20 Months

Henry's imagination is really starting to bloosom, which is so fun to witness.  He likes to play pretend (in this case with a spatula) and tell stories (none of which I can understand because he tells them in Henrinese).

Run, run, run.  This boy is ACTIVE!!!  He's fast too.  Man oh man it is hard to keep up with him, in particular if he has a flat, expansive area to run (like an aisle at Home Depot). 

And GOOFY.  Such a joy!

Other observations:

Henry doesn't like to wear socks unless sneakers are paired with them for a trip outside.  He much prefers to go barefoot.  Henry has become a bit finicky about the length of his clothes. For example, if his pants are too long and he starts to walk on them, he will stop, point to his feet or pull at the bottom of his pant legs, grunt and look up at me.  He clearly wants them rolled up, but not too high.  If your roll them too high he'll pull them back down and we start the whole process over again.  Same thing with long sleeves. 

He loves dips, sauces and condiments.  Funny because Daddy doesn't like them at all!  He now will say "di, di, di" (for "dip") and make the motion of dipping.  He likes to eat cucumbers with hummus or hot sauce (korean bean paste style), pancakes and waffles with syrup, turkey sandwiches with mayo, scrambled eggs with ketchup, toast with butter, peanut butter, or jam, chips with guacamole.  Try to serve any of these items plain and they will not pass Henry's lips.  He also will not eat leftovers.  How he knows something is from the day before, I do not know, but he does and he will not eat them.  Strawberries, grapes and oranges are his favorite fruits these days and smoked salmon remains his favorite meat.

His favorite toys remain his blocks (lego style) and cars/trucks/tractors.  He has also recently taken a great interest in airplanes and helicopters.  He is such a boy!

Friday Thanks

Five things I am grateful for this week:

1. Grandpa Keith.  My father-in-law gave me the gift of 22 hours of no responsibility last weekend, by taking Henry over night for a little grandson-grandpa bonding time.  Grandma Sherry was at the beach and Ryan was at work, so I had no one to be accountable to.  It was GLORIOUS.  I hightailed it to McMinnville to spend the day with my two dear friends, Jen and Shannon.  AND, I finally got to watch Brady play soccer.  He even made a goal!!!

2.  Rain.  I am a true Oregonian.  I actually really like the rain and grey skies.  It has a calming effect on me.  Don't get me wrong, I really like the sun too (especially on a cool crisp fall day when it is around 60 degrees and blue skies), but I dig the rain.

3.  Squash.  Fall brings some of my favorite foods, squash and sweet potatoes.  I made the first batch of butternut squash mac n' cheese with spinach and sausage of the season.  Delicious!  Comfort food makes me happy (especially when I can "hide" some veggies to make a dish a bit more nutritious without compromising the scrumptiousness).

4.  Playdates.  I have mentioned before that we have amazing neighbors.  Last weekend I watched all the kids.  It was so much fun watching Henry try to mimic everything Micah (almost 4) did and then watch Micah try to impress me by doing tricks.Maddie (6) convinced us all at one point to have a singing/dance contest.  It was a hoot.  She sang songs about love and kindness while doing ballet, Micah sang rap songs about rockets while break-dancing, and Henry providing back-up "vocals" while doing happy-feet.  Then it was my turn.  I told Maddie that I didn't know the words to any songs and she replied "c.o.m.e. o.n! ... you must know the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  I indeed do know the words to that song, so I sang it while Henry played sleigh bells and Micah played the recorder.  It was AWESOME!

5.  Snuggles.  Henry is a very, very, very active boy these days.  There are few moments now when he wants to slow down long enough to snuggle with his Mama, if even for 30 seconds.  He's fine with sitting next to me while we read books, but he doesn't want to cuddle.  But this morning, I got a rare gift. About 4 minutes of snuggles in the rock chair right after Henry woke up.  Precious and cherished.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Wednesday this week.  I took a few hours off of work so we could take advantage of the dry weather and middle of the week light foot/car traffic (the weekends at the Pumpkin Patch are a zoo this time of year).  I am most content during moments like these when we share new experiences as a family, building memories and traditions.

Look Mama!!!  There's goats!

Goin' for a cow ride.  Fun times, but oh so bumpy!

Quick, get your picture because I don't want to stand with the pumpkins! Henry + lots of stimulation + nap time = no smiles for Mama.  He was actually pretty content at the pumpkin patch, but every time I took out the camera he would give me his serious face or wave his arms and give me his squish face. 

Henry's strong and a great helper.  He lifted his pumpkin all by himself.

Happy Times

 His smile gets me every time.  It is irresistible.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little dude!!!

 Henry likes shoes now.  In particular Daddy's shoes.

Henry has been working on mimicking noises, mainly animal noises.  They include "oof, oof" for dog, "vvvvvvvvvvv" for airplane while he swirls his arm in the air, "rrrrrrrrr" for car, "zzzzzz, zzzzz" for bee, "nyuuuu, nyuuuuu" for cow, "wooooar" for dinosaur, and some unintelligible sound for duck.  No new words as of late, but I am encouraged he is trying to mimic more noises.  Plus, it is just too cute hearing him make the sounds for the various animals, bugs and things that move.

Bonk!  Henry is like a mini wrecking ball.  He is constantly running into things, scraping up his knees, tripping over his feet etc.  Just when one cut/bruise/scratch heals, three more arrive.  I suppose it is a sign that he's a very active boy, but he's starting to look a little like a boxer....who lost the match.

Buckles are great fun.  Henry is still incredibly inquisitive and loves to figure out how things work.  He doesn't quite have the grip strength to undo this buckle, so Mama has to lend a helping hand (like 25 times in a row).

My precious baby boy is growing up to be quite the little man.  It's completely bittersweet!  I wish I could bottle up these precious early days so I could indulge in them forever.