Henry the Tree Hugger

We got a late start to the New Year. Henry and I slept in until 9AM. We eventually made our way out the door and had brunch at the Paradise Cafe (not to be confused with Cafe Paraiso). My parents joined us at the playground at Harelson Elementary after brunch. We watched Henry play on the equipment and kick some soccer balls around. He did an excellent job dribbling the soccer ball. I was impressed. He went down the slides without us needing to hold his hands. One person stood at the top with him, sent him down by himself, while another person waited at the bottom. At one point, Henry decided to give a tree a hug.

We went home, and Henry took a nap. It was "Casual Thursday" around the house as evidenced by Henry's picture on the left. We listened to music and looked at pics of course.

Later in the afternoon, Henry visited Grandma and Grandpa and helped them sweep up leaves. He likes spending time in their yard. Grandma and Henry had different ideas of cleaning up. Grandma spent time trying to put leaves in a pile, while Henry thought it best to spread them around. Jeff and I went to the movies with Carolyn, Erin, and Jill; we saw "Slumdog Millionaire" (very interesting film).

We had dinner at my parents. Henry had some pizza. He showed Aunt Carolyn how he could spin around, and around, and around. He also showed off his backwards walk. At one point, he used a DVD player as a step off to make an attempt at climbing onto the glass shelf on which the flat screen TV sits. I asked him if he wanted to go into time out to which he responded "no." That's the first time I'd heard him use the word "no" (although he's shaken his head before). I also didn't know that he really understood what time out was. Guess the other day when I put him in time out twice within 10 minutes something must have sunk in.

We came home around 9:30PM. I took Henry to bed, but he wanted his Dada. He's asleep across Jeff's chest now. Tomorrow, Jeff is working. I'll be taking care of the Doodle Bug. I want to take him somewhere, but I haven't figured out what we'll be doing yet. It has to be relatively crowd-free. Outdoor activities are preferable. We'll probably go to the Desert Museum or to the zoo.