Snow!

Here's Henry in the backyard. The picture was taken on the snow setting, which made everything look blue.

This picture totally shows just how hard it was snowing!!

Snow again! A surprise snowstorm hit Tuesday afternoon - at least it was a surprise to me...it wasn't in the forecast was it? It was a pretty surreal experience for me because when I put Henry down for his nap I fell asleep as well. Before we went to sleep the ground was dry and it didn't look like rain (or snow) was coming. When we awoke, there was about 2 inches of snow. I couldn't help but wonder just how long we'd been asleep for! It was getting dark quickly so I bundled up Henry and took him outside. At first he was a little unsure of it and didn't want to touch the snow. (First video.) I didn't put mittens on him at first so he could feel the snow, but once I did he tried to make snowballs and throw them. You can see him do this in the second video and also get an idea of how deep the snow was in the backyard when he walks out there. And, of course, Wilbur went nuts....just like last year! That dog loves the snow!!

Get Me Outta Here!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Getting Ready for Christmas

Still haven't made it to Santa's lap...we're going to give it one more try Christmas Eve morning. Regardless of his reaction I think we'll just get the picture taken. Those screaming-baby-on-Santa's-lap pictures are kinda funny anyway. We went to the mall the other night to try again, but the line was so long we gave up. Instead we took him to the little play area where he got to ride a helicopter (video) and then into the sporting goods store where he got to test drive a bike - he was in heaven!!

In the meanwhile, Henry has enjoyed playing Santa himself in the Santa costume Gigi bought him. He loves dressing up! And he responds to the name of whatever he's dressed up as. For example, at Halloween when he was a turtle, he'd answer when I'd call "turtle!" and when he was dressed up as Santa he responds to that name. He was so darn cute in his Santa outfit that I want to make him wear it every day!!

89 Weeks Old!

We're still struggling with the weight gain issue. Henry saw the doctor on Monday and we learned he's only gained 2 ounces in 6 weeks, which is not much at all. We have to go back again in 6 more weeks to see how much more he's gained and if it's still not enough he'll have to see a specialist to try and figure out what's going on.

In better news, he continues to astound us with the information he knows and the connections he's making in learning new things. Today he noticed a little tiny (less than the size of a dime) outline of a dinosaur in one of his books. He signed "dog" and said "woof, woof" and I told him, no, that's not a dog. He looked at me like, duh! I know that's not a dog and signed "dog," said "bur" (which is short for Wilbur) and pointed to Wilbur's big stuffed dinosaur toy. Oh! I said, yes! That's a dinosaur just like Wilbur's! It made me stop and think about how much there is for a kid to learn as far as understanding what a dog is in real life (plus all the different variations of dogs), what a picture of a dog is, and what a drawing of a dog is. All look very different, but all are the same. Crazy!

Here are a couple pictures of Henry with three of his favorite accessories: sunglasses, telephone, and "wrist bands" that Daddy made him out of tape - just like the ones he sees on the basketball players!

Mama's Boy

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Henry as he went shopping tonight with his shopping cart and handbag. :)

88 weeks old

We got all dressed up (well, Henry did, not me) and went to Washington Square to see Santa. Unfortunately as soon as we got up to him, Henry started screaming and saying "uh-uhh, uh-uhh, uh-uhh." Santa offered him a candy cane if we would sit on his lap which I thought was weird and in any other circumstance would have resulted in a swift kick to his knees and a call to the police. So, he didn't actually sit on Santa's lap; we'll try again in a couple days and see if he decides to have a sit.

Cold Weather Fun

We aren't doing a whole lot since it's been so cold lately. However, we did venture out to the Play Boutique, an indoor play area in Lake Oswego, on Monday. Henry had a fantastic time; especially playing on the little pretend ATV. We also got all bundled up to take Wilbur on a walk. Even with the snowsuit and blankets, we only stayed outside for about 10 minutes. The wind and cold air was just too much...any exposed area of skin felt like it was getting frostbite!

The Great Outdoors

...and this will have to do for the 87 week old picture as well. Taken the other day on a "hike" through Gabriel Park. It's ccccooold here right now, so we're taking advantage of any non-rain weather regardless of how cold it is.

Sorry....

...no update this week. All is well it's just been a bit of a week and I'm not up to it right now. Sorry!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Waiting for Turkey Day pics from Geoff. 'Til then, enjoy the leftovers!

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Henry and I spent some time downtown yesterday. Henry ran around Pioneer Courthouse Square and was fascinated by all the different people hanging out down there. They were putting up the Christmas tree and we watched that for awhile. Another big hit was the pigeons! We rode the MAX train for a couple blocks just so he could have the experience of riding it. We'll have to do that again; he seemed to really enjoy it. Here are some pictures from our time downtown. (Check out the bulldog on his sweater!!)

85 Weeks Old

Subtitled: Sick again

Hopefully this week's illness is not a harbinger of what the winter has in store for us. Nothing too serious, but a fever for two nights and two days that is thankfully over but has left a stuffy nose and some chest congestion behind. Today I have developed a rather wicked sore throat so I'm guessing Henry also has one even though he can't communicate it to me.

It's kind of tough for me to think of fun anecdotes to share this week, although I know there have been some; I'm just pretty tired and can only think of snotty noses, grumpy toddlers, and sleep.... :) Here are a couple pictures I took of Henry today wearing a darling overall set passed down from Kati's son, Daniel. Even though the flash over-exposed the second one, I still had to post it because his hair is so darn cute in it!!

84 Weeks Old

How long am I going to keep naming posts "x weeks old"? I figure at least until 100...but then I may as well go to 104 - two years. :) Every Thursday when I write these I think about the Thursday morning when he was born. Well, I guess he wasn't born until the evening, but I went to the hospital in the morning, so I think about the morning. Since then, it's been a blur. Hee hee hee.

Henry is talking, talking, talking! Of course a lot of it only Brett and I can understand, but it's still so cool to hear. I'm trying to think of some of the new words he's been saying lately, but for some reason none are coming to mind at the moment.

Tomorrow he has an appointment with an allergist to see if he has any food allergies that might be disrupting how he eats. He's had a few allergic reactions to something; definitely need to make sure he doesn't have a severe reaction and also maybe we need to change his diet to encourage him to eat more. We're still struggling with the amount of food he eats, even with his teeth being fixed. It's quite frustrating. He's the 2 bite king. He'll try just about anything. For two or three bites. Then he's done. Pudding, ice cream, ANYTHING - he only wants a couple bites of it.

We've been going to the Multnomah County library storytimes quite frequently lately. I've found that Henry really enjoys the 2-3 year old storytime much more than the 1-2 year old one...although he does still like that one as well. Here in the pictures you can see that he has no problem getting up there even though he is one of the smaller kiddos. He is waiting to get his stamp at the end of class in the top picture and then examining it in the bottom one...the librarian here is AWESOME....she stamps their bellies too. :) She takes her time with each child and gives each one individual attention. She makes them say "please" before she stamps them - which Henry signs - it's so cute! (Look at his darling denim jacket Gigi gave him in the very first picture!)

Blazer Pictures

Apparently the game left Geoff blinded.

Weekend Update

Just a quick little update since I realized I haven't written in awhile. Henry had quite the sports filled weekend. We took him to the Tigard/Tualitin football game on Friday night with a friend of his and her parents. Given that he'd never been to a football game before, we weren't sure how it would go. He loved it! He hardly took his eyes off the field, loved it whenever there was action on the field and kept turning around to the man sitting behind us to point to the field and yell "ball!"

Then, on Sunday, Gigi, Grandpa Rex, Mike and Geoff took Henry to the Blazer game. Again, he absolutely loved it! Mom said that once he got tired of sitting in the seat, he moved to the steps and sat there and continued to watch the game and clap when baskets were made. She took a bunch of pictures, which I will share when she forwards them to me (hint, hint, hint). Brett and I can't wait to take him to another game soon!

Since I can't post without including a picture, here is a random one I took last week of Henry lounging in Wilbur's bed while "talking" on the phone.

Working Hard

After a fun morning at the zoo taking advantage of what very may well be the last beautiful fall day, Henry and I spent some time raking leaves in the yard.

Raking is pretty much like sweeping...

I work better while wearing Daddy's gloves. Aren't we done yet??

Raking makes me hungry - hmm...this loaf of bread looks good.

Rough and Tumble

The little boy is truly emerging. Check out this video of an activity Henry enjoyed for about 20 minutes last night. Also, some pictures of the little monkey over at Gigi's house on Halloween night. He's wearing his other Halloween costume...

82 Weeks Old Pictures and Video

Here are a couple pictures of Henry dressed up as a turtle for our music class today. Anna dressed up as a ladybug and they made quite the pair! Henry loved to look at himself in the mirror and I kept calling him "turtle" which he seemed to really like. After music class we stopped by Grandpa Rex's office and Henry got to show off for them. He has a skeleton outfit to wear also - he wore the shirt yesterday and would randomly stop and point to the bones periodically. The video is kind of boring; just Henry walking around but it shows off the costume better.

82 Weeks Old

Stay tuned...I'll post tomorrow with some pics of Henry in his Halloween costume. We had a busy day today (baby sign language playgroup, friend over for dinner) so I haven't had time to take any pictures today.

Happy Halloween!!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/VINlapSCAtsJhkkq

I couldn't figure out how to post the video itself, but here's the link! It's me, Brett, Wilbur and two Henrys (a baby Henry and a toddler Henry) singing "The Monster Mash."

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Video speaks (or laughs) for itself. Enjoy!

Blazer Basketball Season!

I had a special request to publish this photo on the blog....here's Henry all ready for Blazer season...wearing a cute outfit he got as a hand-me-down and in front of the basketball hoop he got from Grandpa Rex.

81 Weeks Old!

The speaking portion of his development is in full effect. Today he mastered "bubbles." He even managed to say "please" to the librarian today at storytime so he could get a stamp on his hand. The list of the words that he can either sign or say is growing daily. It's funny how the signing and the speaking are developing together. We've been working on saying and signing "help." The problem is he can't say it very well - it sounds a lot like "up." But he will sign it and say it at the same time and then I know for sure he's trying to say "help" and not "up." Definitely cuts down on the frustration of him not being able to communicate what he wants or needs.

His new favorite food since getting his teeth fixed is ice cream. :)

The top picture I took a couple days ago to show off how much hair he has now...and the color...we've got a ginger for sure! The second picture was taken Sunday at Gigi's house. And the last picture I took today while he was eating a snack and smearing peanut butter all over his face and hair.

Autumn 2009

We had a little photo shoot of Henry on Sunday, courtesy of Uncle Geoff as photog and Gigi as set director/scene co-ordinator. Geoff took over 160 pictures...here are just a couple.

80 Weeks Old!

Henry's appetite seems to be improving, at least a bit. We've stopped overnight nursing which is such a relief for me. Since Friday, Brett has been spending the nights with Henry, putting him back to sleep if (or when) he wakes up during the night. This way Henry doesn't expect to nurse and he goes back to sleep much easier than if it was me trying to put him back to sleep. Other than one night when Henry was a newborn and we went away for the night, these are the first nights in 18+ months that I've slept through the night. Strangely, I haven't been sleeping all that well...maybe I'm used to waking up 3 or 4 times a night. But Henry is definitely getting more rest; I can tell because he is now getting up around 7:45 instead of 8:30 or 9.

Grandpa Rex got Henry the basketball hoop in the picture last week. Henry loves it. He has come up with his own version of "Horse" in which he runs to a spot in the dining room and points for Brett or I to come there and shoot. Once we shoot, he grabs the ball, runs to another spot, points and waits for us to shoot from there.

PS If you've seen the YouTube video, then you know why his collar is popped. Hee hee hee.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to Lee Farms on Saturday to get some pumpkins...and, yes, this year we actually did get some pumpkins to carve...although we'll probably end up just drawing faces on them. Who can be bothered with all the cleaning, carving, and lighting of the candles? :) This is the same place we went last year. It's awesome because it has lots of animals, which are much more exciting for Henry than the plethora pumpkins. We saw: chicks, calves, pig and piglets, puppies, goats, and chickens. Henry also got to ride down the giant slide (think State Fair-esque) four times - probably his favorite part of the day...and arguably the adults favorite part of the day as well. Henry was pretty cranky and didn't want his picture taken at all (he pretty much wanted to stay in someone's arms the entire time). But other than that, we had a fantastic time.

More Pictures

I forgot I had these...taken Monday, the day before the dental appointment. In the top one he is showing off his new skill of blinking. In the bottom one he is showing off his new barnyard animal friends that decorate his walls in his room and his new duvet cover also. Doesn't he look so much older than 18 months??? Especially in the top picture, I think.

79 Weeks Old

I almost forgot it was Thursday today; it's been a crazy/off-schedule week. Henry is doing awesome although he does seem to be in some pain still. He's not eating a ton (but still more than he was before!) and is very tentative at taking bites. At first I wasn't sure if this was because he was used to it hurting when he ate or if it was because his mouth was hurting now, but I think it's because his mouth hurts now. We tried to brush his teeth and he absolutely freaked out...which leads me to believe he's still in pain. He was also extremely cranky today. But I'm sure that every day it will get a bit better until there's no more pain and he can thoroughly enjoy his new teeth!

We go in to the doctor for his 18 month check up next Monday and he goes back to the dentist in a week and a half for a check up, so I'll have more updates after those appointments.

These pictures are from last week - at the Garden Home Library's children's area and then at the park (from last week). He is yelling into the sound tube thing (that carries sound from one end of the playground to the other) which cracks me up because I had no idea he even knew what it was for.