Living with a Toddler

The other day the boys and I arrived to church, late as usual. Henry is pretty protective of Walter, but on this day when I took him out of the car and then said, "Please wait here while I get Walter out," he replied with, "Why?"
Why?!

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The other night Henry decided that he wanted both him and Walt to wear matching pj's. Ok, no problem, but then once we started the process I realized I could only find the bottoms for each. Then we are on a hunt.
"Maybe they're in the bucket still," he suggests, meaning the laundry basket. (On any given day we have a few baskets floating around with clean clothes that haven't yet been folded.)
"Let's look," I suggest. Nope, no pj tops.
We reevaluate and decide we'll go downstairs and check the dryer where certainly there are more clean clothes waiting to be moved to a "bucket" that will then sit upstairs until I get frustrated and fold them (average length of time is about 4-5 days).
This process gets drawn out with various other activities that interrupt our searching, and finally Henry decides to wear a one piece footed pj outfit instead.
"Are you sure you don't want to go downstairs with me and look? You want to wear these instead?" I inquire.
Oh yes, he is certain.
Yeah.
So, he changes.
And then, oh look, both shirts are mixed in with Walter's clothes, Silly Mama.
Henry is adamant about changing back.
"Really?" I say, exhausted of the process.
Really.
It's all null and void anyway as an hour later Walt is pooped out up to his waistline - so no matching outfits in the end.

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Henry needs changed. I get ready to lift him up onto the changing table and he screams bloody murder, "NOOOOOOOOO, I have to get my Jesse doll!!!!!"
Of course.


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I picked Henry up from nursery the other day after church and the first thing the attendant told me was how Henry explained to her that he will be getting Woody and Buzz dolls when he is gentle on his toys.

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Henry goes everywhere with Jesse, often carrying her on his shoulders - which he loves. Today Kevin was getting the boys ready to go and he asked if Henry would be bringing Woody and Henry said, "What?"
Kevin asked again and Henry said, "I don't have a Woody doll Daddy, I have a Jesse doll. She's a cowgirl."

The Woody Saga Cont.

Henry, Walt, and I were at Target today and walked through the toy aisle as requested by, of course, Henry. We were at a different, "Super" Target and they carried the Woody doll - a different one than we had seen before, a less expensive one, which was a perk for Mom, and the equivalent to his Jesse doll. He had it in his hands announcing that he wanted it.

Now, recently Henry has been practicing some temper tantrumming, which is relatively new to me. I thought for sure we were going into a full fledged meltdown as I reminded him that we were not there to buy a toy. What continually surprises me is how often Henry surprises me. I clearly know nothing because Henry was fabulous. He informed me that if he continues to be gentle with Jesse, he can get a Woody doll - - which is in fact what we have been promising. Yep, I say, and he replies with, "soon."

And then we left. I practically skipped out because there was not one iota of fussiness, a state he has recently been mastering. I had set this boundary around Woody long ago, but hadn't realized the potential positive outcomes that could come about. I hadn't entered this with the intent to teach patience or delaying instant gratification, and yet that might be a result, at least to some degree. How cool! Besides, we all know what the result of this whole thing will be, so it's beginning to feel like a win win for all!

Henry

"My orange juice loves me. It keeps me better."

"I am sick, but getting better, the doctor checked my heart here," points to his belly, "and here," he points to his back.
"Where is your heart, Henry?" I ask.
"My heart is my bellybutton." he replies pointing to his belly, and then adds,
"My bellybutton is too sick to be a monster or a dragon."

Walter's Appetite

I just sat Walt down for his oatmeal, prunes, and apricot mixed with yogurt and rice cereal - which he lapped up. Then he got a little banana - yum. Then a little muffin that he can feed himself - all gone. I am utterly amazed at how quickly it disappears. He feeds himself, licks his hand, looks for what he lost in his bib, then stretches to see if there is more on the highchair tray.
The other day there was something on the far side of the tray and he was reaching, reaching until finally he straightened both legs out and then reached as far as he could - but still couldn't reach it. And yes, that's when I helped out.
Anyway, he's done with his muffin and looking for a bottle. I better go.

Jesse

Our family was out the other morning, running around and doing various things as the snow literally poured out of the sky. I dropped everyone at home and ran off to Target to get some necessities and to veg out. On the way home my phone rang. I answered it and Kev asked me how long would I be. I told him and he said, "Well, where are you now?"
I told him, but seeing as how Target is approximately 6 minutes away in good weather, my curiosity was peaked, and I asked why he needed to know my exact location.
"Well, it's just that you have Jesse."
I glanced in the back seat. Good God, there she was between the car seats, and poor Henry had been without his gal pal for at least an hour.
I picked up speed, "I'm on my way, " I report.
Blizzard shmizzard, I had to get Henry his Jesse doll.

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It's been a tenuous day as Henry is sick again, this time with the flu (darn it, we got the vaccine like we were supposed to and now I feel like Henry got a bum rap), but overall, it was a pretty good day. But I thought all hell was going to break loose tonight when Henry was going to bed and couldn't find Jesse.
Now, this was strange as for the past week if she hasn't been in his arms, she has been within arm's reach, but now we couldn't find her anywhere. Henry handled it with the utmost grace, but I sensed trouble if we didn't find her - and yet, I held hope as she had to be in the house (again, he's sick and this is a sick house and we haven't set foot outside...).
I went downstairs to look for her as I listened to Henry go from room to room calling her name and then saying, "Where is my Jesse doll?"
Sure enough, we found her where he had left her by the toilet when he had used the potty. Whew. Crisis averted, we can all go to bed.

Jesse

Many of you know the saga of the Woody doll. Henry wanted a Woody doll (from Toy Story), was told that he would not be receiving a Woody doll until he could show that he is gentle with his toys, and has since explained to anyone who will listen that he doesn't have a Woody doll because he is hard on his toys. But despite this knowledge, he has held fast to the hope that he will still, one day, get a Woody doll and occasionally chat me up about the benefits of a Woody doll. I am convinced that this indeed keeps him from sleeping, as we will be laying in bed and he'll suddenly lean over and start whispering Woody doll facts and remind me that in case I forgot, he still wants one.
"Got it, thanks." I say.

So, we were at Target yesterday and we perused the toy aisles. We were very clear that we were not there to buy (and, I can say happily, that we didn't during that trip). Then we saw the Buzz Lightyear and Jesse dolls (for those of you unawares, this is the astronaut and Cowgirl of Toy Story) and Henry was drawn to the Jesse doll. He talked about it as we walked throughout the store, and then informed the cashier that they don't have Woody dolls. I thought that was helpful.

He continued to talk about the Jesse doll. Then took a nap, but not without first weighing the pros and cons of all the dolls.
"Go to sleep." I said.

I woke him up from his nap so that we could go to the church for dinner, he was extremely challenging to wake and needed a lot of cuddling, for which we had little time, and so he was quite distraught announcing on our way out the door that he didn't want to go to the church, but to Ohio instead. Well, this made me stop in my tracks because I will admit that Henry has a direct line to my heart and well, I will do just about anything to make him happy (sigh) and maybe because of this, he knows what buttons to push. The fact is that I love to go to Ohio and I suspect he knows this. But obviously, going to Ohio last night (instead of church) wasn't really an option.

We pull into the church parking lot and the waterworks begin again as he reiterates that Ohio is where he wanted to go, why in the world were we not on our way there instead? He cried as we entered the church, we stopped and talked, and then I reported that I had had all the crying that I was going to hear and it was time to stop.
"Okay," he reported between sobs.

We had a great night, ate our snacks, played briefly in the nursery, and then went to listen to the handbell choir as they practiced. Usually it's just us in there, but recently others have joined us and last night it was a little like a concert as there were multiple folks in there. I feel like we started something. Henry was wonderful despite our incredibly rocky start and I, like the sap that I am, praised him as we put on our winter gear and suggested that we go get Jesse.
"Do you want to do that?" I asked Henry.
"Yes, Now."

We went, he lead the way about 20 paces ahead of me and when we got to the aisle where she sat I said, "Now Henry, you have a choice. You can get Buzz or you can get Jesse." He strode over to the Jesse doll, picked up her box and said, "This is the one." I asked again if he was certain, and yes, he was certain. No question.

Since obtaining Jesse, Henry and she have been pretty inseparable, so far. She talks to him, he talks to her, when I comment on something that has been done Henry informs me that Jesse did it (so far it hasn't been anything bad), she goes to bed with him of course, he understands that she is not to talk during the night (she has a pull string), she came with us to drop him off at school and has to stay in the car until we pick him up so that she is there to greet him, and he has informed me that I am to take her away when he throws her (but we'll see how long that lasts).

I think he's in love.

My only downfall is that on the way to get her Henry and I had a discussion about how he was choosing Jesse over Woody, but I think that got lost on him as now he is talking about how he needs Woody too. I could see that one coming though.

Henry and the Babysitter

So our babysitter arrived and Henry launched into a monologue on our family's recent health (as we have been sick more than we have been well since 2011 started). It went a little like this:
"Daddy was sick, but he feels better now. I was sick. I have a boo boo on my hand, see? Mama threw up, she was sick. Walter threw up on the floor, everywhere." He continued, complete with gestures.
The babysitter looked at me. I looked at her.
"Well, not all today." I say.

Henry

We are working on Henry's listening skills (which is no small feat when it means working on our own...), and helping him enhance them.
Tonight I heard Henry in another room playing and saying, "Get out of my way! Get out of my way!" (I was with Walter, so this wasn't directed to anyone in particular, as far as I could tell.)
I called out to him, "Henny, how about instead of saying, 'get out of my way', you say, 'excuse me please'?"
Then I heard, "Excuse me, get out of my way please!"
Well, at least he's listening.

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Tonight as we read stories, I read to him The Relatives Came, a favorite of ours by Cynthia Rylant. Upon finishing, I informed him that I feel a lot like the people in the book when I go home to Ohio: I feel excited to get there and sad to leave. He asked me why and I told him that I miss Grampie, Nana, and then proceeded to list off all of my friends. He had a sad expression on his face and said, "They miss you too. And they miss Henny."

I was in the kitchen when I heard the unmistakable sound of Walter's head hitting the floor. Pause.
He starts crying. Loudly.
I walk into the living room and Henry is nowhere to be found. Then I see his baseball cap floating between the cedar chest and the armchair.
"Henry," I say, "what happened?"
He peers out at me from his hiding spot, "I pushed Walter."
I point to the armchair. "In the chair, Mister. Sit there until I tell you that you can get out."
I begin my lecture and he listens.
I hold Walter and kiss his head.
Henry is stretching his legs and reaching for the floor.
"Whatcha doing?" I ask.
"I going to get down now."
"No, Henry. I didn't say that you could get down yet."
He continues to reach.
"Henry, don't push me."
"I not going to push you, I just want to put my tippy toes on the floor."

Henny

Before bed, Henry put his toys away while Walter sat on the floor watching. (It's totally unfair, I know.) I was cleaning up the kitchen and I heard a cry from Walter that only lasted a minute. I glanced over and he was still upright, so I figured all was ok and didn't rush over, but when I finally did go over I saw that little Baby Walter had been stripped of his Nuk and teether that had been by him when I first set him down.
"Where is Walt's Nuk, Hen?"
He continued to throw toys into the box and nonchalantly replied, "In the box."
Poor Baby Walter.