The Wonderful World of Henry!

Jeff & His Mini-Me

2009-08-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

Henry & Daddy reading books together. Daddy makes a comfy bed!

Jeff is teaching Henry how to shave. Is it too soon?

Trip to Spokane

2009-08-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

Henry and I spent 5 days in Spokane, Washington visiting Grammy, Auntie Kath, Auntie Liz, and Great Grandma Lou. Jeff was able to join us for 2 of those days, and we had a really nice visit. It was lots of fun seeing everyone, and I know Henry enjoyed all of the attention and spoiling. I enjoyed having lots of help with Henry Duty, and I managed to see 2 movies AND get a pedicure while I was there! It was a nice, relaxing visit filled with laughter and fun. Thanks Spokane Family!

Henry loves his Great Grandma Lou!

Henry & Grammy had lots of fun playing together.

Me, Henry, Jeff, Liz, Kath, Mary Lou & Lannie in their beautiful backyard.

Henry with his Spokane Fan Club.

Hugging Grammy.

Dog Days of Summer

2009-08-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Rocco - The friendliest dog alive!

Stella - Drinking from the pool.

Chief - Auntie Liz's dog, the old guy. (In Spokane)

Catching Up

2009-08-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog...

Back on August 6 we went to this cool park in Wilsonville. Henry and Nathan had lots of fun playing in the water.

Henrietta?

2009-08-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

...or maybe it's just time for a haircut.

The Naked Gardener

2009-08-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

If you've got some yard work that you need done, I might know someone you could call. He does good work, and doesn't charge much. He's fun to watch, too!

Spaghetti Dinner

2009-07-28T17:32:00.001-07:00

Spaghetti is great!

Clothing and fork optional!

Clothes? No Way!

2009-07-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Henry is happiest when he's wearing little to no clothing. Since it's summertime, he's been spending most of his time at home in his underwear or his birthday suit. As long as we're at home, that's fine. However, yesterday I took him to an indoor (air conditioned) playground to escape the heat. He was running around and playing on the play structure and checking in with me every few minutes. When I hadn't seen him for a short time, I started looking for him, and found him stripped down to his underwear climbing on the jungle gym. In order to get to him, I would have had to climb a rope ladder or scale a wall, so one of the workers kindly got him dressed for me.

I don't mind if he strips down to nothing at home. Even for dinner.
Or other clothing-optional activities. Like baths.
Hopefully we can get Henry to stay clothed in public from now on, though.

Swimming

2009-07-13T09:52:00.001-07:00

Henry has been going to swimming lessons every Tuesday and Thursday for the past three weeks. He's been in swimming lessons before, but not since he was a baby. When he had lessons two years ago, I had to be in the water holding him the whole time. Now he's old enough to be in the water alone. That was scary for both of us at first!
We have a swimming pool just about a block from our house, so it's very convenient. Our swimming pool has a viewing balcony, and the parents have to drop their kids off in the pool and then go up and watch the lesson from the balcony. During Henry's first lesson, he cried the ENTIRE 30 minutes. That was extremely painful. During his second lesson, he cried for the first 10 minutes and then he was fine for the remaining 20 minutes. For Henry's third lesson, he seemed pretty happy and excited, and he didn't cry at all when I dropped him off at the pool and walked up to the viewing balcony to watch. The little kids stand on top of a special table that's placed in the shallow end so that the water is only waist high. While Henry was waiting for his turn with the teacher, he kept looking up at me and waving and bouncing around excitedly. As I watched him and chatted with some of the other parents, all of a sudden I saw his little blond head disappear under the water. He had bounced right off of the table into water that was over his head. By the time I stood up to scream at the lifeguard (who stands DIRECTLY behind them), he had already pulled Henry up and out of the water. Henry coughed a little bit, but after about 30 seconds, he was back in the water swimming. I was so proud of him, and so thankful that the lifeguard was on top of things.

Even after Henry's rescue adventure, he has been great in the pool. He doesn't like it when the teacher dunks his head underwater, but other than that, he's o.k. I think I'll keep Henry in lessons throughout the year, and hopefully soon he'll be a swimmer!

Fall River

2009-07-12T09:22:00.002-07:00

We spent 6 days and 5 nights in Central Oregon last week at a beautiful place called Fall River. The weather was beautiful, we spent time with friends & family, we ate delicious food, and we relaxed. Other than the legions of mosquitoes, it was wonderful!

Oaks Park

2009-07-10T14:48:00.001-07:00

We just got back from 6 days in Central Oregon on Wednesday evening, and I haven't even downloaded the pictures from my camera yet. But, I have a few from last week that I'll post in the meantime.

Last Wednesday I took Henry to Oaks Park, a small amusement park in Southeast Portland. We met our friends Steve and Tressy and their kids, Xander and Lucy there. Last summer Henry hated Oaks Park, but this year he loves the rides. On the way there, Henry said, "I don't want to go on the roller coaster! I only want to go on the airplane ride! I don't want to go on any other other rides!" As soon as we walked into the park, Henry pointed at each and every ride and said, "I want to go on that one! And that one! And that one!" He went on a lot of rides, and liked almost all of them. He even went on the tilt-a-whirl three times. I went on the tilt-a-whirl zero times because I wanted to throw up zero times.

Henry went on the roller coaster with Xander.
Henry drove Lucy around in the purple car. Henry rode on the rocket ships several times. Henry rode in the green rocket with Lucy. Then he rode in the purple rocket with Xander behind him in the orange rocket. Henry and Lucy were the only ones on the Frog Hopper. It looked like fun. Until it started. Check out that scowl! We ended the day with a ride on the 100-year-old carousel. Henry was looking cool riding on the rooster and wearing my sunglasses. Another fun summer day!

A Day Out With Thomas

2009-07-02T15:45:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, Marianne and I took the boys to "A Day Out with Thomas" in Hood River. Jeff and I took Henry last year, but I think he enjoyed it more this time. Being a year older makes a big difference, but the fact that it was about 15 degrees cooler this year made a huge difference too!

The boys enjoyed the 30 minute train ride on Thomas.

After the ride they played in the bounce houses together.

They got to pet goats and llamas. Henry told me that his favorite part of the day was the petting zoo.
They also loved the hay maze, and ran through it over and over, until we practically dragged them away.
Even though both boys have their own train tables at home, they wanted to play at the train tables with the hordes of other little boys.
We ended the day with a late lunch at a restaurant in Hood River. There was a cool fountain right outside.
It was a fun day! We might go one more time next summer, but I suspect after that they'll be too cool for Thomas.

A Day at the Park

2009-07-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

We went to a cool park last week. It has two play structure areas, a huge sand area with a water stream, grassy fields, and two covered picnic table areas. We'll definitely be going back there!

Buddies

2009-06-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

Henry & Nathan have been spending lots of time together lately. Even though there are the occasional struggles, pushes, and pinches, they have been having lots of fun together.

They had fun at Nathan's birthday party at Pump It Up a few weeks ago.

The fountain at the Beaverton Farmer's Market was fun even though it was really cold out that day. We'll have to go back on a nice sunny day.
They even took a bath together one evening. Cute!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

I know I'm two days late, but I couldn't let Father's Day go by without acknowledging Henry's wonderful daddy. Not only do I love Jeff, but Henry is crazy about him!

Jeff is the kind of dad who gets down on the floor and rolls around and tickles and chases Henry from room to room. But, he's also the kind of dad who covers Henry's face in kisses and tells him "I love you, son" over and over. Jeff takes Henry for walks in the wagon. He buries him in pillows and blankets on our bed. He spends hours building elaborate train track configurations that Henry promptly destroys. He takes Henry to the store and buys him two donuts. Henry may someday have uncertainties in life, but he will never have to wonder whether his dad loves him. Happy Father's Day to Henry's Daddy-Dadders!

The Levi Train

2009-06-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we went to Levi's 4th birthday party. It was at a large scale model train station where people could ride on the electric trains. The kids had a blast riding around (and around and around) the tracks!

There's Levi in the front, Henry in the gray sweatshirt, and Jeff right behind Henry. Henry and the adorable Avery waving as they rode past.
Jeff and Matt...I don't really know what to say about this one!
Birthday Boy Levi got to be the engineer and drive the train.The cupcakes were delicious!

Big Boy Bed!

2009-06-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Henry got bunk beds today!

Tonight is Henry's first night in a big boy bed. Jeff took apart the crib and moved it out into the garage, and I feel kind of sad that Henry's babyhood is officially over. But, at the same time, it's exciting that he's growing up and doing new fun things.

We bought the bunk bed, both mattresses, two superhero Pottery Barn sheet sets and two Pottery Barn comforters all from a lady on Craigslist. Great deal!

My Little Astronomer

2009-06-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

Henry gets super excited whenever he sees the moon, so I was super excited to capture his excitement on video!

Can you SEE this video? I'm trying Blogger's video feature instead of YouTube, and I don't know if it's working. Someone please let me know if you can see it. Could you see the video that I posted two days ago? I need feedback! Thanks!

A Few Quick Pics

2009-06-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

One of Henry's current favorite books is Corduroy. He likes me to read the book over and over and over. He loves Corduroy's green overalls, and he started calling his green tank top green overalls. "I have to wear my green overalls. I need my green overalls!" I looked on ebay and found something a little closer to Corduroy's overalls than the green tank top. Now Henry wants to wear them every day. When he's wearing the green overalls, we have to call him Corduroy. He insists.

Last weekend we had some friends visit for a barbecue, and they brought over Henry's future girlfriend, Zoey. They were so cute together, and Henry has asked several times when Zoey will come over again. Too bad they live in Texas!

"Hey Zoey, like my wheels?"

What a cute couple!You can tell Henry likes Zoey because he let her use his prized Thomas umbrella.

Henry and Nathan are quickly becoming Best Buds. They play so well together lately and Henry says that Nathan is his "best fwend."

Only the best of friends eat dinner in the buff and/or in underwear.

Taking a Bath in the Dirt!

2009-06-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

I don't like dirt, but Henry sure does!

The only thing that distracts Henry from the dirt is fire! Scary!

More than half-way through May??

2009-05-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe it's already May 19. The past few weeks have flown by in a blur, and I have not been blogging at all. I really have no excuse for not blogging. Well, I have had the flu for the past few days, but that only gives me an excuse since maybe the 16th. Not a lot has been going on. I'm counting down the days 'till summer break (16 school days), swamped with work, tired of cold and sickness, and trying to enjoy time with Jeff and Henry whenever possible. I'll try to give a brief re-cap of some of the highlights of the last few weeks.

Nathan and Greg came over for a barbecue a couple of weeks ago while Marianne and Peyton were in Arizona for the weekend. The boys had a lot of fun running, chasing, laughing, and playing in the castle.

Stella's 5th birthday was on May 2. Since I bought cupcakes for Rocco's birthday in March, I couldn't let Stella's pass by without recognition. Whenever we mention that someone's birthday is coming up, Henry says, "I have to eat birthday cake!" I was leaving for the store when Jeff requested that I buy birthday brownies. Since dogs shouldn't eat chocolate, I bought brownies for the humans and special fancy dog food for the pugs. Henry blew out the candles, but I'm sure Stella made a wish.

We got Henry's hair cut pretty short for the summer. I love his long curls, but it gets to be pretty unruly after a while.

I had a really nice Mother's Day. There were flowers and a nice card from Jeff and Henry waiting for me when I woke up. Jeff made us a great breakfast, then sent me off shopping by myself for my own Mother's Day gift. Then Jeff made a great steak barbecue dinner for Marianne and I (Greg was out of town) before he had to go to work. I have a very sweet husband! I forgot to have my picture taken with Henry on Mother's Day, so I took it myself that night. Not the best, but it's me and the little one who made me a mommy.

I took Henry to my school's carnival on Friday evening. The highlights for him were the bouncy houses and definitely the snow cone!

This May weather has been crazy. We've had cold rainy days when we've had to bundle up, and then beautiful sunny days when we've worn shorts.

I bought a blow-up pool on Saturday when it was in the high 80s, and Henry had fun playing in it while Jeff and I sat in the shade watching him.

Right now the pool is outside being rained on.

Henry's potty training is pretty much the same. He wears underwear during all awake time and pees in the potty all the time. But, he still won't poop in the potty. He says, "I need a diaper to poop in" and he will NOT go on the potty. We're not quite sure what to do at this point. For now we're just waiting for him to be ready, but that could take a while.

I just have to get through the next month of work, and then there will be LOTS of fun summertime blog posting! I promise!

Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went downtown to go to Portland Saturday Market, but once there, we saw that the Cinco de Mayo carnival was going on. We got lucky because the weather was sunny and dry the whole time we were there.

Last summer Henry did not enjoy riding on carnival rides at all, but on Sunday he loved them. For his first ride of the day, Jeff joined him on the balloon ride.

As soon as that ride was over, Henry HAD to go again... "all by myself!"

Next, he went on the airplane ride.Then he took a ride on the rapids in a canoe.

There were practically no lines at all. We just walked right up and got on most of the rides.Next, Henry went on the fire engine.He was the only one on the fire engine, and even though it went WAY up high, he said it was his favorite ride.Henry drove a dumptruck around and around...

Interesting sign. Maybe it was written by the "Carnies."I joined Henry on the tiger roller coaster, and we had fun whipping around the little track at a pretty quick speed. We were the only ones on the ride, and I think they let us go around quite a few extra times.The next stop was the motorcycle ride. Before we left, Henry and Jeff tried out the Strong Man hammer game and won a blow-up hammer. We were a bit disappointed that Henry wasn't tall enough to ride on the big ferris wheel. We were all going to go on that together, which would have been fun. But, I'm sure he'll be tall enough by next year.

Henry had a great time! I think we'll have to hit all of the carnivals and fairs this summer.

Sneaky

2009-04-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, Henry's Auntie Kath was visiting. We went to Costco with Henry and I ended up buying, among other things, a throw blanket. It's kind of an odd time of year for a throw blanket, but when I let Henry feel how soft and fuzzy it was, he loved it. Once we got home, I brought the blanket out into the living room and draped it over Henry and myself. I thought it was kind of sweet and cozy to be sitting under a blanket with my little boy. Henry, however, did not want to share. He kept trying to pull the blanket off of me and saying things like, "Mommy has to go away!" Nice. We've been trying to stress the importance of sharing, and not letting Henry have everything his way, so I didn't want to give in on the blanket sharing. He was getting upset by me not letting him have the blanket all to himself, so I decided to go for the "distraction technique." Jeff plays a game with Henry on our bed, where he buries Henry under the covers and then Jeff runs away and hides while Henry un-buries himself from the covers. So, while Henry was trying to pry the blanket off of my lap, I grabbed it and threw it over his head and said, "I'm going to bury you!" He immediately started laughing and instructed me to go hide. I jumped up and ran into the other room to wait for him to find me. As soon as I settled into a hiding position, I heard Henry say to Auntie Kath, "I have it all to myself!"

I had to laugh at his sneakiness, but I also took the blanket and put it away since he wouldn't share. He's a funny one!

The Easter Trifecta

2009-04-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

We went to three Easter egg hunts over the weekend. The first one was a HUGE egg hunt at a HUGE church in Greg and Marianne's neighborhood. There were hundreds of people (and probably thousands of eggs) there. Marianne and I had to keep telling the boys to pick up eggs because they'd pick one up, and then want to open it, and then want to eat the candy...slowly. Meanwhile everybody and their brother were gathering up the eggs at lightning speed. We're pretty sure they were doing their Easter shopping there.

Henry's checking out his loot.

"Can I be done now, Mom?" (Check out the lady in the background with the FULL shopping bag of eggs. Now she won't have to go to Target on her way home)The boys taking their sweet time.Nathan is happy with his egg.Henry is scrutinizing the candy. "Sixlets? Are you serious?""All right, I guess I'll eat it if I have to..."Back at Greg and Marianne's house.After Egg Hunt #1, we went out to lunch. Then Henry and I went on to Egg Hunt #2 at his daycare. By that time he had the hang of the egg hunting.

"Do I see an egg in there?"

"Yes! Here it is!"

Having fun! We should do this every weekend! Henry was pretty excited to find his Easter baskets waiting for him on Sunday morning.He got lots of Mickey Mouse stuff and plastic eggs full of colorful rocks (which he loved) and eggs full of candy (which he wasn't terribly excited about).The Easter Bunny brought him some cool glasses!On Sunday afternoon we headed out to my dad's house for egg hunt #3. We took all of the candy-filled eggs that we had collected so far and re-hid them for this hunt. We came with 60 eggs and left with 8. That was a good thing!

All dressed up in his Daddy look-alike outfit, and headed out to the back yard for the hunt.

After finding one egg, he had to stop to eat the jelly beans out of it.The three youngest cousins had their own separate egg hunt on the tennis court while the older cousins found their eggs on the grass. Henry (saying "CHEESE!") with Oliver and Nathan.

We managed to time our egg hunt perfectly between rain and more rain. Henry wanted to stay outside, but the downpour began.I think it's impossible to get a good family picture these days. Believe it or not, this was the best one.O.K. The picture overload is over. Happy Easter!

A Beautiful Day...Finally!

2009-04-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today was definitely the most beautiful day of the year so far. It was warm and sunny and perfect. Henry (Mickey) and I went to a nearby park, where we met up with Marianne, Peyton, and Nathan. People were actually wearing shorts and tank tops. We weren't. But, some people were! Henry was, of course, wearing his Mickey ears. It's been getting harder and harder to get a good picture of Henry. When I whip out my camera, he says "NO PICTURES!" Or he runs away. Or refuses to look at me. Or looks at me with an expression like this one...

We went to Camp Rivendale park at Jenkins Estate. I love this park. It has the BEST play structure. It has picnic tables, walking paths, a big grassy area, clean bathrooms, and you can bring your dogs (but we didn't). It has three different kinds of swings. Baby swings, regular swings, and deluxe swings. Even Peyton had fun!

This kind of day really makes me look forward to summer! We only have 10 more weeks of school left. I'm sure it will start raining again this week, and those 10 weeks will seem like 20. But, for right now, I'm going to bask in the glow of a beautiful Spring day.

Nathan can taste Spring in the air!

Marianne & Peyton were sporting their shades.The boys had lots of fun running and playing and climbing, but the highlight may have been when Henry insisted on peeing on a tree even though there were perfectly good bathrooms there. Typical male.

I'm not sure what this thing is, but they played with it for a while.

Hopefully we'll have lots more sunny days to help get me through the next 10 weeks!

Mickey Mania

2009-04-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Henry is the kind of kid who is always obsessed with something. He was in love with Thomas the Tank Engine for about a year. He watched nothing but Thomas on t.v. He played with his trains every single day. He constantly asked us for new trains that he didn't already have. He practically ate, drank and breathed Thomas. Then one day, he was over Thomas. All of a sudden it was nothing but Little Einsteins. The show, the toys, the books, the t-shirts. Henry constantly quoted the Little Einsteins and talked about their adventures. I scoured the internet for Little Einsteins underwear (to no avail) in hopes that it would help with potty training. Quincy, Leo, June and Annie were his new best friends. Not anymore. They, too, have been replaced. Now Mickey Mouse is IT. Henry watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He plays with Mickey Mouse toys, has Mickey Mouse pajamas, a Mickey Mouse cup, and for the past 2 1/2 days has constantly worn his Mickey Mouse ears. They've only come off for sleep or baths. A couple of weeks ago, we went to a friend's house, and their daughter had a pair of Minnie Mouse ears. Henry wore those ears the entire time we were there. When we left, he didn't understand why we couldn't just take the ears with "Hannah" embroidered on them in pink to our house. My friends suggested that we check the Disney Store for them. So the next morning I called the store, only to find out that the ears are only sold at the theme parks. So, we hopped on a plane and... No. We didn't. I looked online and sure enough, you can buy them from someone who probably buys a bunch at a theme park and then sells them for double the price to poor suckers like me. The ears arrived on Thursday, and by Friday they were stuck on Henry's head like glue. He even kissed them goodnight. He now prefers to be called Mickey. He walked into the room wearing the ears and said "Hi Mommy." When I answered with "Hi Henry," he quickly corrected me. "It's Hi MICKEY MOUSE!" If anyone is going to Disneyland anytime soon, please let me know. I have a feeling we'll need a backup pair. Unless he moves on to something else soon.

Funny Stuff

2009-03-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Just a few random funny things that I've been meaning to write down for the past month...

A few weeks ago, Henry was sitting on my bed while I was getting ready for work. As I put on my solid stick deodorant, Henry asked, "What is mommy doing?"

I answered, "I'm putting on deodorant."

"And glue!" He replied.
Great. How long before he tries putting glue stick on his underarms?

The other day I reminded Henry to tell me when he needed to go potty. He's usually really good about going when he needs to, but I give him frequent reminders just in case. So, after I reminded him to go to the bathroom, he stopped and looked at me (somewhat annoyed) and said, "I DO NOT WISH to go potty in my underwear!"

I was putting Henry to bed several nights ago, and as I kissed him and laid him down, he said, "He plopped his head down on the pillow and he squeezed his eyes shut." Funny boy!

Henry doesn't seem to get the concept of answering the question "Why?" Recently he came to me crying, and we had the following conversation.

Me: "What's wrong?"

Henry: "I'm crying!"

Me: "I see that. WHY are you crying?"

Henry: " I AM!"

Me: "I know you're crying, but WHY?"

Henry: "Because I'm crying!"

We have similar conversations almost every day.

Future Best Friends?

2009-03-21T20:11:00.001-07:00

I was super excited when Marianne and I were both pregnant with boys and we realized that Henry and Nathan would only be 4 months apart. I was even more excited when they moved from Minnesota to Oregon last August. Since Henry is an only child and Nathan is much younger than his sister Peyton, we've talked about how nice it will be for the cousins to grow up together. I've thought about how much fun they'll have playing, having sleepovers, riding bikes, hanging out together.

So far they haven't cooperated with my best friend/cousin fantasies. They haven't been terribly interested in each other. They usually play in the same room, but not really together. They often fight over toys. Henry has pushed Nathan several times, and Nathan gets irritated with Henry. We've been hoping that in time they will learn to play together and start enjoying each others' company.

Well, last week, they finally seemed to be friends! We went over to their house for dinner, and Henry and Nathan had a great time together. Nathan was making Henry laugh hysterically. They were both playing with the same toys...together! They chased each other around. They played outside together. It was really sweet to see them interacting and enjoying each other. I was so happy that they were finally friends!

Budding Artist

2009-03-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

Henry LOVES to paint. I brought all of the supplies home from my classroom last week, and we had a great time. He created several masterpieces, and only stopped because we ran out of paper.

Painting is messy, but fun!

Look for our gallery opening soon. Get your bids in early!

Happiness is...

2009-03-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

a cupcake!

Potty training has been going well. Henry is pretty much 100% potty trained when it comes to pee-peeing. He's been wearing underpants all day long except when he's sleeping. Going #2 on the potty is another story. But, he responds really well to rewards, so we've been having lots of cupcakes! He may gain 10 lbs, but he'll be potty-trained!

Happy Birthday Rocco!

2009-03-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Rocco turned 5 on March 1, so we celebrated with some cupcakes. One for Rocco, and one for each of his party guests, Henry and Stella.

Henry helped by blowing out Rocco's candles.

Rocco really enjoyed his birthday cupcake!Happy Birthday to the Friendliest Dog Alive!

Where in the World?

2009-02-28T09:40:00.000-08:00

This video clip was from January, but I forgot to post it until now. I put it on my Facebook page, but neglected to put it on the blog!

Henry is very interested in globes and maps, and loves to talk about where things are in the world. He learned most of these facts from his favorite show, Little Einsteins.

Pretty smart for a 3-year-old, huh?

Big Boy Bike

2009-02-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Henry got his first "big boy bike" on Sunday. I've wanted to get him a bike for a while now, but with an October birthday and a VERY wintery Christmas, it hasn't been the right time to buy him one as a present. I've been debating (with myself) whether a bike would be too big a gift for Easter, or whether we should start celebrating Henry's half-birthday in April with a new bike. While I was scheming a good reason to get Henry a bike, Jeff suddenly decided to buy him one at Target on Sunday night. Problem solved!

Jeff put the bike together on Monday, and when I brought Henry home from daycare that afternoon, he was very excited to take his new bike out for its Maiden Voyage. He really loved pumping up the tires!

He's getting the hang of pedaling and braking in the garage.Daddy's a good helper."Look, Daddy! I can ride my bike!"

Happy 40th Birthday to Jeff!

2009-02-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

Today is Jeff's 40th birthday. He insisted that he didn't want a party. Not even a small party. So, Henry and I gave him some gifts and bought him a yummy cake. Later this evening we're going out to dinner with Greg and Marianne. Even though I love birthdays and parties, I had to settle for a low-key birthday for my sweet husband.

Henry wore a "My Dad Rocks" shirt for the special day.

Coincidentally, the same month that Jeff is 40 years old, Henry is 40 months old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful husband and the best daddy that Henry could have!

Maestro Henry

2009-02-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

Henry really loves music. He's been humming and singing on-key since he was a little baby. Now that he watches way too much Little Einsteins, he's even more into music. He's very interested in instruments (like Little Einstein's Quincy), so I bought him a plastic trumpet. When I gave it to him, his face lit up like it was Christmas. As he played with it, he kept saying, "Thank you Mommy for my trumpet!" I had thought about offering the trumpet as a potty-training reward, but I ended up just giving it to him. When I saw how much he loved the trumpet, I told him that I had given him the trumpet to make him happy, and I asked him if he would go pee-pee on the toilet to make ME happy. After six months of boycotting the toilet, he went! He's gone 2 or 3 times since then. Hooray for the trumpet!
His second favorite new toy is the Dollar Store recorder that I brought home from school on Friday.
Henry also likes to "conduct." Lately he's been carrying around a plastic xylophone mallet that he calls his "conducting baton." He flaps his hands and arms crazily to the music. I tried to catch him on video, but he wasn't as into it as usual. I do like how he requests a different song by humming it for me.

Maybe he'll be conducting (or playing in) the symphony someday!

What's Going On?

2009-01-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

Nothing.

I haven't been blogging because we haven't really been doing anything. I like to write about the places we go and the things we do, but we've just been hanging out at home doing nothing. So I haven't been blogging.

But then I started thinking about all of the things that happen every day while we're at home doing nothing. We're constantly playing, laughing, tickling, chasing, reading, and having fun together. I still feel guilty sometimes about Henry not having siblings. But, with the way Jeff and I play with him, hopefully he won't miss out on too much.

Henry loves playing in his frog tent. It's played with EVERY day. Thanks, Grammy!
Lately we've been playing hide-and-seek a lot. Either Jeff or I will run and hide and then the other person will escort Henry around the house looking. When Henry finds us, we usually jump out and yell, and then we all laugh. It's so fun to see Henry having so much fun.

Henry has just recently become interested in coloring. His coloring is just scribbles, but he likes to "direct" me to color. He points and says, "Mommy color that blue" or "Mommy make a yellow pyramid with a sun and a snake and lots of trees." Yes, sir! We color and play with stickers A LOT.
Henry still has no interest in potty training. When we ask whether he wants to go potty on the toilet, he says, "I can't!" We've started saying, "Yes, you can!" but his response is "But, I don't WANT to." You can't really argue with that. We've tried all kinds of bribery. Lollipops, toys, a trip to Toys 'R'Us. Nothing works. Henry would like a bunk bed, so the other day Jeff told him that once he is potty trained, he can have a bunk bed. The next day Henry was telling me that he wants a bunk bed, so I asked him what he had to do FIRST, before he could get a bunk bed. He said, "I have to go potty on the train tracks." I didn't get it at all, and told him that NO, he has to go potty on the TOILET. Then I realized what he meant. He thought that being "potty trained" meant that he had to go potty on the train tracks. Too funny!

So, even though we haven't been doing much, we've actually been doing a lot. Every day is fun and entertaining with our little superhero.

Oregon Zoo

2009-01-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

We went to the zoo last Friday. I love having a zoo membership so that we can walk around for an hour and then leave. Or stay all day. Or whatever we feel like doing that day. It was really cold on Friday, so we only stayed for a short time, but it was fun.

Henry got up close and personal with a sea lion.

We saw some real penguins, but unfortunately they don't really pose for pictures with the zoo patrons, so we took a picture in front of a penguin mural.After seeing the real penguins, Henry said "There's poop squirting out of that penguin's bottom!" several times. I prefer the fake ones myself.

Spokane Picture Fest!

2009-01-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

After the snowiest it's ever been in Portland since I've lived here, we flew up to Spokane, Washington to enjoy the tail end of their snowiest month EVER on record. It was beautiful, but I've had enough snow to last me for a while! We had a great time visiting Jeff's family. We stayed with Jeff's mom, Lannie, and his sisters, Kathleen and Liz. We got there the day after Christmas, and we opened presents and had a delicious ham dinner. Henry loved all of the toys, books, and games that his Grammy had waiting for him. We also loved OUR toys, books and games! We spent a good chunk of time playing games while we were there. We ate great food. We visited with friends and family. We did a little shopping. I got my hair done in the middle of a blizzard. Jeff and I went out to lunch...our first restaurant meal together without Henry in a LONG TIME. Jeff shoveled a lot of snow. Henry ate a lot of ice cream. I got to sleep in every day...THANKS LANNIE!!! It was a really wonderful visit.

Henry was "getting ready" to go out in the snow.

Shoveling (a.k.a. playing in) snow with Grammy.Henry and Grammy enjoying the fire. Open those eyes, Henry!Jeff, Henry and I played outside.Our Spokane self-portrait.Henry loved the Spokane snow!They had a beautiful Christmas tree. Henry spent a lot of time removing the ornaments and eating the candy canes.Henry colored with his Auntie Kath.Henry with Auntie Kath & Chief.Lannie, Kathleen, and Liz hosted a fun New Year's Eve party. They had it early in the evening so that people could eat, drink, visit, and then leave before midnight!

Henry's ready for New Year's Eve.Liz is ready for New Year's Eve.We're all ready for New Year's Eve.We got to visit with fun family friends, and Jeff got to see some old high school friends. There were even a couple of young boys for Henry to play with.

Double-fisted ice cream eating. Now THAT'S a party!Olivia is enjoying the delicious New Year's Eve spread!We were all in bed, asleep, at midnight. But Henry enjoyed an earlier New Years kiss with his Daddy.We started 2009 with lots of fun, laughter and love, so hopefully that's a sign of a great year to come.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-03T22:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve...waiting for Santa to arrive!

Jeff got home in the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Eve, so Henry and I opened his stocking together while Daddy slept.

One of the first things he pulled out was a pack of fruit snacks. All he was interested in was eating the fruit snacks. I had to BEG him to continue opening his stocking. When he finally did, he found a Little Einsteins toothbrush and toothpaste.Some Spiderman bandaids, bath toys, a Christmas Thomas train, and some other stuff. Then he went back to eating fruit snacks.He was excited to use his new toothbrush and toothpaste!When Jeff woke up, we opened the presents under the tree. Henry actually enjoyed opening presents this year.Each present had to be played with immediately! After opening and playing with presents and eating breakfast, we put Henry down for a nap before heading to my dad's house for Christmas dinner. He was pretty excited, and didn't fall asleep for a long time. Both Jeff and I had to go into his room several times to tell him to go to sleep. He finally quieted down and slept for a while, but when I went into his room to wake him up to leave, this is what I found...Some Christmas buns!

We opened more presents at my dad's house. Henry was super happy to get a Rocket spaceship!

Cormac was super happy to get some cool shoes!Miranda and Peyton were happy just to play together.It was really fun to spend Christmas with a 3-year-old. He loved Christmas. Next year will be even better!

Cabin Fever

2009-01-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

With the Wintery weather at the end of December, we spent quite a bit of time stuck at home. We didn't have chains for my car, and I really wouldn't have wanted to drive in the snow anyway, so we only had one car. Jeff was great about driving us places in the snow, even though we spun out while driving twice. After spinning at least 360 degrees, Henry was laughing and saying, "I wanna spin again!" I'm glad he liked it because I almost had a heart attack.

Spending lots of time at home gets very boring after a while, so I was searching for fun things to do with Henry. I broke into one of his stocking stuffers early (some bath color tablets), and he had some colorful baths. He LOVED it! One night we did a turquoise bath.

The next night was Christmas Eve. Jeff was out of town working, and I had no car, so Henry and I were stuck at home. More colored baths! We started out with bright pink.Then we made the water purple!Then I completely indulged Henry by draining the water and refilling the tub to make green water, as requested. It WAS Christmas Eve, afterall. Now Henry wants to take multiple baths each day! I guess that's not so bad.

The Willis Side

2009-01-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

We got to spend time with my side of the family during the first part of the Christmas vacation. My dad and Eileen got married on December 20, so we had lots of family in town. I don't have a single picture from their wedding. My dad told me that there would be plenty of pictures from the photographers, so eventually I'll have some good pictures, but for now I have a few of our visits before and after the wedding. Unfortunately my dad's wedding coincided with "Arctic Blast 2008!" The day of their wedding was a complete white-out blizzard. It was treacherous driving, but we still had fun. The night before the wedding, we went to my dad's house to visit with the family.

Henry loved the cool Christmas train.

So did Nathan!This is 4 generations of Willis men. Nathan, Greg, Grandpa (Lloyd) and Dad (Norm).Here's Peyton with her Great Grandpa.Esther, Marianne, and Grandpa.

Jeff, Henry, and I were supposed to leave on the 22nd for Spokane to spend Christmas with his family, but due to the weather, our flight was canceled. We ended up flying there on the 26th instead, so we were in town for Christmas with the Willises. It was nice to spend some extra time with family that we don't get to see very often. The weather was brutal, but we chained up Jeff's car and drove out to my dad's house a few times. They lost power for a couple of days, so we spent time sitting by the fire bundled up to stay warm. It was COLD!

Me & my grandpa.

My Great-Uncle Bob (my grandpa's younger brother) with my Uncle Kirt (my dad's younger brother).
As a Christmas gift, my dad told each of us that he would pay for us to fly to Virginia to see my grandparents some time this year. I'm not sure when we'll do it. Maybe in the summer. I'm already looking forward to it!

The Cubley Elves Go To the Disco!

2008-12-24T12:45:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

What makes Henry happy?

2008-12-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

Little Einstein stuff!

While my mom was visiting for Thanksgiving, she bought Henry four Little Einstein character dolls as Christmas presents. They've been in a bag in the guest room closet, just waiting for Christmas. After being stuck in the house for 5 days straight because of the snow, we were running out of things to do, so I decided Christmas would come early. I gave Henry the dolls yesterday, and he has been carrying them around ever since.

Thanks, Grandma Jackie!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

2008-12-18T10:06:00.000-08:00

After less than 5 minutes of walking in the snow Henry asked, "Do your cheeks and chin hurt?" I guess his did!

He's not a big fan of the snowy weather.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2008-12-17T09:42:00.001-08:00

It's been snowing here for the past four days! It's beautiful and fun and Christmas-ey, but the best part is that I've had THREE snow days from work so far. Santa came early this year! Of course I'm hoping for two more to ease me right into Winter Break.

The upside is that I've had lots of time at home with Henry, and some with Jeff (he was working until early Tuesday morning). The downside is that I've had lots of time at home. I have cabin fever! The driving conditions are not good, and I don't have chains for my tires yet.

We ventured out yesterday to the store, which was nice. But it's snowing again today and I just watched a truck spinning its wheels to get up our tiny little hill, so I guess we'll stay put today.

We've played outside a little bit, but playing in the snow isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Luckily Henry got some hand-me-down snow clothes from Nathan, so I bundled him up in those, and took Henry out into the backyard, but the freezing cold wind was whipping snow into our faces. Not so fun.

The snow was really powdery, and it was difficult to get it to stick together enough to make a snow ball. I finally made one, and Henry played with it for a little bit. Then he decided it wasn't too fun out in the snow, and it was time to go inside. He preferred to sit inside and watch Little Einsteins. Stella didn't seem to mind the snow!

Last night Jeff built a fire in the backyard, and we took Henry out for another round of playing in the snow. It lasted about 5 minutes before he was begging to go inside. We'd better get him used to this kind of weather because we're going to Spokane next week for Christmas!

2008-12-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

We went to see Santa on Saturday. Henry likes Santa MUCH BETTER this year...

2008

than he did last year.

2007

He asked Santa for "a globe, a trip to Egypt, and Little Einstein stuff." Every time we get in the car he says, "We're going to Egypt now." He also says (several times a day), "Santa WILL bring me a globe." He'd better, Buddy!

The Polar Express

2008-12-07T14:59:00.001-08:00

A couple of weekends ago we took a ride on The Polar Express! If you're not familiar with the book or movie, it's about a train that takes kids to The North Pole on Christmas Eve. Our train left from the Mount Hood Railroad in Hood River. There were elves who served hot cocoa and cookies, read the book, sang Christmas carols, and we were even visited on board by SANTA!! It was a fun way to kick off the holiday season. Henry is so excited about Christmas this year. Everywhere we go, he points out the lights and decorations and says, "It's Christmastime!" We haven't put up a single decoration, and weren't sure we were going to have a tree this year since we'll be gone the week of Christmas. But, since Henry is so into it this year, I think we'll put up a small tree just for fun. And stockings! And maybe just a couple of decorations....

Henry & Rocket on the train...what kid prefers apple juice to hot cocoa? Mine!

Me & my little sweetieGreg & Nathan

Henry, me, and Grandma Jackie. Too bad Henry's eyes are closed!

Peyton & Marianne

Even though it's hard to tell from this picture, Henry really liked Santa. He even gave him a hug as we got off the train.Nathan & Henry with Santa

Fun Sunday

2008-11-22T07:28:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Henry and I went to the Children's Museum. He had so much fun. We love that place!

He played in the water area for a long time.

Even though he was wearing a plastic smock, he got soaking wet. He thought the dryers were as fun as the exhibits.

While playing in the Dig Pit, a bossy little girl tried to control Henry's every move. Hmmm...hopefully it's not a glimpse into his future.

There was a big Bob the Builder exhibit, which Henry enjoyed even though he doesn't watch the t..v. show.

Henry the Builder. Can we build it? Yes we can!

I didn't notice the "Do Not Climb" signs until after I let Henry climb all over it. Ooops.

What a great place to spend a rainy day!

The Green Machine

2008-11-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of The Green Machine...and Henry, of course. I love it so far! It's comfortable, quiet, drives very nicely, and smells good! I also read an article that named the Toyota Prius the "Best car of 2008!"

Where Did Two Weeks Go?

2008-11-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

Halloween was TWO WEEKS ago? Oops, I've been a bad blogger (again). I'll try to catch everyone up on all of the exciting happenings around here...can you hear the crickets chirping? Not a whole lot going on. I'll write down some quick updates.

Potty Training: Even though Henry turned three last month, he is nowhere near being potty trained. We had a couple of weeks over the summer when he was wearing underwear every day and even asking to go pee pee on the potty, but after our short trip to Spokane in July, he never wanted to go on the toilet again. Every time I ask him if he wants to go, he says, "Bye bye pee pee on potty!" He doesn't care about candy, big boy underwear, or lavish praise. Everyone says not to push it, so I'm just going with the flow (no pun intended). He's a strong-willed little guy. I have no idea where he gets it.

Crib: Henry still loves his crib. He's never climbed out of it. Therefore, we haven't even thought about switching him into a bed. I like the fact that he's contained in the crib. He usually spends anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours talking, singing, and playing in his crib before he falls asleep, and I'm not sure what he would do if he could just get up out of bed whenever he wants. For now he's staying in the crib. Maybe 'till he's five.

Three year stats: We went to the doctor on November 4, and Henry was weighed and measured. Height: 3 feet 2.5 inches, which is in the 67th percentile. Weight: 36 lb. 9.6 oz, which is in the 89th percentile. I was actually surprised that his weight is almost in the 90th percentile because the boy hates to eat. I practically have to force him to eat, and there are days when he eats almost nothing. He drinks a lot of milk and juice, so I guess that might be where he's getting his calories. The doctor said everything looks good. We think so too.

New Obsession: Henry hasn't played with his trains for a couple of weeks. He hasn't been asking to watch Thomas multiple times a day either. Why? Because he's currently OBSESSED with Little Einsteins. When I ask Henry who his best friend is...he says "Rocket!" It's actually a cute show, and he's already learned a lot from it. He carries his little plastic Rocket everywhere with him. If anyone is trying to figure out what to get Henry for Christmas, Thomas is OUT and Little Einsteins is IN.

The Green Machine: We got a new car last weekened. It's a 2009 Toyota Prius, and Henry calls it "The Green Machine." It's a pretty silvery green, but I like the double meaning of the word "Green" since it's also a hybrid. I haven't taken any pictures of the new car, but I will try to snap a couple tomorrow.

Family: We went to Peyton's 10th birthday party on November 2nd. All of the cousins were together again for the first time in a long time. It's incredibly hard to get nine kids to smile and sit still (especially the 3-year-olds).

Henry had fun listening to Grandpa play the guitar.Upcoming Events: 1. My mom is coming to visit from Maui. She'll be here on Wednesday, and she'll stay for two weeks (part of the time at our house, and part of the time at Greg & Marianne's house). 2. My dad and Eileen are getting married on December 20, and lots of family members will be here for their wedding. We're looking forward to it! 3. We're going to Spokane to spend Christmas with Jeff's family. It should be fun! Hopefully The Green Machine will make it over the snowy roads!

That's it for now. With the visitors and the holidays and the road trip, I should have lots to blog about in the next several weeks!

Halloween Flashback

2008-11-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

Henry's 1st Halloween (2005)

Henry's 2nd Halloween (2006)

Henry's 3rd Halloween (2007)
Henry's 4th Halloween (2008)

Trick-or-Treat!

2008-11-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Henry and Nathan (and their moms and dads) went trick-or-treating together last night. We went over to their neighborhood in Lake Oswego and it was a great trick-or-treating spot. There were swarms of kids out, and it was kind of like a big Halloween block party.

After saying "trick-or-treat" and receiving candy at the very first house, Henry walked right past the homeowners and ran up their staircase. I wasn't sure about the proper protocol, but I ended up running into the strangers' home as well to retrieve him from the top of the staircase. After that, we had to physically restrain him at most houses to keep him from running inside. As Greg pointed out, it's probably odd for him to walk up to someone's door and then leave without going inside. True. We don't do that a lot.The boys liked most of the people in costumes and the decorated houses, but Henry wasn't too sure about this creature. I don't blame him!In between houses, Henry had to take a few lollipop breaks.Here we come to get more candy!There were a few tears during trick-or-treating when Henry was reprimanded for running out into the street.We had a great time, and it was really fun trick-or-treating with Nathan! I hope we can make it a yearly tradition.

3-Year Pictures

2008-10-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

For Henry's 3-year-old pictures, I decided to try something different. Usually we do studio portraits. But, the last couple of times Henry has HATED going to the studio. So I thought we'd try having a photographer take some pictures of Henry outside. On the day of the photo shoot, Henry was coming down with a cold and didn't take a nap. Needless to say, he wasn't in the best of moods. He wouldn't smile and didn't even want to look at Maricar (the photographer) during the first hour. Luckily he was in a better mood for the second hour, and she captured some great shots. If you want to take a look at the proofs, you can go to Maricar's website at: http://www.maricarlianne.com/order/slide_show.php?viewGallery=1014. If you're asked to sign in, you can enter the following info...
email address: jociecub@hotmail.com
password: thomas
There's a place to click to view the slideshow, and then it takes a minute to load. Let me know what you think of the pictures, and tell me which one is your favorite!

Pumpkin Patch "Fun"

2008-10-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch over a week ago. Why didn't I rush home to blog about it right away? Well, it wasn't all that fun. First Jeff, Henry and I went out to breakfast with Greg, Marianne, Peyton and Nathan. That part was fun! Then we all drove to a pumpkin patch out in the country. We paid $5 per person to roam around the farm and go on a hay ride. The boys lost interest long before the hay ride. Henry liked the big slide, but he wanted to go down over and over, and he really didn't understand the concept of waiting his turn. So, it went something like this: Henry would try to cut in front of everyone to get on the slide, we'd hold him back so that he didn't cut in front of everyone else, he'd cry as he waited in line, he'd finally get a turn, he'd love it for the 5 seconds of his turn, he'd insist on going on again, repeat....Actually, the slide was pretty fun. But, after about a dozen times, we were ready to move on. We looked at some animals for a while.

Nathan really loved the water pump rubber ducky races. We spent a LONG time in that area. When we finally forced our way out of that area to go on the hay ride that would take us to the pumpkin patch, the boys were cranky. Henry got knocked over by some random lady and started screaming and crying. We realized that it was past Henry's nap time, and we all decided to just leave without the hay ride. But first I had to attempt to accomplish my mission of getting a good family pumpkin patch picture. Exhibits A, B, C, & D:

Mission: Failed.

The Duck Pond

2008-10-18T22:42:00.001-07:00

I understand the reasons for not feeding the ducks...but it's so much fun! A few handfuls of stale cheerios made Henry a superstar among the ducks. It was a beautiful Fall day, and we probably won't have too many more of them before Winter comes. So we're trying to enjoy them while we can.
We're going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have some more Fall photos to share soon.

Young Democrat

2008-10-18T08:24:00.001-07:00

Henry's predicting a victory for his party....

Looking Back....

2008-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to see how much Henry has changed over the last three years. Here's a picture of Henry on the day he was born. I remember holding my sweet baby for the first time. It was truly a dream come true.Here's a picture of The Doodlebug on his first birthday. The first year of Henry's life was incredibly challenging, but full of happiness and love.Here's Henry on the day he turned two. His blue eye are tied with his daddy for the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.Here's my big boy yesterday, on his third birthday. I don't think Henry went through the "terrible twos" but I'm afraid we're about to embark upon the "stubborn threes." It's a good thing we love him so much

Happy Birthday Henry!

2008-10-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd Birthday to the best guy in the world!

I always knew I wanted to be a mommy, but I never knew just how fulfilling it would be to hear "I love you, Mommy" from our son. I never knew how one of Henry's smiles could make everything o.k. I know it sounds corny, but I've been reflecting on Henry's birth and the 3 years since, and I am so incredibly glad that we have our little Doodlebug in our lives. He truly makes the world (our world) a better place.

Even when he's grumpy.
He loves to laugh, play, read books, be tickled, be chased, and have fun. But, he's also a serious boy. He is inquisitive and likes to watch things and figure out how they work.
Henry loves being outside. He still escapes through the doggy door almost every day. He doesn't care how hot or how cold it is. He would much rather be outside than inside anytime.
I love Henry. Jeff loves Henry. We love each other. Henry loves us. What more could we ask for?
We got the best gift in the world exactly 3 years ago today!

Henry's Birthday Party

2008-10-13T21:55:00.001-07:00

We had a fun birthday party for Henry on Saturday. He was so excited before the party that he wouldn't even take a nap! Once the party started he said, "Let's go to Henry's birthday party now." When I told him that we were already at his party, he said, "We go to a DIFFERENT Henry's birthday party." I think he was expecting to go somewhere more exciting than his own backyard. Aside from the no-nap grumpiness, a good time was had by all .We did a sports theme for the party, and Henry's Grammy and Auntie Kath made these cool cupcakes.Henry seemed to enjoy having "Happy Birthday" sung to him. He smiled and looked from person to person during the song, and then clapped when we were done. Very cute! Henry opened lots of fun presents!

Thanks to our friends & family who came to Henry's party!

Odds & Ends

2008-10-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

Henry, Stella and Rocco were hanging out together this morning; watching t.v. and eating Trix.

Here's a preview of Henry's Halloween costume. He's going to be a bat!

This is what Henry looked like when I asked him to make a scary face!
Henry loves the big rock in our front yard. The moment we get home he says, "Go see the big, big boulder." When we drive away from home he says, "Bye-bye big, big boulder!" Yesterday I took his picture with his new best friend: the big, big boulder.

Henry continues to crack us up with the funny things he says.

Today during Henry's nap, I was watching Showtime's "Dexter." Henry woke up during the show, and without turning off the t.v., I went to his room to get him up and change his diaper, etc. I don't normally let Henry watch shows about serial killers, but he ran back into the family room just as a bloody woman was being shown on t.v. As I was diving for the remote, Henry looked at the t.v., said "She's a mess!" and left the room.

Henry has recently become aware that Mommy and Daddy have names. If asked what Daddy's name is, he'll answer "Jeff!" The other day he said, "Daddy is Joss-winn" (Jocelyn). I told him that, "No, Mommy's name is Jocelyn. Daddy's name is Jeff." In the car a few days ago, again Henry said, "Daddy's name is Joss-winn." I said, "Mommy is Jocelyn. Daddy is Jeff." We went over this SEVERAL times before Henry seemed to get it. I got him to repeat after me, and he finally said, "Daddy is Jeff, and Mommy is Joss-winn." I got excited and said, "Yes! That's right! Daddy is Jeff and Mommy is Jocelyn." Henry also got excited, and said, "And Daddy is Joss-winn TOO!" Hmmm...maybe he doesn't get it.

This morning Henry asked for ice cream. I told him that he needed to eat breakfast first, and then he could have ice cream later. I asked him what he wanted to eat for breakfast, and of course, he answered, "ice cream!"

A Few Recent Pictures

2008-09-28T08:17:00.001-07:00

Henry's Grammy came for a visit last weekend. Henry loved spending time with her, especially reading books.
I read books with Henry every single day. It's one of our favorite things to do together.

Even though I'll miss summer, I always like the beginning of Fall so that we can start wearing our new Fall clothes.
Henry looks so grown up in his new clothes. TOO grown up!

Our big handsome boy in the front yard yesterday.

We went to Greg & Marianne's yesterday for dinner. Here's Nathan in his car...

Henry liked riding on Nathan's Thomas Train.

Down...set...hike!

Henry loves their dog, Charlie. He kept saying, "Charlie's a big, big puppy!"Jeff likes Charlie, too!Henry loves his cousin, Peyton!Nathan in his Buzz Lightyear goggles...Oh no! Mommy kisses!Henry gets some Mommy kisses, too...This would have been a good picture if our heads weren't cut off!This one is nice. Thanks, Marianne!Jeff is relaxing outside after the great meal. It's far away, but in the distance you can see Henry & Nathan hugging. It's better than the pushing that has suddenly become commonplace.I didn't get any pictures of Greg while we were there...I'll try to get him next time.

Fallen off the Face of the Earth?

2008-09-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

No, we're still here. Going back to work after having the summer off is always a hard adjustment for me. It's exponentially harder now that I have a child, and going back to work means going from spending almost every waking moment together all summer to being apart for 8 1/2 hours a day. It's hard. I miss my doodlebug when I'm at work. But, after being back at work for three weeks now, I'm getting back into my teaching groove, and we're getting used to the new routine. Hopefully, I'll get back into my blogging groove soon, too.

Today is September 14. That means exactly one month from today my baby will turn THREE!! How is that possible? I can't believe he's not a baby anymore. He's practically not even a toddler anymore. Soon he'll just be a kid. A big kid. Although it's sad to see his babyhood over, he really is becoming more and more fun. He is sweet and funny, he loves to give hugs and kisses, he is starting to ask questions, he notices EVERYTHING, he sings and dances, and talks up a storm. He is so much fun.

Some brief updates...

We're still working on potty training. After a few weeks of great success back in July, he decided he didn't want to go on the toilet anymore. I didn't push it. I just let him call the shots. But, lately, I've started putting him in underwear again (at home) and he's done pretty well. He still won't POOP on the potty, but he will pee.

Henry and his cousin Nathan have become good friends. They both love trains, so they spend the majority of their time together playing at their train tables (they each have one). Henry loves it when Nathan chases him, and Nathan will usually oblige. They have the occasional problem sharing toys, but I think they will grow up being best friends, and I'm so glad.

Jumping together in Henry's crib...

The hug...

The tackle...

Henry loves dirt! Mommy hates dirt! He likes to play in what he calls "the garden," but which is really an empty raised bed of dirt. One minute he's innocently playing on the grass, and the next minute, he's covered in dirt. He ends up with dirt everywhere. I do mean everywhere. Our every other night bath schedule has turned into an every night thing with frequent wipe-downs in between. We really need to get a sand box.

So, we're still here, and I will try to get back to updating more often.

TWO WEEKS!!

2008-08-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've updated the blog. I'm a bad Mommy Blogger. But, we've been busy!

Greg and Marianne and the kids drove across the country and are now living about 10 miles away. I love that! Henry and Nathan play really nicely together. They both love Thomas trains and helicopters and they love to play chase. Henry says, "Nathan has to chase Henry" and then Nathan chases Henry while they both shriek and laugh. It's very cute.

Jeff, Henry, and I drove to the coast for a day. Unfortunately it was a cold, rainy day, but I still had fun being with my two favorite boys.

My mom came from Hawaii for a visit, and she just left today. She had fun seeing all three of her grandchildren in one place. We shopped, barbecued, went to the zoo, and had a really nice visit.

We had a big barbecue, with about 25 guests. Jeff made ribs, bratwursts, chicken, and hot dogs. Everyone had a great time.

I started back to work on Monday. Going back to work after having the summer off is never fun, but it is really, really hard now that I have Henry. I just hate leaving him after spending so much time together. It didn't help matters when he cried and cried when I dropped him off on Monday morning. It has gotten better since, so that's good.

See? We've been busy!

Henry at the little aquarium in Seaside

Jeff playing with Nathan and Henry (yes, he's wearing skeleton pj's)

At the Oregon Zoo...Peyton is as tall as a Sun BearFeeding the lorikeets. Yes, Marianne has a black eye. She and her dog collided heads!Grandma Jackie and Henry watching the animals togetherHenry loves the fire pit in our back yardDaddy & Henry with their beveragesHugs for GrandmaGrandma Jackie and the boys

We rarely get pictures of Jeff, Henry and I together, so I had my mom take a few before she left. It's hard to get a good one of all three of us at the same time, but here they are.

Henry and Grandma having funHenry with his Mommy and Grandma

Mmmmm...Donuts!

2008-08-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

If you've never had a Krispy Kreme donut, you're missing out. Henry had one this morning, and he thoroughly enjoyed it! I was good and resisted even a bite. My treat was watching him enjoying his treat.

Picture Overload

2008-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

I decided to take my fancy-schmancy camera and attempt to do a "professional" photo shoot with Henry. I scouted out a spot in our neighborhood that I thought would make a good background for some pictures. There's a seedy little park down the street that's probably seen it's share of drug deals, but it has a crumbly old brick wall that someone has painted like an American flag on one side and a pretty shade of blue on the other. There's also a dilapidated fence that I thought would look like a cool country setting. I had visions of Henry leaning against the blue wall with his beautiful blue eyes sparkling...unfortunately it was too sunny and there were weird shadows and he wouldn't even look up at me. Even though I bribed him with Dairy Queen ice cream. I did get a few cool shots there, though, and even more good ones later at home in our back yard (after the ice cream).

No smiles pre-ice cream!

In "The Country"...

Possibly my favorite one...

The blue wall was too cool. We'll have to try it again some other time...

The flag-side of the wall had much better lighting...

Back home after a trip to DQ, there were lots of smiles!

Cute close-ups...

Playing with the shadows and light...

Typical Henry expressions...

Pretty blue eyes...

Kickin' dirt & havin' fun...

Leave a comment and let me know what you think! Tell me which one is your favorite. Please? Marianne...Kathleen...Mom...and all of you other non-commenters...I know you're looking.

Funny Funny Kid

2008-08-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Henry cotinues to make us laugh every single day. He really is a funny kid. Sometimes he's actually trying to be funny, and sometimes he's just unintentionally funny. Here are some recent Henry funnies...

I was taking a walk through our neighborhood with Henry and the pugs. We walked by a house where two women were working in the front yard. They started ooh-ing and aah-ing over Rocco and Stella, asking questions about them, petting them, etc. When we finished chatting, and were walking away from the ladies, Henry turned around and yelled, "Bye, Boys!!"

I was picking up dog poop in our back yard (using a pooper scooper, not actually picking it up), and Henry was pointing out the landmines and saying, "There's another one...Mommy has to pick up that one!" When I finished picking up all of the piles, Henry said, "Poop is no one's friend."

Henry constantly asks me to turn ON things that are off, and to turn OFF things that are on. Sometimes I oblige, but sometimes I don't. He asks me to open other peoples' garages, and of course I can't do that, so I tell him, "I can't. It's not ours." He asks me to turn on the fans on the ceiling of restaurants and shops, and again I say, "I can't. It's not ours." So, on a recent sunny day, Henry said, "Turn off the sun!" When I replied that I couldn't, he said, "It's not ours!"

I know there are more, but that's all I can come up with for now. Happy Friday!

Eremikophobia...

2008-07-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

is the fear of sand. I grew up in Southern California and Hawaii, so I've always been around sand, and I've always liked it. Not Henry! He has feared and hated sand since he was an infant. When he was 9 months old, I took him to Hawaii, and even then he was freaked out by sand. I thought he would have fun playing in the sand and wiggling his toes in the sandy ocean floor. Nope. He spent his time in Hawaii on a towel or a beach chair. We've gone to really cool parks with amazing sand boxes, and Henry would NOT go in. You might remember our beach getaway last summer when Henry cried the ENTIRE time we were on the sand. Every single time Henry has been on sand, he has screamed and cried and shaken and had a huge melt-down. So, I'm not sure why we decided to go to the beach at Sauvie Island on Saturday. But, we did. It had been over a year since our beach trip, so we were just hoping that he was over the sand thing. Jeff and I packed up the dogs and Henry and sand toys and towels and snacks and we went. As soon as we could SEE the sand, Henry demanded to be picked up. As I started walking on the sand (carrying him), he clung to me. He kept saying, "Go home! Go back to car!" We didn't drive 45 minutes to turn around and go back, so Henry was going to sit on the beach whether he wanted to or not. I spread out the towel, and put him down, and he was not happy. He sat on my lap and clung to me for a good while. We tried putting him on the sand a couple of times, but he couldn't stand it. He screamed and cried and shook, and snot ran down his face. I wasn't going to force him to do something which so obviously terrified him. I was o.k. with him sitting on the towel the whole time, but we weren't leaving. When Jeff took off for a walk on the beach with the pugs, Henry said, "Go touch the water." So, I carried him to the water and put him down on the wet sand. He seemed nervous and uncomfortable at first, but soon he was splashing his hands in the water. Then he sat down on the sand. Then he ran his fingers through the sand. Then he started picking up handfuls of sand and throwing them into the water. Soon he was laughing and having fun. I think Jeff was surprised to walk up and find us playing in the sand at the water's edge. Eventually Henry and I took a barefoot walk down the beach, and when it was time to leave, he didn't want to go. I'm so proud of him for facing his fears, and learning to love sand. No more eremikophobia!

How Well Do You Know Henry?

2008-07-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

Do you think you know Henry pretty well?

Take this quiz to find out...

QUIZ

Took a Little Trip

2008-07-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

Henry and I took a little trip up to Spokane, Washington last week. We flew up on Thursday and flew back on Monday. Henry did great on the airplane. The flight was only an hour long, so there wasn't enough time to get bored or need to get out of our seats.

We went to Spokane to visit Henry's Grammy and Auntie Kath, and to see their new house. The weather was great while we were there. We fed the ducks (and geese and seagull-type birds) at the riverfront park downtown. There were SO many birds. They kept swarming around us and our bread, and the geese looked kind of evil. I was afraid they were going to attack Henry!

The park had a huge Radio Flyer wagon that you could climb on and slide down the handle. Henry wasn't too interested in sliding, but he and Grammy posed for a picture.

We took Henry to the Japanese Garden one day, and he LOVED throwing rocks into the water. He would have been happy to do that all day. It was a beautiful setting, and it was fun to let Henry play at a park where his Daddy and Aunties played as children.

I really like this picture of Lannie and Kathleen!

We had a fun barbecue one of the evenings while we were there. We got to spend time with Lannie's friends, Midge and Julie, and we got to meet Kathleen's friend, Linda, and her family: Kevin, Olivia, and Sam. We had some delicious barbecue food, and enjoyed relaxing and hanging out on the nice patio.

The Kids' Table was the place to be! Henry claimed TWO chairs, though, and spent the whole time hopping back and forth between the two chairs.

Yummy ice cream!

We had a really great visit! We had lots of fun spending time with Grammy and Auntie Kath, and it was nice for me to have a little "down time" from Henry. Kathleen and I went out for a manicure and pedicure one day, and we went to a movie another day. Fun! Too bad Spokane isn't closer!

A few days ago...

2008-07-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

we took Henry to the fountain. He was completely uninterested in playing in the water. He whimpered when the water mist blew into his face. He ran from the fountain area. He much preferred the playground.

I'm not sure why he hated the fountain so much. Actually, it could have stemmed from a recent incident. We were playing in the backyard, and he was fascinated by the hose. I had the hose turned to the MIST setting, and Henry was loving it. He kept laughing and laughing when the mist hit him. In fact, it was so funny that I grabbed my camera to record his laughter. Well, the video tells a different tale...

Worst Mom of the Year Award coming my way?

Finding Fun

2008-07-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

I like to get out of the house to do fun things with Henry. He likes it too. When we're home, Henry asks to "go bye-bye" a lot. The thing is, I can't always think of fun things to do. Yesterday Jeff was home, so we decided to take Henry to the zoo. As we approached the zoo off-ramp, we noticed cars lined up FOR MILES in both directions. It turns out that on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, the zoo has free admission. LOTS of bargain-conscious people were waiting in their hot cars to get into a very crowded zoo. We decided that we would not join them. So, we made a quick decision to go to Oaks Park, which is a small amusement park in SE Portland. I haven't been there since I was about 10. We arrived just after 11:00, and once inside, we found out that every Tuesday and Wednesday morning they have a "Pre-School Party" from 9:30-11:30 for kids 6 and under. They can ride on the kiddy rides, and there's a snack and story time included. It's just $6 per child, and parents are free! We didn't actually pay anything, though, because there was no one at the gate by the time we got there. Shhh...don't tell all of the zoo bargain hunters! We started out by putting Henry on a rocket ship ride. As soon as the ride started, Henry started crying. Shaky chin and all.

The ride operator actually stopped the ride to let Henry off. Poor guy.

We thought maybe we'd have better luck if he went on a ride with one of us, so Jeff and Henry got in line for the roller coaster.

It wasn't much better.

Here's a closeup...

By the time we finished those two rides, it was 11:30 and the rides were over. Bummer. We are going to go again soon and try some of the rides that we think he might like better.

Today I took Henry to Pump It Up, which is an indoor inflatable playground.

We got there right when they opened at 9:00, and Henry had the whole place to himself for the first half an hour.

He had fun playing for about an hour, until he discovered the water fountain, and decided that drinking from it was more fun than playing. Once his shirt was good and wet, we decided it was time to go home.

So, it's been a fun couple of days. I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow.

Maybe To-Later?

2008-07-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

When Henry asks to do something, like go to the playground or go to "Old McDonalds" or watch another Thomas show, rather than say "NO," I often answer with, "Maybe later" or "Maybe tomorrow." Well, Henry has now combined those two answers into "Maybe to-later." He knows my answers so well that he sometimes answers his own questions. For example, Henry will say, "Henry and Mommy go to the zoo?...Maybe to-later!"

These pictures have nothing to do with anything, but I like to add pictures to my posts. So... Here's Henry this morning eating a peanutbutter sandwich and drinking his milk.

I will write more soon...maybe to-later!

4th of July

2008-07-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

For the past few years, I haven't done anything on the 4th. Jeff's usually working, and I've had Henry in bed long before the fireworks started. This year we finally had something to do. Jeff had to work (bummer), but Henry and I went over to my dad's house for a barbecue. I wasn't sure how he'd react to fireworks since he'd never seen them, but he was great. Every time a firework would POP, Henry laughed and laughed. His 10-year-old cousin Miranda said, "I don't ever want Henry to grow up because I love the sound of his laugh." Too cute! Henry's favorite thing of all was playing on my dad's tennis court.

I really wish we had a tennis court. Not because I want to play tennis, but because it's like a huge toddler cage. You can close the gate and put some toys or balls in there, and the children are contained! For some unknown reason, Henry called the tennis court "Town Square." Maybe he mistook the words tennis court for town square? I'm not sure, but he kept asking to go back to Town Square, and once there, he would say, "Mommy's in Town Square" or "Uncle Greg is in Town Square." Today he's been asking about going to Town Square.

Miranda and Owen

Henry hugging his cousinGroup HugBesides the fireworks and Town Square, Henry's favorite part of the 4th of July was eating a chocolate cupcake.

Henry Doodle

2008-07-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

I taught Henry to sing the song "Yankee Doodle" except we sing it "Henry Doodle" since that is a nickname that we call him a lot. We've been calling him Henry Doodle, Doodlebug, Henry Doodlebug, etc. for quite a while, so he'll answer to any variation of that nickname. After singing "Henry Doodle" to him two or three times, he had the song memorized. Here he is singing his own version, "Henry Doodlebug":

After he's done, he always says "Good job singer!" I'm not sure what he was doing at the very end...to his end.

My OTHER Babies

2008-06-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Rocco Stella

Rocco & Stella are enjoying summertime, too! They seem happy to have us home a lot, and when it's not blazing hot, we can go for more walks. Henry really loves the pugs, too. Every morning he runs out into the family room and pets and hugs each of them. The other day, Henry layed (lied?) down on the couch with his head on Rocco like a pillow, and said (in the most affectionately loving voice) "Oh, Rockety!" Also, when we were leaving the house, Henry yelled out "Bye Stella! Wuv you Stella!"

Big Blue Thomas

2008-06-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a dream was realized...Henry rode on a real train pulled by Thomas the Tank Engine!Unfortunately it was a 90-minute drive to get there and it was 95 degrees out, but I still think Henry had a good time.
It was kind of like a Thomas carnival. There were lots of stations for little kids to do things like bubbles, a petting zoo, several train tables, arts and crafts, etc. If it wasn't so hot, and if Henry hadn't said "go ride big blue Thomas" every few minutes on the drive there, we may have had a bit more fun. Even though we have a train table at home, Henry really liked playing with a different train table."Hey...why are these other kids playing with MY train table?"Once on the train, it was a very scenic ride. We told Henry that we were riding in Clarabelle (one of Thomas' coaches).We could have waited in a long line in the hot sun to get Henry's picture taken in front of Thomas. Instead, I snapped a quick picture with Thomas in the background. Good enough!It's a good thing Daddy bought a huge chocolate chip cookie for Henry to eat in the car!I'm glad we went, even though Henry said "go home" every few minutes on the drive back.

Henry Humor

2008-06-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Do all 2 1/2 year olds have a sense of humor? Henry sure does! For the past several months we've noticed Henry purposely saying things to be funny. Sometimes he cracks us up. Sometimes he just cracks himself up.

Poop is very funny to Henry. He loves to talk about (and laugh about) poop. And farts. Just yesterday Henry was putting me through the "what does a ____ say?" inquisition.

Henry: What does a dog say?
Me: Woof Woof.
Henry: What does a cow say?
Me: Moooooo.
Henry: What does two eyeballs say?
Me: I see you!?

Henry thought that was very funny! So, knowing his highly developed sense of humor, I asked him one...

Me: What does poopoo say?

He didn't even need a punchline. He laughed and laughed. Serious belly laughing, complete with drooling. When he had recovered enough to speak, he tried it out...

Henry: What does poopoo say?
Me (blowing a raspberry): Ppptthhhhhhh!

LOTS MORE laughing ensued. "What does poopoo say?" is now his very favorite question. Fabulous.

What's for Dinner?

2008-06-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti!

YUM!

Summertime!

2008-06-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day of Summer Vacation. I am so happy to be done with work for TEN WEEKS!! I will have lots of quality time at home with Henry, and we'll be home when Jeff is home. I am going to learn how to use my new camera properly. I am going to read the potty-training book that I just bought. I am going to get Henry potty-trained. I'm going to take Henry to Munchkin Sports on Mondays, and Kindergym on Saturdays. I'm going to exercise during Henry's naptime. I love having time off in the summer. We'll get to enjoy lots more fun summertime activities, like...

NAKED ICE CREAM EATING!

Well, HENRY will do the naked ice-cream eating. I don't think Jeff will, and I know I won't.

Fun Father's Day

2008-06-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

I taught Henry to say, "Happy Father's Day, Daddy!" But, he kept saying, "Happy Father's Day, Mommy!" By the end of the day he finally got it right.

Unfortunately, Jeff had to work on Father's Day. Henry and I went over to my dad's house for a Father's Day lunch. Jessica and her family and Patrick and his family were all there, too. We had a sandwich and salad buffet, hung out, Dad opened presents, and we had fun. It was a beautiful day. Henry loves his Grandpa!

We didn't think Jeff would be home until late, but we got lucky, and he was home by 4:00. We grilled burgers and sat out on the deck. Henry gave his daddy some Father's Day gifts, too. He gave him a coffee mug, 2 Washington State hats, and the newest David Sedaris book. Henry's a good shopper! It was really nice to spend a relaxing evening together outside in the warm summery air.Henry REALLY loves his Daddy!

Nice Weekend

2008-06-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

We had a nice weekend. For the first time in a long time, Jeff had BOTH Saturday and Sunday off, without having to call in sick. Grammy, Auntie Kath, and Auntie Liz all visited. Saturday was pretty cold and overcast, but we had a nice barbecue with our visitors (except Liz, who left way too soon) plus Greg. Henry had fun playing with his "windmill."

"Auntie Wiz" left too early for pictures, but here's Henry with his "Auntie Kaf."Grammy pushed Henry on his "motorcycle." Can you tell that he likes to make up names for his things? He wasn't interested in learning to use the pedals, but he's o.k. with being pushed around.

I'm still getting to know my new camera, and I still haven't had time to watch the instructional DVDs, but I think I'm getting some good pictures. Check out the flowers from our yard and our neighbors' yard.
Only 4 more days of school...I can't wait!

Henry's New Tie-Dye Shirt

2008-06-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

Every year I tie-dye shirts with the kids in my class. The past three years I've made one for Henry, and when I showed him his new shirt yesterday, he insisted on wearing it right away. He looked so cute in it, I just had to take some pictures.

From the Mouth of Henry

2008-06-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Henry loves to ask us questions. He will often ask and answer his own questions. "What color is grass? Gween." or "What color is sky? Bwue." or "What color is sun? Yewow." I'm used to hearing question after question as we drive in the car. The other day he started asking funny questions like, "What color is Mommy?" I said, "I don't know...what color IS Mommy?" He answered, "Yewow!" So I asked him, "What color is Henry?" He answered, "Yewow!" Fully expecting the answer to be yellow, I asked, "What color is Daddy?" Henry answered, "Bwack!" I don't know why he thinks Jeff is black, but it cracks me up.

Henry got a green balloon from Trader Joe's. It was floating in the air when he went to bed at night, but by morning, it was lying on the ground. When he saw it he said, "Balloon up in the sky? No...balloon on the ground." I told him that the balloon couldn't float in the sky anymore. He said, "It's too tired."

P.S. I forgot that I had some more pictures from my new camera. I took them at my dad's house on Memorial Day.

My Dad

Cousin Oliver

Cousin Owen

Cousin Jacob

Me & my brother Greg

Henry found a bag of Kix in my dad's pantry and carried it around, munching on it, for quite some time

Slow Blogger

2008-06-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Once again I'm a delinquent blogger. It's been over 2 weeks since I last posted. My two busiest times of year at work are the beginning and the ending of the school year, and with only two weeks of school left, I am in the midst of a very busy time! I may not post much (or at all) until after school gets out on June 13, but once school's out, I'll be a blogging fool.

Last Sunday was my birthday...it was a big one...I turned 40 (gulp). I don't feel 40! The day before my birthday, we had a fun birthday party barbecue at our house with about 20 people. Jill, Calvin, and Maddie drove down from Seattle to help us celebrate. Jeff's sister, Liz, also came down and stayed for a couple of days. I got a fabulous birthday present that I had been coveting, but never thought I'd get....a new camera! It's a Nikon D60, and I haven't yet learned how to use it. It comes with a GIANT instruction book and two DVDs that I will watch once school's out. I have tried taking a few pictures with it, but I'm not very good with it yet.

These pictures are with my old camera:

Me & Jeff at the party

Me & Jill...friends since 1985!Calvin & GregMaddie, Jill, and the dogs
Jeff & Liz

Here are some pictures with my NEW CAMERA!

Rocco
At the zoo on my birthday...Can you see the difference? The colors are brighter, the pictures are sharper, and it has amazing Zoom capabilities. More good pictures coming soon....

Heat Wave

2008-05-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

It was 100 degrees here yesterday! Today was in the mid-90s. It definitely feels like summer. Henry's been wearing shorts and eating ice cream and staying up later than usual. It's so light and warm out at 8:00 that it doesn't feel like bedtime. Tonight he didn't fall asleep until after 10:00. I went into his room several times to tell him to lie down and go to sleep. The last time I went in, I was trying to be stern. I said, "Henry, lie down. No more playing. Close your eyes and go to sleep!" He asked, "Give Mommy big hugs?" I couldn't turn that down. So, I said, "Well...o.k." I leaned over the crib railing to hug him, and he wrapped his arms around my neck. While patting me on the back, he said, "You're my PERFECT!" (something I say to him a lot). Even if it wasn't so hot out, I still would have melted.

Play Time with Daddy

2008-05-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

Jeff took this picture one day last week while he and Henry were home together. Crazy Boys!

In Honor of Mother's Day...

2008-05-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here's Henry wishing me a Happy Mother's Day!

Henry loves it when I sing "The Name Game" song. He requests lots of different names, but here he is singing the song FOR ME! He started out by singing it with the name "Bombee," which is his nickname for "Mommy."

If you're not sick of it yet, here's some more Henry-Mommy talk....

I love that kid!

Jeff is working today, so it's just me and Henry for Mother's Day. I decided that we'd go for a long walk before his nap. We took the dogs and the wagon, and I walked BRISKLY for 25 minutes to a nearby playground.Once there, Henry played for 6 minutes, then climbed back into the wagon and said, "Go home now?" Oh well, at least it was good excercise. Stella was too tired to keep walking, so she rode in the wagon on the way home.

I am so incredibly happy to be Mommy to such an amazing little boy. I've been reflecting all day on how difficult it was to become a Mother, and how it was all so worth it. Mother's Day will always be a very special day to me. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Jeff's mom, and all of the other Moms we know and love!

A Few Pictures from the Past Week

2008-05-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Henry and I went to the zoo. We've been several times, but this time Henry was really interested in the animals. We saw hippos, giraffes, meerkats, bats, and even goats.It was a beautiful sunny day, so we came home and ate popsicles outside.Henry absolutely loves being naked. He asks for naked time every night, and he runs around laughing and playing and...riding bareback.
With the nicer weather, we've been spending more time outside. Henry loves to play in the backyard, especially with Daddy.Henry got another haircut today, and he looks like such a BIG boy!

Blog Makeover

2008-04-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a new look for the blog, and I'm finally ready for the Big Reveal! I like it. What do you think?

Sunny Surprise

2008-04-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

It was supposed to be rainy today...but, it wasn't! It was sunny and beautiful this afternoon. I left work a little early, picked up Henry, and we played outside for awhile. He spent a lot of time looking at, touching, and smelling the flowers.As I was sitting on the rock wall, he climbed up next to me and sat down. Then he grabbed my hand and said, "Hold Mommy's hand." I love my little sweetie.
After dinner, I had a little surprise for Henry. I bought rainbow-colored ice cream cones, and I gave him his ice cream on a GREEN cone. He was so excited, and kept saying, "Special green cone" over and over.Wherever the food is...the pugs will be there, too.

Funny Stuff

2008-04-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

Just a few Henry funnies...

He still goes in and out through the doggy door all the time, and I'm trying to get him to stop. I don't like it when he goes outside in the rain wearing only socks or when he walks on the grass before I've had a chance to pick up dog poop. So, I keep telling him that the doggy door is FOR DOGGIES! This afternoon while I was in the kitchen, I heard the doggy door flap open and close, but Rocco & Stella were both with me in the kitchen. I saw Henry running around outside on the deck, so I opened the sliding glass door and he immediately said, "Doggy door is for doggies!" I said, "Yes, that's right. Are you a doggy?" His reply..."Woof! Woof!" as he ran away.

A couple of days ago I was trying to figure out what to make Henry for dinner. I was giving him some choices of his favorite foods.
Me: "Do you want spaghetti? Or chicken nuggets? Or meatballs?"
Henry: "Or candy?"

Henry loves to be tickled. He actually asks for it. As I'm changing his diaper, he'll say, "Mama tickle arm?" While playing with Jeff, he'll say "Got your neck?" which means that he wants Jeff to tickle his neck. The funniest thing, though, is that he doesn't only request the usual tickle spots. On several occasions, he's said, "Tickle tongue? Tickle teeth?" Umm, o.k.

As we were in the car driving home from daycare last week, out of the blue Henry said, "Rabbits eat grass, fruits, and vegetables." I was kind of surprised at that bit of knowledge from a 2-year-old!

I was feeding Henry dinner, and I was trying to get him to use his fork as opposed to picking everything up with his fingers.
Me: Use your fork.
Henry: Use your words!

After changing Henry's diaper, and putting him back down on the floor, he said, "There...that's better."

He's a funny kid!

Mommy Time

2008-04-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

Me and Doodlebug.
I am usually the one taking the pictures, so I don't have a lot of pictures of me and Henry together. I finally got a couple of recent ones, so I thought I'd share them. I haven't mentioned this on the blog, but I've recently lost 40 lbs and I kind of wanted to wait until I'd lost more before posting pictures of myself. Oh well. I'll post more pictures of myself after losing ANOTHER 40 lbs. It might be a while....

"How 'bout go playground?"

2008-04-20T21:54:00.001-07:00

I took Henry to a nearby playground today. We were the only ones there, but we had fun. It was a bit chilly today, but we really needed to get out. Last Saturday it was almost 80 degrees. Yesterday it snowed. On April 19! How many more days until Summer? I can't wait!

He's Two and a Half!

2008-04-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Henry was born exactly 30 months ago today. I can't believe he's two and a half already.

Some tidbits of information about 2 1/2 -year-old Henry:

He won't eat ANY vegetables (unless you count french fries, which I don't)
He loves Reese's Pieces
He doesn't share very well...at all
He won't watch any other show besides Thomas the Tank Engine on t.v.
He tells me when he needs his diaper changed
He knows all of his letters and colors
He can recognize and name over 50 of the Thomas trains
He asks to be tickled
He loves being naked (especially in his crib, lately)
He will NOT take cough medicine
He likes the taste of coffee
He is fascinated with the moon
He will eat 3 popsicles in one sitting
He can recite all of the words from several books
He won't say "please" even though the knows how
He likes to smell flowers -- even fake ones
He still goes outside via the doggy door
He has an incredible memory
He calls all bald men "Grandpa"
He asks for balloons EVERY time we go to the store
He laughs at farts and burps
He quizzes US about animal sounds ("what's a cow say?" etc.)
He loves sitting on Mommy's lap to read books
He loves playing outside with his daddy

Henry + Thomas = True Love

2008-04-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Henry LOVES his Thomas underpants so much. It makes us laugh. He's worn them over his clothes three times now, and when he sees them, he gets giddy and shrieks, "Thomas undoopanth!!" This evening, he sat watching t.v. (Thomas & Friends, of course) while holding the Thomas underpants and occasionally stroking them against his face. Should we be worried?

"Oh, Thomas undoopanth..."

I think we're better...knock on wood!

2008-04-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

O.K....NOW I think we're better. I ended up going to the doctor on Tuesday because I had started feeling so much worse. My head felt like it was going to explode, my chest was wheezing, I was having coughing fits, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't sleep. The doctor said that I definitely had a sinus infection, and I possibly had pneumonia. Lovely. So, he put me on a very strong antibiotic, gave me an inhaler, and gave me cough syrup with codeine...and FINALLY after five days, I started to feel better. Yesterday was the first day that I didn't ask Jeff to drill a hole in my skull to relieve the pressure. Also, Henry has finally stopped coughing! And Jeff is feeling well! Hooray! I was beginning to think we'd never get better. But we are! Knock on wood....

Last weekend, even though we weren't well, we just had to get out of the house. If I stay cooped up too long, I start to get cabin fever. Henry is the same way. He gets grumpy and whiny if we don't leave the house. So, I raided some quarters from his bank, and we went to Toys 'R' Us to play on the ride-on toys at the front of the store.

Henry seems to like Kermit.

He's not too sure about Barney.The worm creature is o.k.We even ventured out to a restaurant last week. I still wasn't feeling well, but we needed to eat! Henry loves going to the Mongolian Grill near our house. He actually requests their food, "How 'bout noodles and chicken??" So, Jeff & I took him to his favorite place, and he ate like a CHAMP!YUM!!

Yesterday Henry & I were at Target. I was looking at socks for him, when he spotted something with Thomas on it. All of a sudden, he frantically started asking, "How 'bout Thomas? How 'bout hold it? How 'bout want it? How 'bout Mommy open it?" It was a pack of Thomas underpants. I explained that they were for big boys who go pee pee and poo poo on the potty. He had to have them. I think Henry is actually close to being ready for potty-training. I, however, am not quite ready. My plan is to start potty-training this summer when I'm off work. After his bath last night, Henry said, "Go poo poo on the toilet." He's never pooped on the toilet, but I let him give it a try. No luck. As soon as I took him off the toilet, he said, "Put on Thomas underpants!" I guess he thought he'd earned them just for trying. We compromised.
All right, I think we're pretty much caught up.

Spring Break Fever

2008-03-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

This week was my Spring Break. I wish that I could write about all of the fun and wonderful things we've been doing, but I can't. All three of us have been sick. HUGE bummer!

Jeff and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Monday. We'd been getting over colds, but we felt good enough to go ahead with our anniversary plan. Jeff's mom, Lannie, flew down from Spokane for a few days. Jeff and I went to the beach OVERNIGHT! It was my first time EVER being away from Henry overnight. I knew he was in good hands, but it was still hard for me to leave him. He had a runny nose and a cough, but we still went. Once at the beach, I called to check in on Henry, and found out that he woke up from his nap with a fever of 104.5! We were sure it was an ear infection, so Lannie took him to the urgent care clinic. It turns out, he had pneumonia. Poor little guy. We returned the next day, and he was feeling much better, but he's been coughing like crazy all week. I'm glad Jeff & I had the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary, and I'm so appreciative that Lannie was here taking excellent care of him. Jeff & I have both been sick for the past few days, so the whole family spent Spring Break coughing and blowing our noses. It was a nice anniversary, but a pretty sad Spring Break.

I've been feeling cabin fever staying at home all week, and I think Henry has been feeling it, too. He was happy to play outside for a little while yesterday.

I haven't been taking pictures lately, but that's probably because nobody wants to see pictures of snot and kleenex. I have a couple of pictures from Easter. Henry got a basket with lots of toys and a very little bit of candy. He loves Reese's Pieces.

He got cool Thomas sunglasses!Once everyone's feeling better, we'll get out there and do stuff...and take pictures...and update the blog more often!

Children's Museum

2008-03-17T18:00:00.001-07:00

Today Marianne and I took Peyton, Nathan, and Henry to the Portland Children's Museum. It was surprisingly busy for a Monday! It was made up of many cool hands-on imaginative play exhibits: a construction site, a digging area with shovels, trucks, and rubber rocks, a store where kids could run the cash register, a hospital, a theater, a place to play with water, and lots of other stuff to do.

Peyton brushing the crocodile's teeth

Henry checking out the crocodile

Nathan playing in the "rocks"

Henry hoarding rocks and buckets

Tickets, please!

Who's that handsome guy?

He's Baaaaack!

2008-03-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

Henry is definitely back to his old self. He went to the doctor again on Thursday, and was diagnosed with a double ear infection. Since he's been on antibiotics, he is so much better. No fever. No coughing. He is eating. He is drinking. Life is good!

I was worried about getting him to take medicine twice a day because while he was super sick, he REFUSED to take any medicine. You can force it into his mouth, but you can't make him swallow it. Jeff had to strong-arm him a couple of times to get him to take it. But, we found something that really worked. I bribed him with lollipops. I told him, "FIRST medicine, THEN lollipop." It worked! He's been taking his meds like a champ!
I'm not sure what was going on with his hair on this day. Sick guy bead head?

Henry's been back at daycare this week, and he is having fun again. We went on a family outing to Toys 'R' Us on Sunday, and of course came home with a new Thomas item.

Thanks, Daddy! I love my new roundhouse!

Still Sick...

2008-03-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

Poor baby! I thought Henry was getting better because he only had a low-grade fever on Monday and Tuesday. Wrong! I checked on him before going to bed last night, and he was burning hot. I took his temp, and it was back up to 103.5. To make matters worse, he now refuses to take any medicine. He will cry, run, hide, and spit out the medicine to avoid taking it. I took him to the doctor's yesterday, but the nurse just listened to his chest, looked in his ears and throat, and said that he's fine. "Fine" meaning no pneumonia, ear infection or strep throat. He has some kind of virus. He has a horrible cough, his nose is constantly running, and he keeps spiking fevers. He won't eat anything, and he will only drink a little at a time (except bath water - he wanted to chug that tonight). Sometimes he is burning up and whimpering, and other times he gets a burst of energy, and wants to play outside. I caught Henry in a brief moment of happiness yesterday. Reading with Daddy makes everything better!