Saturday Afternoon Dance Party

Dear Peep and Hazelly, 
We had an AWESOME Saturday afternoon.  The rain was really pouring this morning so we decided to pick some sticks from our

rainy day jar we made 6 months ago and had never used.  It was great!  You chose the, "To Have a Dance Party with Outfits," popsicle stick.  I grabbed up what little (really old) make up I had and then some dollar select eye shadow from the grocery and you both intensely got to work dressin' up.  

Hen, you really messed up my crappy jewelery boxes dragging out bracelets, rings and necklaces, but I don't mind.  It was great watching you both but then Henny decided that it was Daddy and Mommy's turn.  Hen and Daddy went with a Adam Ant inspired look and Mommy and Hazel more of the Boca Raton bronzed up blue eyed thing.  We made it to the dance floor in full style and shaked it, spun it and flipped out heads for a good hour.  

 

With all of us pooped you two took a bath to wash up.  What a great Saturday surprise.  My lil' dance machines...

Love, Mama 

No Sleep Till 2 AM

Dear Hazelita,
I feel your late night owl sleep patterns are correcting themselves back to normal (normal for you has been sleeping through the night until at least 7:30 since the day we brought you home)...and as I typed this I know I am threatening the sleeping beddy bedtime gawds to shake your bed and tickle your toe and wake you up.  You're not a cranky teether, just an awake one.  So the other evening I took pictures of what a baby lady does at 2 AM.  The answer, just about everything.  
You like to play with your little barn, only at this late hour.
You love taking the big bricks out of the box, arranging them on the fireplace and putting them all back, and repeat. 
You want something to drink.
You want a little snack.
You want to dance to the music I put on to try and sooth you to sleep, and steal the remote and change the channel to some weird Mexican reggae dance hall music...and then hid the remote, of which I still am searching.

When I asked you where you put it you shrugged your shoulders.
You like to roll on the floor.

You like to pull out the National Geographics and pretend you're reading it while pointing to pictures and making words that may be the languages of some of the people featured.

You like to say new words of your own...like, "Go pee, pee!" 
You also seem to enjoy stopping all the above to mean mug me as if I'M the one keeping YOU up, several times! 

I love it.  You are so funny and ornery at the same time.  It is sweet, cute and some you and me time...but I'll just let you know, we can get all this done by midnight, too.  I am not complaining.  We have friends whose little boy your age doesn't sleep longer than a couple of hours at a time, ever.  I feel for them.  I am also sooooo grateful this is fun for me because it isn't the norm. (Let's keep it that way!)
Love, Mama

Music and Gettin' Your Booty Shakin' On!

Dear Booty Shakers, 
Lately we've been really getting our dance on.  One awesome week we decided to go down to the library and went to first grab a little lunch to find out that People's Park had an African music and dance group playing.  You both were so excited!  We grabbed two hot dogs and a root beer from the hot dog cart and were on our way to a special afternoon.  We sat up front and Hazel sat on the ground in front of me.  One of our occupational therapy goals for you this week, Hazel, was to have you opening your hands and raising them more.  I know the amazing role music has played in my life, I shouldn't have been surprised that it got you doing these two things for almost an hour.  You watched the dancers with a a big smile and intense look and put your arms out just like theirs and moved back and forth, clapping at the end of each song.  Henry wouldn't get up and do his fancy footwork but he did rock around too while eating his hot dog and sharing a root beer.   You told me you have to, "drink your root beer with your mother around it so the spicy (bubbles) don't bite your lips."  

 It was such a great, unexpected time. I wasn't able to capture her happiness dancing.  Henry tried.

Just before we left, Hazel slept through our library visit.

I sat there in the breezy warm sun and thought what a lucky, fortunate woman I am, complete with a boy, a girl and a hardworking, loving husband.  
Love, Mama

Goofy bird

Dear Bust, 
There has been a lot happening lately and I've neglected to keep up on your life on the blog.  I think it has been a couple of weeks.  Oh! and my camera broke and had to be sent off so that put a crimp in my lifestyle for a month or more.  We went on a trip to St. Louis and have some big changes coming.  So what have you been doing in the mean time?  You've been playing super hero a lot.  Spending time with cousin Tony and Jonny.  We even took Jonny to the Wonder Lab, he loved it to.  We met JoJo, Tommy and Uriah at the park for a fun afternoon, by the end of it Daddy had all three boys and a girl nobody knew hanging off of his chair taking rides around the park.   

You've been taking showers as if I am a car wash and you are the car, scooting around in a circle around my legs while I spray soap on, give you a pressure wash and you call out for the buffer pads (two washcloths I swish back and forth over your back) and finally a spot free rinse.  You've been making a lot of comparisons and contrasts lately.  Yesterday you touched the asphalt in the sun and comment how freakin' hot is is and then touched in the shaded area and made me touch to show me how cool things are in the shade.  You've been caring for your stuffed things a lot, having me teach you how to swaddle.  You will dragged them all into the kitchen to get them to bed or pile them all on top of me or daddy.  

We've gone out to Heather's new house a couple of times and gotten muddy fossil and animal hunting in their super awesome creek.   You are still into Marty McFly and Back to the Future.  You make us listen and dance to The Power of Love regularly and really had a big day when we found an orange vest at the garage sales for three bucks.  

You've also been testing us a lot.  Mostly you're really sweet and well behaved but you like to pull out your rebel a couple of times a day.  You've picked up a few bad phrases from your Back to the Future obsession, one example would be 'Butt Head!'.  Mommy is REALLY over being called butt head, so today you called me lemon head instead.  A small improvement.  We may need to get your hearing tested again because I feel like I am saying the same thing a lot... like just now, "Please pick up Mr. Potatoe head."  I repeated it 4 times before you sprang to action.  
You giggle a lot now, race a lot and love to listen to chapter books begging for just one more chapter before bed time.  Tonight we are going to find out who stole the skeleton in "School Skeleton."  You cry, "But Mommy! I just NEEEEEEEEED to know."  Tonight little buddy.
We love you peep peep and still, could you please pick up Mr. Potato head?
Love, Mama

The Power of Love

I call this Henry's Jimmy Darmody face.

Dear Peepso, 
You've had your first wedding.  April, Joe and Willie became legal family a couple of weekends ago and we got to be a part of it.   We started the trip off with your favorite Back to the Future song, Huey Lewis, The Power of Love played no less than three times in a row.  We arrived just in time after an obscenely long drive to Dayton sans air conditioner in the van, we did get you a practically new big wheel at a garage sale though. They were married at a beautiful public garden.  It was a beautiful location and thank goodness we had our mister fan on hand because lawdy it was H-O-T and sunny.  We were happy for them and touched by Joe's beautiful personalized 
vows. Of course they looked sensational too! But I am partial and you and Daddy were the two most handsome dudes there!  

You loved the big bird nest thing at the center and played like you were Kung Fu Panda.  Then it was time for Willie Dog!  

We arrived at the reception area and you and Willie Dog spontaneously hugged like dudes who go WAAAAAAAAAAAY back and took off like you saw each other yesterday to run with the big boys rather than about a year ago.  You also made friends quickly with the bowl of chocolates and any woman you could get to get one out for you.  You danced with mama and bugged the DJ for two hours all on your own to, "Please play the Power of Love by Huey Lewis, Marty likes that song."  You became quickly mesmerized with the friend named Coach, you wanted him to come back to the hotel with us.  A couple of hours later the DJ was taking a break on the other side of the room and you asked him again and after his break he obliged.  Too late Mr. DJ Man.  You were toast.  Laying on the top of the long couch you a had  a fleeting moment of recognition and then happiness that gave way to a shoulder shrug and tired eyes.  

I dragged you on the dance floor anyway.  I'd been waiting for your first wedding dance floor since a few years prior when Joe's brother Tim was married to beautiful Amie and Daddy and I watched a guy dancing with his newborn daughter in a corner by himself.  He was so in love and it was so sweet we dreamed of doing this with our kids someday.  

Willie Dog had run our little Peep so tired he couldn't take it any longer even to eat cake.  So, we left.  We went back to the hotel and had a late night swim and some BBQ chicken from up the street.  The next day we took a morning swim and met friends Amy, Mike and yes, Coach at a beautiful park.  A man and his little girl fishing along the pond gave you a worm to carry around. 

You loved this!  We said goodbye after a nice visit and returned back to Bloomington at a reasonable hour with no incident.  More weddings to come, I hope!

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