Happy Halloween!

To see more Halloween pictures, click on the "Halloween 2007 Pictures" Link in the sidebar.

Halloween Past & Present

Henry's 1st Halloween: 2005

Henry's 2nd Halloween: 2006

Henry's 3rd Halloween: 2007

A Memory Like an Elephant

Henry has an EXCELLENT memory. I've been amazed at how well he's memorized the words to books, and has remembered peoples' names after meeting them weeks ago. Just this week, his memory has impressed me again.

Last week Friday we were driving home from work. We stopped at a red light near our house, and there was some kind of a tractor digging up part of the sidewalk. Henry said, "Hi, tractor...I see tractor...I like tractor." Yesterday we were stopped at the same red light, and Henry immediately said, "Tractor all gone. Where tractor go?"

On Saturday, we went to the photo studio to have Henry's 2-year-portraits taken. We went to the same studio back in August for our family portrait. In August Henry was intrigued by a standing fan that was cooling off the waiting area. He stood near it, and touched it, and kept saying "Hi, fan!" The moment we walked into the studio's waiting room on Saturday, Henry asked, "Where fan go? Fan...where are you?" He ran to the spot where the fan used to be and shrugged his shoulders. Here's a preview of his portraits. It's just a scan of the proofs, so not good quality. But, you can get the idea.

Maybe I should have bought Henry an elephant costume to go with his memory...is it too late to change my mind again? Just kidding. We got the white tiger costume yesterday, and it was very cute. Here's a pre-Halloween preview...

Checking himself out in the mirror. He was excited to have a tail!

Oh my! I'm a white tiger!

Check out my feet...I mean my PAWS.

I'll post more pictures of the costume after tomorrow. Happy Halloween!

Halloween Regrets

I've had some issues deciding on Henry's Halloween costume. Last year I had his costume purchased by August. This year I started looking in September. I looked at Babies "R" Us, Target, Party City, and Old Navy. They were already picked-over BY SEPTEMBER! I couldn't find a costume I liked in his size. I had to resort to online shopping. Jeff and I saw an Elvis costume that we liked in a catalog, so I searched online for it. It looked super cute in the picture online. It wasn't nearly as cute when it arrived. Plus, it was really long on him.Also, he kind of hated it. Oh well. I figured I would make it work since I'd already bought it. Then, a couple of nights ago, I started thinking about it. I got sad that I hadn't found a really cute costume for Henry. Afterall, he's only 2, and I can still dress him up in anything I want. I can dress him in a cute, cuddly, furry, baby animal costume this Halloween. By next year he'll probably have an opinion about what he wants to be. He won't be a baby anymore. He'll probably want to be some kind of super hero or cartoon character. I told Jeff about my costume regrets, and he suggested that I buy him a different costume. He said I could sell the Elvis costume on ebay or use it next year. Good point. I immediately went online and found a sweet, adorable furry costume that I love. I had to pay extra for quick shipping. I hope it gets here in time. But, really...how cute is this white tiger costume going to look on Henry?

Men Make Fire!

Just like in the Caveman Days, men are still drawn toward making fire. It was really cold out last night, but Henry wanted to go outside, as usual. After being bundled up, he walked down to the fire-pit area, and said "make fire?" As I was telling him that it was too cold, it was almost time for bed, etc., Jeff was gathering kindling and matches and saying, "You want fire, Buddy? O.K. Let's make a fire!" They (Jeff) built a fire in our old barbecue, and they had a little bit of Man Time.

Henry Chatter

Henry says funny things that crack me up every day. I always think I should write them down, and then oftentimes I forget. So, every once in a while I'm going to write a Henry Chatter post.

A couple of nights ago I put Henry in his crib and he immediately fell asleep...or so I thought because I didn't hear a peep from him for about 20 minutes. I went into the bathroom directly across from his room, and after I flushed the toilet, I heard Henry's voice yell out "Mama go potty!"

This morning while getting Henry dressed, I was rummaging through his drawers looking for a shirt when he said, "How 'bout doggy shirt?" I pulled out a shirt with a picture of a bulldog on the front, and he smiled a huge smile and said, "Yeah! Doggy shirt!" Now he's picking out his own clothes in the morning?

Later when I was dropping him off at daycare, he said "Mama, Henry go swimming pool?" A little girl there looked shocked and asked whether he said what she thought he said. When I said yes, she said, "Wow, Henry says EVERYTHING now."

We went to the store after work this evening, and Henry had some strong opinions about what we bought. When I picked up our usual apple sauce, Henry asked, "How 'bout blue applesauce?" Sure enough, there was blue apple sauce on the shelf. It said 25% less sugar, so I figured we'd try it. He LOVED it. He ate two containers with his dinner tonight.

As I grabbed the banana/vanilla yogurt off the shelf, Henry said, "Stawbeebee nono (yogurt), pease." I absentmindedly said "O.K." but kept going. He said, "STAWBEEBEE nono, pease...STAWBEEBEE nono, pease..." until I realized what he was saying. So, I grabbed a package of strawberry yogurt, and Henry laughed. I think he likes the control!

Henry often runs through the house while saying, "No running! No running!"

He crawls through the doggy door to go outside saying "No go outside...too cold."

Whenever something is hot, Henry will say "hot coffee." It doesn't have to be coffee. If we light a candle, he says "hot coffee." If he sees a fire, he says "hot coffee." When Jeff barbecues, Henry stands next to the grill and says "hot coffee." Any time Henry sees smoke, he says "hot coffee." Today we were driving home when he said, "Hot coffee sky." I looked up and saw that there were lots of big puffy clouds in the sky that looked like smoke. Pretty funny.

A few days ago I was changing Henry's diaper, and when I taped up the new diaper, he said, "Bye-bye penis. Yuv you, Penis." Typical male.

Fun at the Doctor's Office

Henry had his 2-year check-up on Tuesday. I was worried about how he would react to the shots now that he's old enough to realize what's going on. I shouldn't have worried about the shots because he was already screaming and crying so hard by the time the shot happened, he couldn't possibly have been more upset. I have NEVER seen Henry melt down like he did at the doctor's office. He was fine in the waiting room. We colored and read a book. Then we were called back, and they weighed him. So far so good. Then we walked into the exam room, and he started to look worried. I sat him down on the exam table, and the first thing the nurse wanted to do was measure his head circumfrence. He FREAKED OUT! He would not let her wrap the tape measure around his head. He screamed, he flailed, he kicked. I had to hold him down just to get his head measured. We were not off to a very good start. Once the nurse left, Henry calmed down quite a bit. We read books, and he explored the exam room for a while. Then he got bored. He kept saying, "Go bye-bye? Home? Rocco-Stella?" He jiggled the door handle repeatedly trying to get out. Finally the doctor came in. I love his pediatrician. She's so sweet and nice, and she genuinely loves kids. She happily greeted Henry, and he immediately started crying. He did NOT want her to look in his ears...or his mouth...or his nose. He did NOT want her to listen to his heartbeat. He DEFINITELY did NOT want her to touch his "peesee." He screamed and cried and kicked and hit and squirmed and arched his back. He would not be comforted, and I could barely hear a word the doctor said over his screaming. I had several questions that I wanted to ask, but I completely forgot them. She said that we could come back for the shot another time when he's calmer, but I decided to go ahead with the shot rather than upset him on two separate occasions. As soon as the nurse gave him the shot, I quickly dressed him, and we ran out the door. On our way out every nurse, doctor, and receptionist stared at us to find out WHO the demon-child was, and WHO his horrible mother was that couldn't control her child. All in all it was not a good time. I don't think we have to go back until he's 3, but I don't know that for sure since I didn't remember to ask, and I wouldn't have heard her answer anyway.

Henry's 2-year stats...
Head Circumfrence: 18.5 inches (10th percentile) PEANUT HEAD! He's been in this range since birth, so they're not concerned.
Weight: 28 lbs. (50th percentile) RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE
Height: 37 inches (95th percentile) The doctor was convinced that they didn't get his height measured accurately because he was flailing around, and previously he's been at about the 50th percentile for height. But, I measured him at home last night and I got 37 inches also...so maybe he IS tall!

Pictures of my big 2-year-old....

Pumpkin Patch

I took Henry to a pumpkin patch on Sunday afternoon. It's a good thing we went that day because it was a gorgeous afternoon, and now it's supposed to rain every day 'till Halloween. We went to a different pumpkin patch from last year because I wanted to avoid the monstrous lines that we encountered before. I took Henry to one that was recommended by several families who go to my school. We got there, and there was a long line for the hay ride that takes people out to the pumpkin patch. There was a play structure and a hay maze and pumpkin bowling, but Henry clung to my neck and wouldn't let me put him down. That is very uncharacteristic Henry behavior. Since he was getting a bad vibe from this particular pumpkin patch, and I didn't want to wait in a long line, we left. We were there for a total of about 5 minutes. I drove about 1/4 of a mile down the road to another pumpkin patch that we'd passed on the way. This pumpkin patch was a big field of pumpkins...no rides, no games, no snacks. It was perfect. When we pulled up, I said, "Let's go see pumpkins!" and Henry said, "How 'bout kitty cats?" When we got out of the car, there was a cage full of kittens with a "FREE" sign on top. We did NOT get one, but Henry got to see his kitty cats, as requested. I let him run through the pumpkins, and he picked up sticks, and I pulled him around in a wagon, and he smelled sunflowers, and we bought one small pumpkin for 55 cents. It was perfect!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Henry!!

My baby is now 2 years old! I know that technically he's not a baby anymore. But, whether he's 2 or 42...he'll always be my baby. We had a TRAIN birthday party yesterday, and it was lots of fun. The weather was beautiful. The food was delicious. We had lots of family and friends here. Henry had no idea that the party was FOR HIM, but I know he had a good time. Except when he spilled hot bacon grease on his hand at the beginning of the party. But, other than that, it was great. My dad was quick to pour cold beer on the burn, and after some crying and commotion, he was as good as new. Unfortunately, his adorable engineer coveralls got grease on them, and he had to be changed. Luckily I had the perfect shirt to put on him. Henry's favorite thing was his HUGE Thomas the Train balloon. He dragged it around with him all evening. Henry's Grammy made his birthday cakes, and Grammy, Great-Grandma, Auntie Kathleen and Auntie Liz decorated the cakes. They were adorable and delicious.

Henry was a great party host, and visited with everyone. He spent time with his Grammy and Great-Grandma Lou.

He spent time with Mommy and Daddy.He played with Levi.He looked at balloons with Auntie Kath.Jeff grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and bratwursts. There was lots of other good stuff, too. The food was definitely a hit!Even Stella wanted some.

The kids (and some adults) had fun with Henry's new train table.

We had lots of fun playing in the back yard. The kids loved riding on the electric train and playing in the castle. Here's Lucy.... Uncle Rob & Cormac enjoyed the castle, too.

Henry received some wonderful gifts! Henry's Auntie Kath knitted him an awesome "H" sweater. He tried it on this morning over his jammies. It's perfect!
Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Henry's special day!

Future Architect?

Henry LOVES blocks! We've had a big bag of wooden blocks since before he was born, but he hasn't really been interested in playing with them until now. I just took out the blocks this morning and dumped them onto his train table. We played with them for hours today. By this evening Henry was building block towers that are as tall as he is. He has a very steady hand, and he has figured out which shapes will and won't work together. I'm impressed. Maybe he'll build us a real house someday.