Countdown to Thanksgiving

This is Henry and his cousin (of sorts) Jaiden playing last November. Jaiden is a great playmate for Henry, he is gentle and doesn't seem to mind Henry's tendency to want to hug other kids. We are hoping that we will get to see Jaiden again this Thanksgiving when Susie and Ted are in Kansas.
This is Uncle Ted with his nephews, they are all such cuties (Ted too!). This was back when Henry had one chunk of hair on the top of his head that would not lie flat no matter what we did. It was the start of his curly hair. :) 28 days till you guys get here.....we can't wait!

Monster Mash

Henry got a package today from Aunt Susie and Uncle Ted. It was full of Halloween treats-goldfish crackers, gum, animal crackers, stickers and a Halloween Mr. Potatohead. Henry just calls him Meeser Tatoheed. I tried to get Henry to wait to open it until after we could get a hold of Susie and Ted but he just told me "Henwe open it, okay" and tore right in. He is definitely ready to take on his birthday gifts. Thank you Aunt Susie and Uncle Ted. Henry LOVED his package.
Happy Halloween!

-L

Patch

We visited the pumpkin patch this afternoon. It was the perfect day for a trip to the patch, cool and sunny with a nice breeze. Henry has changed a lot since our last visit.



These are Wade's picks, I'll post mine soon.
-L

Here go

When Henry is tired he chews on his blanket. When he is feeling generous he will offer up a corner to you, "Mama's blankie. Here go." Often it will be the corner that he just finished chewing on so it is nice and damp. Today he was so tired he fell asleep with his blanket in his mouth.

Check it

Wade and Henry went to the book store yesterday and found this book. Wade bought it because he said that it was pretty much all that Henry wanted to look at the whole time they were at the store. I highly recommend it for people with toddlers. I read it to Henry 4 times in a row yesterday evening and then Bapa read it 2 more times before bed. Even if you don't have a toddler, the artwork is really wonderful and the little girl in the story is adorable.
Lisa, I'm putting this in your baby shower gift package....I know it's early but one day I think your little potato will like it ;)

I was rocking Henry to sleep tonight and after about 10 minutes he settled down with his head on my shoulder. We rocked for a while longer and then I quietly told Henry that it was time for bed-

"Okay, time for night-night" I said.
Henry shook his head but I couldn't tell if it was a nod or a no.
"Baby, time for night-night. Time for Henry's bed."
He nodded again, lifted his head, turned right into my face and whispered
"No way Mama."

5 Years

Today is our anniversary and my Mom's birthday. Happy birthday Mom. We love you.

A funny kind of hide-n-seek

Henry took my hand this afternoon, pulled me into our bedroom, pointed at our bed and told me to "hide right here Mama". I put him up on the bed, crawled over to the other side and slid under the blanket. Henry moved to the center of the bed, sat up on his knees and put his hands over his eyes.
"One, two, tree, four, five, dix, deven, nine, ten, leven, ready or not, ready or not."
He was quiet for a moment. I stayed under the blanket, waiting to be tackled.
"Mama? Where Henwe Mama? Where Henwe go?"
I peeked out from under my blanket and he was sitting there with his blanket over his head, waiting...
"Maamaa," he sang. "Henwe right here. Henwe unden blankie over here Mama."

*sweetness

Oh Bapa

"Where Henwe go bapa?"
"Where Henwe go?"

"Henry, just because you can't see us doesn't mean that we can't see you. Henry is right there in his chair."

"Oh, Bapa....where Henwe? In da bath? No. In da bed? No. Where Henwe bapa?"

not just a color...

Today Henry and I went to a park we hadn't really been to since the end of last winter. Turns out it is still one of his favorites. We chased each other and ran and crawled through tunnels and played on the swings and jungle gym until we were drenched in sweat. We stopped and rested for a while in the shade and drank some water. Then we played some more, ran up the slides and slid down them, hopped down stairs, climbed up hills and scooted sideways down them. At one point Henry just crawled under the platform of one of the play structures and laid down on the ground in the shade for a rest. But he still didn't want to leave when I asked him. About the only thing that made him decide to leave was the prospect of getting to "drive the vroom vroom." (pretend to drive the van) I wonder what passersby think when they see a little person comfortably at the helm of a 3/4 ton conversion van with a 50's style straw fedora on and a grown man sitting behind him in a car seat holding a sippy cup...hmmmm.

Anyway when we finally got home we had a snack. I decided to try out something new along with his usuals (cheerios, graham crackers, juice, yogurt, etc) so I brought over a HUGE ripe orange on a plate and sat down next to him as I began to cut it. Curious and interested he sat down very close next to me and pointed, "Punkin Bapa?" "No, it's not a pumpkin mr. henry, it's an orange." He just sort of looked at me puzzled. I could see that he was trying to process our recent work with colors; trying to resolve the conflict of the color orange on a page with this sweet-smelling thing in front of him. He poked his finger into the flesh of one of the pieces I had already cut and put it in his mouth. A wave of happiness washed over his face. "More orange Bapa" he said quickly and began devouring the slices. Even after accidentally biting some of the rine off and chewing it up, he didn't even slow down. He was hooked and dedicated. After only a few pieces his face, hands, arms, lap, and bare feet were covered in sticky juice and he was in heaven. After seeing Henry's ravenous attack on the fruit I decided I deserved a piece for my troubles. I popped one of the slices in my mouth and said, "mmmmmm." Henry stopped what he was doing, looked me in the eye and very seriously told me, "Henmy eat whole ting Bapa." The kid wasn't messing around. I didn't eat anymore after that.

Henry is so amazing to me. It's impossible to document all the things he does that amaze me every day. I guess as a parent you just eventually accept the fact that you are going to be amazed for the rest of your life by things that may not even be that amazing to other people. I will no doubt be amazed again with every awesome new "orange" Henry discovers. -W

Toot toot Bithday a coming....

I love birthdays and lucky for me one of my favorite people is about to celebrate one. Henry is almost 2! I have been told by the birthday boy that there needs to be a chochie cake so, with a little internet searching I was able to find this----
So, I am calling in the cake decorating troops....and by that I mean all of Henry's Aunts that are going to be in town for his birthday---Better brush up on your star tips and lettering because for this cake I am going to need reinforcements . It looks me like a fun post thanksgiving dinner- stuffed to the gills-half watching football-half napping kind of activity.
Any other fun train ideas? I was thinking of making conductor birthday hats.

You just never know

I know quite a few parents that are dealing with what I call "chicken nugget" children. These are the 3 and 4 and possibly 5, 6, and 7 year olds that will only eat chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and will only drink juice. This is something I have really worked hard to avoid with Henry. I am constantly throwing new foods at him and trying old ones that he wasn't too sure about. There have been a few surprises along the way but I think I can say with confidence that he is not a chicken nugget child.

His recent favorite foods that surprised his parents-
Salad (He eats one every night)
Veggie burgers (His favorite is made out of brown rice, bulgar, carrots, spinach, and other veggies)
Mustard
Horchata
Bok choy
Quinoa
Fish
Artichokes

Oldies that surprise me every time-
Broccoli
Spinach
Black olives
Coffee (although he only gets a taste of Gigi's decaf)
Cantaloupe

Foods Henry spits out-
Avocados
Potatoes
Italian dressing
Bananas (unless he is at Gigi's, for some reason he will eat them there)

We make faces

And to top it off

Well folks, I was reluctant to write about this on the blog because it was just one of those things that becomes more real when you write about it and I guess I just wasn't ready for it to be real. But all is well, so I will go ahead and share it.

Henry had to have a head CT last Monday at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. His pediatrician had some concerns because his fontanel has not closed yet and he has always had such a large head. There are a few serious conditions that these symptoms could be related to, but we (especially Wade) felt very confident that Henry's head was just as it should be and there was no cause for alarm. Never-the-less we went ahead with the scan and I will not go into much detail on that but I'll just say that Henry had to be sedated and Mama and Papa were not in good shape after that experience. Henry did well, he wobbled around like a tiny drunk man for the rest of the day and he has a little bruise on his hand, but other than that he is his just fine.

His scan came back with good news. The plates of his head have fused at different rates, the front two closing before the others, but our doctor tells us that this is nothing to be concerned about. We will watch him over the next year at his normal appointments, make sure that his fontanel closes before he is three and everything should be fine. His brain looks great and his little bump on his forehead from several barely-can-walk-but-want-to-run bonks did not show up on the scan, so it is just scar tissue and will slowly disappear.

Our doctor also told me that the nurses were really taken with Henry. The nurse that called her with his results went on about how smart and sweet he was. He really did charm those nurses...

So, our diagnosis- We have a healthy little boy that is up for an adventure, knows when to lay on the charm and is much tougher than his parents....oh..and has a big head :)

Henry helping with his room

Coffee time

Henry was making "coffee" this afternoon at Gigi's house. He loves to help Papa make coffee at our house. He pushes the button on the coffee grinder. Then he wants to smell the coffee grinds. Says "Mmmmm". Then he helps Papa pour in the water. Then he pushes the button and everyone has to be quiet until he hears the filter start to click.

Well, at Gigi's the coffee making is a little more free form, especially since it is imaginary. Gigi has a little kitchen for Henry out on the porch and it has a kids size pretend coffee pot and filter holder.

Henry took the pot, held it under the sink and said "Shooooo" as the "water" filled the pot. Then he went over to the coffee machine, pretended to pour the water in, put the pot under the filter, and pushed the button and said "Shh, Mama. Listen." We stood and waited for a minute and then he started making the sound of the filter..."tut tut tut". "YAY!" he said, "Coffee ready."

Then (this is my favorite part) before he could get the coffee the plastic phone rang "wingwing wingwing" he said. He picked it up- "Hello. Dis Enry. Just made coffee Branpa Benya. We're here. Bye."

Three more discoveries

1) Henry is one tough cookie.

2) I love that kid so much that it actually hurts sometimes.

3) I was wrong. He can count to twelve.

Up and coming....

Every day I discover something new, this is what I discovered today.
*
He really can count. In the bath he started counting his animals-"One, Do, Tree, Four, Five, Tix, Teven, Eight, Nine, Four." Okay, so he gets stuck after 9 and his fall back is 4, but still, pretty impressive for a child that is not yet two.
*
Bapa is hilarious. This is nothing new, but now he laughs and laughs and in between breaths he sighs "Bapa. Oh, Bapa."
*
He introduces himself to almost everyone we see. At the store tonight he told everyone in line "I Henry" and pointed to his chest with both hands.
*
His tactics for getting Mama back into his bedroom at night are getting dirtier and dirtier. Now he not only says "Where are you Mama?" But he also says "I love you Mama." "Please Mama, please." And he has discovered the one that always works "Poopy diapy."
*
He is really into sharing. Today we were eating sunflower seeds and he would not eat his until everyone had some. "Branpa seeds? Gigi seeds? Mama seeds?" Other examples of his generosity--he offers bites of his food, old-already chewed pieces of gum and, this evening he somehow got a hold of his diaper rash ointment, squirted on his fingers, ran over to me, said "Mama's bottom?" and before I could turn around....wiped it all over my jeans.

Shower/water fountain

I am pretty sure this is not how you are supposed to use the bathtime shower.

{Sorry, the picture isn't great. Bathrooms don't have the best lighting.}

Grandpa Benda is thristy

I don't know how often Grandpa Benda checks this blog, but I thought I would let him know that his grandson has been talking about him nearly every day for weeks now. This morning he told me that he needed "nother jut box" and when I asked him why he said "Branpa Benya one". I said, "Grandpa Benda isn't here Henry, he is at his house." Henry nodded big nods and said "Branpa Benya way way away. Branpa Benya tursty." I said, "Let's have just one juice box this morning and we can save one for Grandpa Benda." So Henry took a juice box and put it in the door of our refrigerator.

Next time you're up Grandpa Benda, Henry will have a juice box waiting.

Found

We found a stack of Henry's birth announcements last weekend. Never mailed them. Seems a little too late now...

Henry shorts

Henry had some trouble going to sleep last night. After about an hour of up and down and rocking and laying down he told me that he wanted a juice box. I said "You can have a juice box when you wake up in the morning. First go nigh-nigh and then you can have a juice box." At 11:30 I heard him yell.."Mama, I ready. Juice box. I ready Mama." He woke up three more times through the night saying the same thing.
*
In the car last week Henry told us- "I hungee." "Eat beetsa."
*
He loves zerberts. He will run up to you, lift up his shirt and say "Sirbert?" He also loves butterfly kisses and getting his nose chomped.
*
All bugs are called "Piders" and they all must be squished immediately.
*
He loves to act like a fish in the bathtub. He lays on his tummy, slides back and forth and makes a kissy face. If you are in the room you will be required to make a kissy face also.

*

This morning I went into Henry's room and he reached his arms out and said "Hold you?" "Hold you Mama?" I said "Do you want me to hold you Henry?" "Yes," he said, "hold you."

The Cave

We pull out our extra twin bed matress everyday to give Henry a place to hop, crawl under, climb, dance, spin and practice forward rolls on.

Belly button

Toddlers are all head and tummy.....

Taking donations

We opened a savings account for Henry, a college fund....but we are wondering if we might have to change it to his "eating fund". Lunch today-

2 cheese sandwiches

1 peach

1 serving of green beans

10 grapes

3 servings of baked beans

1 glass of milk

More more more....

Hi Blog friends. We started a flickr page and I have slowly started adding our photos. I put the link right under the Bean's profile (on the right). Click on it whenever you want to see the photos that I have not posted.

*I posted the newest photos first, so the ones at the end of the set are actually from today...it won't usually be like this, first time user error. :)

Drama

Through the baby monitor we hear-
What? Oh no...Ray Ray? Shoot. Mama did it. Papa did it. Mama did it. Ray Ray? Over? Shoot. Oh man.

We are thinking that Ray Ray, Henry's stuffed cat, has probably been chucked out of the bed and we are being falsely accused. Wade went in to investigate......


Okay, he's back with the report. Ray Ray was not thrown out of the bed, but rather Henry tells Wade that Ray Ray is "nigh-nigh" on the other side of the bed. We are not sure what sort of wrongdoings we have been accused of, this is all that Henry would tell Wade-

Ray Ray nigh-nigh. More water please. Henry's bed please. Cover up. Nigh-nigh Papa.

And all is well....

Close...so close....

Henry never keeps his shoes on for long. On the ride home from Gigi's yesterday he took off his shoes and socks, grabbed his left foot, brought it up to his nose and said

"Stinky Nose Mama. STINKY NOSE!"

18 Month Dr. Appointment on Friday

Yes, we are a little behind. The past two months Henry’s “Well Baby Checks” have turned out to be “Sick Baby Checks” and they don’t give sick babies shots, so here we are…21 months and at an 18 month check up.

Stats-
Weight: 28 lbs 8 oz 68th percentile
Height: 34.5 inches 78th percentile
Head circumference: 20 inches 95th percentile

He took his shot like a champ and lucky for us it will be his last one until he goes to school.

He is doing great developmentally. When the doctor came in Henry said “Hello Doctor Bandarse.” Which I think threw her a little, Doctor VanGarsee is not a particularly easy name to say.

Henry's Teeth

"Hiding.....Ready!"

This is Henry letting us know that we are currently playing hide-and-seek and that he is in his spot and ready for us to come find him. But the thing about this particular version of hide-and-seek is that there really isn’t much seeking required. He hides in the same spot every time, usually behind his half-open bedroom door. He giggles as he watches us search for him and if it takes too long he pops out, yells “HERE”, gives a hug and then runs back to the same spot yelling "Hiding..Ready”

I can't help it, he makes me laugh

“Gum Mama?” Henry says after putting his nose in my mouth and sniffing.
“Shoot, how did you know?” I ask.
“Humm, smell it.” And he grabs my chin, sticks his hand in my mouth so I open up, brings his nose up and blows twice. “Smell it, Mama. Gum? Gum for Enry?”
“I don’t have any more gum baby, sorry. That was the last piece.”
“Open” he tells me. I open my mouth and he puts his little fingers in there, grabs my gum and sticks it in his mouth. “Mmmm, gum.”
“But Henry, that was Mama’s gum.”
“Tank ku Mama. Enry’s gum.”