Do you speak Henrish?

Henry's speech continues to amaze me. I know that we all started out as babies who couldn't speak, and now we all talk and communicate and have extensive vocabularies. But, watching it happen is AMAZING to me. Every day Henry learns new words. I love it when he hears a word and then starts using it in the correct context.

Lately he's been memorizing his books, and then inserting the correct word when we read stories to him. He even requests books in the car while I'm driving. He'll say "moon" (Goodnight, Moon) or "Hoff" (Drummer Hoff) and then expect me to recite the book from memory while I'm driving. Of course, I always oblige. As I'm reciting the book and driving, he'll chime in with words that he knows. I'll say, "Goodnight cow jumping over the..." and he'll say, "MOON!" How fun is that?

Yesterday Jeff brought Henry to see me at work. School hasn't started yet, but I was getting my classroom ready, and we had an Open House for the kids to bring in their supplies and to meet their teachers. Jeff and Henry arrived just as many of my students were arriving. I told Henry to say "hi" to each person by name, and he did. "Hi, Payton...Hi, Ben...Hi, Karsen...Hi, Alexis..." Then as soon as he said hi, he'd say, "Bye-bye, Payton...Bye-bye, Ben..." etc. Everyone thought it was very cute. This morning, as I was driving Henry to daycare, he started reciting all of the names he'd learned yesterday. "Payton, Ben, Karsen, Alexis" etc. He remembered about 10 names! This kid has an amazing memory! Jeff and I love hearing Henry talk, and we especially love the special way that Henry pronounces some words. Here are a few of the fun Henrish pronunciations.

brollogee = broccoli

peesee = penis

nono = yogurt

seeyo = cereal

dai-poo = diaper

stawbeebee = strawberry

dubeebee = W

watoo = water

elvis = elephant

deeyo = armadillo

poose = octopus

eh! gooly-gooly-goo = cock-a-doodle-doo

cameemee = cream (Desitin)

icestome = ice cream

boody = birdy

Here's a funny story...Henry has been calling his penis a "peesee" for quite some time. Each time his diaper is changed, he says "peesee" and points to it. While reading this book about a monkey, Henry kept pointing to the baby monkey's tail and saying "peesee." I kept telling him that it was a tail, but he kept insisting that it was a "peesee." We debated this many times for many days.

Henry: (pointing to the tail) Peesee.

Me: No, that's a tail.

Henry: Peesee....

Me: Tail....

Henry: Peesee!

Me: (turning the page) O.K., whatever.

Then, the other day, he finally agreed with me and said "tail" while pointing to the monkey's tail. I was so happy that he finally got it. Afterwards, when I changed his diaper, he pointed to his penis and said, "TAIL!" Maybe he didn't get it.

The Zoo

Henry & I went to the zoo on Friday. It was the first time that Henry has seemed interested in the animals. He especially liked the otters and the lorikeets. Each time we walked up to an exhibit, he'd say "hi giraffe" (or elephant or hippo, etc.), and then when we'd leave, he'd yell out "bye-bye monkey" (or penguin or bear, etc.).

We got really close to this giraffe.

The hippo got up and walked around while we were watching.

If you look closely, there's a sea lion in the water behind Henry. Really, there was!

All of the big cats were sleeping, including this leopard.

We went into the Lorikeet Landing, and got to see the birds close up.

Henry liked riding on the mountain goat statue, but he was trying to push the baby goat off. He didn't want to share!

Henry's wondering where his mommy went, and why this big bear is pushing his stroller.

Back to the Fountain

To answer Lannie's question in the comments section: yes, we have gone back to the fountain. Jeff and I took Henry to the fountain a few days ago when it was nice and sunny. This time I was prepared. I brought his bathing suit, a swim diaper, a towel, a hat, and a change of clothes. This time he didn't really want to go in. Figures.

He watched the water, and briefly waved his hands through the water, but mostly he tried to run away into the street. Fun.

What a cutie!

Henry has spent most of the summer wearing t-shirts, shorts and his Crocs. Last Spring I bought this cute little plaid jumper for him, and then forgot to put it on him all summer. It was hanging in the closet, and I usually just grab something out of the dresser drawers. While I think Henry ALWAYS looks cute, I love the way he looks in this outfit. Instead of looking like a rugged little boy, in his plaid jumper he still looks like a sweet baby boy to me.

Yesterday I took him to a park, and since he looked so handsome, I took a few pictures.

Henry loves trees. He says "tree" when we're in the car and we drive past trees. There are a LOT of trees in Oregon. He says "tree" A LOT!

When Jeff saw this picture, he said that Henry looks like Brad Pitt's baby. "Yes, Honey, there's something I've been meaning to tell you...."

This is typically what I see when I'm out with Henry...his back. He loves to run away from me! Where's that leash when I need it?

Tick-Tock

Time is just ticking away. I cannot believe that I will go back to work on Monday. The end of summer has always been a little hard for me, but I do enjoy my job, and I've always been happy to be there once school started. But, that was before Henry. Right now I'm dreading going back to work and putting Henry back in daycare full-time. I really like his daycare, but I am so sad that I'll be away from him for 40 hours each week. Especially after being with him almost constantly all summer long. I am really, really sad about it. But, I am very, very happy that I had all of the wonderful time that I had with him over the summer. I am amazed at how much he's grown and changed. He is such a happy little guy, and it makes me happy to be around him. He is at daycare today, and I miss him. He cried and cried when I left him. I cried when I got out to my car. I thought about keeping him home today, but since he'll start back full-time next week, I thought it would be good for him to go today so that it's not so foreign to him next week. Besides, they tell me that he stops crying a few minutes after I leave, and he's always happily playing when I pick him up. I think this transition will be much harder for me than for Henry. I certainly hope so. Well, I will try to stop whining and deal with the fact the summer is just about over.


Here are some fun bath pictures of my cutie pie from last night. He is so happy in the bath!

Henry has become very good at making animal sounds. His newest fun sound is a tiger growl. He is also very good at singing Twinkle, Twinkle Litttle Star. I love it when he sings the Twinkle, Twinkle tune, but says "Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama" instead of the real words. The other day I had him singing "Rocco, Rocco" and "Stella, Stella." I captured some of this on video the other day.

Fountain Fun

Lannie and I took Henry to a playground this afternoon. The playground has a big water fountain, which I was pretty sure Henry would NOT be interested in at all. He doesn't like to play in the sprinklers. He doesn't like taking showers. He's very picky about the circumstances in which he gets wet. So, I was very surprised when Henry ran through the fountain. Fully clothed. In his long-sleeved shirt. This afternoon was overcast and kind of cold, so it wasn't the perfect day for getting soaking wet. Especially since I didn't bring a towel. Or a change of clothes. Luckily Lannie was wearing a sweatshirt that we used as a towel, and I had a Target bag in the car that had a brand-new pair of Henry pajamas that we put on him. I will definitely have to take him back to the fountain again on a sunny day...with a bathing suit, a towel, and a change of clothes.

Here's a short video of Henry playing in the fountain....

Henry's Grammy

Lannie came to visit for the weekend, and Henry has been enjoying having his Grammy around. They've been reading books, playing, cuddling, tickling, and having fun. Henry can even say "Grammy." And he says "Gramma." He also says, "Bye-bye pee-pee," which he said to the cashier at Trader Joe's yesterday. Funny kid.

Budding Artist

I took Henry to art class again today. Can you tell?He basically rolled himself in blue paint. Each time Jeff has taken Henry to art class, he comes home covered in paint. But, when I take him, he always comes home perfectly clean. Not today!

Once we got home I gave him a bath, and the water turned bright blue. It didn't really show up in this picture for some reason, but it looked very blue!

A Wedding

We attended a beautiful wedding yesterday. Brian, one of my co-workers, got married at a winery in Hood River, in the Columbia Gorge. It was the perfect spot for a wedding. You could see the river and Mount St. Helens behind them, and after the ceremony they took pictures among the grape vines. The drive through the gorge is so pretty! Another co-worker of mine, our friend Becky, rode over with us. She kept Henry company in the back seat, and he learned to say "Becky." Actually, he didnt just say it, he yelled it each time..."BECK-EEEEEE!" Henry had fun running around outside and saying "pitty fowos" (pretty flowers) over and over. Jeff and I took turns watching and chasing him, while the other person got to visit with friends. Unfortunately we had to leave before the cake was served because it was already 8:00 and Henry was not going to last much longer. Here are a couple of pictures of us taken at the wedding:
After I put Henry to bed tonight at 8:00, he was playing and talking in his crib for about an hour. Just before he fell asleep, I heard him yelling, "BECK-EEEEEE! BECK-EEEEEE!" He's so funny.

Garden Update

My vegetables are growing like crazy! Henry likes to follow me around the yard as I water the plants, saying "tree...tree...wat-o (water)."

Look at this puny little acorn squash plant on July 1....

Now look at how HUGE it is!Here are my corn plants on July 15....

Not even a month later, they've grown quite a bit!

The killer tomatoes are getting bigger and BIGGER! June 26.... July 19.... August 10....

Henry is really growing and changing, too. He is talking so much now. He has recently started to put two words together. He says things like, "bye-bye Daddy" and "duce fwee" (for "juice please" even though he can say the word "please") and "lie down" and the funniest thing is he'll ask me for binkies by saying, "couple binkies?"

He also looks through his books and names the things on the pages. He can identify an elephant, giraffe, lion, fox, fish, starfish, dolphin, birds, snake, bear, and even a sloth in one of his animal books. He says so many words, I can't even remember them all. It's so fun to hear him say new things every day.

Slacker

Sorry about no posts since Monday. Henry was supposed to be updating the blog for me. I don't know what he was doing. Maybe playing solitaire or something. Slacker!

Your vote counts!

I've been bugging Jeff about getting a family portrait done practically since Henry was born, and we finally did it yesterday. The studio room was small and hot. Henry started fussing and crying immediately. The photographer had a very "blah" personality. The pictures didn't turn out WONDERFULLY, but there are a few that we like. These are just proofs that I scanned, and they're not cropped or touched up in any way, so hopefully the final product will look much, much better. But, I need your help. Please tell me which of these four pictures you like best. If you're one of our family or friends, you may even end up getting one. Leave me a comment, send me an e-mail, or even give me a call. Even if you don't usually comment, please let me know which one you think we should order. Vote now!

Choice #1

Choice #2

Choice #3

Choice #4

August already?

I just can't believe that it's already August. I only have 3 weeks of summer break left. I hate the back-to-school commercials and sales. I am getting sad thinking about going back to work and not being home with Henry every day.

We've been back from Minnesota for four days, but I haven't really had anything to write about. I have been obsessed with reading the 7th Harry Potter book, and I just finished it last night, so maybe now I will think of some good blogging material.

The trip back from Minnesota went pretty well, except for Henry's napping. I thought he would sleep on the 2 1/2 hour drive from Brainerd to Minneapolis, but he didn't fall asleep until about 10 minutes before we got to the airport. Then he woke up when I put him in his stroller. Then I thought he'd probably sleep on the 3 1/2 hour flight, but he didn't fall asleep until the plane landed. The second we touched down, he was asleep. Again, he slept for about 10 minutes. He's readjusted pretty well to Oregon time, except that he has been waking up early. The first morning back he woke up at 5:30. Before our trip he was sleeping in until about 7:30 or 7:45. I loved it! But now he's back to waking up at 6:00 or 6:30. I guess he's getting ready for our back-to-school schedule.

Henry's been enjoying the nice weather, and spending lots of time playing in the back yard.

We're going to miss summer!!!