Sea World Pt. 1...Feeding the Dolphins

I've fed dolphins before but watching Henry do it...gets me a little teary. He liked it. A lot.

This is Henry telling the dolphins he's sorry, but the food is all gone.

Sea World Pt. 1...Feeding the Dolphins

I've fed dolphins before but watching Henry do it...gets me a little teary. He liked it. A lot.

This is Henry telling the dolphins he's sorry, but the food is all gone.

Vacation...

We decided that we needed to do one last big thing as a three-some before Eleanor gets here. We hate to drive, flying is too expensive and a major beating for all of us and we didn't have a huge budget or a lot of vacation time to spend, so we chose San Antonio!!! We went to the zoo, took a boat tour of the Riverwalk and spent all day Sunday at Sea World. It was all pretty great and I suspect we'll be hearing about it for a long long time (if the circus is any indication...which he still talks about...daily).

It's too late for me to post all the pictures so I will just post one. I think it was the second picture taken on our trip and one of only 5 that exist of our trip to the zoo. It was so hot that we were both incapable of snapping pictures. That was the only downside of the trip. It's still low-90's here. Ugh. Anyway, this is a good picture to illustrate why on an almost-daily basis someone comments to me, "Any day now, huh?". Yeah. Or two more months.



See the two hippos on the far left, in the water? The boy thought they were pretty cool. We sat there for a loooooooong time.

Vacation...

We decided that we needed to do one last big thing as a three-some before Eleanor gets here. We hate to drive, flying is too expensive and a major beating for all of us and we didn't have a huge budget or a lot of vacation time to spend, so we chose San Antonio!!! We went to the zoo, took a boat tour of the Riverwalk and spent all day Sunday at Sea World. It was all pretty great and I suspect we'll be hearing about it for a long long time (if the circus is any indication...which he still talks about...daily).

It's too late for me to post all the pictures so I will just post one. I think it was the second picture taken on our trip and one of only 5 that exist of our trip to the zoo. It was so hot that we were both incapable of snapping pictures. That was the only downside of the trip. It's still low-90's here. Ugh. Anyway, this is a good picture to illustrate why on an almost-daily basis someone comments to me, "Any day now, huh?". Yeah. Or two more months.



See the two hippos on the far left, in the water? The boy thought they were pretty cool. We sat there for a loooooooong time.

Imagination...

Henry really likes to pretend. His favorite toys (as of late) are toy animals. He especially likes the tigers, lions, gorillas and elephants. They come in threes: a mommy, daddy, and baby (but lately it's mommy and baby and the other one is "Baby Sister"--you think we've been talking about that or something). Henry likes us to play along and I can speak for the both of us, this is probably the most boring thing he likes to play and it's almost torture, but...we do it. The animals talk to each other about their love for one another, they get groceries, they say hello and goodbye, they miss each other, they sleep, the bathe, they cuddle, they fight, they work things out, they eat, drink milk, etc. Anyway, now he no longer needs the animals. The animals are with us if we have them or not. They are just tiny and invisible and he carries them in his hand. This morning I had to pet the "tiny tiger" and uh-oh, it bit me. "You okay, mama? You okay? I'll make you feel better." and he got down from the table where we were eating breakfast and he gave me a nice hug. Then his tiny tiger was scolded, "No sir!" and then he was a "good boy" and became nice again.

In other news, Henry really loves the words, "behind me", "towards me" and "next to me". He can use the later two accurately, but sometimes "behind me" means in front of me.

Imagination...

Henry really likes to pretend. His favorite toys (as of late) are toy animals. He especially likes the tigers, lions, gorillas and elephants. They come in threes: a mommy, daddy, and baby (but lately it's mommy and baby and the other one is "Baby Sister"--you think we've been talking about that or something). Henry likes us to play along and I can speak for the both of us, this is probably the most boring thing he likes to play and it's almost torture, but...we do it. The animals talk to each other about their love for one another, they get groceries, they say hello and goodbye, they miss each other, they sleep, the bathe, they cuddle, they fight, they work things out, they eat, drink milk, etc. Anyway, now he no longer needs the animals. The animals are with us if we have them or not. They are just tiny and invisible and he carries them in his hand. This morning I had to pet the "tiny tiger" and uh-oh, it bit me. "You okay, mama? You okay? I'll make you feel better." and he got down from the table where we were eating breakfast and he gave me a nice hug. Then his tiny tiger was scolded, "No sir!" and then he was a "good boy" and became nice again.

In other news, Henry really loves the words, "behind me", "towards me" and "next to me". He can use the later two accurately, but sometimes "behind me" means in front of me.

Daddy-mania

By the time the weekend rolls around, Henry is all about his dad. We have many weekend breakfasts sitting right in daddy's lap.

Daddy-mania

By the time the weekend rolls around, Henry is all about his dad. We have many weekend breakfasts sitting right in daddy's lap.

Sunday Contd.

After nap we decided to take the city bus downtown to enjoy museum day. There's a bus stop a few blocks from our house and Henry is a huge fan of large vehicles, so he was pretty excited. (Henry took a little spill on the train table yesterday.)





First we went to the Capitol. This picture is noteworthy because Henry is in an actual stroller. The only stroller we have that he will entertain any thoughts of sitting in ($10 at Target). He will only put up with so much though. I think this lasted 10 minutes.





Then we walked over to the Austin Museum of Art to see the Chuck Close exhibit. They have a room for kids to make their own art.

Sunday Contd.

After nap we decided to take the city bus downtown to enjoy museum day. There's a bus stop a few blocks from our house and Henry is a huge fan of large vehicles, so he was pretty excited. (Henry took a little spill on the train table yesterday.)





First we went to the Capitol. This picture is noteworthy because Henry is in an actual stroller. The only stroller we have that he will entertain any thoughts of sitting in ($10 at Target). He will only put up with so much though. I think this lasted 10 minutes.





Then we walked over to the Austin Museum of Art to see the Chuck Close exhibit. They have a room for kids to make their own art.

Sunday...

Peacocks love goldfish crackers, apparently.

Oh my goodness, an actual family photograph. Henry was very confused by us giving a strange man our camera.

Sunday...

Peacocks love goldfish crackers, apparently.

Oh my goodness, an actual family photograph. Henry was very confused by us giving a strange man our camera.

28 Months

Whoops, a few days late.

First, Henry is doing very well at school now. He got a new teacher and he loves her and so do all the other kids. The change was instantaneous. Now when we pull up to school he says, "I want to see my friends" and when we walk in the door everyone's having snack and Henry tugs at his shirt and says, "Look at my shark" and then kids start getting out of their seats to show Henry the neat little images on their shirts. Since we are the last ones there we get a full chorus of "Henry!!!" when we come in...which is nice. I'm sure that makes him feel pretty good.

Henry's teacher sends all the parents an email every afternoon to let us know what they're up to. Today's was this:

Today was a great day full of energy. This morning we started our day with some puzzles and water color. The water coloring was great for learning how to share and ask for some space. Also it was a great fine motor skill and good for understanding pattern processing. (1st water and 2nd paint and so on and so on) Then it was snack time and to the playground we went. After playground we sang some songs and talked about our weekends and how we see family on the weekends sometimes. We read "Bubba and Beau meet the Relatives" it was a great southern story about the whole family coming over and the craziness that can happen when family gets together. Everyone was interested in reading today. (love it!) Next was potty, wash hands, and lunch and nap. This afternoon I would like them to do the glue salt glitter project and some open centers free play time.

Each week they have a different theme (last week was body parts) and this past week was families. I try to incorporate at home the things they do at school and it's fun to hear Henry mention things I know he picked up at school. Tonight he asked me, "Your father bought you this dress?" and I said, "My mother did." And he said, "My grandma?" and I said, "Yes, my mother is your grandma."

Henry is now very firm on colors. He's known them for a while now but he would mix them up at times and now I know for sure that he knows them. Numbers also. He can count every time to ten and then to 20 but things can get sketchy at the end. He might say, 1-10 and then 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19...that sort of thing. He can also recognize some written numbers and some written letters but I'm not really pushing it, at this point. It's way early for that. He's just picked this stuff up from all the books we read.

I mentioned before Henry's interest in potty training so I won't go into much on that. We still are not completely invested but are making more of an effort to ask and always putting him on when he asks.

Sleep and eating are the same as always. No complaints.

Temperament...still easy to manage. He will say "no" to us now which he didn't before but it's not that hard to change his mind. He still sticks to us like glue when we're out and about and still seems to be more on the cautious side. He's still very cuddly and affectionate.

Language is great. You can have conversations. I can ask him about his day and he will tell me what he did. I can ask him what he had for lunch at school and he can tell me (even though I know...because I packed it). He likes to talk...a lot. Just like mom and dad.

28 Months

Whoops, a few days late.

First, Henry is doing very well at school now. He got a new teacher and he loves her and so do all the other kids. The change was instantaneous. Now when we pull up to school he says, "I want to see my friends" and when we walk in the door everyone's having snack and Henry tugs at his shirt and says, "Look at my shark" and then kids start getting out of their seats to show Henry the neat little images on their shirts. Since we are the last ones there we get a full chorus of "Henry!!!" when we come in...which is nice. I'm sure that makes him feel pretty good.

Henry's teacher sends all the parents an email every afternoon to let us know what they're up to. Today's was this:

Today was a great day full of energy. This morning we started our day with some puzzles and water color. The water coloring was great for learning how to share and ask for some space. Also it was a great fine motor skill and good for understanding pattern processing. (1st water and 2nd paint and so on and so on) Then it was snack time and to the playground we went. After playground we sang some songs and talked about our weekends and how we see family on the weekends sometimes. We read "Bubba and Beau meet the Relatives" it was a great southern story about the whole family coming over and the craziness that can happen when family gets together. Everyone was interested in reading today. (love it!) Next was potty, wash hands, and lunch and nap. This afternoon I would like them to do the glue salt glitter project and some open centers free play time.

Each week they have a different theme (last week was body parts) and this past week was families. I try to incorporate at home the things they do at school and it's fun to hear Henry mention things I know he picked up at school. Tonight he asked me, "Your father bought you this dress?" and I said, "My mother did." And he said, "My grandma?" and I said, "Yes, my mother is your grandma."

Henry is now very firm on colors. He's known them for a while now but he would mix them up at times and now I know for sure that he knows them. Numbers also. He can count every time to ten and then to 20 but things can get sketchy at the end. He might say, 1-10 and then 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19...that sort of thing. He can also recognize some written numbers and some written letters but I'm not really pushing it, at this point. It's way early for that. He's just picked this stuff up from all the books we read.

I mentioned before Henry's interest in potty training so I won't go into much on that. We still are not completely invested but are making more of an effort to ask and always putting him on when he asks.

Sleep and eating are the same as always. No complaints.

Temperament...still easy to manage. He will say "no" to us now which he didn't before but it's not that hard to change his mind. He still sticks to us like glue when we're out and about and still seems to be more on the cautious side. He's still very cuddly and affectionate.

Language is great. You can have conversations. I can ask him about his day and he will tell me what he did. I can ask him what he had for lunch at school and he can tell me (even though I know...because I packed it). He likes to talk...a lot. Just like mom and dad.

We're working on a registry...

I started one on Amazon on Henry's old registry and then when i went to add more things it made me make another one since I changed the arrival date. So, now there's two...on Amazon.

This one

and

This one

The only items on here where I am brand -loyal and truly only want that model are the Miracle Blanket swaddle, Natural Care diapers, the California Baby brand of soaps/lotion, and I like the toys I picked. Everything else is more about giving ideas of the types of things we like/need...but there are probably cheaper options out there.

We're working on a registry...

I started one on Amazon on Henry's old registry and then when i went to add more things it made me make another one since I changed the arrival date. So, now there's two...on Amazon.

This one

and

This one

The only items on here where I am brand -loyal and truly only want that model are the Miracle Blanket swaddle, Natural Care diapers, the California Baby brand of soaps/lotion, and I like the toys I picked. Everything else is more about giving ideas of the types of things we like/need...but there are probably cheaper options out there.

Seems like this might be easier on the eyes...

What do you think?

Seems like this might be easier on the eyes...

What do you think?

Baby sister...

Henry seems fairly aware of what is growing inside my belly now. We've read lots of books in preparation, I've shown him drawn pictures on the internet of a see-through pregnant woman (so he can see the actual baby inside) and he says he has a baby sister and even knows her name. He says he wants to hold her and put her in his lap. I tell him when she's big enough she will come out and he can hold her, but she's not yet ready, just like our little squash growing in the garden. She's too little right now. "Oh, okay", he says.

Anyway, I just saw this on my all-time favorite website and want to get one for him.

Baby sister...

Henry seems fairly aware of what is growing inside my belly now. We've read lots of books in preparation, I've shown him drawn pictures on the internet of a see-through pregnant woman (so he can see the actual baby inside) and he says he has a baby sister and even knows her name. He says he wants to hold her and put her in his lap. I tell him when she's big enough she will come out and he can hold her, but she's not yet ready, just like our little squash growing in the garden. She's too little right now. "Oh, okay", he says.

Anyway, I just saw this on my all-time favorite website and want to get one for him.

Went to see some children's live music yesterday morning...

It was pouring down rain, which is a good thing but limits choices for a Saturday. I am not complaining though. This was probably only the 3rd time in Henry's life he's seen wind-shield wipers in use.

Claire's mom, Sarah. As enthusiastic about songs about the color yellow as I am.

Heading Northbound on Lamar at 11AM. Just...can't...stay...awake.

Went to see some children's live music yesterday morning...

It was pouring down rain, which is a good thing but limits choices for a Saturday. I am not complaining though. This was probably only the 3rd time in Henry's life he's seen wind-shield wipers in use.

Claire's mom, Sarah. As enthusiastic about songs about the color yellow as I am.

Heading Northbound on Lamar at 11AM. Just...can't...stay...awake.