

In the bathtub, Henry announced "I'm a big gorilla!" which made us laugh. It was then time for teeth and bed.

Tomorrow, we have appointments with Dr. Bunch for the checking of the kids' teeth. I suspect that we'll be making an appointment in Miss R's future to have her cavities filled.

"Yucky dinner!"

On Monday morning, I was delighted that Henry noticed that I was wearing a new necklace. Jeff had given me a stone pendant carved in the shape of a rose the night before for Valentine's Day. Henry saw me and said, "You wearing a necklace, Mommy?"

It was morning snack time when we arrived at their daycare. No problems getting them to join their classes.

Jeff picked up the kids in the afternoon. He took them to Sunflower. Henry asked for a balloon. Jeff didn't think that they did balloons there, but the cashier asked someone to get the kids balloons upon hearing Henry's request. Henry, unfortunately, let go of his balloon in the parking lot. Many tears were shed. They came home and were going to play b-ball but Miss R had to use the potty. They took the dogs for a walk and ran into our neighbors. Jeff made the kids salmon for dinner. That didn't go over too well...even though Henry had liked it a couple weeks ago. I got Henry to put a bite in his mouth. It stayed there 10 seconds before he spit it out, yelled "Yucky dinner!", picked up the spit out piece, and threw it at me. Lovely toddler behavior.

The kids had a row over the treadmill after dinner. Miss R wasn't being a good sharer, which landed her in timeout. Later, she walked about a half mile on the treadmill. The kids were fussy so we brushed their teeth and got them ready for bed. I read them a Backyardigans book called "Jungle Colors" three times. Henry is still talking to himself in bed. We can hear him from the living room. I wish that boy would just go to sleep and get his rest.

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

The kids woke up Sunday morning to large heart balloons at the feet of their beds. Jeff said that Miss R asked him, "Is that my balloon?" They were very happy with them.

Jeff made the kids desert animal and cacti shaped pancakes. Apparently, we have cookie cutters in the shapes of coyote, javelina, prickly pear, and saguaro but no hearts. The shapes turned out pretty well. I made the kids eggs, but they weren't really interested in eating.

We went to a park in Marana. The kids had a great time. Henry wanted to go on the big kids equipment of course. A very nice boy (probably junior high age) made sure Henry didn't get trampled. I pulled Henry out of the thick, much to his dismay. He likes being in the thick of things. I was proud of Miss R because she was much more active than I have ever seen her. She was truly enjoying moving around. She learned how to do the arm hang. And wanted to practice it, and practice it, and practice it.

Then, we went to CVS to pick up several household items. I told Henry that he needed to pick out a present for Jeff. I vetoed the Sponge Bob coloring items. I also vetoed the travel version of Battleship that Henry really wanted. But I let him get Jeff a mini basketball and hoop. Henry spilled the beans about the gift as soon as Jeff took him outside.

When we got home, Henry wanted "my basketball"...apparently he forgot that it was for Daddy. He was quite interested in "the hoot." He has never had problems saying hoop before, but his mind was set on the word "hoot." Jeff read the directions out aloud. One line said something about sliding a piece against the backboard. So Henry wanted to slide on the backboard but it wasn't quite meant for Henry sized objects.

The big event of the day was that we did "respite" for the very first time. Respite is essentially babysitting for kids in foster care. We've never done respite before. Technically, we can get 8 hours of respite a month for Miss R, but we've never made use of it. The child who we took care of this evening is 19 months old. She has been with her foster family since she was two days old. Her case was recently transferred to St. Nick's, and her foster family will be adopting her. She was lovely. An easy introduction to respite. Henry wanted to go to dinner with the foster parents, but they had planned a kid-free evening. He said "Happy Valentine's Day!" to the foster mom several times. Miss A (keeping name anonymous per foster care rules) had tons of fun on the slide and in the ball pit. She gave me a hug as soon as her parents left. She enjoyed the playhouse. She and Miss R had fun with the shopping carts. Henry was interested at first. Then, he retreated to his train room.

We had pizza for dinner. Miss A had a HUGE appetite. She had three slices of pizza, 1/4 cup of apple sauce, dried strawberries, and a couple servings of goat's milk. She seemed to inspire Miss R on the food front. Miss R actually had TWO SLICES of pizza and a whole cup of mandarin oranges. Henry didn't finish his slice of pizza and he had a couple bites of apple sauce. My theory on Miss R's eating is that she is models her food intake off kids around her. Henry doesn't eat much, so she doesn't eat much at home but she eats pretty well at school. Miss R was sitting next to Miss A, so she ate well.

After dinner, we played. We also called Grammy and said "Happy Valentine's Day!" Henry got Grammy to promise to take him to Barnes & Noble and Costco.

Then I tucked Miss A into bed on the toddler bed (formerly the crib) in our bedroom, while Jeff got Miss R and Henry's teeth brushed. Henry said good night to Miss A twice. I think that he liked her. Miss R also said good night. She liked Miss A too. It took awhile for Miss A to settle into unfamiliar surroundings, but she did settle down eventually. It took a long time for our kids to settle down. Miss R landed in timeout. She almost has a compulsion to get herself into timeout so that she can have a big cry and then be OK about going to bed. It is a frustrating cycle. Henry is his father's son. As a child, it would take Jeff hours to get to sleep. He was a head banger to boot. Luckily, Henry isn't a head banger (at least not intentionally). But he is a difficult sleeper. Once he falls asleep, he's fine. It's getting there that's the problem.

We were excited about the evening because we've been tinkering with the idea of getting another foster child. We know the need is great. We know that we "could" do it. But we want to make sure that adding someone new into the family would be right for us. I can't say that the evening resolved our feelings one way or the other, but it has given us some things to think about. I don't see us making an decisions right away. Perhaps we'll do a little more "respite."

For anyone who doesn't want to make a long-term commitment to do foster care, I just wanted to put out the word that "respite" is a very much needed community service. To do respite, one has to go through some training (not as intense as foster care training). One can stipulate the kinds of respite that one is willing to do. Some people are cool with taking kids for a couple days, others can just do a few hours here or there. Both services are needed. It gives foster parents some breaks. While we've been very fortunate with not needing to utilize respite services because my parents love taking care of Miss R, other foster parents don't have such loving grandparents in their lives. And if taking care of kids isn't one's thing, respite services are also needed for adults with long-term disabilities. Just wanted to let people know about it in case they had never heard of it before.

Wildcat Basketball

On Friday, Henry got out of bed on his own. We could hear him shouting throughout the house "Daddy, where are you?" He then crawled into bed with us.

The kids were excited to "Go to Valentine's Day!" which meant that they were having all-day parties in their classes at school. I went over to my parents' house and worked for awhile. I then picked up the kids at 2:30PM...earlier than usual but we had a scheduled visit with Christy, our case worker from St. Nick's, at 3PM. Miss R was still asleep when I arrived. Apparently, she'd only been sleeping an hour.

Henry and Miss R were delightful during Christy's visit. They both had snack plates from school, which kept them entertained. I asked Christy the likelihood of the case being switched from us as the adoptive placement to a blood relative at the last minute. She said that it was small. She said it was CPS' job to figure out who the best placement would be. Then, St. Nick's tries to facilitate that decision. CPS identified us as the best placement.

After Christy's visit, Jeff took Jackson to the vets for his water treatment. I stayed with the kids, and we played. We attempted to watch G-Force, but it didn't captivate any of us. We had dinner. Then, we visited my parents briefly.

On Saturday, Jeff took care of the kids while I went to my parents' house. I got some work done there. Jeff and the kids played around the house. Henry outright refused to take a nap. When I got home, we took the dogs for a walk and let the kids "ride" their bikes. Then it was off to the kids very first LIVE basketball game.

The kids had a good time. Jeff felt that they did better than he would have expected. Henry enjoyed laying on the ground in front of our seats and under them (thank goodness it was relatively clean), dangling from the rails in front of us, and cheering/shouting whenever everyone else went quiet. Miss R enjoyed sitting on our laps. Jeff bought the kids a hot dog during the second half, which entertained them. Henry announced 20 minutes before the end of the game that he had to go potty. We decided not to believe him.

Then, we came home.

2.5 Years (Adjusted)

On Wednesday morning, the kids woke up on their own. They were chatting back and forth. Jeff and I listened to them for a little bit before going in to say good morning. Henry immediately told us to go away, and he hid his head underneath his pillow. Miss R climbed into his bed and joined him under the pillow.

On the way to school, Miss R wanted to listen to the Muevete CD, so we did. In the car, we debated who was a heffalump and who was a wuzzle. They both wanted to be heffalumps. When I dropped off Miss R, Miss Diana and Miss Lulu said that Miss R is ready for complete potty training at school! That's big news.

Miss Diana told me that Miss R has been hanging on her every word. When the other kids weren’t listening the day before, Miss Diana told them that they’d have to put their heads down on the table to calm themselves. One kid continued to be disruptive, which annoyed Miss R prompting her to say, “No, Christopher. You need to listen to Miss Diana.”

Grammy and Poppy picked up the kids after school. The kids were a bit whiny. They didn't eat much dinner b/c they wanted breakfast food instead of pot roast. Aunt Erin was at my parents. She said that Henry had been in a mood.

As I drove home with Henry and Miss R from Grammy and Poppy’s house, I asked Henry how his day went. He said, “Terrible.” I wasn’t expecting that answer. He is usually Mr. Happy Go Lucky. I asked him why his day had been terrible. He said, “I was crying at Grammy’s house.” He told me that he wanted "to watch something else." I told him that he'd have to wait until tomorrow to watch RV. That didn't please him. He said "I want to watch Yoga. That would be good." I felt as though his conversational skills have yet again reached a new level. I hadn’t realized that Miss R had fallen asleep when I asked her how her day went. Henry told me, “R’s asleep. Wake up, R! Wake up, R! It’s time for breakfast!” I told him that it was OK for R to sleep.
Both kids were up when we got home. We decided not to indulge them, under the philosophy that they’ll never learn to eat their scheduled meals if we let them snack whenever they want and on whatever they want. Jeff read the kids a book after teeth brushing and before bed. They didn’t go down easy, but that seems to be common these days.

On Thursday morning, Henry was up at 6:45AM, about 45 minutes earlier than usual. I asked Jeff to bring him to our bed for some snuggling, which we did for a couple minutes. He got the kids breakfast while I got ready for the day. Miss R put up a fight when I tried to do her hair in the morning. She hit me, which landed her in timeout. Nevertheless, we managed to get out of the house at 8:20AM. The kids were easy about being dropped off. In fact, when Henry saw Miss Stephanie at the end of the hall, holding the door open to the playground, he sprinted to the door without looking back.

I made it to the Women’s Center at Northwest Hospital in time to see my mom before her surgery. It was the second time that I’ve been to the Women’s Center. The first time was when I went to their Triage the day that Henry was born. I had a little bit of a flashback, but it didn’t last long. It is odd how well I can remember some details. I remember the location of my bed in Triage. I remember Jeff’s reaction when Dr. Chen (the negligent OB who did not take my symptoms seriously six days previously and had the incompetent assistant who always claimed my blood pressure was 120/80) told him that the baby would possibily have to be delivered that day. I remember calling Erin to ask her to take care of mom b/c I feared mom would absorb any stress that I was feeling. I even remember the shoes that I'd been wearing (white backless sandals with a wooden pump).

Dad and I waited in the lobby. Joe and Shirley Swaffar stopped by to keep us company while we waited. My mom’s surgery went well. The surgery lasted two hours and her time in recovery was another 1.5 hours. We made it back to my parents’ house by 2PM. She was achy, but we’re expecting her to do cartwheels in about 10 days.

I picked up the kids at 4:30PM. Miss R ran to me and gave me a big hug. She had an accident at naptime today, but other than that, she did very well wearing big girl underwear. We then picked up Henry on the playground. I asked Miss Marissa how his day was. She didn’t give their usual answer of “He had a good day” or a “great day.” She hesitated and then said, “Pretty good.” She could sense my skepticism at her response and said that everyone had been kind of fussy.

Henry wanted to see his friend Elijah, but I said that we had to go home. We went home. Henry was irked b/c I didn’t have snacks handy. He talked a lot about his friend Elijah again, which was cute. Elijah has been such a nice boy when I’ve interacted with him.

We had a visit from Alison, our family specialist, at 5:30PM. She thinks/hopes that we’ll have our adoption certification from the court next week. Then, St. Nick’s will be able to start processing our paperwork in reference to Miss R specifically. I’m looking forward to that. Less paperwork in our future AND the ability to show pictures of her to our friends! We have so many pictures of her and Henry together that we’d love to share.

I had to leave before the visit ended b/c I had a graduate student lecture to observe. Jeff said that I missed a Henry classic. Henry has been talking a lot about Peter Pan. We thought that he was referring to the Disneyland ride b/c he usually follows up his Peter Pan comment by saying something about Mr. Toad. He was straddling one of the top bars on his slide-ball pit equipment. He announced, "I'm pooping on Captain Hook!" That made Jeff and Alison laugh. Henry certainly has no shortage of imagination.

Jeff made the kids tilapia for dinner. Henry ate it. Miss R only had a couple of bites. They spent some time in the train room. Henry stretched out on the floor and studied one of his books. He talked about the getting some things from the playground. He said "That'd be good." By the time I got home from the lecture and shopping for the kids' Valentine's Day party foods and cards, the kids were asleep. Jeff and I filled out cards for the kids. 24 to Henry's class and 21 to Miss R's class.

In other news, Henry turned 2.5 years adjusted today. We haven't used adjusted age in awhile b/c when he turned 2, his development was in the normal range for his actual. But we have never bought into the idea that preemies "catchup." It is just that a 3.5 month discrepancy at age 2 isn't that much of a big deal.

What is Henry doing at 2.5 years old (adjusted)?

• giving answers to our questions with a lot more meaning behind them
• doing the long jump (both feet on floor hopping forward)
• imaginative play and more imaginative play
• getting out of bed on his own
  

Dr. Henry and Dr. R

On Tuesday afternoon, Jeff picked up Henry and took him to a new eye glass place. Henry discovered the kids' area with wire toys. He walked over to the area, said "Hi!" to the kids sitting at the table, and sat down. He's quite the shrinking violet when it comes to meeting people! Jeff said that the person who helped them told them to make themselves at home. Henry took that advice to heart and rearranged some of the furniture. Jeff and Henry picked out two new pairs of glasses with the bendy frames. It will take a week or two to get them back.

Then, Jeff took Henry to Sunflower. When they arrived in the parking lot, Jeff told Henry that they were at the grocery store. Henry said, "Sunflower!" This surprises me a bit b/c Henry only been there twice before and I don't recall ever saying the store's name in front of him. While in the produce section, Henry made a woman laugh by being enthusiastic over "Asparagus!"

Jeff and Henry arrived back home just a few minutes before Miss R did. She'd had a sibling visit. Unfortunately, they sent her home with candy. She smelled like she'd been infused with it. That frustrates me b/c I've told the supervisor about Miss R's problematic teeth. The child has eight cavities. She doesn't need sugar!!!

I broke out a Christmas present from Aunt Carolyn: a "medical kit." Miss R and Henry pretended that they were doctors. They took each other's temperature with the thermometer. The toy blood pressure cup was a big hit as was the stethoscope. While Jeff took the dogs for a walk, the kids operated on me.

At dinner, Henry ate fairly well. I had to encourage Henry to eat his macroni and hamburger b/c he seemed pretty content just forking bites of ketchup initially. Henry sang some verses from his favorite "Totally 80s" CD. Miss R did not eat so well. Perhaps it was the candy. Grrrr.

Henry did a little walking on the treadmill. Then, we gave the kids a bath. We let them play a little bit with the medical kit afterward, but then it was time for bed.

"I look like the Little Mermaid!"

While getting Henry ready this morning (Tuesday), Jeff asked Henry to take his night gown off. Henry's favorite sleepwear is an oversized t-shirt. He managed to get his head and arms through the hole for the head and made a halter top out of the shirt. He then declared "I look like the Little Mermaid!"

Henry was demanding in the car. He is now at the point where he not only requests particular CDs but wants specific songs. He was happy with A Boy Named Sue and whatever song comes after it. I then turned it to Folsom Prison because Henry likes it when Johnny Cash says "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." But Henry said "No, No, I want Man in Black." He the proceeded to be obnoxious and made Miss R cry. I told him in my stern mommy voice that he was in trouble. He yelled back, "No, Mommy's in trouble!" Oy vey! I decided to switch tracks and see if I could induce guilt by calmly saying that I was disappointed in his behavior. I'm pretty sure that Henry is impervious to guilt! On the one hand, I love that he has a strong sense of self. On the other hand, perhaps we've done too good a job at boosting his self-esteem.

A teacher from one of the babies' rooms was pushing four babies around in a crib on wheels. Henry was thrilled b/c he got to visit them up close. He stood on a bench and bent down. I monitored the situation to make sure he wasn't rough. He did a good job. Miss R was uninterested in them. We dropped off Miss R as her class was entering their room. Henry and Miss R spontaneously hugged, which turned into a round of Ring-Around-the-Rosie. Miss Lulu asked where Henry's glasses were. That induced some parental guilt in me. He's been glassless for a week b/c he broke that fourth pair. The eyeglass place then didn't order the right size. They were supposed to order another pair, but "lost" our number so it was a week before we found out that never ordered another pair. We're headed to yet another eye glass place today. We just don't see the point in spending money on glasses that Henry will break within 24-48 hours. We found a place online but given all of the size problems we've seen at the four face-to-face places we've already looked, we aren't excited about flying blind on the Internet. No problems dropping off Henry. It was snacktime in his room so he happily went into his room, where his friend Joaquin came over to say hello to him.

Henry-isms

Henry and Miss R didn't give me too much trouble when I dropped them off at daycare. Their classes were still on the playground, which was nice. Grammy and Poppy picked them up after school and took them to Wholefoods.

Jeff picked them up after they had dinner. On their way home, Henry told his Tinker Bell toy "I love you more than peaches!" Then, he said, "He's my best friend." Jeff asked, "Who is your best friend?" Henry said, "Tinker Bell." Jeff said, "Did you know Tinker Bell is a girl?" Henry said, "Yes."

When the kids got home, Miss R was in tears b/c Jeff made her get out of the car. She had a major tantrum. I sat with her on the couch and tried to get her to breath in and out. She ignored me and continued to cry, but I got Henry to attempt breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. He was very funny when concentrating on breathing in through his nose. Henry's out breathing was akin to the big bad wolf trying to blow a house down, but he did breath. I was rather impressed that he was able to follow my suggestions. Miss R didn't quite get the breathing down, but her nose was stuffy. She enjoyed us reaching up into the air when we inhaled and bringing our hands into a prayer-like position on the exhale. And that motion seemed to calm her (or distract her in any event).

At one point, Henry was playing with a little Winnie the Pooh case of mine. Miss R ran over to him yelling that it was hers. Then he said "No. It's mine." I said, "Actually, kids, it is my Winnie the Pooh." Henry was so cute. He closed it up and walked away saying "Not today, dear!"

As usual, it was a struggle to get the kids to brush their teeth (Henry ended up in timeout) and go to bed. But eventually, we managed to do that and have a late dinner.

"Get out of my bed! It's my bed, not your bed!"

On Sunday, we got to sleep in! I didn't go to bed until 3:30AM b/c of work that I had to complete for various projects, so I was thrilled! Miss R had awoken some time before 9AM and Jeff brought her to our bed so that I could snuggle with her. She loves that and easily falls back asleep when in my arms. Henry woke up around 9AM on his own. He was in a chipper mood, and for the first time, he crawled out of his bed himself and came to us. We've been fortunate that he hasn't been a wanderer. Every morning, he calls out to us when he begins stirring. The four of us snuggled until 9:30AM. I think that Miss R was a little annoyed at Henry's attempts to hug me, but she got over it. The kids were very cute and giggly.

For breakfast, Henry ate his eggs and bagel with cream cheese. Then, he requested a waffle. Miss R hasn't been eating much, and we're calling her dentist tomorrow to see if we can change our appointment on the 18th to something earlier. We think that her eight cavities (four of which are more developed than the others) are bothering her. The dentist wanted to see if we could slow down the rate of decay so that we could put off having them filled, which will require putting her under. She hasn't been eating much the past two months, and we suspect that her poor teeth are contributing to this.

We put the kids in their big boy and big girl underwear after breakfast. We attempted to do a family session of yoga. Miss R sat in her Elmo chair and watched. Henry participated for about 5 minutes. And Jeff and I attempted it with kids and Bitsy crawling on us and Roger and Lily walking under Jeff during his "Downward Dog" yoga position. Then, Henry decided to pee on the carpet about 15 minutes into the session. Jeff cleaned him up while I cleaned the carpet. Henry put on a new pair of underwear with Cars on it. Fifteen minutes later he decides to poop in his underwear, which were changed to Thomas. It then occurred to us that maybe he is willfully doing this so that he can try on different characters (underwear number three was Thomas the Tank Engine). This is a boy, after all, who goes potty while at school but refuses to use the potty at home. Sigh.

We gave the kids a shower. It was well past noon by this point. Jeff played with the kids for awhile while I worked. Then, we had lunch and attempted to put the kids down for nap after 2PM. They refused to nap, which was frustrating. Jeff pulled them out of bed b/c they were screaming at the top of their lungs. Not panicked screams but I-want-to-see-how-loud-I-can-yell screams. So he took them on a walk. When they got back, it was time to head to Grammy and Poppy's for the Super Bowl. The kids fell asleep about 5 minutes away from my parents' house. We let them sleep for an hour but then got them up for dinner.

They didn't eat much. My mom made carnitas, which was an unfamiliar food. Toddlers are so picky, but if they are never exposed to new flavors, their diets will be way too limited. Henry enjoyed playing in Grammy's pantry. He stood on a stool in the pantry and closed the door. Then, Grammy turned off the lights to the pantry and he threw open the door and said "TURN ON THE LIGHT PLEASE!!!" The pantry entertained him for a long time. The kids were in a huggy mood with each other. They were pleased that Uncle Dan, Jeff, and Poppy were excited over the Saints' victory. Henry shouted "Touch Down!" He and Miss R hugged. Henry said, "I love you, R!" and Miss R replied "I love you, Henry!" They couldn't have been any cuter.

Then, it was time to head home. After teeth brushing, I read the kids a Winnie the Pooh book. Henry was mad that I wouldn't read a second book b/c it was past 9PM. Henry talked to himself for awhile. I thought he was sleep a couple minutes ago, but then I heard him say loudly, "Get out of my bed! It's my bed, not your bed!" I went to investigate what was going on. Bitsy had curled herself in a ball at the bottom of Henry's bed. She was about two feet from his toes but he didn't want her there for some reason. So I had to evict her. Hopefully, he'll now sleep for the rest of the evening.

Gentle Henry

On Saturday, we got the kids up at 7:30AM so that we could take them to Grammy and Poppy's b/c we had our CPR re-certification class at A Place To Call Home. The class went well, and it was definitely a good idea to have to do everything again. We also enjoyed being in class with a couple of our old classmates. We made a good impression on one of our classmate's foster kids whom we went out to lunch with last week. He's five and apparently told his foster mom that he hoped that he'd see us again, which was very sweet.

At Grammy and Poppy's house, Henry and Miss R had a good time. They spent some time in the backyard "helping" Poppy. And they also went to the store. Unfortunately, Miss R fell asleep before lunch time. When Grammy tried to settle Henry down for a nap, he managed to wake up Miss R early but then fall asleep himself. Basically, their nap cycle was off and they didn't nap two hours.

The kids watched Beauty and the Beast. Miss R claimed that she was "scared" but seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Jeff picked them up. When they got home, Henry announced that he wanted to go outside and spread out bird seed. I took the kids to the bird feeder and gave them some seed to dump inside it. Then, we went out to the front of the house to throw birdseed. Jeff gave them cups with a little bird seed each. Henry's approach was to dump everything out at once. Miss R's approach was to pinch two seeds at a time.

We went on a dog walk and ran into several neighbors. We ran into Swanee first. Or rather, Henry ran to Swanee first. He was so cute. He ran up her driveway and gave her a big hug. She carried him up the road to meet up with Hal who is Swanee's husband, Yvonne, and Marie, Charlie, and their daughter Kim. Kim had her two-month old Tenzin in a stroller. It was the first time that we'd met him, so that was exciting.

Henry adores babies. He hasn't really had much exposure to them directly. Mostly, he gets to look at the babies at school from behind glass. So he was thrilled to meet Tenzin and get to touch him. Jeff mentioned how amazed he was at how gentle Henry was with Tenzin. I was too. Henry isn't known for his light touch, but he instinctively seemed to know that babies needed light touches.















Miss R was in a quiet, shy mood. She did peak at Tenzin, but I think the lack of nap was catching up to her.

Jeff made tortilla pizzas for dinner. They were really good. Henry ate half of a tortilla plus sliced apples for dinner. He demanded chocolate milk, which we gave him. He outright rejected tapioca pudding. Miss R, however, was willing to eat his portion.

The kids goofed around after dinner. They had fun walking on the treadmill, especially Miss R. We snuggled and wrestled. The kids were giggly. Henry's understanding of language continues to impress. Henry said to Jeff, "Want to see a trick?" Jeff said, "Sure." Henry, who was standing in back of Jeff, put a hand in each of Jeff's back pockets and hung from them, letting his legs swing around. It was pretty funny. It is amazing to see Henry use broad constructs, such as "tricks." After brushing teeth, we read "The Three Little Javelinas" and "The Grouchy Lady Bug." I had to be firm about the kids getting to bed. They of course wanted to stay up longer, but after much complaining, they finally fell asleep.

"Give me a big hug, Henry!"

We arrived at daycare on Friday morning just as Miss R's class was coming into the classroom from the playground. I told the kids it was time to say goodbye. Rather than saying goodbye to me, they said goodbye to each other. Miss R said, "Give me a big hug, Henry" and opened up her arms. Henry hugged her and said "I love you!" Then, we went to Henry room. The kids were sitting down for snack, so Henry took his jacket off and left me to go wash his hands.

Jeff picked up the kids in the afternoon. Jeff took the kids for a walk with the dogs, and they ran into several neighbors. They didn't eat well at dinner. I got home around 6:30PM. I talked with Aunt Erin. Miss R clearly said "Aunt Erin" but then started calling Erin "Aunt Carolyn." I think the n's were throwing her off. I made dinner for me and Jeff. Didn't get to spend much time with the kids. They talked to Grammy on the telephone. Jeff thought they looked quite tired so we tried to get them ready for bed. Henry was in a mood. He refused to brush his teeth so he ended up in "timeout." He seemed content to stay there. I eventually got him to brush his teeth. Then it was bed.

Tomorrow, we are getting the kids up early to take to Grammy and Poppy's b/c we have a CPR re-certification class for our foster care license.

Getting R's Goat

Grammy and Poppy picked up the kids at school on Thursday afternoon. Their teachers said that they'd had a good day. They again wanted bagels. My mom gave them English muffins with peanut butter and jelly, which was their request. A surprise to us b/c we haven't had luck getting them to eat either peanut butter or jelly.

When we picked up the kids at 7:30PM, they were reading with Poppy on the couch. After Poppy finished whatever book they were reading, Henry brought me two books and demanded that I read them with him. Grammy reported that Henry likes to agitate Miss R for attention. Miss R likes to cry out for attention. Grammy said that she told a couple fibs in her oh-woe-is-me moments.

When we got home at 8:20PM, Henry wanted pancakes, even after having eatened a snack and dinner at Grammy and Poppy's house. We let him have some. Plus he had a link of sausage. Maybe he'll have a growth spurt soon.

I mentioned to Jeff yesterday that I thought that Miss R's teeth could be part of the problem in her decisions not to eat much. The other day, she said her teeth hurt. My mom independently came up with the same explanation this evening. We've wanted to put off the fillings until she was older and bigger. We aren't excited that they'll have to use anesthesia. Sigh. But I think we have reached a point where we don't really have much choice.

A Good Food Day

On Wednesday, Grammy and Poppy picked up the kids at school. I had a meeting at 5PM and then some work to do before I left school. I didn't get the kids until 7:45PM. That is a bit too late for them. It meant that we didn't get the kids into bed until 9AM. Henry is actually OK with that, but Miss R needs sleep. She gets superhyper when she is tired.

They'd had a great food day at the grandparents' house. They wanted bagels with cream cheese when they arrived. Then, for dinner, they had potato patties and ham and some other things that I'm forgetting. Henry ate three potato patties by himself AND a plate of ham. Plus they both had two glasses of chocolate milk each. I think that it was probably the "Boost" chocolate milk, but I didn't verify. When the kids say me in the doorway, they both said "No, Mommy!" because they wanted to stay with Grammy and Poppy. I managed to entice Henry out the door by promising that we'd stop by the gas station, which for some reason intrigues him.

This morning, Henry was stubborn getting out of bed. Miss R had finished her breastfast before Henry even got to the table. They had Pro/Fat pancakes and really liked them.

They were angels getting out of the car when we got to daycare. It was the easiest transition that I've ever had with them. The only mildly gross part was requesting a kiss from Henry, which he obliged. That would have been nice but for the runny nose, which I didn't notice until after the kiss.

The kids sped into the daycare. Henry said "Hi Miss Toni!" to someone who I've never seen before. She was thrilled that he knew her name. It sounds like she helps out with different rooms, but the younger ones only manage to squeak out "Miss T," so she was excited and surprised that Henry knew and could say her full name.

We stopped by the windows of both babies' rooms. That's something we do every morning.

Then, the kids raced to Miss R's classroom. It was 9AM and the kids were just sitting down for snack time. A little boy said "Hi R!" as we walked into the room. Henry and Miss R played hide and seek around my legs. I said, "It's time to say goodbye." Henry turned to Miss R and said, "Give me a big hug." Then they hugged and Henry marched out the door. We got to Henry's class and everyone was already seated. Henry took off his jacket and marched off to the bathroom to wash his hands before the snack. That allowed me to slip out quietly.

I then took Jackson to the vets. He lost his voice a couple days ago and had been looking dehydrated. Plus, he had some backend issues. He weighs 7 lbs 2 ozs. He should probably weigh in the higher 8s. But the good news was that he hadn't lost weight since his December appointment. The vet said that his lymph nodes were 50% larger than they should be. And yes, he was severely dehydrated. So, the vet took him to the back and pumped him full of liquids. The vet suspects that Jackson's dehydration is causing his problems. Jackson has always been a frustrating cat when it comes to food and liquids. He is a creature of habit, and when we moved, despite having a home three times the size of our 1-bedroom condo, he was unhappy. He barely ate the first three months we moved to Tucson. And he lived in our bedroom closet for a year and a half. New changes throw him into a mood (e.g., getting the dogs, bringing Henry home, adding Miss R to our crew, etc.). He gives himself the illusion of control by not eating. As of late, he will eat, but only if it is Fancyfeast Grilled Tuna (not tuna and oceanfish or anything else). Although I'm not thrilled with his choice, we are pretty much giving him whatever he'll consume. We've been home about 2.5 hours, and I think that Jackson already looks a little better. He gave me his usually head to head greeting. He likes to put his forehead into my forehead. He is also one of those rare cats who enjoys being kissed on the head (by me or Jeff).

That's all for now. Back to work.

Who Knew the Treadmill Could Be So Fun!

On Tuesday morning, the kids were relatively easy getting to school. It was 9AM, the start of snack time, which meant that the kids were easily distracted. I talked with Miss Stephanie who said that she hadn't heard anyone say "Honky," but she would keep her ears open for it. She said that the child whom Henry said called him a Honky doesn't talk. Whether or not she meant that he doesn't talk period or doesn't talk much, I don't know. It is odd, though, because Henry has talked about the child several times and I've had the impression that he has talked to Henry in the past. There was a time when one of the teachers didn't think Henry could speak (which was laughable), so perhaps this boy just doesn't talk with the teachers but talks with the other kids. Or perhaps Henry heard it from someone else and is misattributing it to X_____. In any event, I'm hoping that the word "Honky" does not resurface.

Jeff picked up Henry in the afternoon. They went to Basha's before coming home. Then, they took the dogs for a walk, while I waited for CPS to drop off Miss R as she had a sibling visitation today. When she arrived and I opened the door, she said "No, Mommy!" That wasn't exactly the greeting that I had anticipated. Lately, she and Henry have been saying that a lot. She came home with pictures of her bio brothers, which was nice.

Henry ate chicken, raspberries, and two helpings of carrots at dinner. He only had a couple bites of the StoveTop stuffing. Miss R had a couple bites of chicken and maybe a raspberry or two. Henry claimed that he wanted to use the potty in order to get down from the dinner table. A common ploy. I made him use the potty and was pleased that he did it without protest. I gave him a cookie. Henry had a bite of cookie before giving it to me to hold while he played on the treadmill. He claimed to be the "Jungle VIP" (a Jungle Book reference) as he swung for one of the handles. I removed items that had been lying on the treadmill so that Henry could walk on it. I set it to 1 mph and he had a blast. Miss R thought the whole thing was hilarious. After she ate some chicken, I gave her a cookie too. Then, she joined Henry on the treadmill. I think that they both walked off most of the calories from their dinner. Jeff put the treadmill at an incline to see if it would minimize Henry's toe walking. It seemed to help.



The kids giggled their way to our bedroom and climbed in our bed announcing that they were going to sleep there. We, however, made them brush their teeth and put on their nightgowns.

Henry is currently chattering away in his bed. He is mad because we've reduce their nightly bottles of water to a smaller size and we aren't doing refills. Our goal is to get rid of the bottles completely in the next few months. We know that we probably should never had let them have nightly water bottles (their only bottle each day since June). But Henry talks so darn much, it is nice to have something in his mouth so that he won't keep himself up. I suspect that it is going to be a rough couple of weeks while we try to break the habit.

"Honky"

On Monday morning, Jeff had a heck of a time getting the kids out of bed. We had been using a dark UofA blanket to prevent the light from streaming into their room in the mornings, but Jeff has taken it down. We want them getting up a little earlier than they have been (and going to bed a little ealier too).

Jeff picked up the kids at school. The teachers said that they had a good day. Jeff is skeptical b/c they always say that the kids have had a good day. When they all got home, they took the dogs for a walk and ran into several neighbors.

When I arrived home at 6:30PM, I could hear tons of giggling from the living room. I got tackled by the kids.

We had a good dinner. Miss R didn't eat much, but I suppose it would be too much to ask to have two decent dinners in a row from her. After dinner, we measured everyone's height. Henry was almost 36.5 inches tall. Miss R was 32.5 inches tall. We gave the kids a bath. They didn't want to come out of the tub. Miss R got out first, much to her dismay. Then it was Henry's turn.

Upon drying Henry, he said the word "Honky" several times. While I would not have found the word particularly troublesome in the past, I confess that I was utterly appalled that my 2.5 year old would have heard the word, let alone say it. I asked Henry where he had heard that word. He said "X_____." I let it slide. But then he said the word again. So again, I asked him who told him that word. Henry said, "X_____ said Henry was a honky." Needless to say, I'm going to be having a talk with Henry's teachers tomorrow. I'm confident that the only place where he had would have heard that word was from school.

Ties

On Sunday morning, Jeff began to make the kids what we call Pro/Fat pancakes, but then he had to do some things for work. I finished making them, and the kids loved them. Henry had 4.5 pancakes. Miss R had 2-2.5 pancakes. They also had a little egg. We played around the house. Miss R took a shower. Then, we headed over to the grandparents' house because my dad gave us tickets to the Cal-UA game...the hottest game of the season. It'd been well over a year since we'd attended a UA basketball game. We went with Jamie and Steve, which was fun.

The kids had a good day with the grandparents. They didn't nap until 2:15PM but managed to get at least 2 hours worth of nap.

We brought the kids home and took a walk up to Yvonne's place so that we could thank her for Friday's rice and beans. We ran into Kim, another one of our neighbors, who was on her bike. Henry had a good time asking her questions about her bike. Yvonne took the kids to her backyard to cut some broccoli, which we brought home and cooked for dinner. Henry did OK on his eating. Miss R did really, really well. We were pleased.

After dinner, the kids put on ties. Henry had been pretending that Lily's leash was a tie (like Poppy's), so Jeff thought it would be safer just to let them wear real ties. We watched Toy Story, while Jeff worked. Then, it was teeth and bed. Miss R got herself landed into timeout for screaming in protest over going to bed. I wish toddlers would give parents a break on occasion.