Tickle Me Henry

Henry is SO ticklish! He has the greatest laugh, so we love to tickle him and hear that laugh. It's part scream, part laugh, and part gurgle. Wherever we are, if Henry starts laughing, people can't help but stop and smile. It's contagious! Here's one of our tickle sessions caught on video.

King Henry's Castle

The fortress has been built and is ready for battle. Jeff put the castle together the other day, and Henry had fun exploring his new kingdom. There is now a flag installed and waving above the castle, and Jeff is working on a special Henry coat-of-arms. We're keeping our eyes peeled for play shields and armor.

Sir Daddy & King Henry looking out for enemies.

The Royal Palace guards keep watch.

Welcome! You may enter the castle.

Peeking out through the secret passageway...shhh...don't tell anyone about it.

This is a great escape route...wheeeeeeee!

Lady Stella has not been granted permission to enter.

Finger Puppets

Henry's Auntie Kathleen sent him some finger puppets last week. She didn't specify, but I think she knitted them since she is a Knitting Wizard. Henry thought it was pretty funny to have teeny tiny animals on his fingertips.

Thanks, Auntie Kath!

Henry's Daddy likes them, too!

Getting Ready for Easter

I cannot believe that one short year ago Henry was an angelic little 5-month old baby who slept through our trips to the grocery store, even when I put crazy things on his head. These pictures were taken last year just before Easter.



Now my big boy would never sleep through a trip to the store, and it's quite a battle to get him to wear anything on his head. But, for old times' sake, we took some pre-Easter headgear photos.

Henry says "Hi!"

Henry has known how to say "hi" for a while, but he hasn't said it very often. Suddenly he's saying it all the time. It sounds more like "hiyeeee" when he says it. He likes it when we have a conversation that goes like this:
Me: hi
Henry: hiyeee
Me: hi, Henry
Henry: hiyeeeeeeeeee
Me: say "hi, Mommy"
Henry: Ma-Meeee...hiiiiiiiyeeeeeeee
etc. etc.
Here's what a typical conversation looks and sounds like:



I love how he lets me know that the conversation is over. He's all done!

Playing OUTSIDE!

We've had some gorgeous days recently, and it's not even officially Spring yet! Henry absolutely loves being outside. When we arrive home after work/daycare, we always check the mailbox. Recently, I've let Henry walk around outside. He can walk fast! He usually takes off down the street towards the end of our culdesac. He always heads for one particular house and tries to climb their front stairs. Luckily I am faster than he is...for now.

He also loves to play in the back yard. A couple of months ago, I bought him a play castle for the back yard, but we haven't set it up yet. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I'll have to bug Jeff to help me put it together. The castle looks like this. The one I bought was used, but in really good condition.

For now, Henry just enjoys playing on the deck and walking around in the back yard. He loves the fresh air and sunshine, and is instantly happy when he steps outside. The dogs are happy, too, just following him around. A rugged truck-playing boy...with sippy cup.

Let's fire up this barbecue!

Hi Stella! Wanna play fetch?I love playing on the grass (and dodging doggie "piles")!

Castle Ball Pit, Date Night, and OMSI

Henry's Grammy Lannie flew down from Spokane for the weekend. She and I did some shopping on Saturday, and I bought Henry a blow-up castle ball pit. Unfortunately it only came with 25 balls, which don't even cover the bottom, but he liked it anyway. I already bought more balls on e-bay. They should be here soon.

On Saturday night, Lannie watched Henry while Jeff and I went to a movie and dinner. It was the first movie I've been to since before Henry was born. It was SO nice to have a date night.

On Sunday, Lannie and I took Henry to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). They have a huge pre-school room for kids ages 0-5. There were really fun hands-on exhibits like a sand area, water area, arts and crafts room, story and puppet show area, a ball pit, an eagles' nest, a fox den, legos, blocks, and lots more. The water area had rubber boots and smocks to keep the kids dry. Henry liked playing with the water toys, but he kept picking up a big yellow watering can and trying to drink from it.

He HATED the sand area. As soon as I set him down in the sand, he had a fit until I picked him up and took him FAR AWAY. Even though he has the new ball pit at home, he had fun playing in the balls at OMSI, too. He could lie in the ball pit and watch the fish tank. Amidst all of the super cool exhibits, Henry found his very favorite thing...the water fountain. He had a great time turning on and off the water and drinking from the fountain. I guess we could have saved a lot of time and money and gone to the water fountain at the grocery store down the street from home.

Here's a quick video clip of Henry steering a big wheel:

It was a fun weekend with Grammy Lannie! Hopefully she'll come visit again soon.

Sunday at Grandpa's House

We went to my dad's house on Sunday to celebrate the February/March birthdays in our family. There were seven adults and seven children there. Lots of activity! It was fun to see the cousins, and it was a beautiful sunny day. Perfect for a barbecue. Since the menu included burgers, chicken, and hot dogs, my Little Carnivore was happy. He still won't eat veggies, but Auntie Alison gave us some good suggestions. We're going to try pumpkin pancakes and veggie nuggets. I hope Grandpa invites us over again soon, even though the day included a broken glass coffee table (not Henry's fault, thank goodness!), lots of spills, and a VERY LOUD burst of radio static when Henry was playing with the stereo buttons. We had a good time!

Grandpa with his two youngest grandsons, Oliver and Henry. Henry was still wearing outfit #1.

Oliver and Henry watching the bigger kids playing outside on the deck. Henry was wearing "outfit" #2 after spilling someone's cup of pink lemonade on himself. He wore only his diaper and socks for quite some time.

Henry LOVES being outside. He walked around picking up miniscule sticks and rocks. By this time he was finally wearing outfit #3. A well-stocked diaper bag is a MUST!

Henry looking very outdoorsy on a big tree stump.

"I'm the King of the world!" O.K. maybe just "King of the Stump."

Henry with some of his cousins: Miranda, Cormac, and Owen (Jessica's kids). Miranda's looking oh-so-coy, and it appears that Cormac and Owen are playing tug-o-war with Henry.

Escape Artist

Today was the THIRD time that Henry has escaped through the doggy door. He's had a long-standing fascination with the doggy door, but until recently, he had never climbed through it. The first time it happened, Jeff and I were sitting in the family room watching t.v. while Henry played next to us. All of a sudden Jeff said, "Henry's outside!" I looked out through the sliding glass door, and sure enough, Henry was outside (in the rain) walking around on the deck. My heart was racing as I quickly retrieved him, but we laughed about it for a while. About a week later, I was doing dishes in the kitchen while Henry played in the family room. Suddenly I noticed that it was very quiet. Too quiet. I peeked into the family room to see what mischief Henry was up to, but he wasn't there. For a second I panicked. But, then I looked out onto the deck, and there was Henry picking up pine needles while the pugs ran circles around him. Since then he hasn't attempted another escape. Until today. Again, I was in the kitchen when I thought I'd better check on Henry. This time only his head was through the doggy door. So, I quickly grabbed my camera and captured the escape on video. Here it is....



It's a good thing our back yard is fully fenced in!

Recent Random Pictures

Happy Birthday Rocco! Yesterday was Rocco's 3rd birthday. I tried to get a picture of Henry and Rocco wearing party hats, but neither one cooperated.
The Birthday Dog in Henry's special chair.

Daddy-Son cuddles....

Henry doesn't know how to use a fork yet, but he likes to play with it.

Today I walked into the kitchen to find Henry IN the dishwasher. Too bad he can't really do the dishes. Someday....

Today is Dr. Seuss' Birthday! It's also Read-Across-America Day. My class and I celebrated by dressing up like The Cat in the Hat.

We read Dr. Seuss books, listened to guest readers, had a costume parade, and did other fun Dr. Seuss activities.