Henry is 21 months old!

We are creeping closer and closer to having a two year old...

Here is a picture of Henry on this day last year:



And here he is today (OK, I lied - this is from yesterday):

Lesson Learned

It is not a good idea to check email and turn your back on a toddler with markers.

Best thing ever

If anyone is looking to buy me or Henry a random, out of the blue, celebrating February gift, I would like to request THIS:



http://www.littledemocrats.net/

Because it is the best thing ever.

Oh, Happy Day!

We may not have been able to make it to Washington DC, but at least Henry can say he watched history live on TV:




Also, Henry made me proud by learning the word "Obama". He would point at the TV and say "'Bama! News!"

"America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

Snow....again

And it is still only January!

It is cold...

...very cold here in Boston. Yesterday we had a high of 10 (not including windchill. Brrrr.....!!!!) On Thursday I dragged Henry out to his My Gym class (about a 20 minute walk each day) when it was about 15 degrees. Here he is all bundled up:




Note the pink cheeks the cold gave him. He looks like my little elf :)


Yesterday we had quite the dramatic experience when I got a call from his daycare to pick him up right away. Apparently our "high energy child" managed to catapult himself off the couch and hit his head on a corner of the coffee table on his way down. Ouch. We were worried about a possible concussion (he hit his head REALLY hard), but after talking to the pediatrician, checking his pupils a few time (which made him laugh), and waking him up twice during his nap to make sure he was OK, we determined that he was fine. Our kid has a tough noggin.

Today we grew weary of the cold and took Henry back to the New England Aquarium. He had a great time - he learned the words "penguin" and "shark", and loved naming the colors of fish (as well as saying "Hi!" and waving as they swam by him). He had a bit of a scary moment when he was standing at then window of the big center tank and a shark swam right up and brushed against the window in front of him. Henry got a little scared and wasn't a big fan of the center tank after that ("no big fish" was said a few times).

Too Cute

Tonight Henry decided to swaddle his baby doll in a blanket and start carrying her all around (I have no idea where he learned to do this). He kept very carefully wrapping and unwrapping the baby, and then saying "shhh...baby sleeping!" He insisted on bringing the baby to the table for dinner and tried to feed her all of his food. It was SO cute!



Feeding the baby:



Kissing the baby:



We taught him to say "cheese" whenever he sees the camera, and this is now the expression we get:

Team Henry Walks Again!

Spring is coming (eventually...some day...) which means I have strapped on my walking shoes and begun training again for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Yes, I am doing it again! This will be my 5th year involved in this event, either as a full time employee or a walker. Breast Cancer affects almost everyone. One of every 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer - that means a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer EVERY THREE MINUTES. There is a very good chance that one day Henry will have to deal with me or someone else in our family being diagnosed. When and if that happens, I want him to know that I did everything I could to help in this fight.

So, my friend Tiffany and I are once again joining forces as "Team Henry" (her son is also named Henry) and on May 16th and 17th we will walk 39.3 miles, camp out overnight in a tent (rain or shine...or snow!)and raise a minimum of $1800 each in order to participate.

I can' t do this without your help. Though I am required to raise at least $1800, I plan to raise much more. You can learn more and make a donation to my fundraising campaign by visiting my personal fundraising website - http://www.tinyurl.com/6gdedg

Thank you everyone for your support and for joining me in the fight against breast cancer!

Updates

Sorry we have been short on posting lately. My laptop decided to simultaneously have its battery and power cord die on me, so it hasn't been as easy to get pictures uploaded, etc. around here. Dell has come through, though, so we are back in the swing of things!

Henry has been a ball of fire lately. Other than a few "terrible 2" behavior issues (he has BITTEN me twice this week!) he is a big ball of energy and fun. He is still obsessed with trains - everything is a choo choo. He got a strip of stickers at Trader Joes this afternoon and proceeded to push it around our floor for over 30 minutes saying "choo choo...tunnel! Choo choo....tunnel!" over and over.

He was VERY happy to go back to daycare yesterday after two weeks off. All during vacation he would randomly start calling out the names of his friends from there - he obviously missed them. At the beginning of the week he continually asked for his friends and I kept saying - "you will see them on Wednesday". He then proceeded to say "Windy? Windy?" constantly. When we finally made it yesterday (after a 2 hour delay due to yet another ice storm) he barely looked at me as he ran in to play.

He is also becoming more adept with his colors - he has added brown, pink, and silver to his repertoire. He occasionally startles people on the street or in a store by pointing at them and yelling the color of their jacket, etc. at them (as we walk these days all you hear is "Red! Blue! Purple! YELLOW!" as he madly points at things.

Here is a picture of our little guy with his new best friend - singing and dancing Elmo - at a friend's house. He set up the chairs so that he and Elmo could sit by each other the entire time (also, let me just say THANK GOODNESS we do not own this toy - it is the most annoying toy in existence. Please, never never buy Henry this toy).

New Year's Sledding

We braved the freezing temperatures this afternoon and decided to take advantage of the New Year's Eve storm we had with some sledding. We only lasted a little while, though - it was COLD today!

Walking to the top of our street (the one benefit to living on a steep hill - good sledding!):




Henry defied the warnings:



Strapped in and ready to go:



Action shot! Mike got some speed going: