Mmmmm.

A healthy options lunch.

*hummus with carrot and green bell pepper sticks, shredded cheese, mustard for dipping, corn, celery with peanut butter, plain yogurt with honey and strawberries and almonds*

But, I won't lie....

Due to an extremely pregnant and unmotivated mother, Henry has eaten peanut butter and jelly for lunch for several weeks. If he happens to eat something different for lunch, he makes sure he gets his baba for dinner.

Let's hope it won't be long before we are back to a normal pattern of life.

Sitting.

Although my urgency to screw the bookshelf into the wall last summer was unfounded, Henry started hanging out in the bookshelf recently. I am still surprised that it took so long for him to climb onto a shelf but he really isn't a natural climber and it took him several minutes to figure out how to finagle his little body onto this shelf. Pretty cute, huh?

Moo.

Henry firmly believes that he can not wear his cow hat without also wearing his sunglasses. Apparently, they go together. If he can only find the cow hat, he covers his eyes with his hands to show that he needs his shades.....if he can only find the sunglasses, he signs cow and says "meh meh". That is MOO is Henryese.

How do you like those Christmas pajamas in July?!? This kid thinks they are pretty awesome.

Sweet cousins.

Henry loves his cousins, Jobe and Emily Caine. Ashlyn, their other Dearman cousin, and Jobe pair off and it has been so much fun to see how EC and Henry are starting to click and become buddies. I love thinking about the years of fun to come as these kids grow up together!

Us.

Still a corn boy!

wawa.

The fact that Henry will play quietly and happily in the sink for 30 minutes at a time is a great motivator for me to load the dishwasher and keep the sink clean. I'm always in search of an external motivator to make me do things that need to be done so this is a mutually beneficial relationship for the two of us.

Woo woo!

Bragging and Documenting

23 months......almost 2 and almost a big brother!

Henry runs his mouth nonstop, although most of it is still jibber jabber:

ba ba - bread, his favorite food just like his mama

any word that starts with a 'b' is ba, including but not limited to battery, baby, beans, bed, bath, book, Pops (a non b word and Taylor's dad)

Dada, Mama, choo choo (train), woo woo (fire truck), wa wa (water), door, dark, Yaya (my mom), woof woof (dog), cheese, chicken, shoes, bubble, ball, Jimmy (our cat), dirt, moo (cow)

He still loves his signs:

help, please, thank you, star, light, horse, cereal, cat, cow, sunlasses, hat, hungry, fire truck

His favorite foods:

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bread (many fits have started when I refuse to give him more bread), all fruit, oatmeal, cheese, edamame, cream cheese

For months I have worked with Henry to pick up his toys and follow simple commands. Taylor says that I boss him around all day and while it may seem like this to some, I now have a very helpful little person in our house. He helps put his cars/trains in the bucket, picks up his books, puts magnets on the fridge, knows exactly where his toys go on the bookshelf, puts his clothes in the dirty clothes hamper, puts diapers and various objects on his changing table, puts his shoes in his shoe basket, and puts Taylor's millions of shoes in our bedroom, helps me unload the dishwasher which is great because I don't have to bend down to get the dishes on the bottom rack and puts things in the recycling bin for me. He wants to put his dishes in the sink but is still too short!

He is still so tiny (although he seems so big until we are around other kids his age) and wearing most of the same clothes from last summer. I am very curious about his percentiles at his 2 year old appointment. Is he still hanging strong in the 5%? Like Ms. Ellen says, somebody has to be in the 5th%....

He is a joy in our lives and we are thankful for every day with our little boy! I am trying to soak up these last few days of him being our only child....

Success!

After this failed attempt....

I decided to give up on professional haircuts and cut Henry's hair at home no matter how much he protested. Turned out that this meant Taylor had to pin him down on the couch with his knee so I could give a few whacks at his mullet. It proved worthless to even attempt to trim around his ears or his scraggly bangs.

Not an ideal situation.

So, we decided to let Taylor model how a big boy gets his hair cut at the barbershop. All day long, I prepped Henry for the big event. I let him play with scissors until he didn't melt down at the sight of scissors and we discussed how we would visit the firetrucks after his haircut.

I was pretty anxious about the whole event until the barber announced that he is the father of 4 boys, one of which is just a few weeks older than Henry. At that, I let out a sigh of relief. I knew this man wouldn't back down from a toddler and wouldn't be phased by tears.

I was right!

Pete at Rooney's Barbershop is my new favorite person.

Notice the sucker firmly clamped between his teeth.

It wasn't going anywhere...

My clean cut boys!

LT, recognize the shirt? It's been his favorite for over a year!

the good and the bad.

Henry is sick. Again.

The bad:

High fever.

Red and puffy left eye.

Nasty cough.

Sad demeanor.

Official diagnosis: clear ears and lungs with a lot of drainage

The good:

A 5.5 hour nap yesterday and we are working on hour #3 today.

He loves loves loves his mama when he doesn't feel good.

Sickness is the only time Henry watches videos at our house.

Yesterday was filled with hours of 2 minute Sesame Street clips from Hulu and YouTube.

Henry loves him some Elmo!

Notice the tongue?

He sticks his tongue out as far as he can when he sings the "la la la la" from Elmo's theme song.

Cute. Huh?

Chilling post 5.5 hour nap.

He woke up with a high temp so I stripped him down to his diaper.

Taylor was so concerned that even his toes were hot!

I am glad to report that little man is feeling much better today.

In fact, he was feeling well enough upon waking up to demand that his daddy put back on his dirty firetruck jammies he had worn the day before.

And, thankfully, he is feeling well enough so I don't have to endure another day of Elmo and gang!

Henry's favorite thing.

Hang around our house for a few hours and it is easy to decipher Henry's favorite thing...

All day long, he talks about Taylor.

Dada this and Dada that.

I ask him to help find my shoes.

He finds a pair of Taylor's shoes and says "Dada?".

I tell my child I love him more than anything.

The response?

"Dada."

I get him from his crib in the morning.

"Dada?" with his little neck craning to see if Taylor is following behind me.

panacea.

Henry has a bit of a cough this morning so I thought, "Mmmm, what makes a cough better?"

Shipley's Donuts -- duh!

Show mama your donut.

Think he likes sweets? Maybe he is my child after all...

He also loves his water, just like me!

I don't think Henry has minded this pregnancy too much...

I've been on a major baked good and fried dough kick lately and he has definitely benefited from my sweet tooth.

Cheesers!!!!!

sweet saturday.

happiness.

Henry loves TV.

Too bad we didn't ask his opinion when we uplugged our TV last summer.

Good thing he knows how to work that remote at his grandparents' house!

nesting.

For several days, I noticed this little bird hanging out on our fence with his little mouth filled to the brim with nesting materials. Lo and behold, one day I saw him fly into a tiny little decorative birdhouse that sits on top of our fence.

Looks like I'm not the only nester on the block!

fishies.

How can you tell Henry was the biggest fan EVER of the Georgia Aquarium?

Hmmmm.

The smile on his face?

The hand on the glass?

The aquarium themed outfit?

The wonder in his eyes?

The sounds of his "oooohs" and "aaaaahs"?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

But, maybe the best indicator of his love for the Georgia Aquarium is that it absolutely, completely, totally wore his little butt out and he napped for 2.5 hours in a hotel room in a strange hotel crib!

proudly rear facing at 20 months!!!!!

Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatricians recommends that babies ride rear facing until 2 years old?

If you have a baby under two years old, google "extended rear facing" and make your own decision!

just like daddy.