Box 'Em Up

Dear Peep, 

What we can't do with a box?!  I dragged up the box that cradled your guitar on its journey to the house upstairs yesterday.  I let you mess around with it for a while and then asked what you wanted to do with it.  You wanted to make a little house out of it.  You played like that for a while then as you pulled the loose take off and flattened it out I saw a car ramp in our future.  We laid pillows down and bridge the cardboard down the chair and pillows.  We tried out about 10 cars and zoomed them down the ramp flawlessly, cheering each run more than the last.  The next night you wanted more ramp time.  It is exciting to discover new ways to have fun together. So what's next?

Henry and Mama's race face!

 Love, Mama

Match 'Em Up

Dear Puzzle Master, 
I have really enjoyed all of our puzzles lately.  Backhoes, tractors, seasons and farms.  I love when you start to get it.  You cheer yourself on!  I need to trade in some of our board puzzles out for some more jig saw puzzles.  You seem to love putting together the big picture but if you_can't_quite_get_the_piece_in where it should go, you get frustrated.   All I have to do is remind you to give it a little twist, the piece settles in and peace returns.  I can't wait until someday we can do one of those crazy big 1000 piece puzzles like I would do with my family as a kid...for now 24 piece and large floor puzzles will have to do! :)

 Love, Mama

Little Toes

Dear Twinkle Toes, 
Some days I wonder if I will ever find the feelings of gratitude that I have for you have become less intense, or normalize.  Do all parents feel this way or only the variety that fought tooth and nail to be parents month after month, year after year?  The ones like us, that put all of their personal information, medical history, police checks, flaws and strengths out there to be read by strangers and put aside time again until the right time, the right woman looking to make a plan for her baby sighs with relief because you are in fact undeniably the family for her baby.  We are almost three years into your life and I still feel like parenthood is new, a novelty, a dream.  You are an intense little dude.  You love to explore, to dance, to play, to laugh, to test.  You are very independent and like your space.  You are very cuddly but sometimes at your own terms.  Lately my challenge has been finding a way to cut out the hitting when you get frustrated...direct to time out, keeping you busy, breathing deeply together all seem to help but sometimes you flip out.  Despite this challenge big and small moments happen that warm me up and overwhelm my heart... 


This weekend you had a fever and were wanting to cuddle on the couch, watch a movie and fall asleep.  You were slumpin' down slowly, stretching yawns creeping across your face and tiny toes marched up under my jean's leg to nuzzle my leg (which you didn't announce was spicy and needed shaved this time).  I tried so hard to get a picture but every lift of your bicycle blanket you woke up.

Such love.  Nope, the gratitude doesn't seem to dissipate.
Love, Mama

80's Mania

Dear Peep Boy, 
The 80's have taken hold of the Thompson household.  Earlier in the week it was Back to the Future night, yesterday you busted down a cardboard box and started dancing on it (with no prompting, Daddy says it is instinct), this afternoon we watched breakdancing video's on youtube, and this evening we watched ET and ate a homemade banana split.  Watching ET with you was divine; you snuggled closely on the couch, asked lots of questions, showed lots of concern, professed your admiration for the older brother Michael, and best of all, you held my hand through out.  As the movie started and I read the title page you asked what does terrestrial mean.  I explained and you said, "No, it means eating food."  It is now surprise that soon after you need to eat something.  At the part where Elliot waits in his sleeping bag on the back porch to see if his enticing Reese's Pieces would lure ET back you said, "Uh, I'm scared!" and held my hand tighter and leaned waaaaaaay over.  Then as ET approached and he was makin' the noises ET makes you asked about him.  I said, "He is an alien, he came from another planet and his ship had to leave quickly and left him behind."  Your anxious body said, "No, no, that little guy is just going to be a baby."  I said, "No, he is an alien."  You corrected me again, "No, he's just going to be a little baby and stay with them."  
 The sweetest part was you kept calling him RT.  You originally wanted to watch some dragon catcher movie that was terrible, but you kept pointing to the screen asking if that was RT yet.  I had no idea what you were talking about.  You tired of the stink bomb of a movie quickly and we put in ET.  You said, "Is this RT?"  I said, "Who is Archie?"  You said, "NO! RT!"  Then I finally figured it out.  The rest of the movie you said RT then immediately corrected yourself.  It was sweet watching this with you.  You thought it was pretty cool.  We love re-experiencing these things with you.  You give them new life and lots of laughs!  Why all of the links?  It isn't the 80's with lots of product placement.  So what's next?  The Goonies?
Love, Mama 

Banner Parade

Dear Peep, 
I've changed the banner at the top of the blog many, many times over the last three years.  I thought I would get the ones I could up and together in one place.  I love putting you into different scenes.  I almost can't stop laughing as I do it.  Which do you like best?

 Love you Snoot, 
Mama

Henry of the Future

Henry dubbed this picture, "Henry of the Future!"

Dear Doc, 

So glad you like Back to the Future as much as Daddy and I do.  Anytime it is on TV our remote sticks there, no matter how we try to get away from it.  You particularly love the scene of the Doc trying to get the cables connected to the clock tower before the rod is hit by lightening.  This evening after a pee on the potty you were stretching out the plug on the end of the humidifier across the room saying, "I'm trying to connect the clock like the man. I have to connect the clock!" I was like what the heck are you talking about, as I watched you grunt and stretch....light bulb, ding! You were playing out the Doc in Back to the Future. sigh.  It made my heart leap but again in total admiration of your smarts, creativity and weirdness.  It is only going to get better from here on out.

Love, Mommy

P.S.  This is the second blog reference of back to the future.  Check this one out from a long time ago. Click here... which is kind of funny because it was posted almost exactly 2 years ago...

Playin' in the Cold

Dear Snow Bird, 
You start seein' that flaky cold stuff fall and we couldn't chain the doors, twist on double bolt locks and put furniture in front of the doors to keep you out.  Nothing would work, you love it.  We have had one day where enough snow dropped to really go out and play in it, but baby they say it is coming now.  No more early-spring like days for a while.  I hope it snows enough that Daddy can pull you around the driveway on the sled, I can try out the snow blower, and we can build a snow man.  Here are some pictures of our one snowy day.  You wanted to help clear off my car window with the new window scrapper Grandma P bought me for Christmas.  We threw a couple of snow balls and you kept eating it off the ground.  I had to get you to stop!  so gross!  It wasn't deep enough to put a protective barrier between you and the gross things on the ground.  Ewe!

 Love, Mama

Bee Beep Peep

Dear Peep, 
We are a creative crew here in the Thompson house.  We had a delivery today that was contained in a perfectly square, perfectly Peep size box with the contents wrapped in that silver bubble wrap insulation stuff.  As a secondary thought I threw the box and bubble wrap into the living room while I put away the stuff.  After cleaning up the kitchen I came into the living room and you were still playing with the box and wrap.  I asked you if wanted to make a robot.  You perked way up and with super excitement and our little impromptu project came to life.  I asked you what else we should use for our robot and you grabbed a little cascade tabs tub Grandma P had earlier cleaned out for you to stuff things in.  I said, "Great idea!  Where do you want to put it?"  Front and center we created a robot pocket you could put stuff into.  We set about looking for some "knobs" and settled on a couple of milk jug lids and a glue stick lid.  We had to go down stairs and use the drill, of course!  You were down for business and drilled the holes in each cap and into the box while I got the pipe cleaners ready to fasten them into place.  I found a little twist on light and a flameless "candle" and we drilled a whole in the front of the robot pocket to place the candle.  We put the twist on light the front of your hat. 

 

You were fully engaged and on it for an entire hour plus!  We tried it on and it looked pretty tuff!  We decided to go outside to wave to cars from the side walk.    Honestly, you were tired at this point and I didn't get the coolest pictures because you didn't give me much opportunity.  Daddy and I both believe this is one of those things we will remember for a very long time.  A total family effort.  I wonder what we will build next.
Love, Mama