21 months old...a little late!

So...Henry is 22 months now. But we've been a little busy around here. I'll try and capture his 21st month first, then the next post will be 22 months! Whoops..

Henry is truly my little buddy. So much so that I was really worried for when George would arrive. I would go on daily walks and Henry always behaved so well in his stroller. I'd point out flowers and he would point at helicopters. His vocabulary has been growing almost every day, and his comprehension surprises me all the time. He started saying "truck" and loves to play with trucks and cars. There was a lot of rain during this month, and Henry loved going outside and playing in it. He's definitely a water baby!!

And of course, the pictures:

trying out the baby swing

making sure his old car seat still works ;)

Josh recovering from lasik with his buddy

he rocked the Macklemore look with a new haircut

playing in the rain

more playing in the rain :)

My mom came into town to help out around the house, and hopefully be present for George's birth. It was great to have her, and of course she spoiled Henry. And it ended up that she was able to be there for George's arrival (yay!).

 

being an artist with Grammy

train table at Barnes & Noble

 When George was born, we got help from my mother who was in town, and from our friends Ryan and Natalie (thanks you guys!!). So while I was laboring and soothing a newborn, Henry was having a ball with his friends. When Henry visited George in the hospital he was uninterested to the point of pushing George away. But after we brought George home, Henry warmed right up and loved his new baby.

giving the baby love

 The weekend after George was born, Mimi and Bear came to visit. They of course brought tons of toys and kept Henry well entertained. He was pretty sad to see them go.

Henry got a new water table from Mimi and Bear :)

trying to leave with Bear

Overall, we had a fun month. Before George came I tried to really savor my days with just Henry--since I knew it would be a big adjustment for everyone once the baby came. So we played a lot and had some fun quality time. Once George came home with us, Henry has been very sweet and we are so thankful! He is a great big brother :)

Ring Ring!

Henry is getting pretty savvy with the phone ;) Although funny enough, he gets too shy to say anything during real phone calls. At least he's learning!

Henry is 20 months old

I'm a few days late writing this, but Henry is 20 months old now! Seriously still amazes me every time I think of how old he is, since two years seems to be approaching pretty quickly! This past month Henry has become extra helpful...he loves being able to help you do things, or accomplish little tasks himself. Which is really quite adorable, and makes me think that he's going to be an awesome big brother! He likes to throw trash away for you, close doors and cabinets, carry groceries for you, unload the dishwasher, etc etc. Every time he goes to one of my doctors appointments with me he will walk around the office and close all the doors.

I've also realized just how mechanically-minded he is this past month. I've always known he has been, but it's fun to see how fast he learns and how he loves to figure out new concepts. Lately he has been really into buckles, and likes to be able to buckle himself into his highchair/carseat (I usually let him do one strap and then help with the rest). He also thinks he knows how to operate the tv, and will often try to turn on Elmo himself. And yes, his obsession with Elmo (particularly Elmo the Musical) is still going strong. The other day we were walking around the store and found a small stuffed Elmo... it was the cutest thing ever!! He kept hugging him and kissing him for the entire rest of the morning.

We are still working on manners, and enforcing please and thank you, but it's coming along a bit slower than I'd like. Any advice? He has a pretty great vocabulary, and knows new words all the time. And I know that he knows what please and thank you mean... he's just a little stinker about actually using them.

Here's the usual picture explosion:

we finally got a baby pool. Henry loves it.

Henry tried chocolate milk for the first time. Huge success.

We got Henry his first coloring book: Elmo of course!

Henry and I checked out a local donut shop. It was delish.

we found some street art.

Henry gets entranced when watching Elmo...

we met a goat (our friends got one)

puzzles at the library

showing Scruffy the dog how to show off your muscles

We love you Henry! I am really trying to cherish the rest of the time I have with just Henry before another kiddo gets thrown into the mix. This boy is so cute though, and so sweet. I just know he'll be a great big brother (and if he isn't, we'll just make him sleep in the cat bed ;).

Henry has something to show you

19 months old

Another month older today! Henry is now 19 months old :) Unfortunately this past month was filled with a fair amount of sickness for him, but he's a tough kid and handled it like a champ. It started off as a cold right before his Doctors appointment last month. I was worried it might have been an ear infection so the doctor told me to watch it for a few days and call back if it wasn't better. It didn't get better so we started him on antibiotics. After 6 days on antibiotics, and a still-very-grouchy-toddler, Henry had a fever. I thought that was bizarre so I ended up taking him into see a pediatrician (found a new one where we live now, at least that's crossed off my list!). On almost a whim the doctor gave him a strep test, and it came back positive. Which is weird on multiple accounts because usually kids under 2 don't get strep, and he had already been on an antibiotic. So we switched antibiotics and after a few days we had our sweet, happy boy back. Poor kid!!

His knowledge continues to amaze me. He'll often say words (correctly!) that I didn't even know he knew. He can throw away trash now in the trash can, and actually enjoys doing it on command (score for lazy parents!). He's king of the playground and often wants to go down the highest slides (which still makes me nervous so I inevitably end up going down the slide with him, or steering him towards a smaller one!). There's a few different parks in Cedar that we frequent, and he loves all of them. His love for animals is still going strong, even though Jay-Z has made him a bit more cautious around felines... ;) And he LOVES to watch videos of himself. Instagram (a photo app) came out with videos, so sometimes I'll take little snippets of him, and he will hit play over and over until I have to tell him we're finished.

The biggest transition that's happened in the last week or so is the switch to a toddler bed. Because George will be here before we all know it, he decided to set up a toddler bed for Henry so he can get used to it. It still takes him a while to go to sleep at night, since all his toys in his room are so enticing. But he's done surprisingly really well! Usually during his naps he will pass right out. It's been such a smooth transition, thankfully! (Knock on wood!)

he loves this car

he found the last mini donut, and i let him eat it as a special treat.  his mind exploded. 

enjoying a little Elmo the Musical

his first taste of fried dough at a local music festival called Groovefest

this kid LOVES water. at lakes/ponds he is still hesitant until he figures it out, but otherwise he is ALL about it!

first visit to McDonalds for breakfast...yum!

he thinks every baby toy is his. we're trying to keep him from becoming a toy bully...!

not so sure about the toddler bed..

my little cheese-ball

petting a chicken at our friends house

chicken coop photo op!

playground adventures

first nap in his toddler bed and he actually fell asleep right in the bed!

cutest kid on the block

he started TP-ing under the sink, and he was having so much fun I just let him do it

like I said, we run all the playgrounds in town ;) 

I probably have about 200 pictures of him on playgrounds! One of these days maybe I'll gather a bunch together and do a big playground post. :) Happy 19 months Henry! We love you!

Henry is 18 months old!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, me and Henry have been really busy! In the past few weeks we've been to Arizona, and then all over Utah county. Thank goodness Henry is such a champ in the car :) He's been my little driving buddy on quite a few road trips now!

Henry's vocabulary has been growing, and he'll often say words I didn't even know that he knew! The other day he surprised me with "book" as he pointed to a book he wanted in the car. Of course I was super proud of him! He is also pretty good at mimicking words, and can say quite a few that way (he likes to mimic "gross" a lot, but I don't think he knows what it means on its own).

Henry is still a climbing machine. He's basically a gymnast. Maybe that's what he'll be when he grows up, who knows. He loves to go on walks in his stroller or wagon. He completely just chills out and takes everything in about his surroundings. It's actually pretty cute. And sometimes when he's super whiny, it's actually quite handy! Ha!

We went to the pediatrician for his 18 month appointment this past week. It was our last time seeing our pediatrician (Dr. Sarah Ashby, at UV Pediatrics--she's amazing!!) in American Fork. We love her so much that I've made the drive for his past two appointments. However, with George on the way we'll finally have to find a local pediatrician (booo). Dr. Ashby was very pleased with Henry's growth/development. And because he knows more than 20 words and can string two words together (like "hi kitty") he's "advanced". She probably tells everyone that, but it's still always nice to hear ;) Here are his stats:

Weight: 24.5 lbs -- 55%
Length: 32.5 in -- 53%
Head Circumference: 19.25 in -- 87%

So, as usual, he's pretty normal with a huge head. Although everyone comments that Henry looks kind of big for his age, so maybe there are just a lot of fatties out there that effect the percentiles?? Who knows ;)

And now, pictures from the last month:

gymnast in action

at the park!

this little smarty pants will climb onto the chair and pick out a book all by himself

first time skateboarding, with our friend Ryan

on the swings with his girlfriend Amelia

we went to a friends wedding and there was an amazing balloon outside

deep in thought

"hiiii kitty!" ... unrequited love still...

making faces, our favorite

we've grown his hair out into a pretty killer mohawk :)

cheesin himself in the mirror at his checkup

Henry has been sick this past week so he's been extra whiny, so that hasn't been super fun for anyone (mostly him, poor kiddo!). Otherwise he really is a lot of fun, and such a cute kid. We love you Henny Benny!!!!

suppa time!

Sometimes Henry gets excited about the awesome, delicious meals I make him. Or he just gets excited in general, who knows ;) It's quite adorable what he does though. Take a look at him hamming it up :)