My OTHER Babies

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

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

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?

Spaghetti!



YUM!

Summertime!

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

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

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

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

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

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....