Hair cut

You can't really tell in these pictures but the puff has been trimmed a few inches and with that went a lot of the blond hair. His hair coming in is much darker. The curls seem to be sticking around though. Top picture is pre-haircut (and the photo is cut off so you can't really tell much). Bottom photos are post-haircut.

9:00 pm. Rocking. Henry says-

You know Mama, ders oder tings we could do. We could make scooby dance, play music, read books. That's a idea, yeah. Uh-huh.

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.

This is fun

Questions, questions, questions....Henry has a ton of them. What's that? What you doing Mama? Where we going? What you want to do today? But the best part is throwing it back at him. Tonight Henry asked "What you want to do today Mama?" I said "I don't know, what do you want to do Henry?" His response, all in one breath: Play with green choo-choo train, get out cave, watch Stuart Little, drink soy-nog, read Hop on Pop, eat pizza and (breath) take bath with Super baby (super baby is Henry's doll that he washes in the bath tub. Henry came up with his name).

Using his viewfinder.

Henry at lunch, explaining how to wink.

A few Christmas photos

We didn't take nearly enough photographs this Christmas. I think everything just flew past us, trying to keep up with Henry-rapid gift unwrapping extraordinaire-who will open all gifts, with no concern for whom they belong to, in the blink of an eye. I think other family members might have more photos.

Henry enjoyed Christmas. We left treats out for Santa and his reindeer and when Henry found Santa's note in the morning he was pretty excited. Gigi and Grandpa gave him this horse which he has named "Cinnamon Sugar". He got some other pretty great toys and clothes and books...enough to keep him busy for quite a while.

Happy Holidays

I didn't get around to sending my holiday cards this year but click here to receive our Christmas greeting. (there is sound)

Mama at 2

I was feeling nostalgic earlier this week and decided to look for old photos of Christmas Eve at my Grandparents house. While searching I found this photo and saw a little of the Bean.

The stockings were hung by the chimney

I finished Henry's stocking last weekend. I think it turned out pretty good. I did make a few changes (big surprise). Along the top the pattern had big peppermint candies in addition to the candy canes, stars and flowers. I didn't add those but instead just made three extra flowers . It still looks a little cramped, but not nearly as busy as the original design.

It has taken almost two months for me to make this stocking, much longer than I anticipated. There was a lot more bead work and embroidery involved, I think I was expecting everything to be stamped on. In the end the embroidery looks much better than a stamp. Here are some photos of the details.

Henry's favorite part is the candy cane that the snowman holds. He likes to pull it out and hang it on the tree or pretend to give it to Santa.

Henry's explanation for why we did not have power in our house for 2 days-

Needs new batteries Mama.

Exactly

We put up some Christmas lights outside this afternoon. Before we went out Henry and Wade checked to make sure all the lights were working. Wade plugged in the star with blinking lights. Henry looked at it for a minute and then told Wade
"That tickles Bapa."

Snow

We put on our boots, mittens, hats and coats and headed out to stomp in the snow. The first thing Henry did was grab a handful of snow and throw it at me. We stayed out until our noses turned red and the snow stuck to our pants. We came into the house, drank soy nog and Henry sang Walking in a Winter Wonderland for the rest of the night.

Be Happy

We put up our Christmas tree today. Henry was curious. He loves Christmas music and has surprised us twice, the first time when he started singing "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" on the way home and the second time when he started singing "Jingle Bell Rock" while we decorated the tree. We played with the ornaments, danced, drank Soy Nog, pulled strands of lights around the house....it was great fun!
I finally got around to making a stocking for him (it's only his 3rd Christmas!) which I will post pictures of later, my camera is a little iffy right now. Henry doesn't understand what this stocking business is all about, but he loves his stocking. It is Santa hugging a snowman, perfect for the little boy that loves to give hugs. Tonight he asked to see his "docking" several times. He first removes the candy cane that I have not attached yet and then he says "Hello Santa. Hug?" and he gives the stocking a big hug. Tonight at one point he even told Santa that he loves him. He seems to be getting a better idea of what all this hugging and all the I love you's are all about. He watched the last 10 minutes of How the Grinch Stole Christmas the other night and in the car tonight he told us "Better not touch Grinch, Mama. He too grumpy." A moment later he said "Grinch be nice, needs a hug. Henry hug Grinch. Be happy."

{Sorry the photos are so blurry, I only got in two before the camera died, so this is the best I could do. We have more ornaments to put up so I will try to catch more later. }

Reach it

The sun was setting and the sky was full of pinks and yellows. Henry said

Looks like ice cream Mama.
Henwe eat it.
Need stool and spoon please.

Wind

Feel the wind Mama?
I put him down in the grass. He stood up very straight, reached his arms on either side of his head, opened his hands and spread his fingers out.
Hello Wind.
How you doing?
I good.
What you doing Wind?
Blowing?
Henwe play with choo-choo train and go nigh-nigh.
Okay.
Bye Wind.
See you later.

I can't thank people enough for all the LOVE Henry received on his birthday. Gifts and cards and phone calls...we save all of that stuff so that when he is older he will know what you guys did for him. Amazing!
Now.....this is a gift that we received last night from our good friends, and Henry's God parents, Jason and Mandy. They sent it from Denver. Henry was ecstatic. He would play a note and then cover his eyes and giggle and then play it again. It is such a wonderful and thoughtful gift and so true to them being amazing and dedicated musicians, really really wonderful. Now...I am not sure how long it will stay in this fantastic condition. I came in last night and he was playing it with his hands, and his foot...so we'll see. We will give it our best effort. Thank you guys! We love you all!

A few more birthday pics

Thanks to my sis

My little sister, Kelly, sent me this picture via camera phone this afternoon. The quality isn't great but I think the photograph is hilarious. Wanted to share.

Happy Birthday Henry

Thank you to everyone that came to his party, sent gifts, cards, emails, love....Henry had a great day. Here are a few photos of the train cake and our house before the big party. I will put the rest of the photos on our flickr account (just click on the link on the right hand side) and will probably have more photos in a couple of days when Susie downloads her photos from the day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Henry had a great day. He played with his Aunts and Uncle Ted all morning, took a nap and then it was back to Gigi and Grandpa's for more playing and some tasty dinner.
After Henry's nap, before we headed back to Gigi and Grandpa's house, Henry and I made place setting name tags for everyone.

He was very patient as I traced his hand and then was happy to attack the cut out with a glue stick. After it was sufficiently sticky he helped me sprinkle on the feathers.

Go play in the other room Bapa

Henry started playing by himself this week and I gotta tell ya, it's freaking me out a little. I was in the kitchen last night, fixing dinner and I saw Wade walk from Henry's room into the living room with one of Henry's favorite books and sit down in the big green chair.

What are you doing? I asked.
Henry kicked me out of his room. He gave me a book and said---Bapa go in other room and read by himself. Wade said.
I tip-toed through the kitchen and peaked into Henry's room. He was sitting on the floor in what we call the jello position....that way that only kids can sit, knees bent with his bottom on the floor and his legs on either side of him. Wade and I like to joke that Henry is made of jello...aka can get his arm stuck behind his back and it doesn't phase him...aka super flexible...Only those made of jello can comfortably sit in that position.

Anyway, we stood there for a second and watched him play with his rocket and then walked into the kitchen and stared at each other. He is playing by himself. We couldn't believe that after two years of spending every evening entertaining this tiny person that tonight for the first time he is in his room playing by himself! In the end we both agreed that it is very weird that Henry can play by himself. We continued to peek in on him every few minutes...okay seconds....and he was fine. It reminded me of when he first started sleeping in his own crib. It was less than 2 feet from my side of the bed but I still slept with a flashlight and woke up every 30 minutes to check on him and watch him breathe.

I'm not sure that I am ready for all these changes. Being two and playing by himself and having to sit in the no-no chair (yes, he has already had to sit there twice) and using the potty.....It's amazing how fast they grow, whether we are ready for it or not.

LOVES grapefruit

2 year check-up

Stats:
Weight-29 lbs. 8 oz 75th percentile
Height- 35.9 inches 78th percentile
Head circumference- 22 inches 98th percentile

No new teeth since his last appointment.

Looked great. She felt that the ridge on his forehead was less pronounced and told us that his fontanel was closed and that she expected for his ridge to continue to shrink over the next few years. He still has a big noggin but we aren't worried about it because he is the size of a 3 year old so it fits with the rest of his bone structure.

When she first came in the door Henry ran up to her with a toy that was not working, he said-
"This not working doctor bandarse. Needs new battery."
She giggled and said "So, he is talking really well, huh?"
After she checked his ears he wanted to check our ears. He looked at Mama's and said "Look great. Score 37 and 8." Then he checked Papa's ears and asked to see the doctor's ears. They both got a score of 37 and 8 as well.

Next appointment is in 6 months, at 2 1/2. Cross your fingers that we will be potty trained by then because if he is then he will get to start morning preschool at the community nursery school called Little Red School House. We are pretty sure that Henry will benefit from spending some time with other kids...and Gigi might like sleeping in a few days a week as well :)

Henry can get a little chatty on the way to Gigi's house

Henwe birtday soon Mama.
Have cake?
Cinnamon sugar cake.
Choo-choo cake.
Yellow balloons.
Annnnddd...candles.
Blow out candles.
WATCH OUT!
Be hot.
Don't touch it Mama.

One Fall Morning

This kid. I swear I'm not making this up

Henry was up early this morning. I brought him into bed with us so that we could squeeze a few more minutes of sleep out of him. He snuggled and pretended to sleep like he usually does when we bring him in our bed on Saturday morning (somehow he only wakes up early on the weekends) and Wade and I watched him and relaxed.

H-Hold hand Bapa?
Papa gives Henry his hand
H-Hold hand Mama?
Mama gives Henry her hand. He piles all of hands up on his tummy, puts Mama's hand in Papa's hand and puts his hand on top.
H-Ahh...
H-Love you Bapa
P-Love you Henry
H-Love you Mama
M-I love you Henry

I know it sounds made up but it's not. He is just the sweetest little guy.

Of course, he started saying no in response to every question, even when he really wants to say yes...so it isn't all cute stories, but moments like this morning make all the no's worth it.

Bad day

Last night in the bath Henry told me that he had a bad day. Here is how it went down

M: Henry please pick up your animals so that you can get out of the bath.
H: Nope
M: Henry it is time to get out of the bath. The water is almost gone and you are going to get cold.
H: Nope
M: Do you want Mama to help you pick up?
H: No Mama.
M: Okay, we will wait then until you are ready to pick them up and get out.
H: Sigh Bad day Mama.
M: What? Did you have a bad day?
H: Uh-huh, bad day.
M: Because you have to pick up your animals?
H: Yes Mama.
M: I am sorry that you are having a bad day.
He sits for a minute
H: Okay. Better. Better Mama.
He picks up his toys and tells me
H: No more bad day. Hug?
and hops out of the tub and I get a big (and wet) hug.