How Sweet is He?

Henry is a total mush. He loves to snuggle in bed, kissed, hugged and otherwise mauled by us. Today I told him I loved him and he smiled. I said if he wanted to say it back he should tap his palm on his chest over his heart. He got it right away and did it. I kissed him and said it back. For the rest of the night he kept doing it and then giving me a big hug. Is he cute or what?

Henry's Vice

Not to worry, although Henry is drinking coffee it is DECAF. And I didn't buy him his own, he was just having a sip.

Henry's Eighteen Month Stats

Henry had his 18 month well baby checkup yesterday. He weighs 23lbs 8oz and is 33 inches long. He has about 30 words that he can say, which is well within the guidelines for his age. The doctor was very happy with his progress. Here are some fun things he can do now:

He can throw a ball with either hand, kick a ball, climb stairs, ride a push toy, eat with a fork and spoon independently, and drink from a regular cup. He loves all fruit and many vegetables (peas, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, cucumbers). His other favorite foods are cottage cheese, yogurt, rice and beans, and any sort of pasta.

He loves to run and be with other kids. He is much more attentive now when being read to and can anticipate the pages coming up in his favorite books (Where's Maisy, Playtime Peekaboo, I Love Dogs, Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?) He will also sit in his chair and "read" to himself. He is extremely affectionate and loves to give us hugs and kisses. He is so sweet, I sometimes catch him rubbing my back or stroking my face. He even tries to give me his pacifier when I am sleeping.

He also loves music. He has quite a few dance moves and will strum his toy guitar and sing "Row Your Boat" to us. Well, he sings the Row, Row part. He wants to be involved in absolutely everything that we do, so his favorite word is "Up!" He has become quite chatty and now likes to stop and talk to the elderly people on benches at the park. He stands in front of them and jabbers on in his special language, palms upturned.

He is very mischievous, his favorite game is "Don't Do It!" This game is where I tell him not to do something like throw a ball down the steps at the park and he does it anyway. He stands at the top of the stairs giggling as I race down the steps to chase it before he can climb down the steps. Or, I let him hold the apartment keys when we get into the lobby. He yells "Don't" and then throws them and gives chase.

He understands everything we say. He gets things when we ask him to, puts things in the garbage, wipes up spills. He even got me money from my wallet when I asked Adam if he had any money yesterday. I can't believe he is blowing my cover already!

Crazy Lady.

There are times that I feel like I am losing my marbles, but then I remember that I live with a toddler.

I spend the majority of my day with a little person who only knows about twenty words, none of them particularly helpful. Try discerning basic needs using dog, ball, hi, night night, apple, door...Oh, he knows "no." That one is really helpful. He communicates the rest of his needs by grunting, pointing, crying, screaming, hitting, biting, throwing things and using the words da-da, ba-ba and ra-ra accenting different syllables. A toddler is completely self-centered (as they should be) and thinks seeing cause and effect is super funny.

I imagine it must be frustrating for Henry, but where is the sympathy for me (haha). You don't like what you are eating for dinner? Throw the entire plate on the floor. Mom is temporarily ignoring you to brush her teeth? Put the phone in the toilet. Or dump her water glass all over the coffee table. You wanted more orange juice and there is no more? Throw a five minute tantrum. She has the nerve to change your dirty diaper? Let her chase you around the apartment and then rake your fingernails down her neck when she tries to pick you up? That doesn't work? Pull her hair or hit her in the head with a blunt object.

Or, does it look like she has a free hand while cooking dinner? Repeatedly drag stool to sink and climb on it to play in the water while she is chopping onions. Of course she needs to hand onto you so you don't fall. Hang on her leg screaming Mama as she is trying to put something in hot oil or drain boiling water. Stand in front of the buzzer phone for the front door screaming until she picks you up to "talk" on it. She holds you there for three minutes, arms breaking? Demand five minutes or you start trashing the joint. She goes into the hallway to take out the garbage? Run down the hallway and bang on your elderly neighbor's door.

Today he bit me on the back of the leg because I didn't pour his milk fast enough. To give you the real scene, first he threw it on the floor because it wasn't "coffee milk." He won't drink milk anymore so I started adding chocolate syrup (the shame, I know). He thinks it is coffee (which he is dying to drink). I had to pretend to make coffee first and pretend to add it. Good thing he is so cute or it would be off to boarding school.

Why don't you tell me how you really feel Henry

I took Henry to his little class at the Y this morning. He was a bit sleepy since he got up at the ungodly hour of 7am which is very early for him (I love this kid!) We were there about ten minutes when he went out into the hallway and brought me the baby carrier and his coat. I ignored him and then he brought me my coat. I ignored him again so he went to wait by the cubbies. I ignored him one more time, he asked to be picked up and then he bit me then hit me.

We left right after that.

Happy Half Birthday Henry!

Henry turned eighteen months old today. He is officially closer to two than one which I find alarming. He is much more boy than baby. I am still shocked at how fast the time is moving, but welcome each amazing development. The sheer fact that he knew to drop his toy when I said that we had cake sums up how far he has come!

Mr. Daredevil

There is a reason why a baby has two parents. One to worry about them trying new things and the other to push them to do them. I'm sure you can gather that I am on the worrying team.

Henry was invited to a birthday party on Saturday for the son of one of Adam's coworkers. Anthony turned 4 and had his party at a place called Pump It Up. It has all sort of inflatable type toys like bounce houses, slides, obstacle courses etc.

When we got there and saw how high and steep the slide was I wasn't sure how much Henry would be able to participate. Adam decided to bring him down on his lap and I overheard the lady telling him that Henry had to go down the slide alone for safety reasons. The next thing I saw was Henry careening down this huge slide ALONE at a breakneck speed. He looked a little happy and alarmed at the same time. I grabbed him at the bottom, ready to console him. He looked at me, gave me a huge grin and said "Up!" He rode the slide alone about 20 more times, let us hurl him over walls of the obstacle courses and fling him down all sorts of crazy slides. He laughed all day and we had to drag him out of there. What a little nut I have on my hands.

Even More Florida Pictures

More Florida Pictures

Operating the Elevator is Fun! Watching his adult choir
Leading the chorus of "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Trip to Florida

On our balcony modeling Adam's sunglasses

Going down a big twisting slide that Adam wanted to send him down alone. We finally did and he got stuck!
Hanging out on the blanket
His first trip to the ice cream store. He took one bite and was done
Playing ball with Papoo

We just celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary with a trip to Florida. We combined it with a visit to Adam's Grandparents in Boca Raton.

We had a great time relaxing and seeing the relatives. A few notable items:

• As we have mentioned, Henry is a GREAT traveler. His favorite part was the breakfast buffet every morning. As soon as he woke up he was waiting by the front door to go down. Daddy was hustled along quite a few days by Hungry Henry who was eagerly awaiting his big breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage patties, fruit salad, orange juice and a few slugs of milk. Followed shortly thereafter by a morning snack made up of purloined yogurt, more fruit and mini muffins.


• He loved riding in the elevator, we had to shout out the numbers going up and down every single time we got in. He also had the ritual of stopping to dance as soon as we hit the lobby to the piped in music.


• He decided that he no longer liked the beach and refused to put a finger or a toe in the sand. We had to put socks on him one day.


• He learned very quickly how to open the lever door handles in the hotel. He loved to shut us out of the bedroom and bathroom, we would hear him giggling hysterically from the other side of the door.


• He picked up the word "out" very quickly when we went to visit his great-grandparents. If we didn't get to him quickly enough he would stand at the front door crying and jiggling the door handle until someone took him outside to play. His great-grandpa got his exercise in chasing Henry up and down the road throwing a tennis ball.


• We discovered what a ham Henry really is. He performed for all of the extended relatives that visited and demanded that everyone sing with him. He would gesture wildly which song he wanted to hear. I think we sang Itsy Bitsy Spider no fewer than 100 times one evening.

Henry and the Failed Easter Outfit

I was very excited for Easter this year because I had found the most adorable outfit at The Children's Place. I ordered it well ahead of time, and even ironed it the night before. My mother would be proud. It was a tan linen three button suit with a blue linen button down shirt that matched his eyes. I got the cutest tan suede nubuck shoes for him to wear as well.

Easter morning I excitedly started to dress Henry. As soon as I slipped the shirt on his shoulders he started screaming and clawing at it. I couldn't even button it before he had ripped it off. After much wrestling, I managed to get the pants on him. Forget the shoes. Undeterred, I dressed him in another outfit, packed up his Easter finery and we headed out to my brother's house.

Here is a pictorial review on how the dressing went down. Notice the angry scowl and the finger shaking. I think he might have even say "Do you want a piece of me" but I can't be sure.

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

We went to a great Easter Egg hunt in our neighborhood shortly before the holiday. Henry and his friends dove right into the action, filling their little bags. Henry would get four eggs in his bag, proceed to dump them out and then other kids would steal them. He did this multiple times. The second photo indicates how many eggs he went home with at the end. Oh well, we had fun anyway!

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall...

We don't have any full length mirrors in our house so Henry doesn't look at himself very much. (He and Adam have a VERY elaborate hair combing ritual where they look in the mirror but I digress...) I never realized this until we were in a hotel room in Florida earlier in the week. Henry would stand in front of the mirror multiple times per day looking at himself. He would chew food, make faces, suck on his pacifier and talk to himself. The funniest thing was when he started to kiss his reflection. Now when we are on the playground he insists on stopping to kiss himself at all of the mirrors. Very sanitary practice.

Henry Update

Sorry for the long gap in posting! Henry has been up to lots of new things lately.

• Today we were at the park and I saw him looking at this little girl all mooney-eyed. He kept following her around and then leaning in trying to kiss her. More than once! Quite the little Romeo I have on my hands!
• He has a few new words, the most prominent being "up." Pick me up, get me out of this chair, I want to sit on the couch...
• He went from not being interesting in TV at all to becoming obsessed with it. He has no interest in kiddie shows, he wants to watch what we watch. He will even lie on the couch with his little pillow. He starts pointing at the TV as soon as he wakes up.
• He has added many new moves to his dancing repetoire. He now stomps his feet, waves his arms, claps and bobs his head.
• He has also become obsessed with his pacifer which he refers to as "dada." If I let him he would have one shoved in his mouth and another in his hand all day long.
• He has lost some interest in pretend cooking now that he has gotten a taste of real cooking. Which is a nightmare for me when I am trying to cook dinner. He hangs on my legs crying "up" the entire time. He doesn't understand why he can stir hot frying pans or touch raw meat. I am such a meanie.
• He is firmly in the terrible twos category. He throws a few tantrums every day over a perceived injustice. Screaming, hitting, biting, the works.
• He loves to give kisses to Adam and I as well as little girls in the park. He will lean in, lips pursed and do the "mwah" noise. I love it.
• We solved our babysitting problem. I have started to swap time with the mom of his friend Kaden. Henry really loves Jill and is comfortable with her. She brought her husband and Kaden and they had a great time. Not to say to say there were not big tears and the fat lip but he survived.
• Henry can now do the hand motions for "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." It is so adorable but now we have to sing the songs over and over. And over.