Play day

Friday mornings have become play days for Henry and his friend Dorie. I tried to get a photo of the two of them together but they were too squirmy. We'll try again next week. In the mean time here is the little man dancing at the park. -L

New chews

Henry got new shoes today.His feet have grown since his last pair of Puma's.

He is now a size 6. My friend Liz tells me that is the same size that her 3 year old nephew is wearing. -L

Peek-a-boo

Where's Papa's nose?

You got a question about the location of a body part? Well you've come to the right place because Henry can find it for you. Be sure you wear protective eye-wear and don't mind having a drool covered finger in your nose and then in your mouth. -L

Note: This pick also shows off Henry's latest bonk. A doosy he got while running down Mass. St.

Henry Shorts

"Owww" can be used in any situation to insight panic in the house, get extra snuggles, or get out of a diaper change...although Mama and Papa are getting wise to this tactic.
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Primping is fun. Henry loves having his teeth brushed, rubbing lotion on his hands, having his toenails and finger nails trimmed, and having his hair brushed. He will run up to us, stick his foot on our lap and say "feet"when he wants a baby pedicure.
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When he hears the train he said "chew chew".
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When he hears a plane he points up to the sky and says "pane".
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Squirrels run faster than baby's. So do birds. Especially when you scream "BEERD" while running toward them.
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Reading books has become an interactive activity. Henry points out balloons and trucks, makes a "nee new" sound when he sees the fire trucks and he pretends to blow out the candles on a birthday cake in one book and smell a flower in another book.
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Spitting (this is my favorite). While observing the many adults in his life brushing their teeth Henry has decided that it is necessary to pretend spit (leaning over and making a "peh" sound) whenever he passes a sink. He "spits" when we wash hands before and after meals. He spits when he sees us brushing our teeth. He even stops to spit when just passing by the kitchen sink. He doesn't, however, spit when he brushes his own teeth. Go figure. -L

I heart pop-ups

Henry has found and destroyed his new love- Papa's pop-up books. Wade has 4 books from when he was a kid and Henry loves them. He has a favorite page in each book. When one of us sits down Henry runs over to the bookshelf, grabs a pop-up book and runs back to the open lap. He turns directly to his favorite page, yells "Bun bun" or "meeow meeow" or "beeer" or "berd" (bunny, cat, bear and bird) and then proceeds to grab the pop-up portion of the page and rip it to shreds. Last weekend we went to several book stores searching for an industrial strength pop-up book but had no luck so this weekend we are trying to help him discover the joy of board books. -L

Easter Bear

Henry was in fine form this weekend. His Great Grandmother Fannie and his Great Aunts Gina and Rhonda came to visit for Easter and Henry took full advantage of having a captive audience. He had a non-stop chronic case of what Mama and Papa call "rambuncti-itis"; in other words he was wound up and bouncing off the walls. If he wasn't howling and throwing things at breakfast, he was dismantling the hotel room phone, then tearing down the hallways full speed with Rhonda, then climbing on Nana, then climbing on Papa then getting hand lotion from Gina, then dancing with a mouth full of pizza, then head-butting Mama. Whew. The family was really nice about it, but I'm sure at times they were thinking, "Is this kid on crack or what?" The thing is, Henry is such a happy kid, that even when he is being silly and crazy he is making people smile. He is just loving life right now, well, actually RIGHT now he is taking a nap because everyone has parted ways back to their home states and he crashed like he was coming down from an adrenaline high.

On the weekends Henry gets to roll around in the big bed with Mama and Papa and play snuggle games and wrestle before we start the day. This morning Henry had kisses for everyone. He must have gone back and forth five or six times giving Mama and Papa slobbery little kisses. Even his bunny "bun bun" got a few kisses. He is a happy little boy. -W

Mardi Gras Baby

We got a package from GramAlex last week, she was in New Orleans celebrating Mardi Gras and sent Henry some goodies. -L

Naptime Bedhead

The Bean's beans

Henry calls everything small, round and ediable a bean. Peas, blueberries, grapes, lentels, and beans (naturally) have all been labeled "bee" by the little man. Green beans, however, are called "breen bee". -L

No children are hurt in this story

Admittedly, Wade and I have limited knowledge of what is considered "typical" toddler behavior, however, occasionally Henry will do something that we are certain a one year old should not be doing. Usually when something like this takes place one of us will say "you should put that on the blog" and usually it goes unblogged, but yesterday Henry did something so amazing (in the eyes of his parents, at least) that I felt it worth revisiting this afternoon.

I have a house plant that has grown so enormous that I have had to tie a string from the ceiling down around the top of the plant to support it's enormous limbs from breaking or falling over. While this is a practical solution for the enormous house plant, having a tree in your living room that looks like it is in traction is not particularly attractive. So, yesterday I decided to cut the tops of the limbs off, put them in some water to grow new roots and eventually re pot. Henry was busy with his trucks on the floor so I grabbed some scissors and started trimming. Someone knocked on the door and Henry popped up and ran over. I sat the scissors down on table and followed him. It was Gloria, our mailwoman, kindly delivering an Easter package for Henry that was sent to our old address. Once we got back inside I sat on the living room floor and said "Henry, let's get into this package and see what you got." He started to sit down next to me and peel off the tape but before his tiny sweet buns hit the floor he hopped back up, walked over to the table, grabbed the scissors, walked back across the room, handed them to me and sat down. Has he ever seen scissors? Has he ever used scissors (gasp)? Have we opened enough packages in front of him, with scissors, that he just picked that concept up? These are the questions I asked both my Mom and Wade when I called them immediately after this incident. No one is confessing to Henry's apparent training on speedy package unwrapping so it remains a mystery. -L

*Note: Spellcheck marked "mailwoman" as a miss spelling and gave me two options to correct it- Mailman or Madwoman. Gloria is neither.

Spring colors

The red buds are blooming! Wade and I have a special place in our hearts for red bud trees because it was the first kind of tree we planted together. We still drive by our old place occasionally to check on it. Thank you to my Aunt Sherry for taking such a beautiful photograph, it was so lovely I just had to share it.

Henry has been pretty interested in all the colors of the season. He is surprisingly gentle with flowers and pats them very lightly, never picks them.

We have been spending a lot of time enjoying the weather at the park. Henry loves South Park so we visit it everyday over the weekend. Last weekend he chased a squirrel for at least 10 minutes. Wade and I were cracking up. He also discovered the simple joy of running barefoot in the grass.

Tonight Henry was having trouble sleeping so I went in to rock him for a while. He snuggled in and wiggled up up up until most of his upper body was draped across my shoulder and chest. He slid one foot into each of my hands and feel asleep. His soft hair was on my cheek and I could smell his baby smells (the non-poopy kind) and had his little tiny feet in my hands. I wished that I could stay in that chair all night. -L

Round 2...ding ding...

We found a new house this weekend, made an offer and they took it...so we are back in business. There was a small trade off for this property-no basement and no fridge, but it came with a washer and a dryer AND a play set for Henry! After the last house we made an offer on we don't really mind the no basement part and the fridge part, well we'll make it work.
We are thinking that fence would look awfully cute painted white. Know anyone that likes to paint fences? ;) -L

More puddles = more fun

Little dipper

Henry loves to push things-hampers, boxes, toy cars, people...anything that he can get behind and give a shove. One of his favorite things to do is push his dump truck on the sidewalk. He will push it for blocks. So, today when we got a short break in the rain I decided to take the antsy little boy out to let off some steam. We took his dump truck out to push on the sidewalks and along the way Henry discovered puddles. At first he would push the truck past the puddle, trying to not let any part of his truck or his shoes come in contact with it, but after a few steps curiosity got the best of him and he ran back, stopped, leaned over it with his little arms out to his side...slowly a toe wiggled out of the end of his sandal and touched the water. He looked up at me and his face said "I know that stuff, it is like what is in my baths" and that was it, the splashing commenced. We checked out every puddle on the street, stomped and splashed (and even tried to taste a little) and both ended up totally soaked. What fun! I immediately went inside and ordered some rain boots for all three of us, so we are hoping for a big downpour in 2-4 weeks.
I have concluded that grown-ups really don't know what they are missing with puddles...get some rain boots and hop in. It's great fun! (I don't recommend tasting it though.) -L

One step forward, two steps back

Well, blogger fans, we here in the Kelly household have a challenging couple of weeks. We have been sick, had major work stress, gotten a few nasty boo-boos, had trouble sleeping, our jayhawks lost and, most disappointing of all, we have decided to withdraw our bid on the house. Wade went to a very thorough inspection this weekend and we found some structural problems that we are just not willing to take on. So, we are back on the house hunt and, on a positive note, have already found several places that just hit the market for us to check out. We know the right house for our family is out there and we are excited to find a little spot to call our own. But, it is hard to get too upset about it with the breeze blowing in my window and the smell of the neighbors magnolia tree in the air. This morning a small yellow butterfly kept Henry and I company on our walk. The butterfly even rested on the tray of Henry's stroller when we stopped at a stoplight.
I have an exam this week that I have not put very much time into studying for, so the stress level in the house is going to be up for a few more days, but we are on the brink of a new month and a fresh start. It's Spring! With all the flowers blooming and the amazing weather and Wade's birthday coming up, there is no way around it, April is going to be a great month for us. We hope there are sweet breezes and sunshine at your little spot too. -L

Jayhawk Prayer

Our Father, who art in Lawrence,
Hallowed be thy Game.
Thy tourney come,
Thy championship will be done,
In Atlanta as it is in Allen Field House.
Give us this day our deserved victories.
And forgive us our turnovers,
As we forgive Roy who double-crossed against us.
And lead us not into defeat,
But deliver us from East Coast bias,
For Kansas is the basketball kingdom,
And the tradition,
And the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.

Busted

We are wondering if this is how Gigi keeps Henry out of trouble when he is at her house....

GO HAWKS!

NCAA Big 12 Champs!

His style

This morning I said "Henry, time to go to Gigi's, go get your shoes. Get your dinosaur shoes that go ROAR." His pointer finger pointed up to the sky, as if to say "Got it!", he said "shoes" "rrrr" and was off. He ran through the kitchen and into his bedroom. I sat in the dining room putting on my shoes and could hear him working. After a minute he returned with Papa's boot, gave it to me and ran off again. More working...shoes hitting the floor, a grunt, something that sounded like the kitchen cabinet opening (which I can only guess was a moment of distraction but he quickly got back on track after a "Henry, shoes..." from Mama) And he was back, another one of Papa's shoes, this time a tennis shoe, he gave it to me and ran back into the bedrooms....more working, grunting, a cat clearly annoyed runs out of the kitchen...This went on for a few more minutes and then I decided to head back to get Henry and his shoes. I walked through the kitchen and found Henry standing by the back door, next to a pile of shoes. Apparently, he had pulled out all the shoes in our bedroom and his bedroom and decided on Papa's checkered Vans, rather than his dinosaurs, because he had one on each foot, backwards.

Love my Papa

Ready for St. Patty's Day

Big steps

Henry loves to wear our shoes. In this picture he has put on Mama's shoe and Papa's sock.

One funny & one sweet

Henry has a cold. I have been trying to teach him how to blow his nose so that we don't have to use that terrible sucker thing. Well, he's got it, he can blow his nose. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand the need for a tissue. Today he blew his nose on my arm, the sofa and a guitar.

Usually Henry goes to bed around 8 and we just put him down in bed and he falls asleep. Tonight, probably because he isn't feeling very well, he struggled a little putting himself to sleep. When I heard him fuss I went in and picked him up. He does this thing now when he is sleepy, I call it snuggle fish. Right when you pick him up he puts his head on your shoulder and nuzzles into your neck; he puts his arms flat on his sides and straightens out his legs. He doesn't hold on, just relaxes, stretches, trusts that you'll hold him up and falls asleep. It's nice to be that for someone- their soft, safe place. Anyway, so, tonight when I picked him up of course I got the snuggle fish but also, in between his whimpers and whines, he said "elo" "elo" "Mama" "elo". Translation- hello Mama, I'm glad your here. That's the good stuff. -L

Slow riser

Moon kisses

Henry discovered the moon tonight. He pointed to the sky and said "Ohhhh, light".

Aunt Susie is in town this week and Henry REALLY likes her. When we left Gigi and Grandpa's house this evening Gigi got two kisses and Aunt Susie got 6 kisses!

Helping out

Comprehension

Last night the cats were eating dinner at the same time as Henry. One of our cats is named Kaiser. We call him Kai for short. As proof that Henry is understanding a lot more than what he can communicate right now, he looked over at Kaiser, pointed and said "Kai eee"; translation: Kaiser is eating. That was fun. He also has figured out that he can carry our little step-stool around the house and put it in front of places that he can't reach in order to reach them. Then there was the other day when he woke up from a nap and I picked him up and held him as I opened the curtains in his room. He pointed outside at the blanket of powder covering everything and said "snow". This kid is only 14 1/2 months. On top of him starting to really "get it", he is getting big. Proof of that is in the pictures and in the fact that I threw my back out today picking the little bear up. -W

Rugby Player with no Drawls...

Mr. Mischief

Sir Henry is a VERY busy little guy. When he's asleep, he is a quiet snuggly little bear. But when he's awake, it's on! Catch me if you can Papa!

Funny stuff

Multi-Tasking

Sometimes you just don't have enough hands...

Mini-me

Last night I was trying to put Henry's shoes on and he wouldn't sit still so Wade started into his comedy routine which usually involves things like dancing back and forth across the door way and pretending to hit his head when opening the door. So his joke last night was to casually walk down the hall and then turn and slam into the wall. Henry thought it was hilarious, he was cracking up, so Wade did it over and over again. Once Henry got his shoes on he immediately got up and started walking into the walls...and laughing...he did it several times this morning too.

1 Year ( a few months late)

Here are some of our favorite pictures from Henry's first year in the world. Thank you all for your love and support. We made it! Isn't he beautiful!? -W