Happy 2nd Birthday, Henry!

Henry, you're way more fun than we ever dreamed a kid could be, and we love you more than we ever thought possible.

Thanks for two hilarious years... and here's to tripling the laughs over the next!

Private party

We are postponing Henry's 2nd birthday party to Sunday, his actual birthday.  Today, we're just having a PJ's-with-snow-appropriate-outerwear/costume-party.  So far, it entails walking atop iced-over snow...

and drinking way too much cocoa and going ahead and eating cupcakes.

And, right now, I am listening to Henry, who is supposed to be napping, sing his ABC's and list things, "and Mama, and Daddy, and Henry, and my juice, and my bi, and... hey!  Mama!  Daddy!... and my train... "  It is hard to come down for a nap after such a fun morning!  Well, except Daddy found it quite easy.

We miss our family today.  Be safe, everyone.

Cupcakes

Henry had a little mini birthday party at school on Friday.   We were a little worried about the pending forecast, but it turned out that the bad weather didn't hit until way after school was out.  I'm glad we went ahead with our original plan.

He loved the cupcake and the hat...

The singing puppet...

And, of course, the attention.

He's almost 2!

Henry's Book Club

Here's Henry at 12 months requesting that we read his big Corduroy book.  We began reading a book soon after bringing him home from the hospital--Goodnight Moon for starters--each night before bed, and he quickly developed a love for all things illustrated and wordy, and reading became his and our favorite activity.  I cannot resist ordering new books from his Scholastic order forms each month, and we have quite a long list of favorites, including those books we started with about two years ago.

I'm going to attempt a not-nearly-inclusive list of some of his current favorites...

He's really into Dr. Seuss lately--especially The Cat in the Hat.

We were a little worried about having a Curious George anthology, but so far, we haven't had to read it from cover to cover.  He likes selecting a couple of stories out of this one.

This Thomas book is really good for reading on the potty.

Henry started reciting parts of this book, "That's enough, David!  Come back here!" randomly from his car seat right after we got it--around 18 months--but took it quite personally if we ever recited it to him.  He also tore a page out of "No, David!" which I find ironic. All of his David Shannon books are among his favorites, including "David Gets in Trouble," "Duck on a Bike," "The Rain Came Down," and "Good Boy, Fergus." 

Daddy and I disagree about how to read this one, but it's fun no matter how it's read.  I think Henry likes the part about crossing the river best.  The whole family is carrying their shoes, and he thinks it's neat.

His favorite part of this book is identifying what the bunny turns into in each scenario.  It's also a good potty-sitting book.

Henry still enjoys the occasional Boynton book, and he'll pull out some older favorites every once in a while, including a few really short ones, which is nice when bedtime is running a little late.  We're really looking forward to putting together his new bookshelf (Thanks Nana and Granddad!) so that he can have better book visibility at reading selection time.

 I'm thankful that we still have an avid reader--even after the introduction of Thomas the Tank Engine on TV!

It's that time of year!

I'm kicking off this week of celebrating Henry with a post about his very first "note" sent home from the teacher.  Henry was apparently telling the teachers, "No!" and "I don't want to!" when asked to do just about anything today.  Mrs. Hannah says she ended up taking him for a walk around the building to talk about it.

Did he get it?  I actually think he might.  She says the day got better after their talk, and she also says that he repeated back every word of their conversation as they walked around together. 

Then again, we long suspected that my active listening skills are backfiring on us as Henry sometimes repeats back every. single. word. we say in the form of a question.  Does he always know what he's repeating back?  Probably not, but I do credit him with being pretty darn sharp.  I also suspect that he's cutting some painful teeth right now, which would make me cranky, too.

In other news, Henry weighs 26 pounds!  He told me so when we got home from school today.  Actually, he said he weighs six, but Mrs. Hannah told me the more accurate number earlier today.

Happy birthday week, Henry! 

(Henry's best "question" inflection) Happy Birthday week, Henry?

Guys

I would say that most people who know me accept that I have a borderline hick accent.  I can turn it off, though, should certain settings demand a more neutral lilt.  Henry's teachers are no exception.  In fact, if I notice a southern accent, then it's probably pretty thick.  They definitely have southern accents, and I never noticed them trying to turn it off.

Then why is Henry saying "guys" all the time?  "Stop, guys."  I got stickers, guys."

Here's what I would say:

"Stop, ya'll."
"Ya'll!  I got stickers."

And, what's up with my auto spell check underlining "ya'll" every time I type it?

I feel out of place.  Where is this insecurity coming from, ya'll?

Wish you were here

Henry woke from his nap this afternoon asking if Anna and Evan were "in there."  He was hoping that they somehow managed to convince David and Stacy to not head back to Alabama.  I cannot blame him as those kids are a lot of fun.

He had a hard time showing it at times--insisting that all his toys were "not yurs" and "my turn!" but he loved getting to spend several days with Evan, Anna, Ryleigh, David, and Stacy.

We took Daddy to the zoo and out for an ice cream cone to fill in the void that the Farrys left when they left this afternoon.

It was a good weekend, and I'm so glad I got to hold this sweet little girl!

A little confusion...

Henry thinks the following about his upcoming 2nd birthday party:

Santa's coming to his party.
He's turning 3.
It's today... for dinner.

Tunnel vision

The Hughes Family Report is now a private club--viewable to only those deemed cool enough.  I'm not going to keep this post up for long, though.  It's too cheesey even for me.

Show Off

Henry had a chance to show off to Elizabeth and Nick last night--especially his train track maneuvering skills.

He showed Elizabeth how well he sits on the potty now.

Then he showed off his reading prowess.  Elizabeth also got to witness the grief that Henry gives us almost every night when we inform him of his last book before bed.  He got over it pretty quickly, though, and joined us in singing his ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  His voice was amazing.  Show off.

It's cold.

The high today was 36 degrees. It was an accident...
... but Daddy put Henry's church clothes on over his pajama pants. Can you call it a good idea if it was an absent-minded happening?
We enjoyed a tricycle ride in the neighborhood, but even with hat and mittens, we cut it short...

...for luke warm chocolate.

Know what else is cold? I go back to work tomorrow.  Cory and I cherish any time that we can enjoy together with Henry, and this extended vacation was a source of abundant joy for us.

2010... the good, the bad cont.

The Gamecocks lost.
But the popcorn was perfection.Half our family, Elizabeth, David, Grandjane, Grandjoe, Allison, and Joel, were at the game. We were cozy and warm. Safe travels, everyone!

2010... the good, the bad

We had a very yummy pork, collard, cornbread, and black eyed pea lunch with Grandjane, Granjoe, Elizabeth, and Christine today, and since it was so good and full of fortune and prosperity, and since Henry ate enough to make us feel pretty lucky, we decided to let him skip his nap.

Our luck ran out around 5:30 when Henry had a major meltdown inside Barnes and Noble, which made us recall the humility that I believe the cornbread was supposed to represent.

We're sorry, Henry, other little boy at the train table, parent of that little boy, and all the B&N patrons. We pledge that the rest of 2010 will contain sufficient naps for Henry.