Warm weather, glorious warm weather

Henry and I have arrived in Florida! Yesterday morning it was so cold when we got to Logan airport that Henry was actually crying. It felt like 5 below. Today in Florida....80 degrees!

Henry was fabulous on the plane ride over and during our long wait at the airport. He is utterly fascinated by airplanes and airports, so was content to sit at the window and watch all the planes, baggage cars, and catering trucks go by.

Today we took a morning trip to his favorite playground:






Went for a walk on the beach:





And fed some carrots to "Bun Bun" - the neighborhood rabbit who occassionally hangs out in the backyard:

Day at the Museum

Henry and I spent the morning at the Children's Museum today.

He fingerpainted:



Stopped by a gas station:



Played in the water:





Flew a plane:



And worked on his geometry skills:



Then this afternoon we hosted playgroup at our house, and Henry and some of his friends spent a long time preparing, serving, and eating a fabulous meal:

Fun with Fish

Henry had an exciting weekend with a visit from G-Pa! Since it is way too cold here to really do any outdoor activities, we spent Saturday at one of our favorite places - the New England Aquarium:




Henry is REALLY into sharks now, as you may have noticed.

He also had quite the time with the touch tanks. He loved feeling the starfish, crabs, mussels, etc. He had zero fear/hesitation - just plunged his hand in and picked them right up:



Thanks to G-Pa for the great visit! Sorry for the excessive number of tantrums that occurred.

Only 4 more days of the cold for me and Henry, and then off to sunny (we hope) Florida! We can't wait to spend some time in the sun, at the beach, and generally not dealing with coats and mittens. Mike is looking forward to having two weekends of sleeping in while we are gone. It's the little things.

Are you on Facebook?

If you are, we need your help!

Right now on Facebook is the final round voting for the Chase Community Giving campaign - it runs through January 22. The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation is a charity started by good friends of our friends the Blabeys. The Strongs' daughter - Gwendolyn - has SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy).

- SMA kills more young children than ANY other inherited disease -- 50% die by their 1st birthday, 90% by their 2nd.
- 1 in 40 people unkowingly carries the SMA gene -- few have any known family history.
- SMA is degenerative and terminal. Although born healthy, babies eventually lose the ability to walk, sit, eat, breathe, and even swallow. The mind is never impacted and children with SMA are bright and social.
- There is currently NO treatment and NO cure, but there is HOPE!
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) coined SMA as the disease "CLOSEST to TREATMENT".
- Researchers say a CURE is possible in a few years -- IF given adequate funding.
- SMA is considered a "model" disease and many scientist believe it is a "gateway" to answers for countless other diseases, including: ALS/Lou Gehrig's, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, the muscular dystrophies, and even some forms of cancer.

There is a very real chance that a cure for this disease can be found, and the Strongs need our help!! If the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation wins the Chase Community Giving campaign, they wil receive $1 MILLION to donate to SMA research. This is HUGE!

How can you help??? If you are on Facebook YOU CAN VOTE!

- Go to VoteForSMA.com -- This will take you to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation Chase campaign site on Facebook. This is where you vote. Click on the "Vote For Charity" button to vote.

- You must have a Facebook account to vote. If you don't have a Facebook account you can easily sign up for one by going to VoteForSMA.com and following the simple Facebook signup instructions.

- You may only vote for Gwendolyn Strong Foundation once, but GO NUTS! telling anyone and everyone you know to go to VoteForSMA.com to vote for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation. Change your Facebook status to let them know about voting for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation. Spread the word to all you know to help this incredibly deserving charity win! If you have your own blog, please copy and paste this entry to help spread the word even further!

Finally, please learn more about the Strongs, their foundation, and their beautiful daughter Gwendolyn by checking out their blog:
http://www.gwendolynstrong.com/


Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

"Hopscotching"

This is Henry's new favorite activity. I have no clue where he learned about hopscotch, but the other day he suddenly started doing it, and calling it "hopscotching". He would do this all day if we let him (the camera reached capacity while filming, hence the abrupt ending):

Fun Friday

First off, we apologize for the lack of posts lately. Not only are things a touch on the boring side here due to being cooped up for the winter, but also Henry has decided that he loathes the camera. Whenever he sees it he screams "no camera! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! PUT IT AWAY!!!". Hence, pictures are in short supply. Today we managed to sneak a few in, though.

We had his gym class in the morning, where Henry jumped on the trampoline and managed to look about 12 years old at the same time:



He swung from the bars:




And he participated in his favorite activity, called "shoot the barrel":



After class we had a playdate at his friend Jake's house along with Kate and Lila. At one point the kids all decided to hop into Jake's crib to play:



Speaking of cribs, the countdown has begun. Once we get back from our Florida trips, we are going to be converting the crib to a toddler bed for a "test run" before switching Henry into a twin. So, only another two months in the crib for our big boy!

M-I-C-K-E-Y

Exciting news for Henry!

Henry and I were already set to take a two week break from the snow in sunny Florida at the beginning of February (and let me tell you, I am MORE than ready for some warmer temperatures). Then, the other day Mike found out that he had two conferences to go to during the first week of March - one in Orlando and one in Palm Beach. We decided to make a family trip out of it, so now not only do Henry and I get TWO Florida trips this winter, but since one of Mike's conferences is in Orlando we have given in and decided to take Henry on his first trip to Disney World!!!!*

I am very excited to take Henry there, and I hope he enjoys it as much as I enjoyed all my trips to Disneyland as a child. So, now the countdown begins...also, I am hoping he manages to grow one more inch or so before then so that he will be allowed on Splash Mountain :)

*(yes, yes, yes. I have spent years telling everyone that I didn't want to take Henry there until he was 4 or so. In fact, we have been planning that his 4th birthday would be there - which it still may be. And yes, Henry has no clue who Mickey is, or any other Disney character except Nemo. Yes, he may be terrified of all the giant characters, especially considering how clowns and Santa haven't been big hits yet. But, since we are already going to be there, how can we pass it up??? I am choosing to pretend I never made the anti-Disney arguments)

Still snowing...

I feel like I need to get Henry a second snowsuit, if only to give our pictures some more variety!







Henry attempted to pull me in the sled. I guess all those Christmas cookies were a bad idea, because he couldn't get me to budge: