Metal Meredith

As heard in my car, yesterday, after going to the store and buying a 12-pack Phil’s favorite sugar cookies. We shared one on the way home.

Vivienne: Mom, why can’t we eat all of the cookies?

Me: We just don’t eat all the cookies. It just isn’t done.

Vivienne: Is it because you are the Boss of the World?

Me: Um, no. Well, I am just the Boss of the Cookies.

Vivienne: Is that your job, like Daddy works on the computer?

Me: Yep, I am the Boss of Cookies and I keep little kids alive and healthy and the house from falling apart.

Vivienne: Wow. I am just the Boss of Me. Can I have another cookie?

Phil and I got to talking about the number of words Henry knows these days. He is a chatterbox, which we weren’t expecting from all of the people who told me that boys learn to talk slower and are more physical. Well, the physical thing is apparent, but Henry never shuts up. He starts the moment he wakes up and doesn’t stop until lights out.

In my head, I started to make a list of words that he knows. It got so long that I am going to make it here. Warning, boring list and little brag ahead:

kitty
doggie
bag
car
cheese
milk
eat
cookie
grape
Elmo
sheep
birdie
cow
apple
outside
juice
book
shoe
sock
nose
eyes
ball
bubble
balloon
hello
bye
liesel
friedrich
mama
daddy
ouch
ok

He also can tell you the sounds the following animals make:

cow
bird
duck
dog
cat
rooster
sheep

He likes to mimic all kinds of sounds as they happen, like the train whistle, computer beeps or car alarms, car noises and music. He sings pieces of the ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He dances to anything that remotely sounds like music. Many times, I have caught him moving his shoulders to the beat of the radio in the car. It is like he doesn’t even know he is doing it. He likes to yell “Bye. See you later!” at people when we are leaving. It sounds more like “Bye, La la la later” but it is really cute. He also says Bless you when you sneeze and if he falls down, he immediately gets up and says “You ok?” He says Thank you and Welcome at random times.

He is just so cute. All the things above make him that much sweeter each day.

I have read this book no less than 23 times in the past three days. And amazingly, I am not complaining about it.

From very early, we read to Vivienne. She would sit in our lap in our big red rocking chair and absorb every word. She wasn’t interested in turning the pages herself or eating the book. She liked to have us read to her.

When we tried this with Henry, we found ourselves wrestling the book from his grip. We removed it several times from his mouth. We rescued it from being torn, folded and turned inside-out. It wasn’t enjoyable to read to him and he didn’t enjoy the act of being read to. Until now.

This week, he started picking up tiny board books and paging through them. I sat amazed at the lack of destruction while he did this. Then, to my surprise, he handed me a book. I turned the pages and read the words, “Hand Hand Fingers Thumb One thumb One thumb Drumming on a drum” and he sat still. At one point, he turned to me and gave me a small head butt, which is his way of kissing me (or more to the point, getting me to kiss him.)

Since then, he has brought this book to me many, many times a day. He will grunt and put it in my hands. I have read the book so much that I am thinking millions of monkeys drumming on drums will show up in my dreams this weekend. It is a small price to pay for a boy who might just end up liking books as much as his sister and I do. 

I have talked a lot about Vivienne as of late but have given no updates on the dear, small Henry.

Well, Henry is not small, for one. He is a whopping 30lbs. He is wearing 2T clothes and tomorrow will be 15 months old. For those of you who don’t speak “baby age”, that is one year and 3 months.

He is now walking full time, only crawling when he is unable to get on his feet or going up stairs. He waddles and stumbles and flaps his arms to gain his balance and each time I find myself giggling. It s just so fun to watch. We bought him his first pair of ‘real’ shoes and they look huge on him. Poor thing. Hopefully we can get him some sandals that aren’t so bulky.

Yesterday, he picked up a ball and gave it to Friedrich, who was so excited (not), and said “Here you go!”. He likes to bend down to talk to kids taller than him and sometimes me, if I am sitting on the floor. He is in love with his toothbrush and his pacifiers. He likes when he gets on my bed and I push his face causing him to fall backwards. Not sure why, but it is pretty humorous.

He goes to bed without a fight each night and wakes up in the morning happy. When he sees me open the door, he says “HEY!” In fact, he says that to anyone who he sees throughout the day.

Darnit, he is the cutest kid.