still around...

I really am trying to post more but the days just fly by and I rarely stay up much later than Henry. So, that means almost no time to post a blog entry. I have been posting pictures to Henry's website so check that out---Henry's website.

Henry and I have been getting all our holiday shopping done and he has been a trooper. It has gotten a little bit harder to shop with Henry because he wants to walk around on his own. Also, he has been running which makes things exciting when I have my purse on my shoulder and things in my hands. Most people don't really think Henry is too cute when they are trying to shop and he is running in front of them and I am chasing him. Henry's vocabulary is just amazing. He is starting to talk in fragmented sentences. Today he said "Mommy car fast whee" Opps.maybe I should slow down when I drive (hee hee). He also keeps telling me there is an owl in the house. I'm not sure what that is all about but he seems to see it and he hoots at it.

Holidays with a toddler

Henry is really enjoying the holidays thus far. He liked getting his picture taken with Santa although I had to sit with Henry on my lap. He really liked Santa when Santa gave him this light- up plastic toy which I would NEVER buy for him. It stays in the car and only comes out if Henry is getting fussy. Henry is also enjoying the Christmas tree. He is really enjoying pulling the ornaments off and shaking the branches. David may come home one day to find the Christmas tree in the front yard. I've moved most ornaments up out of his reach but he always seems to find one I missed. He knows he isn't suppose to do it b/c he runs to the tree and rips them off every time I turn my head. Little booger!!! If things couldn't get more exciting, it is snowing today. There is already an inch and we should get another by the end of the night. Henry and I went out in it around 11am and I pulled him around in his sled until my hands were in pain. I am also proud to say that Henry loves holiday music. We pretty much listen to it all day and there are a few songs that get him dancing. We will keep the gifts low key in order not to get Henry too worked up but I am afraid all the other stuff like the music and holiday events is just something I love too much. This weekend I have a huge list of events which include Christmas trains, Santa, and a tree lighting at the Ellipse. FUN!!!!

Dancing Shoes

We celebrated David's b-day last Monday. Henry got David some slipper's that are similar to his slippers...I mean "dancing shoes". Henry will only put on his slippers if you call them dancing shoes. He also will dance and has 4 original moves--"the daddy dance", "the spin", "the turn" and the "low daddy dance". He also has "intense" which isn't really a dance move but this thing he has done since he was about 4 or 5 months old. He clenches his hands in a fist and strains his neck and teeth and then his head starts to shake. I really don't know how to describe it but it is hysterical ...and a bit disturbing. We call out "intense" during his dance routine so it is sort of one of his dance moves.

Last week Henry got all dressed up to go to a neighbor's baptism. As you can see from the photo's, he really enjoyed his tie and sports coat. The picture with Henry walking around with a cell phone planted to his ear was not staged. He does this all the time.

Click here for photo's from last week

Happy Hallo

Henry really enjoyed the Halloween season. I didn't get him to say Happy Halloween but did manage to get to 'Happy Hallo'. He had already mastered 'happy' earlier in the month when I had him tell me Happy Birthday. Over the weekend we met up with my cousin Scott and his family. They were visiting DC from Pittsburgh. Henry loved all the attention. Scott and Teri's boys, Lane (11) and Kyle (9), kept him laughing and entertained. After going to the National Zoo with them, Henry and I met up with his Dad and went to a neighborhood Halloween party and parade. I thought Henry would get a kick out of all the kids dressed up but it didn't phase him. Maybe with all the animal costumes he just thought we were at yet another zoo. ( :



On Monday night we met up with my cousin and family for dinner in downtown DC at the ESPN Zone. We don't eat out with Henry very often because he is so squirmy but I have to say it wasn't all that bad. He was squirmy but he managed to eat quite a bit. The extra folks around to enetertain him really helped though. After dinner we walked around the game and arcade area. Henry loved this place. He sat on every ride--and that is a lot--this place is big! We drug Henry out kicking and screaming (seriuosly, it was UGLY!) around 9:30pm. He was NOT ready for the fun to end. The next morning we had Henry's playgroup and some neighborhood mom's and toddlers over for a Halloween Party. Henry just loves having kids over and the more the merrier. He plops in any free adults lap with a book and runs around with a grin plastered on his face.



On Halloween day I gave Henry a choice of costumes, skeleton or dinosaur. No suprise, he picked dinosaur which he has really loved. I actually had bought him a turtle costume to wear but Henry's Aunt Mernie sent him the dinosaur and his Aunt Catherine sent him a skeleton costume that were both so cute and would NOT fit next year. So, everyone will have to wait till next year to see the turtle costume. Henry got into the trick or treating. During the day, I told him all about the process and we practiced. I would have Henry knock on the door and I would try to get him to say Trick or Treat but he would just laugh at me. When we went out Trick or Treating Henry did great and wasn't scared when going to the houses. Actually he was a little too comfortable. After gettiong the candy for his bag he would walk right in people's houses. It was pretty funny. As you can tell from the halloween pictures below, Henry took a break and played on his slide and car which are in the backyard. It was so dark you could barely see but he loved it. We let him have a couple bites of chocolate (a kit kat and a peanut butter cup). He really liked them but didn't ask for more so I can say he didn't love it.

Click here for pic's from Halloween

Halloween playgroup pictures

Halloween Parade

Sad News

It's been awhile since I posted a blog because I have been a little (well, a lot) down. Sadly, we lost Geiger on Sunday, October 14th. The week before he had stopped eating so after a couple days of trying everything to get him to eat I took him to a special vet hospital with a reco0mmendation from our wonderful vet. After two days at the hospital he was still unable to keep food down and was continuing to do very poorly. After hearing back from the ultrasound and the tests we made the decision to put Geiger to sleep because we knew he was near his last days. If he had only had diabetes or only had pancreatitus it might have been a different decision but having the two diseases was taking a serious toll on him and he would NEVER come close to having a good quality of life. Also, the fact that he was not keeping his food down made the Doctors believe there was probably something else contributing to the throwing up (possibly a serious GI problem or low grade cancer). Below are some Kodak albums I have taken in the past couple weeks including some pictures I took of Geiger at the Southpaws Vet hospital.

Click here for pictures

Cows, Chickens, and Ponies, Oh My!

This weekend Henry (and David and I) had a lot of fun. It was sort of a 3 day weekend for David. He did do some work throughout the weekend but he got to do it from home. On Saturday we went to the 15th Annual Falls Church Farm Day. This was held at the Cherry Hill Park where Henry and I go often (it is also where we had the Playgroup picnic the previous weekend). At the farm day Henry got to see lots of animals and go for a pony ride. At first, he was hesitant to get on the pony but as soon as the pony started walking Henry was squealing with delight. Henry also liked the big horses. When I would pet the side of the horses head the horse would twitch. This really freaked me out but Henry thought it was hysterical. Henry fell asleep on the way home and took a really long nap. After he woke up he watched the UNC football game with his Dad. UNC beat Miami (yeah!). After the game we decided to go to Toys R' Us b/c I was looking at getting Henry this refrigerator magnet set that someone in playgroup has at their house. Well, we ended up buying a small Thomas the Tank Engine set. Henry has been really into Thomas for a couple months. I take him to toy stores and Barnes and Nobles bookstores that have the train tables. He loves playing with them. A couple weeks ago an A.C. Moore flyer came in the mail and they were advertising Thomas trains for sale. I gave Henry the ad and he carried it around and looked at it constantly. As soon as David went into the Thomas aisle on Saturday I was pretty sure we were going to have to get a train set. Henry has really enjoyed it. Saturday was a pretty exciting day for him and I could barely get him to eat dinner or take a bath on Saturday night (I am speaking of Henry not David although David was pretty excited about the UNC win). Henry pretty much had a melt down by the time it was bedtime. I think it only took me about 5 minutes to get him to sleep though. He was wiped out. So, instead of resting on Sunday we headed out to an outlet mall in Leesburg. David had to return a suit jacket he had bought and I wanted to get Henry some new shoes at the Stride Rite outlet. We made the suit exchange and walked around looking at coffee makers until Henry woke up from his nap. I took Henry into the Stride Rite outlet. BIG MISTAKE! The place was a zoo. I will spend the extra money and go to the regular store where someone waits on you. After the shopping we headed to the Leesburg Animal Park. This was the place that had brought the animals to the petting zoo for Farm Day. I had picked up thier flyer the day before and saw it was just a couple miles from the Leesburg Outlet Mall. Henry got to see even more animals and loved every bit of it. He also got to go down a big (and very fast) slide twice (once with Daddy and once with mommy). It was a great weekend although very hot. We are looking forward to some cooler weather.

Click here for Kodak Photo album of weekend pictures

BBQ with the Playgroup folks

This weekend we met up with our playgroup for a BBQ at a local park. It was really neat to get the whole group together (all the kids, moms and dads). It was a beautiful evening with temps in the low 70's (fall is in the air!). The kids and adults had a lot of fun.

Pictures from BBQ

This week Henry started nodding "no" but by Saturday he started saying "no" with the nod. A whole new toddler stage (fun fun!)