Toddler Land

My question of the day is, “Where did this baby go?”
Yesterday was Henry’s first official day in the Toddler room at daycare. He’s not walking yet, but everyone felt it was time for him to move (including us), as he was getting quite bored and cranky in the baby room. Dave and I have been pushing for this move for a while, but I didn’t realize how significant it would be when it actually happened. He'll play on the playground everyday now at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., (there are FIVE-YEAR-OLDS on the playground – how is it possible that Henry is out there with them?), he’s going to learn to eat at a little table with his friends, he has art-time in the morning, and is going to sleep on a mat instead of in his daycare crib. I mean, really. No one told me that he was actually going to grow up and become a CHILD. :) They should really put that in the manual somewhere. It breaks my heart in the best possible way to watch it.
Henry is also moving full steam ahead with the two T’s. Talking and Tantrums. He says – doggy, kitty, night-night, daddy, mommy (none of that ma-ma, da-da stuff anymore – that’s for babies apparently), nanna and baby. And he can turn a light on when you ask him, hand you a red ring when you ask for it (in a sea of rings of other colors), and wave bye-bye. Fabulous indeed. But evidently this new-found learning comes with a strong sense of independence. Independence in the form of a completely stiff body and a yell that can scare the neighborhood dogs. Most of the time, we love it. Because we want him to be independent and he’s actually kind of funny about WHAT he gets crazy about (like us touching his spoon when he’s eating). But there are other times when, really, we’d both just like a beer.

April Fool

Well, it's a been a while since the last post but, as you can see from the picture to the left, Henry still has NO PROBLEMS eating.

Much has happened in these last two weeks. Henry has officially turned one (at his second party in five days - he's already a party boy), I went to Chicago for a week for work and the boys were bachelors (drinking copious amounts of apple juice and watching early morning TV), Henry stood on his own, and he got one more new tooth (that's six total). In the spirit of using what you've been given, he's also become a biter. This sweet baby who we brought into the world, then into our home and have taken care of with love and affection this last year has now turned into a biting PERSON. :) It's a bit hilarious.

The monkey has also started to commando crawl all through the house. From the kitchen, to his bedroom, to the bathroom - in about a minute or so. He looks a little crazy, but he's having a fantastic time with his new found mobility. His favorite game is chasing Sam the cat. Sam will let Henry get JUST about to him and then take off. Then Henry shreiks with joy and the game begins again. I was really worried about Sam at first (any of you that know Sam, know this was a just concern), but it turns out that cat may like having a small, impressionable playmate.















I love these two pictures. They were taken before his first birthday party (his second, first birthday party - that is) and we were having a great time. He was very chatty and was playing this fantastic game with Dave in which Henry says, "Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma" and Dave says, "Da, Da, Da, Da" and then Henry scrunches up his face and says, "Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma."
Excellent.