This and That....

Henry is making a fashion statement in his blue fleece jacket covered in dog hair, red track pants, and blue dinosaur rain boots. Be on the look-out for this trendy new style in big cities everywhere. We just bought the dino boots yesterday because the rain boots that I bought him last spring are way too small. They were too big in the spring, then he didn't need them in the summer, and now that it's rainy again, they don't fit. Hopefully these will fit him for a while. 3 in a bed...is fun! Wait, let me explain. Henry really likes to get into our bed with me and Jeff. Not to sleep, but to play. The three of us have been doing lots of this lately. We tickle Henry, he does "cherry bombs," we play peek-a-boo under the covers, Henry jumps on the bed (and us), and we just have fun. I really love these play sessions.

Here's a video of Henry doing his "cherry bombs" on the couch:

Again, he's making quite a fashion statement with his one teddy bear slipper and one bare foot. You know you'll be copying him tomorrow.

The Elves are Back!

Remember those Christmas elves from last year? Well, they're back! Click on the link to see our family as elves:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9593213185


Rocco & Stella got in on the elf action, too.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9593230676

Try it...it's fun!

Blogger's Block

I've been experiencing a new kind of writer's block - I don't have anything to blog about! For some reason, I haven't been taking pictures lately, and we haven't had anything too exciting going on.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, but I didn't take ONE SINGLE picture.

Henry's Auntie Kathleen came to visit us last weekend, and we had a great time seeing her, but I didn't take pictures.

What's wrong with me? Maybe it's the Winter Blues. Maybe I'm saving up for the Christmas season. I'm definitely in a slump.

These are the only pictures I've taken in the past 2 weeks:

I know this picture is blurry, but it cracks me up that he has TWO binkies in his mouth.

Is this what a train table is for?Henry got another haircut last weekend. Cute, huh?

I'll try to come up with some new blogging material. We'd better go out and do some stuff...or maybe I'll just make it up!

Fall River

I haven't blogged in over a week! I was going to write all about our weekend away in Fall River, but now it seems like so long ago. I'll just include some pictures from the weekend, and then I'll try to get more blogging done next week! The Fall River property is so beautiful. It's really hard to describe. It's basically a gorgeous home with every amenity, out in the middle of the wilderness. Henry liked walking around outside. It was cold, but not TOO cold, so we went for several walks and he got lots of fresh air.

The last time we were in Fall River, Henry was only 5 months old, so I thought it would be fun to compare some of the pictures from March 2006 with November 2007.

Playing Hookey

Henry & I are playing hookey from daycare & school today. I called in sick because Henry threw up last night. But, he seems fine today, so we're just enjoying a day at home together. It's now noon, and neither one of us is dressed yet.

When I picked up Henry from daycare yesterday, Tamara told me that he'd been cranky all day. He didn't have a fever, but he was whiney and clingy. That behavior continued at home. Jeff was in Eugene overnight, so I was alone with Mr. Cranky-Pants. Henry is normally such a happy guy that it really worries me when he's not.

He ate dinner, but didn't want much milk, and he kept rubbing his eyes and face. He has three teeth about to pop through the gums, so I gave him some Motrin and put him to bed at 7:30. Henry NEVER cries when I put him down. He talks and sings and plays and laughs until he falls asleep. Well, last night he cried. After about 5 minutes of crying, he was quiet. I had a strange feeling that something wasn't right, so I went into his room. He was fast asleep...in a pool of vomit. YUCK. It was everywhere. Even in his hair. So, I had to wake him up, get him undressed, clean up his crib, throw everything into the laundry, change his sheets (for the 2nd time - I had just changed his sheets earlier that evening), and put him in the bathtub. While he was in the tub, I went into his room to get his towel and pajamas, and when I came back there was a HUGE POOP in the tub. So, then I had to remove the toys and the poop, clean Henry, clean the tub, disinfect the toys, and get Henry ready for bed.

I put Henry to bed, and he went right to sleep. Then I called for a sub and wrote out lesson plans to e-mail to my teaching partner. Just as I was about to send the e-mail, I deleted it. I could have cried. It wasn't a great night. Luckily, Henry slept through the night. I didn't. I checked on him three separate times throughout the night to make sure he was o.k.

He was happy this morning, and has had a pretty good day so far. He has a hoarse voice, but otherwise seems great. Knock on wood. We're planning on going out of town for the 3-day weekend.

Here's my normally happy Henry a few nights ago....
Here's my SUPER Happy Henry cracking up laughing while watching Baby Einstein.

Wanna know what was making him laugh? Hippos shaking maracas!

I hope to see my Happy Henry back soon!

Fall Leaves

Our backyard is a sea of colorful leaves. Playing in the leaves is so much fun! Henry calls them "Don't Fall Leaves." He's not used to hearing the word fall without the don't in front of it.

I'm NOT ready...

for THIS!

Henry has been completely obsessed with going potty. On many mornings, the first thing he says when I walk into his bedroom is, "Mommy go potty!" He encourages me to go...often. When I do oblige, he stands nearby smiling, and then says, "paper toilet, paper toilet" over and over again. Sometimes he helps me out by unrolling a large mass of toilet paper and shoving it at me. When it's all over, he waves and says, "Bye-bye pee pee!"

When I ask Henry to come into the kitchen, he usually ignores me. When I tell him that it's time to go bye-bye, he usually ignores me. When I call him into his room for a diaper change, he usually ignores me. But, if I say "Mommy's going potty" he runs toward the bathroom with lightning speed.

I'm really not ready for potty training. My plan was to wait until next summer when he's 2 years and 8 months. That way, I'll be home for several weeks in a row, and we can really work on it in earnest. But, since Henry is so interested in OTHER PEOPLE going to the bathroom, I though maybe he should try it out himself. The first time I tried to put him on the toilet, he arched his back and screamed and freaked out. O.K. I get it. We didn't try that again for a while. But, recently he's started saying, "Henry sit on toilet." So, a few days ago we got out the little seat that fits on top of the regular toilet, and sat him on it. After about 5 seconds, he said "All done!" He didn't do anything on the toilet in those 5 seconds, but he was happy with himself. Since then, I've sat him on his toilet seat several times, and he hasn't done anything...until this morning. He actually peed about 2 or 3 drops. He was very happy with himself!

Maybe it was a fluke. Because, really, I'm not ready for this.

Happy Halloween!

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

Halloween Past & Present

Henry's 1st Halloween: 2005

Henry's 2nd Halloween: 2006

Henry's 3rd Halloween: 2007

A Memory Like an Elephant

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

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

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

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

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

Oh my! I'm a white tiger!

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

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

Halloween Regrets

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

Men Make Fire!

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

Henry Chatter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fun at the Doctor's Office

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

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

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

Pumpkin Patch

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