family

This morning Stan went over to sleeping henry and started putting his arms around him. I said, "Stan, what are you doing?" Stan said, "giving [him] family."

Henry Smiles

Henry is smiling for Daddy. he has probably been smiling for two weeks or so.

Henry often has a pleasant face like this.
Another classic Henry expression. 

breakfast in bed...almost

Stan used to come get in bed with us in the morning, but in the last week or so he has started just pulling our door closed quietly as he goes downstairs. We are usually so dead that we don't even know when this happens, and he usually jut watches tv or plays with his toys. Yesterday we came down and he was eating Scott's lunch that I had made the night before- two peanut butter sandwiches and a tupperware of fresh pineapple. This morning I awoke to him calling me from the bottom of the stairs
"come down, mommy"
"ok, just a minute. let me get some clothes on"
"come down, mommy"
"Stan, why don't you come up for a minute while we get ready?"
a moment of silence
"mommy's egg broke!"

I went right downstairs and sure enough, the carton of eggs was on the table there was an egg cracked on the floor. He had another egg in his hand, with the top of the shell picked through (which he probably carried to and from the bottom of he stairs across the living room carpet). He wanted to have scrambled eggs for breakfast, which we made together.

Today we made a red and green paper chain to count the days until we leave to go see Grandma Harris, and we made and decorated a Christmas tree to add to our diorama. Now we have a starry night sky, snow on the ground, and a Christmas tree. I decided not to do the nativity in it after all because I would have to go shopping for supplies, and it would kind of be beyond his skill level. But he can put stickers on green paper, and he can decorate little boxes, so I think we'll to presents under a tree, and maybe a fire, depending on how things go.

Today was scott's last day of class, and Stan wanted to make him a cake, which we did. And despite all this attention and all the crafts, and my kindness about the egg this morning, AND the playgroup, he still had an afternoon meltdown...so I guess I'm not to blame after all :)

Tonight I let Henry hang out in the crib while we did Stan's bedtime routine, and at the end of it, he still seemed happy enough to be there, so I thought I'd leave him there until he started to fuss, and maybe run down and do some dishes or something. A minute after Scott and I left the room, but were sill upstairs, we heard him say, "oh NO, Henry! mommy daddy GONE! go downstairs!" and it made us laugh.

a little misleading

While it's true that trimming your nails will make your hands lighter, and it's true that being lighter can help you jump higher, it's probably not true that trimming your nails will make you jump that much higher. But it worked :) And he did jump very high.

about the boys

Henry turned 2 months old on Sunday, and today he had his 2 month checkup.
weight 11 lbs 9 oz (45%)
length 21 3/4 (9%)
Head circumference 39.7 cm (15%)
He has a pretty steady neck, he scoots along the floor if you let him push against your hand. he smiles when you coo or fake sneeze, and last night when I was fake sneezing for him, he actually laughed! his first laugh! henry is so cute! I have some pictures of him smiling I have yet to post.

Stanley is good, too. He is good at singing and using polite words to adults that aren't me or Scott. he loves to play games on the computer, and pretty much has the thing figured out. I'll be asking him for help with my computer problems in about three months. He is finally growing out of hiw 18 month pants, but the 2Ts are still a little big. He has been eating like a grown man, though, for the last few days, so I bet he'll fit them soon. Stan can approximate counting to 20, but he can really almost count to ten--he just skips the number 4 every time. He knows some letters but not all of them, and he doesn't know a lot of letter sounds yet, except for S, which is "my's letter". Stan loves to talk on the phone, and he loves to hug and kiss Henry. He is starting to listen to stories that I tell him without a book. he needs a haircut again. I'm going to start potty training him right after we get back from Christmas (so everyone else's carpet will be safe). He hates wearing pants and is always asking to do things with his pants off: "wash dishes-pants off?" "color picture-pants off?" "play baseball-pants off?" and pretty much the only fight we have at bedtime anymore is whether or not he has to wear pajama pants. he has stopped waking up in the night (he started when we moved) unless he falls out of his bed, which he does once in a while. He likes me to pick up and vacuum his room. He likes to pick up the living room so he can turn off all the lights and run around in the dark. The end.

woo-hoo!

He just dozed off and it's only 2:46! goodnight!

night owl

henry is a night owl, no doubt about it. It's 1:18 right now, and he's just getting started, I'm sure. I had a 4:00 night this week (dozing on the floor or in the chair and getting up every few minutes to re-insert the binkie after 2), and last night I went to bed early, but Scott reported that he finally went to sleep at 3:15. he used to go to sleep pretty reliably at 1:30, but now it's always later than late. 1:30 would be a luxury. I don't remember if Stan was like this--I know for a long time he went to sleep at 11, but 11 is much different than 3:00. And this is harder because if Scott is awake, he usually needs to be studying, and henry slows him down too much and makes it too hard. So if Scott's up studying I also have to be up so that I can take care of henry, but of course some one still has to get up with Stan in the morning--or at least stumble downstairs to turn on PBS and stumble back to bed. sometimes I put an awake Henry in the bed with me and try to sleep, but he moves too much and makes a lot of noise so it ends up being a frustrating quazi-sleep. Fate is making me eat my words about wanting to stay up late.

Stanley Sings about Basketball

Julie took this video of Stanley as he made up his own song about basketball. The house was a little messy, but that's okay.

Stanley at McDonalds

Stanley and I took the bus to McDonalds together, and I caught some video of him as he ate. I enjoyed a couple things: the water coming out of the bottom of the straw, the part where he paused to listen to the guys in the restaurant having a boisterous conversation in Spanish, and taking a couple bites of burger.

Henry Moves Around

Henry takes a nap with Mom, visions of milkyplums dancing in his head.

Stanley loves to show Henry affection.

He enjoys tipping Henry up in his seat, and we try to keep him from falling out.



Stanley has learned to use the computer, to some extent. He really enjoys Microsoft Paint, and Pinball if he can get us to put that on.

Paris and Nicole made up? Where have I been for the last two hours?

To be clear, this started out as cereal and a glass of grape juice.

Henry in his duck costume and Stanley in his birthday suit.

Stanley likes to call Henry "Little Man".



Smell that? That's my two-in-one shampoo and conditioner. Nice, I know.

Ugh!

Ack!

Eeek!

Ahh.

We originally bought a pirate costume, but the 2T turned out to be 2small, and they were out of larger sizes. They did have this football player costume. Speaking of that, Stanley was 20 for 27 for 314 yards, with 2 TDs and 1 INT. Not bad.

The ward has a trunk or treating tradition, so Stanley walked from car to car with his little candy bag.

Have some pretend candy, kid. Now get outta here!

The shoulder pads are washcloths.

One van had this clever setup out of the back of their minivan. Upon declaring "trick or treat!", someone on the other side of a white poster would slip a piece of candy into the PVC tube, and it would land neatly into the child's bag.

Stanley with Peter and Eva, a few of his friends.

Julie entered a pie baking contest. The contest was rigged, we're pretty sure.

We put Stanley in his church shoes, because he's finally grown out of his sneakers.

Peter steals the spotlight.

A pie eating contest to end the night.  

We have been doing some size comparisons.

It appears that Stanley has grown since he was born.



Henry and Grandma Jolene take a nap.





The hint of a smile.



Tummy time for Henry, back time for Stanley. 

Henry Ernest Wessman

Meet Henry Ernest, fresh off a nine-month stay in solitary confinement.

He keeps his hands up by his face a lot.

Julie holds Henry.

If you're happy and you know it...

Henry enjoys the radiation heater above him. Julie and I want to invent a big one like this that can hang over a bed, and which would also be a fan in the summer.







Stanley's first meeting with Henry.

Stanley practices soft touching.

Grandma Jolene and Henry.

Not long after meeting his brother, Stanley was introduced to the in-room television.

I'm not afraid to fight.

But I'm so sleepy.



Henry has been pretty interested in nursing. This is his default pose.

Stanley's second encounter with Henry. He looked up at mom in a nice way.

I'm hopeful that this smile does not represent any devious plans that Stanley has for his little brother.