Birthday BBQ

We had a fun barbecue yesterday to celebrate my birthday (which was on Friday). There were 24 great people here, the weather was good, the food was delicious, we sang karaoke, the kids played, and we had an excellent time. Too bad I didn't take very many pictures. Here are a few.

Hmm...who does Henry look like?

Miranda & Jeff sing karaoke.

Owen swings and eats dessert...now THAT'S multi-tasking.

Henry was very interested in the beer bottles. He snuck several sips when we weren't watching him closely enough.

Lucy & Xander were the first to sing some karaoke. They rocked "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

Jessica sings while Dad provides back-up vocals.

Jim & Miranda add wood to the fire pit (notice the new fence in the background).

Becky, Channin & Heather getting ready to sing.

Slide Show

I took some of my favorite pictures of Henry since he was born, and put them into a slide show. I also made a slide show with a picture of Henry from each month, and that will always stay on the sidebar of the blog. Enjoy!

The Week in Pictures

Rainy May Days The trend for the past few weeks has been beautiful, sunny days during the week, and then rainy, overcast days on the weekends. Why is that? All week long I look forward to enjoying the sunny weekend, and then it doesn't happen. We haven't been able to go to the park or the zoo or the beach. Last weekend it rained all day on Sunday. Since Henry hadn't played outside in a couple of days, on Sunday we dressed him in his raincoat and boots and let him out into the backyard for some fresh air.

Jeff's Project

For the past week and a half, Jeff has been working on building a new fence in our backyard. What was thought to be a fairly simple, few-day-long job has turned into a nightmare. As he said, "everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong." Our yard was much higher up than the neighbor's yard, so Jeff had to buy a bunch of stone to build a retaining wall. The old fenceposts were built 4 feet down into the ground (in cement) and wouldn't come out easily. Tree roots are blocking some areas where Jeff needed to put new fenceposts. The whole job has become ridiculously time and labor intensive. On Tuesday, I called home before I left work, and Jeff said that he'd had to rent a piece of equipment to work on the fence. When I got home, this is what I found:

Henry had to help, too!

Henry's New Wheels

I ordered a wagon for Henry, and it finally came in the mail this week. We put it together a few night ago, but of course it was too rainy to try it out. It finally dried out yesterday evening, so I took the wagon (and Henry) out for its maiden voyage. He loved it, and got very mad whenever I stopped.But, he quickly turned happy when we started moving again.It was sunny and 80 degrees today, and it's supposed to be nice all weekend, so hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the wagon and the weather and the fence this weekend!

Poop in the Bathtub

Yes, you read that right. Henry pooped in the bathtub last night. I've heard of this happening, and we even had a mini-experience several months ago, but last night was a full-on poop in the bathtub fiasco. I never really thought I'd be blogging about poop, but here goes.... I got Henry's bath going, and Jeff put him in the tub while I changed the crib sheet. That's teamwork! Once done, I went into the bathroom to relieve Jeff of his duties, and somehow during the changing of the guard, the poop happened. I soaped up a washcloth, and as I reached into the tub, I noticed "particles" floating and swirling in the water around Henry. Instead of immediately recognizing the particles, I was confused. Then I saw a GIANT foreign object in the tub with Henry. THIS was the source of the particles. I froze. I wasn't sure what to do. I called out for Jeff. He didn't answer. Henry happily continued playing. I grabbed a big wad of toilet paper and attempted to fish out the poop, but that resulted in soggy paper clumps added to the already contaminated water. Still no Jeff. I picked up Henry, briefly held him under the running faucet, and then turned him loose to run around the house naked and wet while I tried to figure out what to do. I managed to capture and flush the "big one" and remove his arsenal of (now poop infected) bath toys and put them into the bathroom sink, but there was still a bathtub full of hazardous waste. Finally Jeff reappeared (from the garage?) and took over Operation Poop Removal. While I captured and subdued the wet, naked pooper, Jeff took care of the bathtub. Once the toys and tub had been cleaned and disinfected, I gave Henry bath #2. That's teamwork, again! I sure hope the bathtub pooping was a one-time occurence and doesn't become a regular routine.


Henry during Bathtub Intermission:

Table for Three

We have taken Henry out to dinner many times. It used to be so easy. When he was tiny, he just slept in his car seat while we enjoyed dinner. Then he became old enough to sit up in a highchair, and he'd eat cheerios and smile at the other diners and at the waitstaff. Sometimes he'd eat a jar of baby food, other times he'd play with some of the small toys I keep in the diaper bag. Then he got old enough to want to get OUT of the highchair. We'd hurriedly eat our food before he got bored with his cheerios and goldfish crackers. Eventually Jeff or I would have to let him out and walk around the restaurant with him. Recently Henry has been a terror at restaurants. Almost immediately he gets bored with being in the highchair. He screams. He throws things on the ground. He arches his back and tries to climb down. If we take him out of his highchair, and hold him on our laps, he spills our drinks and drops our silverware. Lately it hasn't been fun taking Henry out to dinner. But, since we like to eat out occasionally, I really want him to get used to sitting in his highchair at restaurants. I want him to behave. I want Jeff and I to be able to eat an entire meal without having to leave the table while our food gets cold. A few weeks ago, we went to Outback Steakhouse, and it was a disaster. Henry screamed, cried, kicked, whined, and made the meal pretty miserable. We decided to chance another restaurant meal tonight...and it was great! We took Henry to The Spaghetti Factory, and we had a really nice time. Henry loved the bread. He loved his mac and cheese. He loved my meatballs. He played with his crayons. He fed Jeff. He smiled and laughed. He stayed in the highchair throughout the entire meal. He had ice cream for dessert. We all enjoyed our dinners. The Spaghetti Factory is not my favorite restaurant It's not Jeff's favorite restaurant. But, we will definitely be going there again, because apparently it's Henry's favorite restaurant.

I didn't take any pictures at the restaurant tonight, but here are some pictures that will illustrate some of our dining experiences. This is what Henry usually looks like by the end of the meal when we go out to dinner:

This is what Henry looked like throughout dinner at the restaurant tonight!

Happy Mother's Day!

I feel so lucky to be celebrating Mother's Day as a mother! It really is a dream come true. We had a great Mother's Day today. I've reflected several times today on how lucky I am. For a long time, I thought I'd never be a mother. But, thanks to modern medicine and a lot of perseverence, we have our wonderful Henry and I get to celebrate my second Mother's Day as a mom.

Here's a fun comparison:

My First Mother's Day

My Second Mother's Day

Jeff's mom and sister, Kathleen, were visiting for the weekend. Jeff made a delicious Mother's Day brunch for everyone, and I received a beautiful new purse and wallet.

Sunny Days

It's been so nice here lately! I've dressed Henry in shorts and t-shirts every day this week, and I've had to use the a/c in the car. We've played in the backyard each afternoon, and he's stayed up past his bedtime all week. It's been the perfect weather for:

Eating popsicles....Playing ball....Playing in and on the castle....

Riding a train in the backyard....

Going shirtless....

Running and yelling in the grass....

I love his pug t-shirt. I love this weather. I love watching Henry enjoy the outdoors!

Fun Weekend

I love weekends. Especially weekends when Jeff, Henry, and I are all together. On Saturday morning, I took Henry to Gymboree again, and he had SO MUCH FUN! He really loves running around and climbing on all of the equipment, but his favorite times are Bubble Time and Parachute Time. When the teacher starts blowing bubbles, Henry stops whatever he's doing, and runs over. He smiles and laughs and runs through the bubbles saying, "bubboos, bubboos!" Parachute Time is equally fun. Henry loves playing on top of the parachute, and shrieks and giggles when he's under the parachute. It's so cute! He is still very independent, and doesn't participate in the "circle time" much, but he enjoys exploring at his own pace, and definitely joins in when bubbles or parachutes are involved.

Trampolines are tiring! Henry takes a break.Climbing up a ramp.A video clip of Henry on his favorite Gymboree slide.



Saturday afternoon, after Henry's nap, Jeff and I took him to the zoo. It was the first time that he's really noticed the animals. He watched the monkeys, bears, elephants, and orangutans quite a bit. I think he'll like it more and more as he gets older. Henry seems pretty interested in the animals when they're up close, but it's hard to get him to see them when they're farther away.

Henry & Daddy watch the Sun Bears.

Henry & Mommy get up-close to an orangutan. She gave Henry an air kiss through the glass. We ended the day with dinner at a conveyer belt sushi restaurant. Jeff and I probably enjoyed it more than Henry. He ate some teriyaki chicken and fried shrimp, but his dinner mainly consisted of Cheerios, Kix, and Goldfish crackers.

It will be so nice when school is over (6 more weeks) and every day will be like a weekend.

Henry Einstein

Henry isn't a really big talker yet. I know lots of babies his age and even younger who say more words than Henry. But, I know Henry is smart because he understands a lot. He follows directions. Even multiple step directions like, "go get your ball, and put it in your mailbox." He'll do it. But, he doesn't talk a whole lot for an 18-month-old. His pediatrician said that he should know between 5-10 words by now, and he does, but it just doesn't seem like enough. He says mama (and mommy), dada (and daddy), baba, ball, bye, hi, wow, uh-oh, bubble, doggy, and a few others. Sometimes he repeats words that we say, but usually most words sound like "da-da." As I said, I know Henry is smart, so I wasn't too worried...but I have been pretty eager for more talking.

So, Henry took me completely by surprise the other night by COUNTING TO THREE! I couldn't believe it. Our boy is a genius! I was changing his clothes on Sunday evening, and as I took his first arm out of the sleeve, I said, "one..." As I took his other arm out of the sleeve, he said "TWO...THREE." I thought for sure I had heard wrong, or he had coincidentally made sounds that were similar to "two" and "three." So, after I gasped out loud, I tried it again. I said, "one" and he said "two...three!" It was actually more like, "two...hrrreeee" but I know what he meant. We did it a couple more times, and then I grabbed him and ran out into the kitchen to show Jeff. I was so happy that I actually had tears in my eyes! I said, "I don't know if he'll do it again, but listen to this....ONE...." Right on cue, Henry said, "two...hrrreeee!" So, then I grabbed my camera to video this amazing feat. Incredibly, he did it one more time on camera, and then wouldn't do it again. Check out the video! You only have to watch the first 8 seconds because after that it's just Jeff and I saying "one..." while Henry runs away. He also says a word that sounds just like "Cubley" at 18 seconds. My baby really is smart!


Another sign of true genius in our 18-month-old is his ability to find certain books. If I quote a line or two from one of Henry's books, he will find that book! If I say, "Clifford is on the farm today..." he will find his Clifford book. Yesterday I was in his bedroom and he was in the living room. I was trying to get him to join me in the bedroom, so I pretended to be reading from his "Goodnight Moon" book, thinking it would bring him to me. I loudly said, "Goodnight room...goodnight moon...goodnight cow jumping over the moon." A few moments later Henry came running into his bedroom carrying his "Goodnight Moon" book. We read it four times in a row. He's a smarty-pants!