winter wonderland

because at the trigg home no winter adventure is complete without tongs and a rolling pin

henry's first snow! take note of the green alligator rain boots. this is what your children wear when you live in denial that SNOW boots will actually be a necessity.

a year in captions

merry christmas!

Cool Stripes Christmas

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practice makes perfect

henry is dramatic. melodramatic, even. there's a recurring debate over where this comes from. i'll just say that i'm not the one that has 'is overly dramatic' in my permanent medical file.

so, henry. some days you just 'don't look at the baby' because he'll burst into screams and wails at the slightest provocation. some days i hand him his meal with a trembling hand because who knows if today is the day that he'll lose his marbles over some random food that doesn't agree with him. the upside is that he recovers quickly and that he's starting to realize that the histrionics aren't so persuasive.

that said, you have to look alive because one of his favorite and well-used tantrum throwing techniques is to fling his head back resulting in him whacking the daylights out of his head on the floor unless you catch him in time and gently lay him back. recently, i've taken to doing just this and going about my business. henry, on the other hand, will give it his best effort, look over to make sure you are appreciative of the show and continue on. however, once he sees that it's not phasing you, picks himself up and goes on his merry way.

he's starting to realize that the histrionics aren't as effective as previously thought so he's been working on stepping up his game. he's added....flinging his body on the floor and pounding his fists and beating his feet.

impressive, dude.

all of this to say that i caught him earlier today PRACTICING his body-flinging form. he'd start on his knees, fling himself forward and give a practice scream. stop, reflect on the effect and form and then get up and do it again. i watched and timed. 15 times. 4.3 minutes.

good times.

silly bandz

hugh has officially joined the silly bandz craze that is sweeping the (3-12 year old) nation. i picked him up a pack of dinosaur-shaped ones this morning and he has been wearing them ever since.

i don't know what surprises me more: that he actually knew what they were or that he has so quickly succumbed to popular trend at the age of 3.

a conversation: hugh

{after breakfast, hugh comes up from the basement carrying a boxed train set and asks for help putting it together in the living room.}

me: hugh, where are your pants?

hugh: i took them off.

me: ...why?

hugh: i'm just going to do underwear.

can't argue with that reasoning.

henry at 14 months || hugh at 3 years

henry

• is a walker, it's a mode of transportation and not just a novelty act. he also has his first official pair of shoes. he loves them!
• is very silly and goofy. he is also a daredevil and i am going to have my hands full. the other day at the pool, he was climbing out (by himself!) and jumping in.
• can hold his own in the ball pit at the soft playroom.
• thinks hugh is the most awesomest person ever.

hugh

• is another bilingual toddler brought to you by dora the explorer.
• has made his second middle-of-the-night ER trip due to croup.
• can ride a tricycle and skip/gallop.
• possesses a level of empathy that amazes me daily.
• has two favorite flowers: big, yellow sunflowers & zinnias.

let the clapter begin!

there's nothing like the expression of joy on your baby's face when he discovers how to clap for the first time. a

today hugh told me that he wants a backpack. i've known for awhile that he wants one, he tries to turn every bag into a backpack. so i thought "why not? i'll get the boy a backpack". so i ask "what kind would you like? do you want anything on it?"

he replies: "i want a purple backpack. with eyes on it."

?????

"oh, you mean like dora's?"

"yes."

getting crafty

behold my craftiness! i still need to make henry's tote bag and i'm feeling the itch to stencil some more shirts for the boys!

hand, foot & mouth disease: 2; trigg boys: 0

my sweet boys have been taken down by a whacky virus that sounds better suited for the bovine and not for the human. however, que sera sera.

i have to say that they seem to be managing well. henry succumbed first, by 2 days, and hugh was amazingly empathetic to poor henry. each time he would cry, hugh would say "don't cry, henry" and then go through the play book of things to make henry laugh. no one can make henry laugh like his big brother can. there were also many big brother on little brother hugs.

sadly, hugh came down with it today. he was most upset, and began to cry, when he learned that he wouldn't be able to go to school. it was so heart-breaking to watch. he has to be feeling badly since he passed out for a long nap at 9:30am. it's currently 11:13am and he's showing no signs of getting up anytime soon.

i think we'll be going out for popsicles later this afternoon to sooth my poor babies' mouths.

only a minor flesh wound

henry has become a danger to himself. if there's something to pull over on himself, fall off of, hit himself with, choke on, he will find it. the boy is a veritable bloodhound for danger.

i have a feeling that this is only the beginning.

this morning, he pulled up on a folding trey table. i watched in really fast slow-motion as he fell backwards and was pinned underneath the table. this maneuver earned him his first goose egg and a fancy one at that as it had a horizontal bruise where the table edge landed.

he is totally going to be the kid jumping out of the second story window, clutching the edges of a blanket as a parachute.

sunday morning

it's all about giada

meet giada, she's hugh's first crush:

they met one kismet afternoon when i turned on the food network to pass the time. hugh watched, spellbound, for a few minutes. then he turned to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said "mama, who is that woman". the rest is history.

a few days later after lunch hugh is playing with his play-doh and informed me that he had made a pizza "for giada". so we go downstairs, turn on the tv and tuned in. once giada was on hugh holds the "pizza" up to the tv: "eat giada!"

christmas in february

it's the end of february and i am still singing 'jingle bells/dashing through the snow' to hugh every night before bed. it's his request right after 'you are my sunshine'.

he loves 'jingle bells'. he does not love 'jingle bell rock'. he loves chanting 'jingle bell/jingle bell/ jingle bell rock!', however. i can't figure this out. today, we spent a good twenty minutes chanting this over and over. but substituting the rock for any number of words, names, inanimate objects, etc.

silly, fun boy.

goodbye twinkle

snuggling after his nap, hugh was groggily eating a snack of a banana and a cup of milk....

me: oh, you're waking up, i see that twinkle in your eye.

hugh: get it out.

hugh at 30 months; henry at 7 months

hugh

• loves to sing and listen to music. we spent all of december listening to bing crosby and the andrews sisters belt out jingle bells. it's a great song, but does not get better after 3 hours of continuous play while driving to mimi's house.
• generally says one of two things while giving me a big hug: "hugh love mama" or "mama soft".
• is the funniest little person i know. i'm teaching him knock knock jokes, but he always just wants to get to the punch line. "knock, knock" "orange you glad see me!!".
• is the size of a four-year old.

henry

• can sit and roll over. and man, can that kid roll. he'll get himself into the next room before you know it.
• loves to hear himself talk
• still thinks he's the funniest, cutest baby in the mirror
• green beans do not make him cry, unlike his older brother
• is working on crawling. if he knew that such a thing as "walking" existed, he'd be working on that instead.
• is the size of a 15 month old

moments that i want to remember

for the past 2.5 years there have been small little moments with my boys wherein i think "i'm going to remember this always". i don't. i need to remember that i will forget the exact moment and to write it down.

recently, there have been a couple such moments and i am remembering them here:

• during an episode of croup, i'm standing outside on a freezing night at 2:30am, holding hugh wrapped in a blanket. we're looking at the stars and singing twinkle, twinkle, little star.
• every night as i hold henry while he drifts off to sleep. i want to remember what it feels like to hold my last baby in my arms.