Happenings with Henry

Henry is quite the little talker. I was a chatty kid (and still am as an adult) and his Daddy told me that he had to be moved around in the classroom as a kid because he talked too much. Henry comes by it honestly.   His vocabulary is expanding daily and while I know he's not an over-achiever going above and beyond his peers, it makes me laugh to hear what he says sometimes.  He told me the other day "Mama, I need go bye-bye." So I asked him why and he said "To get money." Mike and I smiled at each other and he asked him "Why do you need to get money?"  Henry looked him straight in the face and said with all seriousness, "I need to get gas!" We of course felt like we had stepped 15 years into the future. Funniest, most random thing. One morning while getting ready for work, he asked me if he could "Help Mama drive?" I told him "No thank you. You need to ride in your car seat. Mama will drive."  He accepted that and moved on, getting his stuff ready to leave. When I took him out to the car and picked him up to put him in his seat, he made one last plea "I help Mama drive?" from the sweetest little voice. I smiled and told him that I needed him to help me find the school bus (we see several every morning) and long gone was the hope to help Mama drive.  Love that sweet boy!   He is also learning his letters and recognizes the letters A, B and C. He gets most of the alphabet song and can count to 20, but continously skips 6 and sometimes 8.  Who needs those numbers anyway?!

He loves going to church on Sunday mornings and adores his Sunday School teachers. He has a few little life-long buddies in his class that he loves to play with.  The early service teacher moved to another class so starting tomorrow, Mama and another lady will be the 9:30 teachers. I'm looking forward to teaching the little guys, but a little anxious on how Henry will do with me in there.  That whole thing about your kid being an angel for other people but a monster for the parents is totally true for Henry.  I think he will do good though, especially since it won't be just me in there. Anyway, Mike and I are so happy that he's learning about Jesus and the Bible.  A quick funny, he told me "Donah is in timeout!" referring to the story of Jonah and the whale. Yes, I guess God was putting Jonah in timeout. :)

He's appreciative when someone gives him something new. Papa went on a business trip and brought him back some little cars. You would have thought he gave him all the chocolate milk in the world he was so happy.  He kept saying "Tank you, Papa! Tank you!" He carried all 6 cars around for several days after that and if one would fall from his grip, he called it by name, "My ice cream truck!" He loves those little cars.  He loves to say "Tank you!"  He will say it at least twice when you hand him his milk cup in the morning, or put him in his car seat or hand him one of his toys. We're working on other manners, but he definitely has his "Please" and "Thank you!" down.

Unfortunately, Henry is still painfully stubborn. If it's not his idea, he's not going to do it. Well unless Mama or Daddy is more stubborn anyway. He has to be tricked into doing things that he doesn't want to. Like cutting his hair, for example. He hates it so with a little bribery in the form of a sucker and handing him a mirror, he usually caves and lets you do it. Of course there's lots of squirming and wincing but usually you can get it done.

He is OBSESSED with cars, trucks, ambulances, buses, trash trucks, helicopter, airplanes, tractors, trains, you name it, if it goes, he loves it! He has different noises for each type of transportation and will tell you where they're going too.  We taught him the other day that trash trucks go to the dump. On the way home one night he said "That trash trucks is goin' to da dump!" Yep, that's right!   We went out and bought a few things to convert his room into a "garage" (I'll post pics when we're done).  We even bought an antique-looking firetruck for his dresser.  The first thing he did was put a flashlight on the side and load up his smaller cars on the deck. So funny to watch him play pretend. I can't wait to see his room all pulled together.

Henry is still a great sleeper and several nights a week will ask or tell us that he needs to go to bed. He's on a pretty good routine during the week, but we let him stay up until he turns into a pumpkin (or brat!) on the weekends. He's extremely selective as to what goes in the crib with him. Right now, his Granny (Ruby) is 2 for 2 with Buster Bear and his Bart Simpson doll. He also has "Rowdies" which is a pillow pet, a light up turtle and his seahorse that plays music. Tonight he did let his new firetruck go to bed with him, but I have a feeling tomorrow night it will get the boot. I also have a feeling that he will have more crap in the bed with him when we convert him from the crib to a bed.  I know, most kids his age are in beds, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up good sleeping habits yet.  And who knows, he might not get out of his bed, but why chance it? :)

He loves music and dancing. He has zero talent in either of these things but it's beyond adorable to see him dance and sing. His a typical oldest/only child who LOVES to show off. Of course, that is if he's not being bashful. For the most part though, he's quite the little performer. We taught him how to "show his muscles" and that is always good for a laugh. It looks like he's pooping, which I'm sure he will appreciate me telling you when he's older.  I love you, little buddy!