A Million Words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this post is going to be worth a million.  And that is not even including all the times when I wished we had out our camera...

From visiting Uncle Marshall and Aunt Holly in Charlotte...

Henry LOVES Dunkin the wonderdog.  And Turbo the bearded dragon. 

Gracie is NOT a fan.  So Pink Poodle and Cousin Violet protect her...

On the 23rd, we enjoyed Daddy's first day off by spending the morning at the Children's Museum and the Sweet Spot Candy Shoppe.  In the afternoon, we sorted through old toys for our friends Jeremiah and Jacob who are coming from Africa in the Spring, baked cookies, and watched Mary Poppins in an attempt to show Henry that a person could go up and down a chimney without getting harmed.  He was very concerned for Santa.  No, let me be more clear, he pretty much had a panic attack with any mention of Santa.  He didn't want Santa to come in his house when he was asleep.  He didn't want Santa touching his things.  To the point that he was willing to forego new toys. 

And yes, by "baking" cookies, I mean to say I sliced some dough for Henry to put M & M's on.  I did, however, also make two batches of Cracker Candy and three batches of those Hershey kiss pretzel things.  So yes, my Christmas cooking amounted to slicing and melting. 

And despite Henry's being afraid of him and not leaving him a snack, Santa did come and leave the kids presents.  We were concerned that Henry would freak out.  At 3 1/2, you just never know.  So much of life is a crap shoot.  When we told the kids that Santa had come, Henry started crying.  But as soon as he saw his new Lego track and Lego Gordon, he was all smiles.  Later he confessed "I knew I heard sleigh bells last night!"   When asked if he loved Santa, he said, "No.  But I like him."

Henry loves the new flashlight Santa brought him.  "And I even got a Arther Deet-do Potato Head!"   (That's R2D2 in Henry-speak.)

Yes. 

That's Gracie double fisting Chocolate Santas while eating a third one while she surveys the contents of her stocking.

Which of course was followed up by a Marshmallow Santa.

After opening all of our gifts and a yummy Christmas brunch, we went to my sister's for Christmas dinner.  Anderson and Sloan sport cheese head style hats.  (Please note Sloan's gift from the kids--Gamecock Critter Pants.)

The next day, after playing in our Christmas snow, we combined the new track and trains with our old track and trains, to create a giant lego Island of Sodor. 

While Gracie cooked us up some grub.  She is so happy to finally have kitchen cabinets she can legally empty.  She spent most of the day moving the food from the sink to the fridge to the green bucket.  Henry also helped her by showing her the difference between a wooden Cheez-It box and a wooden box of spaghetti. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!
THE KING HAS COME!!!

He's the Cheeky One

Upon meeting new people, the first thing Henry says is not "My name is Henry", nor is it "Nice to meet you".  Rather he says "I have Thomas."  Most people respond, "Oh, is your name Thomas?"  A reasonable question.  I have to explain that he simply wants all he meets to know that he has Thomas the Tank Engine. It is the thing that best describes him, and in some sad way, his love for Thomas is what defines him.  We can be at the playground and he will suddenly declare, "I need to go home and play with Thomas."  He'll turn down chocolate milk to build with Thomas Legos.  We have Thomas crayons, stickers, coloring books, Pez dispensers, paint by number books, pillow cases, blankets, vidoes, books, bath toys, in addition to mile upon mile of wooden track, train stations, and Thomas and Friends trains.  We sing the Thomas theme song while he washes his hands and brushes his teeth.  When Henry is angry he exclaims "Cinders and Ashes!"  And to really motivate him, I simply say to him, "I need you to be a really useful engine."  He has even asked if Jesus knows Thomas.  Perhaps the better question would be does Thomas know Jesus, but it was sweet none the less. 

So it cannot be stated enough that this past Saturday Henry has his "Vote for Pedro" moment where all his dreams came true.  We headed up to Strasburg Railroad in Lancaster County, PA for the occasion with our buddy Deb and her son Jack.  (Whom Henry loves almost as much as he loves Thomas.) 

We're ready to go meet Thomas!

He had been asking if it was Saturday for two weeks.  Thank you Sloan for telling him too far in advance.

Running to meet everyone's favorite blue engine...

Seriously.  How cute are my kids? 

Riding the Cranky Cars.  Peep!  Peep!

Riding Thomas. 

The conductor came by and took tickets and placed his cap on the kids heads.  So someone could then take your picture and you could buy it.  We're cheap.  We snapped pics ourselves.  And Henry loved his special Thomas engineer cap too much to wear the Conductor hat.

 In the middle of what was supposed to be her afternoon nap, this is the face of a girl who hadn't napped all day.  She also woke up with two more teeth the next day.  I think adopting has brought into our family someone who is easy going and doesn't complain.  So we've helped our grandchildren out in a big way...

By the end of the day, Henry's nose had snotted all over his face, his lips were chapped, and he was talking like Kathleen Turner.  But this didn't stop him from telling me, "Mommy, this is my favorite day.  Thank you, thank you.  You are wonderful for bringing me to Thomas."

Han Solo has Boogers too

We've also been sick.  I've got a sinus infection which has shown up in Henry and Grace as colds.  To better explain how this has fully impacted the Phillips family, I will recount to you the following play scenario witnessed this morning.  Please also recognize that Henry changes the tone of his voice when he is himself and when he is Han Solo.  Love it.

LIVING ROOM.  Focus on tufted ottoman.  See young boy (Henry) playing with Lego Han Solo who is riding a Lego Car that has wings.

HAN SOLO:  I fly car.

HENRY:  Whoosh.  Whoosh.

HAN SOLO:  Achoo.  Achoo. 

HENRY:  Bwess you, An Ollo.  Now Henwe wipe nose.

HAN SOLO:  No!  Don't wipe nose.

HENRY:  STOP eye-ning!  Henwe wipe nose.  An Ollo has boogs!

I kid you not.  Apparently, we are so sick that even our toys have to blow their noses.  And don't you just love the compassion that Henry shows Han Solo when he tells him to stop whining?  Hmmm.  Wonder where he heard that?

Since Sliced Bread

I have just had my best idea. I've invented something. And it may just revolutionize my life.

Okay. I'm using the term "inventing" loosely. It was misleading of me to use it in that second sentence without quotations around it. It would be more accurate to say I "McGuyver'd" something. And it is sheer genius. Genius, I tell you.

What is it?

I call it "THE NAP LENGTHENER." (But it can also be used to buy an extra 30 minutes in the morning.) In Real Simple fashion--it is a laundry bag that doubles as a book bag.

And Henry loves it. It is a big, big hit. At bedtime, I load it up with 3 or 4 board books and when I check on him before I go to bed, I put the books back in the bag.

The necessity that was the mother of this "invention" was that Henry is starting to shorten his naps and wake up before 7. Two things that just ain't gonna happen as long as I'm in charge. I just don't think it is rational to wake up before 7am if you have no where to be other than home. Gotta dr's appt, fine--set the alarm early. But there is a reason they call waking early "ungodly."

And as to the shorter naps? No, thank you. I know I'm spoiled that the pickle sleeps for three hours every afternoon. However, lately, he has been waking up after just 2. But I need these hours. I'd like to say that it is during these hours that I clean my house, work in the yard, bake bread, read the Bible, write the next great American novel. But mostly, I just check facebook, read my book, drink Diet Dr. Pepper, leaving said soda sitting wherever I want, and make lists of all the things I should be doing. (Or like today, I just sat on my bum, drank Diet Dr Pepper, and chilled out with the super cool Jenny and baby Gray. Gray is 5 weeks old and is going to be Henry's "baby" trainer. Henry likes Gray. He particularly likes to point at him and laugh. Not because Gray is funny looking or anything, but because Henry thinks babies are awesome.)

And it is working people! This afternoon, after my four hour lunch date with the Brocks, Henry stayed upstairs for 3 hours. After Jenny left, I turned on H's monitor so I could hear him when he woke up. About 20 minutes later, I heard some grunting and rustling. Then squeals of delight. Then laughter. Then "Ball. Ball. Woof. Woof. Meow. Boat. Boat. Ruck. Ruck. on-on! on-on!" (I think this means honk honk.) And sure enough, when I went to get him, he was laying back in his crib, with his head on "Dog" (the stuffed animal formerly known as Mr. Bunny) and his little feet crossed at his ankles and propped up on "Dog-Dog" (the one that actually is a dog), looking at the Babies First Words book, simply pointing and shouting out all that he saw. (Which essentially means that my son can read. He's that smart.)

I'm also hoping that the Nap Lengthener will work to keep him in his crib as we're converting it to a toddler bed this weekend. Should I be pregnant in a month or so, I won't be able to pick him up to put him in a crib and I'll be too tired to wrangle him back in his crib should it be a total disaster (which I'm expecting it to be for the first couple of weeks). My first goal, like a friend told me, is to simply have him fall asleep in his room and the majority of the items in his room to survive the night.

Come on Nap Lengthener! No whammies.

The Host with the Most (and the future Mrs. Henry M. Phillips)

This weekend our good friends the Bizzells came down from Baltimore for a visit. Jackie is a sorority sister of mine and I'm hoping that maybe one day she'll be Henry's mother-in-law. Her 18 month old, Natalie, certainly brings out the best in Henry.

Normally, when playing with other children, Henry is quiet, a bit passive, and tends to just wander off on his own. But not with Natalie. He was very excited to show her all of his toys. And yes, he has now mastered the word "MINE!" but not in a way that seemed bratty or selfish, but as if to say, "Yeah, you can play with it. Just know that it is mine and it is not leaving this house."

He never once complained that he was relegated to the booster seat and she got his high chair. I think he was just so excited to wake up and find a friend. It upset his eating schedule a bit, which Natalie, in turn, took as a sign that she needed to eat for the both of them.

Miss Natalie strikes a pose. (Seriously, I had the camera, looked at her, and said, "Work it girl. Show me sexy." This is what I got. Watch out Cary, your daughter may be a handful. Thank goodness little Jackson will only be 20 months younger so he can protect her.)

Playing with the "wee". This is what Henry calls his indoor slide. It was built for his Daddy and Uncle Marshall by Grandpa Phillips over 35 years ago. We are very thankful for it and our Florida room because it gave the kids "outside" time despite the yuck-ola weather.

Even Sloan enjoys playing with the 'wee,' although we look forward to the day when we can rationalize buying a real Wii for our son.

At the start of the day, Natalie was a bit leery of the mechanics of safe 'wee'-ing. But by the afternoon, she was rocking it out without even a spotter.



Just chilling in Daddy's chair, eating goldfish, watching Thomas with my lady. Could there be anything better?

Yep. Taking my lady out for a spin.

Henry pushed Natalie around and around our house on his truck.

Free to be You and Me

I loved the soundtrack to Marlo Thomas' "Free to be You and Me" as a child. I could perform the entire "Ladies First" skit by myself and did so ad nauseum. As an adult, I still hold fond memories for the play, book, and music--I do love anything with Alan Alda--yet I'm logical enough to see that it was written with a clear feminist agenda. Not as much propaganda as the movie Happy Feet, but inching close to it. That being said, I'm pretty sure I never would've understood that parents are people, people with children, had it not been for the crooning of Marlo Thomas and Harry Belafonte.
And so it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows the words to "William wants a Doll" that I decided to buy my son a doll. I saw him pretending to feed one at the doctor's office and my heart melted. I'm sure that my father-in-law will be upset, but I'll appeal to the "training him to be a daddy" truth that is little boys having baby dolls. I'm also planning on using it to help teach the little guy names of body parts and how to dress. (Do these rationalizations seem to work?)

However, as cool and hip as I am with my son playing with a baby doll, there were some parameters I put upon the doll when I went shopping. I wanted a doll that was: a)not creepy looking, b) not black (I'm not racist, but seriously, if I'm going for him seeing this baby as an extension of himself, a black baby really doesn't help), and c) not dressed in pink.

Let me tell you people, there are not many baby dolls that meet these criteria. Remember those dolls you had as a kid that had the crazy eyes that wobbled around? You know the one that you said, "I don't like that dollie. She gave me the stink eye in art class yesterday." But really no, that's just the way she looks.

The doll aisle at both Target and Toys R Us is the creepiest aisle in the place. The following is what I had to work with--

The cabbage patch kid. Wrong in all three categories. Super high creep factor.

This one was a contender. But he talks. Two languages. And he needs a haircut. And oh yeah, one of his phrases is, "I love you, Mommy."

I really liked this one. His name is Josh. He costs $60. So I added a fourth criteria--must not cost more than $20.

The "Baby Born" swim doll. Yes, it is a boy. But he's half naked. I know the doll will end up naked, but seriously, I think the doll should come clothed. Super high creep factor.

So what did we end up with?

The Real Water Baby.

Except Henry's baby is wearing blue and came with a bottle and a teddy bear. Henry enjoys feeding him the bottle and dragging him around by his foot. The baby also was hurled across the room several times. I am attempting to teach Henry to cuddle the baby, but the closest he's come is to smother it with a ball. I'll attempt to get some pictures of Henry with his baby, but I'm guessing that it will not replace trains as his favorite toy anytime soon.

Bad Bunny Habit

We had made it 18 months without having to have a "friend" around. No passie. No bear. No blankie. No creepy bear-blankie combo. But since I let Henry bring down Mr. Bunny when he was sick to sit with him on the couch, Mr. Bunny has to be with us.

H and I were cleaning up my room. (OK, I was cleaning and H was trying to open the armoire so he could get at the buttons on the TV.) Then he escaped and I found him grunting and tugging at Mr. Bunny from between the slats in his crib. So, because I'm a softy, I got Mr. Bunny. Henry loved on Mr. Bunny and then brought him back to my room, sat him in his chair and then set back to work on getting at the TV. Then he dragged Mr. Bunny to play with our curtains. Then into my closet to pull out all of my shoes. He even tried putting shoes on Mr. Bunny. Interspersed with the playing, were also times he would just bury his face in Mr. Bunny, squeeze him tight and then sigh. As if to say, "Oh! Mr. Bunny! You are too wonderful for words."

This wouldn't be a problem if Mr. Bunny were a normal sized rabbit. Mr. Bunny is roughly the same size as Henry. He's huge. Augh.

Mmm....Blue

FYI...Henry's favorite color of sidewalk chalk to eat is blue.

Henry helped me do some interval training today. For starters, while pushing 50-odd pounds of toddler in a double stroller around Henry's BFF Nathan's neighborhood, Henry kept tossing his matchbox car out of the stroller. And usually when we were cresting a hill. So I'd have to put the brakes on the stroller and then sprint for the convertible PT Cruiser. Then this afternoon, while Sloan was blowing about 3000 pounds of acorns off our driveway and I was raking leaves, Henry kept tottering down the driveway, heading for Smoketree drive. So I'd have to drop the rake and sprint to save my son from the road. And sprinting while you are having a heart attack because school has just let out and there are buses and teenagers leaving high school is a workout. He also thought it was so funny that Mommy was chasing him while she and Daddy were yelling, "No! Stop! Henry this way!" But God was good and had him trip on an acorn and face plant into the driveway, bloodying his nose a bit, but at least now he doesn't run when Mommy sprints towards him.

Hey Mommy, while you and Daddy weren't looking I got up onto the porch all by myself and dragged out all of the toys. I don't really want to play with all of the toys, just drag them out so I can watch you and Daddy clean them back up. Really, I'm just into eating chalk and making messes.
And you seem to be making some sort of pile here, Mommy. Will it help you if I pick up all these leaves and throw them in the air? They don't really taste good. I tried a couple and they just don't hold a candle to blue sidewalk chalk.

Mommy, did you really think if you buried me in a pile of leaves I wouldn't find my way out and try for the road again? Silly Mommy!

A Week in Review

MMMmmmm. Mommy introduces Henry to Ranch dressing. Not too crazy about these veggies you are giving me Mommy, so I'll just suck off the dressing and then slather on more Ranch.


Daddy wants you to know that never before has such an awesome robot ever been colored. He tells me it could totally beat up the Iron Giant. Mommy is just proud that I'm not eating the crayons. Last week Mommy let me eat a piece of sidewalk chalk. She said it was better than the acorns I kept putting in my mouth. She finds it odd I'll eat chalk but not cucumbers.
We headed down to Davidson, NC for Grandpa Phillips's birthday. Mommy says it is great we are staying in a suite because then I get to have my own room and she doesn't have to go to bed at 7:30. I think it's awesome because it only took me 5 minutes to find where they keep all of the pots and pans and only ten minutes to break the shelves they were sitting on.
The first of Grandpa P's birthday parties. Mommy was a bit stressed because I kept wanting to play with things made of glass at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma told her not to worry, but Mommy is afraid of me bearing near Tiffany lampshades. But my cousins, Violet and Bo, shared some matchbox cars with me and that was cool.
We are warriors. We were not afraid of the pouring rain and still made it to the Billy Graham Library on Friday with Grandma and Grandpa Phillips, Great Aunt Phyllis, and Great Uncle Randy and Aunt Nancy. It was my first museum. It had lots of movies for me to watch and I was a real trooper. I just wish they didn't keep making me be the boy in the bubble. Geesh, Mom, it's just rain. I ain't scared of getting wet.


Can't you see where I get my good looks from? The Phillips cousins (aka Marshall and Holly's tribe)--Violet, 7, Bo, 6, and Gigi, 23 months. All dressed up for Grandpa Phillips's 2nd birthday party at Quail Hollow Country Club. Mommy and Daddy wanted to visit some of Mommy's sorority sisters, which was cool, because you know how I love the ladies. Apparently Jenna Cowley (2 yrs) hasn't gotten the memo that trucks are for boys because I don't care if she was playing with it first, I want it now. Mommy, you can say the word "Share" all you want but I think we're making it pretty clear that we don't like that word.


This one (Caroline Harkness, 4 months) is more my speed, Mommy. Although you keep saying "gentle." You do know I'm a 17 month old boy and this is as gentle as I get.
Busted.
Now that I've taken down the shelf in here, Mommy, I can climb all the way in.

Thank God I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. Next trip, Mommy, you'd better not forget Mr. Bunny.

Gigi and Papa visit the Shrieking Shack

Despite the threat of Hanna, Gigi and Papa (my parents) came to town and took us to one of my favorite restaurants--Bonefish Grill. We discovered here Henry's love of zucchini. In addition to some salmon, lobster, and tuna, he cleared all four of our plates of the zucchini and squash medley garnish.
Henry fell in love with Papa. Much in the same way he prefers his Daddy over me, he prefers Papa to Gigi. I think this is because Gigi and I are always trying to cuddle him, and the men just let him roam around and build blocks with him. It could also be that it was Papa that fed Henry ice cream. Papa also gave Henry all of his zucchini the next night when we went to dinner with my sister's clan at Kan Pai Japanese Steakhouse. It is new to the Short Pump area. All I am saying is that I know Kabuto, I love Kabuto; Kan Pai--you are no Kabuto.

Henry also loved seeing his cousin Isabel at Kan Pai. They both shrieked with delight upon seeing one another. This is a new thing that Henry does--scream for no reason. It is the first truly annoying thing that he has ever done. It's worse than when he tosses his sippy cup at me to let me know it is empty (also a new trick--I'm trying to teach him to say more please, but apparently tossing the sippy across the room is more fun). He shrieks while eating. He shrieks while building towers with his new Duplo blocks (A BIG HIT WITH DADDY TOO!). He shrieks when you change his diaper. He shrieks while riding in his car seat. He shrieks during the benediction at church. (Awesome.)

He also has begun to play with his tongue. I think this is because Isabel loves to roll hers up. Well, Henry can't quite do that yet, so he sticks out his tongue and then holds onto it with his fingers. Then he shrieks. Then he'll make a fish face and then we're back to holding our tongue. And shrieking.