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!