I think I like Halloween more than Christmas *

*we'll see if he feels that way after Christmas. :)

H: What is God, Mama?
M: Well, God is love, Baby. He is watching over all of us. Taking care of all the people and the animals and the Earth. He is all the love in the whole world.
H: So is the way I feel about Aunt Susie, God?
M: Yes, I think so.
H: Hummm. That's good. Mama?
M: Yes baby.
H: God sounds a lot like Santa Claus.

Next year, for Halloween, I think I'd like to be a fork-lift.

M: Henry quit rolling around and go to sleep.
H: I'm sorry Mama but you're just so cute I can't stand it.  I just like looking at you cuz you're so cute. I mean it Mama, I can't stand looking at you.

Mama, let's put a big shooter on my robot costume because, you know, I like to live close to danger.

M: Look Henry, we are wearing matching shirts. We look like twins.
H: Yes Mama, if I was soft and had stinky feet I would be just like you.

H: Papa says it's okay if I write on the wall just a tiny bit and Papa is the boss so we listen to him. That's what we do Mama, we listen to Papa. And Papa says it's okay to write on the wall. He weally does Mama. He weally does.

*Bang* H: Ouch. Bam
*Bang* H: Ouch. Bam
*Bang* H: Ouch. Bam
*Bang* H: Ouch. Bam
M: Henry what are you doing back there? Why are you saying Bam?
H: Banging my hand against the car. It hurts. I was going to say damn, but that's a bad word.
M: Thanks for not saying that Henry.
*Bang* H: Ouch. Bam!
*Bang* H: Damn (whisper)
M: Henry, you're not supposed to use that word.
H: I know. Sorry Santa.

H: Boogers and snot and eye boogers and stinky baby bottoms and poop and pee and... M: Henry what are you doing in there? H: Oh, just thinking about yucky stuff.

Quotes

I've been emailing myself Henry quotes for a while now and I just got to thinking that our blog friends might like to read them as well. I'll try to do a better job of keeping up with the blog now that Henry and I are feeling a little bit better. Enjoy.

SICK

That's how we spent the month of October and why we haven't had any updates for a while. I'm hoping he will be fully recovered by Saturday and I will have some fun Halloween pics to post. Hope you guys are doing well. Stay healthy!

Bean news

Henry grew ½ an inch this month. 2 ½ inches in the past year. His feet grew 3 sizes and his size 4T pj pants are fitting more like capri’s than full length pants. He is tall and skinny and his blond hair is slowly getting darker. He had a great summer at school but lately his good feelings about school seem to come and go. It’s a new class and most of the kids are younger than him. He helps the new kids understand what is expected of them at school, but good buddies are hard to find in this age group. Lots of parallel play. In spring he will move to the pre-kindergarten group which I think he will really enjoy. Today he didn’t want to go to school. He said that he needed the day off. I think that might have had to do with the fact that we were out last night until after his bed time so he didn’t get any at home time all day. He is a kid that really needs at home time. He’s a homebody, just like his parents. Last night we went to a restaurant opening for my cousin Shawn's new restaurant in Baldwin City. It was an adventure and Henry was up for it. He thrives on being in new places and seeing new things. His favorite part of the night was exploring the restaurant, inside and out. He ran around the building at least 15 times. He loves to wrestle and ride his bike. He loves being read to and can only last about a half an hour in front of the TV before he gets antsy and is ready to play. Which is okay with us, we don’t really like watching TV either. He seems to be getting a little pickier about his food but he will at least try anything that I put on his plate. He is counting down the days until his birthday and tells me that he cannot stop getting bigger and bigger and that he will snuggle with me until he is 10 and then after that I will only get hugs and kisses at night-night time. He has a lot to say on just about every topic and is very conversational, frequently inserting common phrases into his conversation, sometimes correctly and sometimes not . Yesterday we asked Grandma Ginny (Gigi) if she had any basil, which of course she did. Henry said to me “Oh that Gigi. She never fails me.” He knows how to write all of his letters and a few words. He is working on his numbers but gets stuck in the 20’s. He writes his numbers from right to left on the page, sometimes backwards. Over the long weekend we played some t-ball, practiced running the bases and throwing overhand. The rules of the game changed quickly with Henry explaining “Okay now Mama yoooou run to dis base and I will run to dat base and den we can jump 3 times and then I will throw the ball into dis cup and put the bat up in dis tree and then you get the bat and….” well you get the idea. He likes to be in charge. He remembers EVERYTHING but mostly just repeats the stuff you were hoping that he did not hear. He is going to be a robot for Halloween.

First day of school

Sunday Morning

Henry gets busy in jammies.

Kaiser in the sun.

When Aunt Lillie got Hitched...

Mama fixing Henry up.
Henry styling.
Henry and the bride.
Family.
Little monkeys (cousin Campbell and Henry).
Whoosh!

Starting up

We have a busy week ahead of us with school starting and visits from Aunt Annie, Aunt Susie and Uncle Ted. Henry is excited. Last week Susie got a phone call from him. This is how it went-

S- "When I come to visit you can show me your new bike and all your legos"

H- "And we have a surprise when you visit, a surprise made by a secret but I can't tell you"

S- "Henry, that ...is going to drive me crazy!"

H- "Ahh that's the magic of life....."

Wade had a bike built for him at the Recyclery, a bike shop here in town that sells used bikes. For months he has been wanting to transition to riding his bike as his main form of transportation but his old cruiser was just not a good commuter bike. This one that he has designed is a perfect fit and he found a bike trailer for Henry at the bike shop as well. So the ride to school in the mornings will be all Papa power from now on (at least until it snows)
Laurie starts school next Monday. The class should be easy (compared to Organic Chem last semester everything seems easy). She has a couple other projects going on right now as well which we will be sure to keep you guys up to date on when they happen.
We're ready for fall-no mosquitoes, cool breezes, falling leaves...hope you are doing well.

B is for Big Boy

Legos and other bits

I was telling a friend the other day that the blog has become really difficult to keep up these days. Not that there isn't a lot of good stories to share but because Henry is just changing so fast and doing so many new things every day, it is just not easy to keep track of it all. What I can tell you is that his OBSESSION with legos continues on. He is so good at it too. He makes the most elaborate machines and it is really fun to watch him figure it out.

He had a very good summer at school. He made several new friends. One little girl, named Arwin, befriended Henry from the start and kind of showed him the ropes in terms of imaginary play. Arwin loves to play house. One day I picked him up from school and asked "What did you do today?" "Oh, just played house with Arwin." Henry said. "Oh. Were you the Papa?" I asked. "No," said Henry "I'm the dog. I'm always the dog." And sure enough every time I picked him up from then on he was barking around the play house with Arwin.

He is very interested in reading and loves to try to sound out words. Reading bed time stories has become a very time consuming activity. But he seems to be catching on. He is writing very well. All of his pictures from school come home with his name nicely written in the corner. On the last day of summer school the kids brought in shirts to tye-dye. Henry loved it. His teacher said he spent the most time of all the kids carefully squeezing the dye on to his shirt. He is the same way with painting. He will spend 30 minutes working on one painting.

One of my favorite Henry stories happened last night. Papa was sitting at the table talking about work or something and he said "I am just not patient enough." Henry put down his fork and climbed over the chair on to Papa's lap and said "I think you is great Papa." and gave him a big hug. It was very sweet.

Our amazing friends (and Henry's God parents) Jason and Mandy were up last week and they got to spend a lot of time with Henry. As I mentioned in my post a few days ago, we are considering a move to Colorado. The move would partly be to be closer to them and to Wade's Dad. But also there are so great opportunities for both Wade and I as far as additional schooling is concerned in that area and it would be a fun adventure. The move will not happen for at least a year if not 2 so for now it is just a fun dream. We'll be sure to keep you guys posted.

That's all I can think of for now. Henry is asleep and Wade is out with friends so I think I am going to curl up with my book and enjoy the quiet. Hope your having a great weekend.

Weekend

Jason and Mandy were in town last weekend and they might have convinced us to move to Colorado. We'll see....

Helping with dinner

“Mama, cooking dinner is hard work. We should stop and get a drink. It’s important to stay hydrated.”

The beach

Classic

I feel like I have seen a picture like this one 100 times. And sadly, it is the only one we have of Henry in this tux at Lilly's wedding 2 weeks ago. Right after this picture was taken our camera batteries died and the wedding started. So any family members with pictures from the weekend please send them our way. We would love to have a photo of our boy in his penguin suit. Which reminds me of a funny story. We told Henry when Lilly first asked him to be a ring bearer that he was going to get to wear a tux- a penguin suit. He was fitted for the tux, no problems, no questions asked. Then, as he and I waited at the end of the isle at the rehearsal, Henry looked up at me with a very serious and concerned look on his face and asked "Mama. Am I going to be able to see out of my penguin suit?"

Off

Gigi and Grandpa went on a 2 week vacation to Alaska earlier this month so Henry and I got to spend a lot of time together. We had big plans but we did not anticipate temperatures in the 90's so we didn't really get to do as much as we would have liked. We did plant some flowers-Ride bikes on chalk obstacle courses-

Make new crayons

And color with them in our underwear after getting very sweaty outside-
Read lots of books and make mountains with pillows and blankets on the sofa-

Paint-

And build enormous Lego machines. In fact, I was at work until 1:00 this afternoon and this is what I came home to- 2 boys playing with Lego's in their jammies. No lunch. No teeth brushing. Just Lego's.

Ornery

I have read "What to Expect the Toddler Years" front to back. So far it seems like Henry is about 6 months ahead of what they are describing in the book. Maybe this explains his sudden jump into "the ferocious fours". We are tackling something new almost every day. From lying to cursing to just general boundary testing. 6 months ago Henry would have starting crying if we walked into the street not holding hands, today on our way to get the mail I said "Slow down, don't step into that street until I am next to you holding your hand." And he literally stopped with his heel just barely on the edge of the sidewalk and grinned back at me with the most ornery look. Testing testing testing...
He stumps us with a question at least once a day. Like today- "Why is damn it a bad word?" "What makes a word bad?" "Who decides that it is bad?" And "Why can Papa say it and but not kids?" (I now understand the response "because I said so.") He also has us cracking up at least 5 times a day. And every time I think to myself "I have to remember that for the blog" and every time I forget. Sorry guys. If it is any consolation you are welcome to come over any time and experience the orneriness/funnies for yourself. Just be sure that you are well rested because this kid does not stop.

Fun around a gigantic art piece

*Henry's photo pose :)




This went on for 45 minutes. He found me and caught me within seconds every time. Quick little bean.

Fun in the country

More fun to come....

Recent pics

May

Aunt Susie and Uncle Ted visited this weekend. Henry was thrilled. We have been moving the magnet on his calendar in his room for the past two weeks, every day closer and closer to “Aunt Susie Day” and when the day of their arrival came last Thursday, Henry woke up at 4:30 in the morning to ask if he could move the magnet to “Aunt Susie Day”. He did and I am surprised he was able to fall back asleep.
They had a Mother’s Day celebration at Henry’s preschool on Thursday. The kids made apple muffins with smiley faces, daffodils made out of construction paper and those tiny cups that you fill with ketchup at fast food restaurants, and garden stones that they decorated with shiny rocks and tiny shells. When I arrived the kids were playing downstairs. I pulled out my camera and took a photo of the spread on the table-muffins, apples, carrots, celery, handmade flowers and fresh flowers. The schoolhouse is really only 2 rooms. The upstairs room is full of light; windows cover 3 of the 4 walls. I moved into a sunny spot and waited for the kids. I love this school. After a minute or two, I heard the kids stomping up the steps. They ran into the room, stood on the circle rug and were led by the teachers in a messy and slightly distracted version of “You are my Sunshine”. After that it was time for snack. Henry and I sat inside and talked, mostly about Aunt Susie’s visit. She was going to pick him up from school and Henry was excited. Once we finished our snacks we headed outside to play for a while. Henry played in the sand with two other truck and sand loving boys. The boys played pretty well together until another kid came around and started dumping the truck every time that Henry would fill it up. This was not the game that he had been playing and I think it bothered Henry that this boy was dumping his sand but he didn’t cry or scream or grab the truck, he just said “No Max, I want to fill it all the way up. Please don’t dump it.” And when Max continued to dump it Henry looked at me, rolled his eyes, raised up his shoulders and smiled an “Oh well” smile. We moved on to the slide and had a great time. I was proud of him for handling it so well. For a kid that has very little experience playing with other kids he was very patient and easy going about Max’s behavior. And he moved on easily when it wasn’t working. (Although he mentioned last night that Max is very naughty and shouldn’t be allowed to go to school, so it obviously stuck with him a little bit.) Henry tells me almost every morning on the way to school “Going to school is going to be sad because I will miss you and I don’t know how to play with the other kids.” When I drop him off he mostly just hangs around the teachers. I am not sure what to do to get him to interact more with the other kids. He seems to do well with 4 and 5 year olds but he cannot move to the 4-5 year old class until next year. I hope we can find a friend for him soon, I think that it will make all the difference.

Aunt Susie and Uncle Ted arrived to pick Henry up from school about a half an hour later. Henry was so funny. He covered his mouth, jumped up and down, stomped his feet and did not make a sound. I haven’t seen him that excited to see someone. She beat Santa and the Easter Bunny. Aunt Susie is very special to Henry. They became very close when she lived with my parents while her hubby was in Iraq. She moved to Rhode Island in January and Henry has been missing her ever since. We spent a lot of time over the weekend with Aunt Susie….and Henry didn’t really want anything to do with anyone else. This morning he told me “I wish Aunt Susie could stay at Gigi and Grandpa’s house again for days and days and days.” I agree. We all miss her.

On Saturday we all met up at Henry’s school for the Family Fun Walk- 5/10K Benefit Run. It was what I like to describe as “Co-op crazy”—all the makings of an official event but with the chaos of a family reunion. We basically waited an hour to walk around the block with about 100 other families, ate some pancakes and watched the kids play. They had live music and the weather was perfect. My favorite part of the day was pushing Henry on the tire swing. He leaned back and closed his eyes. I remember doing that exact same thing as a kid. I told Wade that we need to put in a tire swing at our house. One that is sturdy enough for both kids and grownups :) Henry picked out an enormous yellow t-shirt at the run and he has worn it almost every day since.
We have a lot coming up in the next few weeks. A vacation. A wedding. Summer school. I’ll try to do a better job of blogging.

Happy Mother's Day