Thanks Grandma!

Grandma,

Thank you for the Valentine's Day card. My mom took some pictures of me reading the card and saving your gift for something special to show you. It was very nice of you to think of me!

Love,

Henry

More Photo Catch-up

The check-in board at school. I practically tear up every time he walks over to put his name in the slot it is so damn cute


Doing his chores

Our new niece and nephew, Mason and Maya

Goofing around at breakfest during visit to see Kate, Madeleine and Charley

Photo Update

I haven't posted many photos lately because it is impossible to get a good shot. Poor combination of a slow camera and Henry's lightning speed. He also wants to hold the camera so every shot has him screaming with one arm jutting out. Here are some recent ones:

At the park with Mom and Dad


Preparing to throw his art project on the floor at "school"

Play in his favorite station at school

Waiting for his tambourine. That is his teacher Kelly. The blond closest to the teacher is his girlfriend Arielle. The little boy is one of his best buddies named Jackson

Out Little Mimic

Henry does lots of cute things lately where he mimics us. He fake sneezes, coughs and pretends to blow his nose. He also has perfected my snort when I think something is funny. He brings me my socks and slippers when he wants me to get out of bed. He shouts out "four" when we count "one, two, three....!" He has done two very funny other ones recently.

He steps on the scale every morning to "weigh" himself. Hmm, wonder who does that? Before his bath tonight he saw Adam's jar of hair stuff (like a wax.) He was asking for it and when I gave it to him tried to open it. I took off the lid and he dug his little fingers in there and then started frantically rubbing his hands through his hair! I almost died laughing!

The Invisible Man

Adam and I were relaxing on the couch this morning, drinking our coffee. After Henry dumped mine over twice, he ran off to cause mischief elsewhere. He was being a little too quiet, so I went to look for him. As I got further down the hallway I heard giggling coming from our room.

I turned into our room and found Henry standing face first into Adam's closet. He was hiding and wanted us to come find him. As soon as he saw me, he burst into a fit of giggling. I went to leave and he went back into his same spot. I sent Adam in for his turn, with the same results. He played this game over and over, but never changed his hiding spot. Apparently if he can't see us, we can't see him.

P.S. I have been attempting to get some new pictures of Henry recently to post. I have been mostly unsuccessful because as soon as Henry sees the camera he wants to hold it. When I don't give it to him, he throws a massive fit. Last night I was trying to get a picture of him playing Garbage Man and he was in the hallway punching his little bag of garbage in a fit of rage. My pictures would look like Sean Penn being followed by the paparazzi.

Taking matters into his own hands

I often let Henry do things that I later regret. Sometimes I come to that stage on my own, sometimes when Adam comes home and sees him doing it.

We have one of those Poland Spring water coolers smack in the middle of our kitchen. I discovered early on that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to keep Henry away from it. I never managed to get any sort of locking device so I figured the best way to make it less tempting would be to let Henry use it.

We play all sorts of games with it, but suffice it to say Henry drinks more water than is probably normal. His most favorite game is to walk up to it and I fill his cup with just a little bit and he drinks it. Mind you this is a cup with no lid (bad idea #147). He can do this ten or fifteen times before he gets bored or soaks his clothing.

Recently, he has discovered a very efficient way to get my attention. If I am doing anything other than carrying him around and covering him with kisses he is unsatisfied. Either he bangs on our coffee table with a hard object like the phone, thereby denting it or he marches into the kitchen and holds the water tap down. I am first alerted by the fact that he is being to quiet and then by the sound of water hitting the floor. Even though we don't live in a big place he usually manages to create quite the spill by the time I get there.

I recently discovered that now possesses the dexterity to hold his cup (he now screams if I put a lid on his cup) and activate the water tap at the same time. I was cleaning the pantry today and had lots of stuff out in the kitchen. Adam inadvertently left Henry's box of plastic cups on a chair right next to the cooler.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Henry march over to the box of cups, grab one and very casually fill it himself like he does this every day. Adam of course is shocked and lets him do it until he dumps it on the floor three or four times. Game over. He confiscates the cup and goes about his business. Henry didn't cry, he just walked over and just grabbed another cup.

Hmmm, I wonder what happened here?

Flashback to yesterday. I was standing at the kitchen sink and my little angel Henry walks over to the open dishwasher and puts a toy knife in the silverware compartment. I was beaming. So smart, so sweet, so helpful. What a gooooood boy I have.

Flashforward to this morning. I open the dishwasher to unload it and I see a strange green liquid dried all over the inside. I look at my new rubbermaid and it is covered with this strange army green residue. I pick one of the pieces up and I can scrape at it with my fingernail.

I call Adam over to investigate and he looks down into the silverware tray. What does he find? A shredded crayon wrapper. My little angel put a green crayon in the silverware section and I missed it. It melted into the water and sprayed all over the dishes. The rubbermaid is now permanently tinted green.

Chore Boy

I have recently started giving Henry some "chores" which he LOVES. They consist of wiping up spills, picking up his toys and putting them in a basket, helping me load clothing into the washer, pushing elevator buttons, pushing in the dishwasher rack and closing the door, finding the phone when it rings, stirring things and his all time favorite, taking out the garbage. That one kills me because he knows just what to do. I call him and say "Henry, it is time for you to take out the garbage!" He drops whatever he is doing and runs into the kitchen. I hand him the tied up grocery bag and he goes to the door. I let him out and he runs right to the garbage chute. I give him a little lift and he drops it down the chute. Most of the time he even tells the garbage "bye-bye" which is a nice touch.

I will charge the camera batteries tomorrow and give you an action shot since it is so adorable.

Fun Times...

I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon and had to bring Henry with me. I won't say where I went, but I will leave it to your imagination to figure out it is the appointment that you would least like to bring your child.

As I have mentioned, Henry is TERRIFIED of the doctor. I knew that no matter how much I prepped him, he would not understand that he was not going to the doctor. As I predicted, as soon as he saw the nurse he started crying. Here I am, trying to calm him down and get undressed and get into that stupid gown. The doctor came in with lightning speed (he probably heard the shreiking and wanted to get me out of there) and I was barely ready.

Henry could not be consoled, so I had to pick him up and hold him during my exam. The doctor was nice about it and very accomodating, but at one point Henry was actually sitting on my chest while I was laying down. Near the end of my exam my cell phone started ringing. Henry stopped crying and starts gesturing to get down. I plop him on the floor and he runs over to my open purse grabs the phone opens it and hands it to me while I am lying on the table.

At least he has his priorities.

Later, I was feeding him dinner. Toward the end, he started getting wild and throwing his food. I looked at him and said, "Henry, don't act like a monkey." He starts laughing and doing the gestures from the song about the monkeys jumping on the bed. I couldn't believe he took what I said, understood it and was shaking his finger at me like he was singing the song. I just can't get over how much he is learning these days.

Dirty Looks

Henry has developed quite the little temper recently. He loves to puff out his cheeks and glare at you or give other very funny dirty looks. My friend Shawn (Mom to Henry's friend Miles) scolded him the other day and he gave her a look that could melt glass. Embarrassingly enough is that she said it is one of my facial expressions! Oops!

One of his main obsessions is coffee. I probably drink two cups a day and he is just dying to have some. I have to get him an empty cup and lid at Dunkin' Donuts just to get some peace. When I have it at home, I have to give him an empty mug with a spoon or else he will not stop screaming. I know dear readers, who is in charge here? We established long ago that it is not me so quit your clucking.

The empty mug usually is not enough to satisfy him of course. He is not happy until I splash a little in his cup. Or, he follows me around trying to dip his spoon in my cup so he can lick it. What kind of crazy kid likes coffee?

This morning, I was sitting on the kitchen floor playing with Henry while Adam was cooking. I was holding my coffee and he was trying to dip his spoon. I was swerving away from him and he got so angry that he started swinging his teaspoon at me! Quite the sight. I was lying almost on my back clutching my mug with my 15 month old hovering over me and trying to hit me with a spoon. Living up to his name from long ago : The Tiny Tyrant