Dear moms...

It seems winter is approaching ever so quickly in Provo, UT which has left me to ponder a very big question: What the heck are Henry and I going to do without being able to go outside?!
So, dear moms who have made it through a winter or two with toddles, what can we do to keep from going crazy? Thanks!

No, no, NO, nooo

I took this video about a month ago while my mom was here visiting and Henry's favorite word was still, "no." Don't get me wrong, he still loves when he can say no to things but he's definitely mellowed with it. He likes to watch this video and mimic himself especially with the last question. I guess there are some things that even a lover of the word "no" cannot resist.

The BIG boo boo

With Henry's desire to climb, jump,stand on the edge of everything and ignore large objects in front of him, he is no stranger to boo boos. He has had his fair share of bruises, scrapes and so forth. But about three weeks ago he got his first 'this is freaking me out, should I take him to the emergency room' boo boo. I'm pretty sure had my mom not been here visiting, I would have been a teary eyed mess sitting in an emergency room for a ridiculously long time with a confused little boy. So what exactly happened? he came running into the kitchen, slipped and hit his head at a terrible angle on the corner of the wall. And then came the blood, the freaking out (mostly me), the reassuring (my mom) and then the frozen vegetables on the head (Henry). I can't believe how quickly Henry calmed down, it seemed like the worst part for him was having that bag of vegetables on his forehead. Poor guy.
I think what still drives me the most crazy is the fact that there are some accidents I will just never be able to prevent just like the one mentioned above. Then again, I guess there are always those crazy baby helmets, right Candace?
So without further adieu, here are some pictures of the damage:



*There was a family in my old homeward who has a "Boo Boo Scrapbook" where there were pictures of almost every injury a family member had. Is that weird? I think that might actually be kind of funny to have.

Henry and the real boy

Henry and the real boy:
For Johann's birthday I always try to have a pinata. The fact that Mexican Independence Day is the same date as Johann's birthday is helpful. This year the least beat up one left the morning of Johann's birthday was an Ernie from Sesame Street look alike. After pulling it down Henry got very indignant with the idea that I would have Ernie sitting in the cart and refused to be placated until he was riding in the seat of the cart next to him.
Once we got to the car, same story. Henry was horrified when I tried to put Ernie in the trunk, so he held him while in his car seat.
When we got home Henry took Ernie and climbed up on the couch and watched an episode of Super Y together. After the show was over Henry was dragging Ernie around and showing him his toys while I went into the kitchen to finish Johann's cake and then "AHHHHH" Henry screamed and ran up to me pointing in horror at a face planted Ernie. Once Ernie was upright again, all was fine.

During Henry's nap I (now in retrospect) stupidly hung Ernie up for Johann's party. Yeah, reaction when he got up from his nap-not so good. "Ermy down! Down! Down!" I guess I would be mortified to see my new best friend strung up too. So down he came and Johann obviously didn't bash him to smithereens ( can you imagine the horror?) to retrieve his mexican candy.

After two weeks the papers coming off of "Ermy" were starting to drive me nuts so I finally gave him the heave ho, don't worry, Henry seems to have adjusted fine. But now the question stands, if he is perfectly happy with a pinata brother, do I really need to have anymore kids? ;-)

Henry, Henry, Henry.

As you probably noticed from earlier, Henry has done a lot of growing over the past summer. I'm also happy to report that it looks like teeth 5,6, 7 and possibly 8 are on their way-hallelujah-maybe even a molar or two but I'll not get my hopes up. Poor kid has been trying to gum all his food for a very long time. He is a funny kid and currently loves: playing at the park (will now go down the slide by himself); sitting on chairs at the table like the adults; "reading" in his book box; going on walks; doggies; duckies; elephants; putting his clothes in the hamper and wrappers and paper in the trash can.
Though I miss being in school, staying home with Henry is the right thing for us right now and though challenging at times I am getting less uptight about toy messes and he is becoming quite a fun little guy.