Henry says...

Henry is a chatterbox and says the sweetest little things. A few days ago, when I got him out of bed, he greeted me with the following:

Henry: Do you want to play with me, Mommy?

Me: Of course!

(Henry goes to his toy box and pulls out maracas and a tambourine.)

Henry: Want to rock?

Me: Sure!

Henry: (playing maracas and dancing around) I can't stop dancing!

Of Snakes and Songs

On Tuesday afternoon, I heard an embarrassing buzz coming from my desk. A cell phone was going off during class and it was my own! I glanced at the number, thought it looked like the secondary number for Henry's school, and went back to checking homework. Not a minute later, someone knocked on my door. "Henry's fine, but you need to take a call." Upon answering the phone, the director assured me that Henry was just fine but that I'd need to come and get him. The school was being evacuated; a baby copperhead had been found in the infant room. Yikes! It seems the little fellow did not like all of the recent rain and sought refuge in the nice, warm school.

In less reptilian news, Henry is quite the little singer. He sings many traditional children's songs, songs he makes up, and, recently, pop music. He does a nice rendition of Bieber's "Baby" and Rihanna's "Girl on Fire" (he calls it the fire song). This morning, he requested "the diamond in the sky" when we got in the car. The best part? I'm not teaching him any of these songs (thank you, sweet school!), so Nate can't ask me to switch to something more classically cool.

perfect days to play outside/bagel smile/lounging

I made the most delicious deep dish pizza this week, cast iron skillet and all. I can't wait to repeat it this weekend. It was that good.

Deep Dish Pizza

Still Standing

I certainly did not plan a lengthy hiatus. Nate looked at the blog last night and I was surprised he remembered that the little space even existed. I was even more surprised to learn that he liked reading the posts as I wrote them and looking back over the old ones. It's a nice memory book for our family, after all.

A quick rewind of the past 3 (or 4...) months:

France
The trip was amazing, beautiful, and perfect, with the exception of wearing slippery sandals at the Louvre, where I managed to fall and slide down a flight of marble stairs. Perhaps a French queen fell down those same stairs many, many years ago. Nice was the highlight, made better with many cornets of salted caramel gelato.

Summer
Fall is here (hooray!), but I'm missing the long, sweet days of summer. I'm also missing how clean our house was for a few (too) short months. We had a lovely week at the beach riding bikes, playing in the water and in the sand, and enjoying uninterrupted time as a family.

Henry's 2nd birthday
The birthday celebration was a quiet affair. We made and ate cake. We played inside and out. Henry sang the birthday song to himself and demanded more cake. It was wonderful.

Henry as a two year old
Henry's just as sweet and loving as ever. He is talking nonstop, asking questions, and singing songs. He loves to go to school and play with his friends and teachers. He likes to eat ice cream and chocolate. He tells his father that the music is too loud. He is definitely my child.

Back to School
I'm six weeks in and feeling appropriately comfortable and tired. Is it Thanksgiving yet?

Ready, set, jet!

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be hopping on a plane, kicking up my feet (ha!), and strolling on the streets of Paris by Saturday morning. For the next week, I will not be tending to my boys' (the big one and the little one) needs. Sounds indulgent and relaxing, right? Au contraire! I will be Madame for the duration of the trip. Traveling with a group of 17 and 18 year old students is not vacation, mind you, even when you're laying on a beach in Nice. I suspect it will be more exhausting than my day to day routine ever is, even on the busiest (or fussiest) of toddler days.

I've spent one very fun (and very long) night completely away from Henry. There have been a handful of times that I haven't been home to put him to bed or to greet him in the morning. This a little routine is sweet and wonderful. It has also sent me into a slight panic as I prepare for a big dose of separation anxiety. I'll be one happy mama with the plane returns next weekend!

Fun

another day, another trip to play at the Capitol

playing guitar / watching daddy cut the grass / hat happy / perching in the laundry basket

Snapshots

giving lamb a sip of milk. one of henry's cutest new interests is feeding his stuffed animals.

practicing hopping from stone to stone / tulips! / snacking in the grass

Happy

So many things, big and little, are making me happy today. So many, in fact, that I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. In no particular order:

• The sun is shining for the first time in a week. No explanation needed.
• Henry is talking all of the time and about everything. He is flourishing and I'm bursting with pride, with happiness, with affection, with love.

• Easter is this weekend. 
• I'm searching for little blessings and finding them all around me. 
• Nate was away for two nights. He's coming home today. Two nights are two nights too many.

I had a dream last night that I was at the airport, leaving for France, and had no passport. This marks the second such dream in the past two weeks. Yes, I am going to France in June. Yes, I have a very real fear that my passport will be missing when I arrive at the airport. Mine or that of someone else. The dream could be to blame for being wide awake an hour earlier than necessary. I'd prefer to think that the sleeplessness was from excitement.

Happy weekend. Happy Easter!

18 Months

Henry is such a big boy these days.

His vocabulary is expanding rapidly and he has the sweetest little voice.

He says please and thank you (which sounds more like "dank do").

He can say the names of his friends at school and practices all of the time.

He points out every bus that we see (and we see a lot of them!) and says "choo choo" each time we hear a train.

He's still a little gourmand and will eat almost anything. His current favorite? Beans and rice.

He runs around like wild man and happily yells at the top of his lungs when I drop him off at school. The scene is repeated when I pick him.

He loves to be "owwside" and afternoon walks are a must.

He gives hugs. He blows kisses. He is sweet.

tricycle ride / cowboy / sweet valentine

Boys (will be boys)

Henry was enjoying a cup of yogurt a few days ago. The container has a picture of a baby on it. This is the conversation that ensued.

Nate: Henry, who is this?

Henry: Baby!

Nate: Do think baby yogurt is made out of babies?

Henry: Yes!

I can only imagine the conversations that the future holds when Henry is really talking.

In reality, Henry is fascinated by babies. He loves to look at the babies at daycare. He met a little baby at a basketball game over the weekend and would have spent the entire game gazing at the fellow and touching his feet had I not tugged him away. I think toddlers (who are still, in my mind, babies) pointing out babies are most amusing. I'm thoroughly enjoying this little stage!

A Look Back and Forward

I begrudgingly completed my most dreaded task yesterday afternoon: disrobing the Christmas tree of its splendor, delicately packing away the ornaments, and yanking the lights from the branches. I swept up the needles, took the boxes to basement, and gazed at our little tree. Next year will here all too soon. For now, I'll relish the promise of a fresh new year and leave you with one last glimpse of Rudolph. 

happy boy

ripping paper is so much fun! 

whoa! is this for me?!

cowboy