After all the drama of Thursday night, Henry got up at his usual time and seemed totally fine. I have no idea what happened. A three hour virus? Too much excitement from the train ride and cats? Who knows.
After apologizing profusely to Aunt Gina and dropping a large load of laundry off at the cleaners, we decided that our original plan of taking Henry to Coney Island that morning was most likely too ambitious considering his potential for projectile vomiting, so we decided to go an easier route and head to the nearby Prospect Park Zoo. It is a small, very sweet little zoo.
Henry got to be a turtle:
Sit in some eggs:
Go on a giant spider web:
Visit some barnyard animals:
Watched the sea lions:
And got to ride on the world's fastest carousel:
Later in the afternoon Gina and I did some shopping and Henry enjoyed some bubble blowing:
Then, Henry beat the heat by hanging out in his underwear and brushing the cats:
The exciting news of the day was two-fold: Henry was miraculously recovered, and Mike was able to catch an earlier train and meet up with us in time for dinner!
On Thursday morning, Henry and I set off for our New York adventure. I love New York City, but haven't been since Mike's 30th birthday celebration a few years ago (and of course, Henry has never been). Plus, it was our first visit to Aunt Gina in her new Brooklyn life, so we were very excited for the trip.
The most exciting part for Henry was, of course, the train ride there:
The dining car held particular magic for him - many a trip was made down to get snacks.
Upon arrival at Aunt Gina's apartment, the second most exciting part of the trip presented itself - the cats:
Larry and Stella were very patient with Henry - he got LOTS off cat snuggling time in. He now calls Stella "my very best friend" and likes to discuss Larry's "wiggle waggle tail"
Since we arrived in the afternoon, we spent the rest of the day exploring Aunt Gina's neighborhood and the playground options: There was a particularly fast slide:
After dinner, we got Henry set in his sleeping tent and to bed.
Here is where it gets interesting (warning - grossness ahead)
Right before I was about to go to bed, I hear Henry asking for a drink. He requests some milk and drinks about a full cup (since, in a lovely bad mom moment I had forgotten his toothbrush and toothpaste, so what is a little more sugar on the teeth at 11 PM, right?). Then, about 10 minutes later he starts saying his stomach hurts. He seems OK to me - I am thinking it is a stall tactic. So, I give him some water and put him back in his tent. I go in to bed a few minutes later, and literally the second I put my head down, I hear a horrible sound. Yes. Henry threw up in his tent.
Now, you may recall that Henry has thrown up only once in his three years on earth, and I didn't actually witness that event. Vomiting scares me. I tend to panic.
So, I leap out of bed and pick up Henry, who is naturally hysterical. As soon as I am holding him...you guessed it. He turned Exorcist Toddler on me. For a child who does not eat, the amount of vomit that proceeded to come out and then cover him, me, his tent, and poor Aunt Gina's rug was impressive. In my panic I could do nothing. It was horrible. When I finally got my wits together and ran him into the bathroom, he managed a third projectile which made a lovely trail throughout the house.
So, there I was, alone with Henry in a strange apartment at about 11:45 PM. Me, Henry, the house, a rug, Henry's only pair of PJs, his sleeping tent, and his lovey were covered. Oh, and there was no washer/dryer.
Sigh.
Henry was fine once I got him cleaned up. He proceeded to chase the cats about and chat with me very happily for the next hour while I cleaned everything up as best I could. His lovey presented particular difficulty - I had to thoroughly hand wash it, and then in my delirium the only way I could think to dry it was in the microwave (Hey, whatever works, right?).
At about 12:30, I put Henry back to bed and lay down. At 12:35, he did it all over again.
At about 1:30 AM, once more towels had been used, a cooking pot had been set up by his cleaned tent, and his Bear had once more been washed and microwaved...he did it again (luckily, this time he avoided a big mess , thanks to my clever placement of said cooking pot).
At about 2:15, we finally got to bed.
Ah, these are the moments we look back on and laugh, right?
We spent the day with our good friends from college Jess, Erin, Roy, Jenny and Mr. Cheeks (also known as Baby Everett) who were in town visiting. It was great to see them and we had beautiful weather to enjoy.
After a big brunch at our house we headed to the Arboretum, where the big news of the day was that Henry got to use his NEW BIKE! A big thank you to Nana and Papa for this great birthday gift - we picked it out last night and Henry was SO excited to use it today.
He is pretty good at it! He is still about a half inch too short for it (so, he can't put his foot down and touch the ground) so we have to stay right by him in case of tight turns. Also, braking is still a foreign concept. Other than that we were very impressed by his bike skills. He took a few falls, but each time got right back on.
Everett spent his time walking:
And looking very serious:
Later at the house, games were played:
And serious backyard play began:
Thanks to everyone for a great day, we can't wait to see you again soon!
We had a very busy day today. It started off with some serious malfunctioning smoke detectors (as in, all smoke detectors in the house, garage, and basement going off simultaneously for no apparent reason). Since we couldn't turn them off, and couldn't figure out why they were going off, we had to call the fire department. Now we know that if there is ever a real fire we are in good hands - minutes later two engines and a police car, sirens blazing, showed up, and 8 fireman in full gear (axes included) were walking through our house. Henry will not stop talking about it for the next 5 years, I am guessing.
After that excitement, we had Henry's last soccer class (well, there are actually two more, but we will be gone the next two weekends, so effectively this is the last one for Henry). He is doing so well! He followed the drills, participated in the game, and even scored a goal!
After class we headed to a local playground for our friend Charlotte's 3rd birthday party! Our friend Sarah made gorgeous cupcakes:
That Henry thoroughly enjoyed:
Then, after playing in the sprinklers for a bit, Henry and Meredith did some climbing together:
Luckily, all the morning activity meant that Henry actually took a nap today!
"Do you see that!!??!!! There is a big hole in that tree! That is where the squirrels live. They live in the hole and make honey. Just like bugs. Lots of honey"
"We need to pay attention. We need to pay attention to pine trees. Then we need to be very careful and PAY ATTENTION to find pine cones"
"Do you know what makes me happy, mommy? Sun chips. Sun chips make me happy when skies are gray"
"I gave you a pine cone. I am a very kind person for giving you that pine cone for your collection. You should really say thank you"
And the best one when we got home - "purple grape popsicles are my favorite special treat. That is why I love you so much"
