Henry's First Hair Cut

Patty came today to clean the house. She taught Henry the phrase, "Clean the windows." He appears to love cleaning things. Somehow, I suspect that his enthusiasm for cleaning won't last, but we'll try to make the most of it while we can.

Shortly after 2PM this afternoon, I received a call from Alison, our family specialist from A Place to Call Home. They are looking for potential foster parents for a boy who is almost 3 years old. According to his file, he is "well-behaved," "is able to attached to people," and "is developmentally appropriate" for his age. Alison asked if we wanted our name submitted to CPS as an interested party. We said "Yes!" She doesn't know when CPS will make a decision. It could happen within a matter of days; it could be weeks. Once they make a decision, things will move fast. We are thrilled at the possible addition to our family. As I told Jeff, however, I feel badly that our excitement over having a new child comes at the expense of having a child come from not-so-good circumstances (in other words, at someone else's loss...if that makes sense). I'm guessing that there are many other interested foster families in this child. The decision is truly in CPS' hands now.

Incidentally, if we are chosen, we won't be disclosing many details about the situation for the sake of the child's privacy, that includes not giving the child's real name on this blog. If and when our family and friends were to meet him, we will be referring to him as our son rather than as our foster son. According to what we learned in our training, it is better to not give labels that emphasis that the child is different than other children in the family. It avoids any stigmatism that a child might feel from being in foster care when in public settings.

Grammy picked up Henry at 3PM. I believe they watched "Robin Hood" or at least the first part of it. I met them at Gadabout shortly after 5:45PM. When I arrived, Henry and Poppy were near the fountain. Henry managed to get most of the sleeve of his sweat shirt wet.

Todd was cutting Grammy's hair when we went inside. I showed Henry what Todd was doing. Henry seemed perplexed and a little concerned when Todd gave me a piece of Grammy's hair that he'd just cut off (he gave it to me at my request). The idea was to warm up Henry for his cut.

Before Todd blew Grammy's hair dry, he decided that it would be a good time to cut Henry's hair b/c Henry was in Grammy's lap and looked relatively calm. Here is a pre-hair cut photo...









Note the long lock sticking out in the back.

Before Todd cut his hair, Henry was staring in the mirror. I asked Henry "Who's that cute boy?" He enthusiastically said, "Henry!" He's so cute. Henry insisted on taking two of Todd's combs before Todd was able to get to Henry's hair. Once Henry's hands were full, it was much easier.














Henry was a little squirmy but not bad. He's even squirmy when I try to comb his hair b/c he is so darn insistent that he do everything himself.














After Henry's haircut, we went to Grammy and Poppy's for pizza. Jeff stayed home b/c he wanted to get some work done around the house. With a potential new child on the way, we are on a serious mission to get this house in order!

Henry and I got back here around 8:15-8:30PM. Henry played in the living room and then took a bath. He's getting pretty good at splashing water out of the tub. He had fun leaning back while I held his head in my arms as I leaned over the side of the tub. Thank goodness it is sleeveless shirt weather! Very useful during toddler bath time.

Henry wanted to watch some pictures on the computer instead of "Robin Hood." That's a refreshing change! After watching a 1.5 minute clip of Pooh singing a lullabee song (lullaby to the bees), I asked Henry if he was ready for bed. He jumped off my lap and went searching for Daddy to take him to bed.

Henry and Jeff are snoozing. I should be too. I want to get a good start on the day tomorrow. Much to do!

Grandpa Joe Arrives!

On Wednesday, Jeff, Henry, and I went to the airport to pick up Grandpa Joe. Henry gave Grandpa Joe a huge smile but wouldn't say his name even though he said it 30 seconds before seeing Grandpa Joe. He was being shy.

We had dinner at Rocco's pizza. Henry was pretty good about sitting in his chair but then wanted to explore the parking lot. I walked around with him for a little bit b/c in his words, he wanted to "take a walk." When the pizza arrived, Henry liked it. He said "pizza, pizza." Jeff gave him a piece with cheese that stayed in his mouth awhile. I think that the texture was weird for him b/c when he tried to swallow, his oral aversion seemed to kick in and he vomited all over the ground. Luckily, we were seated outdoors so it wasn't a huge deal and the staff were exceedingly nice about cleaning it up. I took Henry to the bathroom. The sink was short, and he liked washing his hands ("wash hands"). When we went back to the table, Henry wanted more food. I gave him crust with no cheese, and he kept it down just fine. He enjoyed it. It was after all excellent pizza.

342. Pizza

We took Grandpa Joe down to Green Valley. He is staying with his sister Joyce and brother-in-law Bob. Henry ran around their living room, pushed buttons on the VCR, and demanded the remote. He parroted everything that was said. When we left, he gave Aunt Joyce, Uncle Bob, and Grandpa Joe big hugs. It was dark when we left. He fell asleep on the way home.

When we returned home, it was no problem putting him to bed. He was exhausted. Jeff and I edited our tax return information and printed it off. Then, Jeff headed to the post office to get it in the mail. When Jeff returned home, Henry heard him come in. He popped his head up, cried out for Daddy, then hurled himself over the side of the bed in rapid speed (nearly crashing into the wall of the fire place in our room) and then ran out to the kitchen to find Daddy. Such a Daddy's boy.

Today, Henry will be getting his first hair cut. He was an appointment with Todd after Grammy gets her hair cut.

Snap!

On Monday afternoon, Henry was pleased to see Grammy. He spent the late afternoon and early evening with her and Poppy. I gather that they watched Sponge Bob.

On Tuesday afternoon, Henry spent some time with Jeff as I was working at school. He and Daddy watched the Masters that Jeff had recorded on the DVR during our trip. They read "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree" several times. When I came home, Henry had me read it to him a couple more times as well. He likes it when the "crocodile" goes "SNAP!" He pointed out my "necklace" and said a bunch of other words that I can't remember right now.

340. Necklace
341. Crocodile

We gave him a bath. He continues to do well with his potty training. We still aren't pushing it, but he does go when asked. After his bath, he gave Daddy a huge hug. He repeatedly said quietly "Save me Daddy! Save me Daddy!" which kind of made me feel a bit down in the dumps. I wasn't even trying to kiss him at the time. We eventually settled down on the couch for TV and "Robin Hood" as he had his last bottle of the night. Henry fell asleep on my lap while Jeff went to the office to work on our taxes, which we always do at the last minute.

Today, Grandpa Joe arrives. We are picking him up at the airport, having dinner, and then taking him to Green Valley where he'll be spending time with his siblings until Sunday. Then, we'll get some time with him Sunday through Wednesday.

Our San Diego Trip

We came back from San Diego last night. In a nutshell, it was a good trip but perhaps a bit too long for Henry’s tastes. He wanted to “go home” shortly after we arrived. It was a bit overwhelming for him to be some place new every day. He didn’t like sitting in the car driving there and back. And he didn’t like the hotel mattress. At least he had his portable Daddy pillow with him.

Here are the day by day details:

On Wednesday afternoon, Grammy picked up Henry around 3PM so that Jeff and I could get ready for our trip. We left our house at 5:45PM, stopped by a couple of stores, got some dinner, and then went to Grammy and Poppy’s house. We left their place at 7:50PM and headed to San Diego. Henry and I read a couple of books in the car (“Sam and the Fire Fly” and “The Haunted House”). I let Henry watch “Lady and the Tramp” and “Robin Hood” (part of them anyway) on my laptop. At 10PM, we found a rest stop and changed Henry’s very wet diaper. Henry passed out after that. His sleep wasn’t the deepest I’ve seen (more like the kind one gets on the airplane).

When we arrived in San Diego around 2AM, Henry announced that he was ready to “go home.” He did manage, however, to give Eric, a fellow who helped us with our luggage, a winning smile. We had nice room at the Marriott at the Marina. Our room was on the top floor (25th) and had a view of the city, Petco stadium, the Coronado Bridge, and the marina. Henry tossed and turned against Dad as he tried to get to sleep. I personally think that it was the mattress that troubled him. The new mattress that we got for Jeff’s birthday is really a fantastic mattress (Kings Down). I didn’t notice the difference between our former mattress and our new one when we first got it (Jeff did and Henry liked it right away). Having adjusted to the new one these past several months, I can see where sleeping on anything else just isn’t quite the same.

On Thursday, Henry got up at 7:15AM or so. The sunlight made it through a crack in the blinds and hit him squarely on the face. We had a nice breakfast downstairs in one of the hotel restaurants. Our waitress asked how old Henry was b/c she wasn’t expecting such strong enunciation from someone his size. She said that she could understand him perfectly…better than her niece or nephew who is 4.

SEA WORLD!

Around 10:30AM, we decided that we’d give Sea World a go. We started off at the sea lions. I bought Henry two rounds of fish to feed the sea lions. He had great fun. Then, we attempted to watch a Dolphin show. That was a bust. Henry was too squirmy and wanted to go up and down the stairs. He became irate when we wouldn’t let him, so we ended up leaving the show 5 minutes into it. He was a bit moody after that. He wasn’t as excited about the penguins as we thought he’d be. Near the inside puffin exhibit, he laid down on the carpet and said “sleep.” It was off in the corner, so we let him rest for a few minutes. We went outside, and he laid down on the pavement several times. We found a quiet area on some grass, but no Henry; Henry wanted to lay down on the pavement again. I was afraid that the trip would be ruined and we’d have to leave. Henry wanted no part of his stroller. But eventually, sleep won out while he was in his stroller. We were in one of the dark aquariums where they actually allowed strollers. We then headed to a second aquarium which had big tanks. We sat in a quiet, dark corner and watched the sea bass while Henry snoozed. Then we strolled around with a snoozing Henry. When he arose, he was groggy at first but had a rebound of energy and began to enjoy himself.

We had some lunch at a pizza and pasta cafeteria place. Henry ate like a bird. We then headed to the Elmo area. Henry enjoyed running around. The highlight of the trip was when unbeknownst to us, a Elmo show of three short songs took place. Elmo, Zoey, Cookie Monster, Bert, and Ernie sang songs and danced. The children in the play area went wild! Henry was overjoyed to see Elmo.








A little girl who was probably 3-3.5 years old kept trying to hug Henry. They sat down and appeared to have a conversation; it looked like they could understand each other. They watched Elmo and company.

Henry rocked out to some of the Elmo songs and talked to people…



Watching Henry rock out to Elmo was probably the trip highlight for me. He loved watching Elmo. He got excited to see other kids. It was worth the entire trip.

We went to the “tidal pool” which was an area created for kids under 37” in height. The floor had a lot of give and contained large, soft blocks. Henry tried to take the blocks out of the area on several occasions. It was a lot of fun for him. He then played in a sandpit area. We rode on one carnival ride "Abby's Starfish Spin." Henry liked it.








The big hit of the animals was the Shark Encounter. By this time, the lines had died down considerably. It looked like it was going to rain, so a lot of people left. Henry had so much fun at the Shark Encounter that we went through it a second time after he made his request for “Again!” Afterward, we then took a second look at the flamingos and fed them some pellets. Henry managed to get a pellet on one of the flamingo’s backs without the bird noticing. We let Henry touch one of the star fish in the touching tidal pool. He did pretty well, although we closely monitored him b/c he isn’t the gentlest of petters. We went to the killer whale viewing area before leaving the park. Henry enjoyed “Shamu.”

We came back to the hotel. Henry had a few bites of room service food but his eating wasn’t stellar. Sigh. We even let him watch “Robin Hood.” One of my colleagues is working on projects to discover whether TV viewing is associated with obesity. We keep hoping that plopping Henry in front of the television will put him in a mindless, zombie-like state where he’ll just eat anything we give him…but such has not yet been the case.

Thursday’s words…
331. “Bite it” (telling me to bite a piece of toast)
332. Shark
333. Whale
334. Fish

He had some other phrases, but I can remember them.

On Friday, we slept until 9:30AM. That’s a record for us! Henry was a bit of a challenge at breakfast, but he discovered the joys of French toast sticks. I spent the morning/early afternoon in the room preparing my presentation. Jeff and Henry went to the San Diego Children’s Museum. It was a short trip as most of the exhibits were for slightly older children than Henry. They chased pigeons in the park for a little bit, and Henry pointed out the "kids." Henry was acting very tired, so Jeff brought him back to the hotel before I left. He tried to get Henry to sleep, but Henry was so tired that he had a tantrum…a vomit tantrum in fact…which meant that we had to call for the housekeeping services. Jeff then took Henry in the stroller hoping that he’d fall asleep there b/c the bed was too soaked with vomit to use. I changed before going to the conference as I ended up having Henry vomit all over my shirt. Lovely! On a happy note, my presentation went well. It was a panel composed primarily of political scientists. Jeff and Henry took a nap. When Henry woke up, Jeff broke out all of his toys (Jeff had packed a lot of them) and turned the hotel room into a play area, hoping that it would make Henry feel more comfortable. It seemed to do the trick.

When I returned, Henry and Jeff were watching a DVD (Aladdin or Robin Hood). Then, we gave Henry a bath, and he went to bed.

Friday’s words included:
335. Kids
336. Pigeons

On Saturday, he woke up around 7:15AM. We had breakfast. We found the Pancake House but the line was so long that we decided to have breakfast at the hotel. Henry was a bit of a challenge during the meal again. These days, our breakfasts with Henry are far from enjoyable b/c as soon as Henry is done, he wants to leave and shouts out “All Done!” Sigh.

We went to Ocean Beach. Henry enjoyed the first 10 minutes of it. He liked running away from the water with Jeff. But he wanted to “go home” after those first 10 minutes were up. We walked along the beach and Henry snuggled into Jeff. On the return back down the beach, we took our shoes off. The water was cold. Henry did OK with the sand against his toes but wanted nothing to do with the water. We walked along the pier and then took a quick tour of the shops along the boulevard.




















We came back to the hotel. Took a two hour nap. Henry went down easily. We rented a surrey and cycled around the marina. After we returned the surrey, we walked around. Henry headed for a popular art piece that kids were climbing all over. He met a woman who was with her three year old granddaughter, Amy. The woman was impressed with Henry’s mimicry. She was speaking to Amy in Spanish and Henry was copying her. He picked up “de nada” as a phrase. He liked the woman so much he gave her a hug. There was a man with several parrots at the marina. Henry touched one of the parrots, but it kind of scared him when the man put the bird on his arm.

We had dinner at a Greek restaurant. Henry enjoyed gyros and beef dolmades. After dinner, our Seaport excursion included a ride on the carousel. We then took some pictures near the waterfall at the hotel pool, which Henry called “the shower.”

Henry watched some of a DVD before falling asleep. It didn’t take long. Our marina/Seaport trip took a lot out of him.

337. Shower

On Sunday, we considered going to the zoo but felt that we’d already pushed Henry pretty far on his discovery of the world. So we went to breakfast at the Pancake House, went back to the hotel to check out, and then went to Balboa Park to let him run around before heading home. The slides at Balboa Park were a HUGE hit. Henry tackled some pretty big slides too. He learned how to slow down his sliding by putting his shoes on the slide, and ultimately didn’t need me to catch him at the end of the slide. He trucked on past several kids who were much older than he was and acted like he owned the place. I thought I heard some parents tell their children something to the effect of “Look, that baby can do it” when trying to encourage their kids not to be afraid of the slides. After sliding, Henry tried out the swings. He was OK with them but wasn't thrilled. I don't think that he like giving up control and being put in a single location. Henry discovered pine cones at the park. He gathered several for me.













Then, we headed home. Of course, as we were leaving, Henry announced that he wanted to go to the "beach" and "ocean." Henry slept for 1.5 hours. That meant 5 plus hours of entertaining him. Not an easy task. He was driving me crazy with lots of demands and occasional requests. He’d want something, I’d reach for it, and then he’d get mad if I had to lean across him to get whatever he wanted. Five hours is a long time to be trapped in a seat. We stopped in Yuma at a Wendy’s. Henry didn’t really eat that much. Then, we stopped again, about 1.5 hours outside of Tucson at a rest stop. We let him walk around a little bit. I broke out the computer during the last 2.5 hour leg of the journey home. We watched half of the Sponge Bob movie and all of “The Jungle Book.”

338. Beach
339. Ocean

All in all, San Diego is a great city. I can see why people would want to live there. Two hours or so outside of San Diego, the landscape is varied and incredibly interesting. I hope that we’ll go back there again in the next year, perhaps for just a weekend. And I can honestly say that I’ll be glad when we are truly outside of RSV season so that we can hop on an airplane. Trapped in a car for several hours with a toddler who is just burgeoning into “The Terrible Twos” isn’t exactly “relaxing.” I would love to show Henry the beach again in warmer weather. And I want to take him to Legoland and the San Diego Zoo next time around.

When we got home, Henry wanted to look at “pics.” I said, “Don’t you want to say hi to Marley and Roger?” Henry replied, “No. Pics.” He threw a fit when I said, “No.” He was a bit wild when he came in the door. He got landed in timeout twice by Jeff. Once for hitting Roger on the head with a water bottle and then for throwing things at Bitsy. The poor animals. They were happy to see us at first, but then they probably realized how nice and tranquil it was without the little guy hanging around.

We gave Henry some dinner and then a bath. He remembered how to use his Elmo potty. He had a bottle and snuggled against me for his night time viewing of “Robin Hood” and fell asleep with his head on my lap about five to ten minutes into it.

On Monday (today), Henry got up at 7AM. We read books, but he was upset that Daddy had to work. Alicia and Karina arrived at 7:30AM or so, which made Henry even more upset. He suddenly wanted “Mommy, uppy-down” which means “Mommy, hold me.” Henry hasn’t quite figured up versus down yet, so “uppy-down” covers the bases. It appeared that he adjusted pretty well after I left. At least, his screaming didn’t last long. I wish that I didn’t have to work, but don’t we all.

Speaking of work, my lunch break is over. So I need to get back to it. Signing off.

Cymbals

Henry got up early this morning. I ended up letting him watch some TV (i.e. "Robbin Hood") because I was half-asleep, having worked on a project until the wee hours of the morning. Henry and I snuggled. He seemed pretty happy about my sleepiness.

Grammy picked up Henry at 3:30PM or so. He showed her how he can hit his musical cymbals together. I can't wait until we can get him a drum set. Jeff thinks that I'm crazy. Henry went with the grandparents to the townhouse. My mom is having it painted; it is going to be sold soon. Later, they went to Swenson's for Poppy's b-day dinner. Henry wasn't a particularly enthusiastic eater, but he did eat some.

When he came home, we sat outside on the step for a little while at Henry's request. It was a nice night. We came back inside to watched "Robbin Hood" ending our day just as it had begun. I was playing with the camera...hence the funky coloring of today's picture.

I don't know when I'll be able to update Henry's House next. We are going to San Diego tomorrow evening. We are driving b/c we don't want to be trapped in all of the germs that air travel generates. We are hoping that Henry will crash shortly after we start our trip. I am a speaker at a plenary session at a sociology conference on Friday. We are using the rest of our time in San Diego for our first family vacation. This will be the very first time that Henry has left Tucson or has spent overnight at a location other than the NICU or our house. We are really excited about the trip. We are looking forward to the beach, Sea World, and perhaps the San Diego Zoo. We'll be sure to take tons of pictures!

Moon

This afternoon, Henry took a three hour nap. Alicia and Karina got him up for a late lunch. He played with me for a little bit. He was resistant to my diaper changing suggestion. But afterward, he was happy as a swooped him off the changing table and asked him what I was going to do next. "Throw bed." He knows me well. I proceed to toss him onto the bed and tickle him. Then, Grammy picked him up and took him to their place.

When Henry returned home around 8PM and took his bath, I asked him what he did at the grandparents' house. "Sponge Bob" was one answer. He also said "Moon." I said, "Did you look at the moon?" He nodded. I looked at Jeff, and yes indeed, Henry had spent some time outside this evening with Grammy and Poppy looking at the moon.

Henry wore a new outfit to bed, a gift from Veronica (his first nanny). We watched a little "Robbin Hood" before going to bed. He got sleepy rather quickly. It didn't take him long before he hopped off the couch looking for Dad so that he could to bed. Jeff said that he was out in 12 minutes.

Words to add to the list:
328. Throw
329. Back and forth
330. Diaper

Poppy's Birthday

On Sunday, Henry hung out with Jeff while I worked. They had a good time together. Henry took a pretty good nap.

In the evening, we stopped by Borders to pick up Poppy's present (a Borders gift card...it is the same darn gift that my parents request ever birthday and holiday). Henry had fun running around the store. He liked to look at the books. He enjoyed picking out "new books." We bought him a Sponge Bob book and a new Thomas book about the Naughty Diesel. Jeff was looking around while I entertained Henry. Henry wanted his Dad though and about 10 minutes into our expedition yelled "Daddy!" at the top of his lungs. His voice rang throughout the store.

We went to Grammy and Poppy's house for dinner. We had our family celebration of Poppy's b-day, which is Tuesday (tomorrow). What can I say? Henry was cute as ever. I had a hard time corralling Henry into the dining room until I said "Aren't you going to help Poppy open presents?" Henry looked at me and said, "Presents?" And then headed into the dining room. He has certainly figured out some words quickly. He gave Aunt Erin several hugs before she left. He wrapped himself around her leg. He likes giving "Huggies!" and truly has a fabulous bear hug in his bag of cute tricks.

This morning, I woke up before Jeff and Henry, which is unusual. Henry started off the night snuggled next to me but migrated to Jeff. Henry and I started off our morning reading "Robin Hood" and then Henry went to play with Alicia and Karina.

Poppy called this morning. He wants to spend tomorrow night with Henry rather than going to his favorite french restaurant for his b-day. So Henry will be headed over to Grammy and Poppy's tomorrow.

"Ride the Pony!"

On Friday afternoon, Henry's PT Shirley visited. It was really difficult getting Henry up from his nap. He didn't move when Jeff picked up his arm and dropped it. Had to shake him awake. He was a bit grumpy for the next 15 minutes or so. We hadn't seen Shirley in awhile b/c of the upheaval in the early intervention program system. At the moment, the state is funding the EIPs b/c of some law suits facing the state. We won't hold our breath, however, expecting anything for the future. Henry's services have been canceled and then reinstated a couple times in the last month. At the moment, they are back on. Shirley thought that he looked good. Henry had fun playing "wheelbarrow." Shirley was doing it to test his arm strength, but he thought it was a fun game and wanted to do it "again." She liked the shoes that we got for him (Saucony sneakers). We told her about his appointment with the neurologist. We showed her our concern about his right arm when running. I have a new theory about the right arm. It might not be so much a brain wiring issue as a matter of habit. I've noticed that when Henry is walking around with his bottle, he holds it in his arm hand up to his mouth making the arm stay close to his body. We've decided to lessen the frequency of Henry's PT visits to once a month. That should be plenty of time to catch any problems if they appear.

At one point in the afternoon, Henry did something of which I disapproved. I asked him if he wanted to go to timeout. He said, "Timeout, no, no" a couple times several minutes later...just in case I forgot that he didn't want to go there.

I bought Henry a toy dog that blows bubbles. Took me forever to get it working, but once it did, he had fun.











Henry had fun with our dogs (the real ones). He jumped on Roger. We let him do that but put the breaks on Henry touching Roger's ears. Roger is very sensitive about his ears. Then, Henry tried to get on Marley because he wanted to "Ride the pony!" We told him "no." He repeatedly said, "Ride the pony! Ride the pony!" Marley's temperament isn't equipped for pony riding.











We went for a walk in the late afternoon. Had a nice family dinner. Henry had a bath. Then, it was snuggle and TV time before going to bed.

On Saturday morning, Henry got up at 5:45AM. Jeff took him on a walk. We went to Joel's for breakfast. At one point, Henry nearly fell asleep in his pancakes. There was music in the courtyard today. A band playing slavic music that Henry liked. Then, the UA hip hop group did a little dance routine. Henry liked the music and danced in his high chair. He had renewed energy so we played on the hills around campus. He insisted on going to my office building. We played with some blocks in the staff lounge. There is a "poetic" block set. Henry didn't care about the words; he just enjoyed stacking seven blocks up.

We came back home and took a nap. Then, Henry went to Grammy and Poppy's house in the late afternoon. Jeff and I went to a home show at the Tucson Convention Center. We want to remodel our RV garage into a large office/family room. We picked up Henry and then came home. That left us just a little time for TV and snuggling. Henry did not put forth much protest when it was time for bed.

Words and phrases to add to the list:
322. "Right here"
323. Wheelbarrow (the action with hands on the ground...not the object)
324. Russan doll
325. Outfit
326. "Timeout, no, no!"
327. "Ride the pony!"

Breakfast with Adelyn and Carolyn

On Thursday morning, Henry announced that we were going shopping. I said "OK. And what are we going shopping for?" Henry replied, "new toys." He impressed me, so I said, "OK. We'll go shopping after breakfast." What can I say? He has me wrapped around his finger. I have always hated shopping as an activity (quite a disappointment to most of my female friends on this note) but I love shopping for Henry. And doesn't proper use of nouns and adjectives deserve a reward?

Unfortunately, Todd came down with the flu, so today's hair cut was canceled. But we still had breakfast to look forward to.

We had breakfast with Adelyn and her mom Carolyn at Tohono Chul Park tearoom. Adelyn is the young gal with just turned 1 year old a couple weeks ago. Henry was a bit louder than usual during breakfast. I'm sure that the other patrons of the tearoom was wondering why "that" child's mom didn't quiet him down. Didn't ever think that I'd be "that" parent, but he was rather impatient after he was "all done" with his food. We walked through the paths of the garden after breakfast. Henry had fun playing in the dirt and dousing a bush with sand. We visited Grammy after breakfast and we showed Adelyn and Carolyn Grammy's house. The four of us then headed to Toys R Us for a brief stop.

Henry loves the Thomas train set. I want to get him one. But as with all train sets, even ones for 2+ year olds, it is an expensive hobby. Plus, we need to build a new addition just to keep up with Henry's stuff.

At Toys R Us, we picked up some "trainers" (that is, disposable underwear that's not quite a diaper). Our choices were Dora or Diego. I let Henry choose which one. Dora's pink, but I don't see the point in letting gender stereotypes stand in the way. Jeff has made comments on how I'm overdoing the masculine stuff with all of the sporting equipment that I've bought Henry. Incidentally, I don't think that sports are necessarily a masculine domain, but I supposed that I'm in the minority on that one. Henry chose Dora. Of course when I got home, Jeff pointed out that the "girls" trainers might have different absorbency zones. Shoot! And here I thought he'd be pleased at my non-gender stereotype intentions. I'll go and get some Diego trainers tomorrow.

We came home. Henry took a nap. I read and then took a nap with him. After he woke up, we played with a puzzle that I bought him. It has bigger knobs on it than his other puzzles and only three pieces to fit in place (one of Cuyler the OT's suggestions). He was able to do it. And, he seemed to feel good about doing it. After taking the shrink wrap off the puzzle, Henry picked it up and announced that it was "trash" and marched off to the trash compactor in the kitchen. He said, "Put in trash." I opened it up for him so that he could put the trash in the bin.

We attempted to give him lunch. He finished up his french toast from breakfast. He had syrup on his hands and then decided to pet Marley. Then he reached for more food of course. Jeff rushed to wipe his hands with a wash cloth. Henry decided to use the wash cloth to clean the food off this tray and then to "Clean Marley!" with the cloth.

Grammy came at 3:30PM to pick up Henry. Henry did the puzzle, but he expected applause after matching the pieces but not necessarily getting them into place. He would match a piece, look at Grammy, and then started clapping and seemed to wonder "Why aren't they clapping yet?" He ended up matching and putting the pieces into place.

When Jeff returned with Henry around 8PM, I asked Henry what he did at Grammy's. He said, "Sponge Bob." Jeff reported that Grammy said that he ate dinner but not as much as she wanted him to. That's becoming a familiar theme.

When Henry came home, we decided to let him skip a bath tonight. We snuggled on the couch and watched a little bit of "Aladdin." Henry was ready to go to bed after he saw the Genie. Before going to bed, he did use the potty. Not much, but some upon request.

Today's words:
319. "New toys"
320. Trash
321. Cave (as in the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin)

Bonk Beds

Henry got up at 6:45AM on Wednesday morning. We read a couple books before Alicia and Karina arrived. He wanted to read the usual suspects: "Robin Hood," "The Haunted House," and "The Magic Grinder."

We decided to go furniture shopping in the afternoon. This time, we headed to Sam Levitz. Jeff had seen a possible end table for our living room there a couple weeks ago. We need to get a new one b/c our current one, which we like, has a glass top. And a certain unnamed person likes to climb on the glass top even when we tell him "no" and send him to time-out. For safety reasons, we need a sturdier piece of furniture.

We also searched for children's furniture, specifically bunk beds. We found the style we want. The brand was actually the same as the brand that we liked at the place we went to last week, but it was much less expensive at Sam Levitz. I suspect that we'll get it. Henry thought we were saying "bonk" beds. So he proceeded to "bonk" his head against the mattresses.

Henry was a wild man at Sam Levitz. Usually, he is a pretty active but calm kid. He was acting like he was jacked up on sugar. Wow. What energy! I got tired just watching him. He had a lot of fun dragging a stuffed animal bunny that was twice his size around. He also had fun tackling it.

We would have bought the beds, but we wanted to get decent mattresses for them. But Henry's attention span was zero by this point. He wanted to "go home." So we ordered the table. We'll head back there and look at mattresses when Henry is with his grandparents.

We got Eegee's for dinner, which meant that Henry got to eat fries. He loved that. Then, we went for a walk with the dogs. It was dusk, so we made it a short walk.

We came back. Gave Henry a much needed bath. Before he got in the tub, Jeff had him sit on the potty and asked him to "pssss." He did and how. A very good sign. I guess that means I need to get some trainers soon. And read up on potty training. The bath was not terribly eventful, except that Pete the Pirate Penguin has gone missing. Jeff and I conducted a thorough search of the living room without success. After his bath, Henry wanted to watch the "Genie" so we popped "Aladdin" into the DVD player and snuggled. Henry hopped off the couch when he was ready for "bed." Didn't give Jeff any problems going down. The posted picture of Henry was taken this evening. He's holding Frosty the Bull, one of his first stuffed animals. Henry wasn't much bigger than Frosty when he was born.

Our plan for the morning is to meet Carolyn and Adelyn Karmikel for breakfast at Tohono Chul Park. Then, we meet Grammy at Gadabout for Henry's first haircut. Jeff isn't partaking in the beautifying festivities. He finds it bizarre that we are going to a salon for Henry's hair. Todd from Gadabout has been cutting my mom's, sisters', and my hair for about 15 years. Who else am I to trust with my baby? We might not get very far with this hair cut. Grammy is going to have her hair done first so that Henry can see how the process works. Then, Todd will give it a whirl. Should be an interesting morning. We aren't going to push it if Henry gets upset.

Word list:
316. Frosty
317. Prince John (from "Robin Hood")
318. Fries