Hokey Pokey

We created a Hokey Pokey monster.

Henry used to demand that we sing "Wheels!" for several verses--the traditional ones and the Henry-created ones. Now Henry's onto doing the "Hokey Pokey" and "turn self 'round." Daddy, Henry, and I stand in a circle and do the hokey pokey before bed now. I used to sing "Tell Me Why," a lovely lullaby we learned in Kindermusik, but he's over it now. He's all about the "Hokey Pokey."

In spite of a cold...

We had a good weekend.
Furman beat Wofford, and Henry had his typically fabulous time at the game.
Daddy and Henry made bread dough on Sunday while I alternated between blowing my nose and taking photos. I caught Henry's cold, and now Daddy has it, too.

Learning Process

I think that I'm starting to understand my camera a little better now and am getting some decent flash-less (camera flash, people) images, which was one of the main reasons I wanted the DSLR in the first place.

Henry has a cold--the kind with a fever that comes and goes. He didn't go to school on Thursday or Friday, so Daddy and I took turns hanging out with him, which gave me some unexpected camera time. I'm getting the hang of adjusting my ISO but have yet to figure out a few other functions (such as the ones Sarah tells me I should read about in my manual) like the f/stop and aperture. I want to learn, but it takes time and patience. I want more time and patience, too.

The above picture was taken indoors without a flash. It's grainy, but I like the lack of shadow and the touch of detail that at least shows a variance between the snotty nose and the mac-n-cheese and yogurt smears. Somehow, I'll get better pictures that reflect our investment--even if I have to read the manual.

"Henry ride a chain!"

Henry and I took a short jaunt to Simpsonville's Heritage Park on Saturday afternoon, and since convincing Henry to get off their train was like convincing me to leave my camera at home, we decided to go back again on Sunday and take Daddy with us.  We met Charles and his parents for a couple of laps around the track.

The boys enjoyed a sucker on the train and a snack at the park, but it didn't stop us from asking the Braeunigs to help us put away some pileau.  Charles convinced Henry to eat some green beans, too--balancing out the sugar with the vitamins.

We also solicited the help of Grandjane and Grandjoe to help make a deeper dent in the pile of chicken bog this evening.  We're still not even close... who else wants to help?

You're invited

Cory's making pileau.  Those of you within the vicinity are invited over to eat any night this week--especially the next couple before I get sick of it.  Is there any other dish that goes as far as this one?  

437

... was Henry's number in the H1N1 vaccine line at DHEC this morning.  Daddy got there before eight o'clock to hold a spot in line.  Henry got his shot at eleven.  He cried for about two seconds before he realized he was going to get a band-aid, and it was all he needed to get back to just being sweet.

Confession

I asked Henry on the way home from school today, "Did you climb out of your crib this morning?"

"Oh.  Yes.  Henry fall.  Henry has shoes in the sky!"

I turned to look, and he was holding his feet up in the air.

Is it time?

I get to my office at 7:30 each morning, so Henry is usually still asleep when I leave the house. He was stirring as I was preparing to go out the door this morning. (My first clue was his yell/ demand for "Mama!") Since I was late, I had to just go on.

Cory called me around 7:20 and said, "I'm assuming you didn't get Henry up before you left this morning." Nope. But Henry was up, walking around the living room, trying to reach his duck hat. When he saw Cory, he said, "Henry fall."

Is it time for a big boy bed?

Quack-tastic!

I wish I had my camera when I picked up Henry from school today. He and his classmates were all wearing the below "duck hats" and running around outside throwing leaves in the air, covering themselves in brown crumbles. A corner of the playground would suddenly burst into twirling willow oak leaves, the perfect mini leaf for the many minis who couldn't seem to get enough of their ability to cover the air.
They also found a particularly large and spiny caterpillar who found itself suddenly circled by about ten little people, three teachers, and one parent before it was scooped into a bug catcher for further observation.

Mrs. Hanna told me that they also painted a very large duck which was later taped to the hallway wall outside their classroom. The class was walking by, and Henry stopped, pointed at it, and then yelled, "WHOA! That's a BIG OL' DUCK!"

He also started exclaiming, "Oh, my goodness!" during story time as each page of the book was turned. Guess it was a real page-turner. Tonight's spaghetti was amazing, too, judging by his repeated "Oh, my goodness!" at the dinner table.Henry told me that, "I like leaves," and "This is Henry's duck hat" most of the ride home from school today. We think we got most of the leaves out of his coat hood, but I'm not going to really bother sweeping them off the floor. We can just throw them around tomorrow.

Curious George

Henry really likes Curious George, so on my day off today, we decided to watch Henry's first movie. (We were supposed to go to the zoo with some friends, but Ida put a stop to those plans.)
It was a good day to stay in PJs and watch a movie.
I'm going to miss him tomorrow.

Ryleigh Grace Farry

Beautiful Ryleigh Grace Farry met Henry and his family, along with Aunt Elizabeth, over the weekend. She probably breathed an adorable sigh of relief when we left. We were rather rowdy.
But there were some moments of reading on the couch, watching TV behind pillow forts on the couch, and some feeding time on the couch, along with a great deal of fishing beside the couch.

And we were appropriately loud when cheering on Evan as the Thunder won their first soccer championship game.

Ryleigh was the littlest fan. We could tell she was proud of her big brother.

A sleepy Henry and Sock Monkey were also proud, and they looked really good, too.

Our sunny Sunday revealed that Evan could teach Henry a thing or two about driving--especially the difference between a steering wheel and a roll bar.

We also learned that both Henry and Anna might need to stick with driving the shopping cart but perhaps not at the same time. (It was the only little squabble that I witnessed the whole weekend--a great feat for cousins!)

Congratulations, David, Stacy, Evan, and Anna! Ryleigh's beauty fits right in with the rest of her family.

Because I said so!

Yesterday afternoon, I asked Henry to stop standing atop the slide platform and shaking the entire unit. He asked, "Why?"

Later, I told him not to throw his giant bouncy ball into the water-filled bathtub. He asked, "Why?"

Oh, brother. Are we really starting the "why?" phase at 21 months?

Ribbit! Ribbit!

Henry had a great Halloween. First, we visited Dr. Song who treated Henry to another dose of antibiotics for a sinus infection and an added trick--the suggestion of Children's Zyrtec in the hopes that we don't have to see her for another holiday. She thinks Henry has allergies that are leading to sinus infections, and, considering my own long and snotty battle with childhood allergies, we jumped on the suggestion. We hope the Zyrtec works since it will be a lot better than rounds of antibiotics.

Then Christine and Darion came over, and we went down to the pool house for the Greens at Rocky Creek Halloween parade and party. I got to talking to a neighbor and didn't realize that we were a lap behind the parade. We caught up eventually. After all, it was a half block parade.
Henry and Christine really got into the glow sticks at the party.
Henry didn't want to remove his costume contest sticker after the party, which was a good thing since, as you can see, he really started to blend in with his environment. It was a good night, and I think Henry's going to look forward to the next Halloween and the candy it offers.