My buddy

H and Leonard have been true buddies the last few days, playing together, chasing each other, playing hide and seek, and a few other activities.

H bringing Leonard presents.

This is where Leonard normally sleeps during the day, and H brought him gift after gift.

H crawled between the couch and TV stand to follow Leonard. Leonard easily came out the other side,


but H got stuck!

Discovering

Harrison is finally strong enough to get into our 'hardware' drawer. It is full of tools and other things that are very heavy. Today, he retrieved a paintbrush and light bulb that he used to help me work on recovering the stool. He also discovered that if he pushes the little stool over to the couch, he can use it to climb onto the couch and look out the window. He just hasn't yet discovered how to get off the couch by himself.....

All of this work discovering can tire a little boy out!

Walk tall and carry a big stick

I am not exactly sure where the phrase "walk tall and carry a big stick" came from, or what exactly it means - but something to the effect of be confident, and this boy is that!



This little boy must always carry a stick in one hand and rock in the other when we are outside. Yesterday he found a huge stick and was happily pointing at things with it and using it as a walking stick. We have a pile of sticks and rocks by our door where we take them out of his hands. (He screams every time we do this!)



Last night when I was taking a shower, he brought me the toilet plunger and 4 used diaper wipes.



He likes to eat his grapes by sticking his fingers in them (think wearing olives on your finger tips) and eats them like that.


While he most of the time tells me and Daddy that he loves us and gives us brief kisses, he always tells Leonard he loves him and gives him BIG kisses.





I gave a little stool that came with the house a face-lift today. Painted the legs, new cushion and fabric. I came in and found that someone had claimed it for himself:

Enthralled

We purchased a portable DVD player this week, and thought it might come in handy for the little one. We thought we would try out headphones and see if he would tolerate them (for use in planes or other need-to-be-quiet situations).

The result?

He didn't even notice them! He was so enthralled with the "Little People" video that I don't think he knew that they were on! He watches TV pretty rarely - once a week or so, if that, so maybe that is why he was so into it!

He was so enthralled he didn't notice me snapping pictures, or Mama and Daddy laughing!

Compassion

H has always loved Leonard. He loves to chase him, pull at his tail every now and again, and snuggle with him. Last week, Nathan was getting ready to take Leonard to the vet and had Leonard in the kennel. H spent the whole time kneeling by the opening, talking to Leonard, and then started trying to lift up the handle and drag the kennel somewhere. Then, when N took Leonard to the car, H started crying like we had just taken his best friend away. He was worried for Leonard!



A few days ago, we were giving Leonard his long overdue bath, and H came in to see what was happening. He started giving Leonard LOTS of kisses! He didn't like to see his buddy uncomfortable.

I think that whether he likes it or not, Leonard has a lifelong friend in H!

Anything for a giggle!

When I went in to get this little boy up from his nap, I started acting a little silly, and he was just giggling away!

It is amazing what parents will do for a giggle!

Enjoy your weekend!

Let's swim!

We headed to Nanny's again for a little swim - to cool off in this hot, humid weather! I wish the pool was big enough for the two of us...I was sweating buckets while he was having fun in the sun!

H decided that the cool, running water looked like the perfect refreshment.

Does life get any better than this?

He also decided for some reason that it was time to lay down. He stayed like this for a few minutes, though I can't believe that it was comfortable.

After we wrestled the wet swimsuit off of him, he wanted to explore a little.

Let's put your clothes on...
Luckily, he didn't decide to 'water' any flowers...

And we're off!

Well, it's official!
In August we will be moving to Oxford, MS where Nathan will be enrolling in the PhD program in Music Education at Ole Miss (University of Mississippi).

We are sad to be leaving so many wonderful people, stressed about packing and moving, and excited to be beginning this new adventure.

We went this week to visit the area, make a few job contacts and secure a place to live:

The house is in a nice neighborhood, has trees galore in the back, and one of my favorite features is that the windows are low enough for H to walk up to and look right out!



While there, H had his first grilled cheese, and loved it! Oxford is a very historic town. Just about every building on campus, and many buildings in the town have a historic marker in front. One thing I am excited about in town is that the bookstore in the square has story time twice a week!


The worst thing about Oxford: no Hobby Lobby, no Hancock's Fabrics, no Joann's Fabrics. Where will I get my supplies???

(a little upside-down reading on the way home)

While heading back to Monroe, H kept signing 'home.' He was ready to be home! I am sure that it won't be too long before our home in Oxford feels like 'home!'


Oxford, here we come!

Shhh... It's time to be quiet!

I actually made this about 6 months ago, but now H is actually old enough to enjoy it a little! There were so many cute quiet books out there, and I love ones with a little personalization. I enjoyed making this one, using muslin and felt for the pages, wool felt cutouts, various fabrics, printer fabric, beads and shrinky-dinks!

Family members can be put in the correct snaps on the family tree.

Tic-tac-toe, and plant seeds in the garden. (The flower actually grows!)

Mail time! The 'postcards' are made out of shrinky dinks that I printed and then shrank. The flag on the mail box can go up and down.

H likes to look at the pictures, there is one postcard from each grandparent and great grandparent.

The doors to the house open and close

The fish hook on the fishing pole.

This is H's favorite page! He loves to take the fish out, put them back in and chew on them a little...

The car and plane can go back and forth to visit the aunts and uncles. Lift the flap to see who is home.

Mix and Match clothes. I might add a bag with more clothes to play with.

Match the birds!


I made it so that I can add pages or change pages as necessary. I need to make a page with a zipper, something that ties, and something that threads. Any ideas?

Fish, please!

Every time we go to the grocery store, I make sure to have a small stash of treats for H - most often goldfish. Towards the end of our trip, when he starts to get antsy I slowly give them to him. This week when we went, he ran out before we were finished with our shopping. He then began to plead with all of the other shoppers, signing "fish, please!" They all thought he was waving to them and were immediately smitten by the friendly little boy. Little did they know that he was begging for goodies!


Here is a video of him signing "fish, please." We see this many times a day in the form of "pacifier/ food/ice cream/cracker/etc, please" He also normally signs "thank you when he gets it. So, he minds his "p's and q's"

Up and coming

This little boy has been expanding his musical horizons. He has become frustrated with his plastic drum and small xylophone. He wants more!

We've been playing a lot of piano (he is so excited that he actually gets to sit on the piano bench!). Today we pulled out my mandolin and he had fun strumming a little (but mostly he just wanted to hold onto the colorful picks). He is finally getting enough breath support that he can make some noise on the harmonica too. Another instrument that he likes is the maraca (until he starts banging it on the floor).

Look out!