Carved Pumpkins

Still no computer cord, so still no access to all the pictures I had taken and already downloaded to my computer. But, I did take a couple pictures of our freshly carved pumpkins. And, yes, I said pumpkins since I did go out and get another one! Henry is delighted with the results and while I think he enjoys the chance to blow out the candles more than enjoying them actually lit, he did spend a lot of time gazing at the glowing orbs through the window.

Weekly Update

Hello all! This will be a fairly boring post since I am sans photographs at the moment. My darn computer needs a new cord to plug it in so until I get a new one I don't have access to my pictures.
Speaking of pictures, it seems to be the theme of the week. The owners of Mike's antique gallery also have a (non-antique) shop on Hawthorn and needed a model for some of their kid items. Henry and I went down there on Friday and had him model some of the items. The pictures turned out so cute! He totally hammed it up for the camera. Then today we took Henry into Penney's for some more pictures. I wish I could say it went as smoothly today as it did at Lotus. :( The first photographer we got scared him with some weird noises he made which I suppose make other kids smile, but they made Henry cry. After trying to get him to calm down I realized it was a fruitless endeavor so we rebooked another time later in the day to go back and try again with a new photographer. This time it went much better, but even so Henry was no where near as comfortable as he was at Lotus with Mike. Hmm...maybe I should see if they'll do some regular pictures for us sometime!
We carved our pumpkin tonight...yes, only one. Why make it difficult? However, I think I might get another one because as Brett was carving this one I got the idea to carve "Henry" into it instead of a regular face. So I think I will end up getting one more and doing that. He'll get a kick out of that. He's getting really good at recognizing his name...and especially the letter H. He kept saying he saw an H the other day at the store and I didn't see where he was looking until I looked up and, sure enough, he was looking at the sign above the milk coolers that said "Fresh Milk." :)

Weekly Update

Blazer game, Pumpkin Patch...plus all the regular weekly activities - we've been out and about a lot this week. I don't really think that there is a lot of new news to report. Still struggling with sleep. Now it's carried over to nap time too which I used to be able to count on as an quick and easy put to sleep time....not any more it seems. I really, really hope this is just a phase and not something that is going to take some more sleep training to fix. I hated that.

I'll write a separate entry for the pumpkin patch because I still need to look through those pictures. For now here is a picture of Henry in the fallen leaves and one of Bumpa reading to him and Wilbur. Wilbur looks suspiciously interested in the book...until you realize Henry is holding a cookie in his hand, then it all makes sense!

It's a Fine Line Between Frustration and Fun

Henry is still trying to get the hang of the remote controlled car he got last Christmas from

Bumpa... the cutest part is when he gets frustrated and puts his head down...then regains his composure and tries a new tactic.

Weekly Update

Celebrating a goal at the hockey game!
Trying to do a rail slide.
"Seriously, mom, quit trying to take pictures, I'm getting ready to drop in!"

Subtitle: Cool Tricks

Another week has flown by. We've been taking advantage of the continued beautiful weather by spending lots of time outdoors, especially since the forecast is for rain in the coming days. We also went to a hockey game which Henry loved. He remembers every detail of it and when I tell him the story about going to the game he prompts me for anything I might have forgotten. It's funny that he seems to consider the dancers that came out between periods to be an integral part of the game but apparently he does because he always reminds me to tell about them. Ditto for another "performance" we saw: an exhibition of disabled hockey players who used modified sled type skates to play hockey from a seated position. When he first tried to remind me to tell him about this aspect of the game I could not understand what he was talking about and I asked him if he could show me. He sat down on the floor with his legs straight in front of him and pushed himself around with his hands and pretended to use a hockey stick. I understood. :)

We took his bike to the park after library storytime this week and he had a chance to use it on the skatepark since no one was there. Oh boy...how he wanted to be able to do some cool tricks. And in his mind, he probably was doing them. I got a flash-forward view of what my future has in store...

Lots of sleeping troubles this week. I think it could be related to this whole independence streak he's got going now. He does not want to be rocked. Does not want to nurse. Does not want me to sing songs to him. He does want to play in his bed. He does want to hear sports stories. He does want to go potty on his potty chair (when he's supposed to be sleeping). He does want to sleep in our bed or on the couch. It ends up being a power struggle every night - here's hoping for a detente rather than mutually assured destruction. Hmm...does that sound pessimistic? Must be the lack of sleep. :)

Weekly Update

Storytime with the 3 year olds...they have to remain seated for the entire book...tough to do!
Bumpa's birthday party...don't ask about the candle (or the cake)...
Astronaut Henry at OMSI

Henry is officially 2 1/2 now! Or 130 weeks for those of you keeping track!

Another great week! We have had another busy week of visits to the zoo, OMSI, playdate with Henry's friend, Inari, celebrating Dad's (Bumpa's) birthday, a return to our regular library's storytime and lots of park playtime. We had a little BBQ over here at our house for Dad's birthday which Henry loved - I think he got more presents than Dad did! Everyone seemed to have brought him something...he is so well loved! We tried the Preschool Storytime at the library this week (instead of the Toddler one). Same "teacher" and many of the same kids since they all "graduate" at different times. While Henry did okay in it, I think we'll drop back down to the Toddler one - he has plenty of time to be with the older kids later; for now I'll let him run free and chase the bubbles with the little kids! :) We start a new session of art classes at the Multnomah Arts Center next week. I am interested to see how much he remembers of it from the last time.

Henry is totally talking so much more every day. He's putting together full sentences which is awesome. We were watching baseball the other day on television and he turned to Brett and said "Where are the baseball mitts?" It was so clear and perfectly said, Brett and I just looked at each other and said "wow...did you hear that?" He is also using the word "umm" a lot which I find so endearing. I'll ask him what he'd like me to tell him a story about and he'll say "Mama tell story about...ummm....ummm..." and then fill in the blank with either skateboarding, baseball, football, soccer, or basketball. Inevitably a sport. Tomorrow we are going to see a hockey game so I'm guessing I'll have to add hockey to my repertoire.

One more quick sports related story: Henry and I were shopping at Trader Joe's the other day and he was in a particularly mischievous mood. Between trying to run out of the store, bumping his cart into walls and people, the funniest thing he did was grab a tub of cookies off the shelf, kick it across the floor and then yell out "fouled!!" and drop down onto the floor. He laid there among the passing shopping carts and amused shoppers until I picked him up off the floor. Apparently he had gotten fouled by an unseen opponent in his game of grocery store soccer. Hard to be too mad when it's so dang funny.