Sunday was big...HUGE really

Henry had a pretty good weekend. The warm weather brought us outside, which was good for all of us, but Henry seemed especially in need of some fresh air. Being couped up inside the house for weeks because of the snow and freezing temperatures has left him a little frustrated at times and his high energy level is sometimes a little challenging to keep up with. On Sunday we took a short road trip to a friends house in the country to pick up her washer and dryer boxes for climbing in and fort building. This was Henry's first time in the country. We walked around their 7 acres and Henry stomped on puddles and dodged some horse piles (probably his favorite part) and climbed on tires and checked out the pond. He really seemed to enjoy himself. Once we got back home Henry hopped on his bike and started riding....yes he peddled his bike all by himself! I knew the he had grown when on Saturday I put him in a pair of overalls he hadn't worn since Thanksgiving and I had to loosen the straps by at least an inch to get them over his shoulders but it still surprised me when his tiny little feet reached all the way out on those peddles. After some serious celebrating Henry reached another milestone when he used his potty for the first time. I have never seen such a proud 2 year old (or such crazy parents running and jumping and yelling and generally make a huge deal about his accomplishment). It was great. We are going to try again tonight. We are really excited about potty training because once he is trained he can start going to preschool. He would definitely benefit from spending some time with other kids. Right now he gets so excited when he sees another kid that he just wants to hug them and that sometimes freaks them out a little. The other day at the store a little girl passed by and Henry pointed to her and tried to touch her and yelled "Mama, another kid!" This guy needs some friends :)

Other Henry news. He is still counting everything, although when he makes it to 15 he always starts over at 4. He can sing the alphabet song, but makes up a few letters along the way. He is also able to recognize a few letters-P, M, W, H-he knows those for sure. In fact, my Mom called me on Thursday to tell me that Henry saw a signature on a picture on her wall that started with the letter H and Henry pointed it out to her and told her "H is for Henry".
He has most of his colors down and his favorite color as far as we can tell is pink. We saw some pink shoes at the store over the weekend and Henry really really wanted them. They didn't have them in his size though, so no luck.

He is singing all the time. Christmas carols and hip-hop seem to be his favorites. He also started making up songs. They usually start off with lyrics about Mama or Papa or Bagel (the dog) but then end up silly make up works and funny noises. He loves being read to and likes for us to read the same books over and over again so lately we take turns, he "reads" a book to one of us and then we read a book to him.

Of course, he has spent a little time in the No-No chair recently, but it seems to be an effective punishment. After his 2 minutes are up he always goes over to the parent that did not put him in there to tell them what happened. It generally goes like this "Papa Henry sit in No-No chair. Henry put choo-choo train in the potty. Henry didn't listen. Make Henry cry.

Sleeping has been a challenge lately. He never wants to take a nap. He tell us "It is morning. Sun is up. Henry not go night-night." The biggest hurdle is night-time waking. He is up usually 3 times a night which has been hard on us.

He is still a very good eater and since we are on a mostly plant based diet he gets a lot of opportunities to try new veggies and fruits. Plus he falls for the "You can't eat a bite that big" routine every time.

For two people who really have no idea what to expect from a 2 year old, Henry surprises, delights and makes us laugh every day.