Luna Playdates

For a number of months now, Henry and his second cousin Luna have been getting together for weekly playdates (Luna being the daughter of my cousin Jesse). It's become a real highlight of every week for both Henry and me. We've done playgrounds, the zoo, the Lakeside Nature Center, Deanna Rose, swimming, and probably other places I'm forgetting. The kids get pretty excited to see each other each week, and as you can tell by the picture, some serious cuteness goes down. Sometimes when Henry and I are going somewhere, Henry hopefully asks, "Luna?" As in, "will Luna be there?" Jesse says Luna does the same. We <3 Luna!

-Aaron

2nd Birthday

Henry's second birthday was a great day. Just about all the KC-area family was able to make it over for a party. Henry wore the lion costume that Laura had made for him, and looked awfully cute, even if he wouldn't wear the hat much. He got lots of great gifts, including a camera from Mom & Dad, and a Rangers jersey that I made for him. Grammy & Poppy gave him an easel with paper on one side and a chalkboard on the other that has gotten a lot of use. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt 'Nae and cousin Malcolm came down for a visit soon after his birthday. G-ma & G-pa gave him a trike, which he loves to ride around the house. Aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all did a great job of picking toys and clothes to enjoy. (Sorry we never got thank-you cards out...we really did appreciate everyone coming out and getting gifts for him.) After the party, we went trick-or-treating for the first time, up and down our block. Henry took his lion hat off between every house, but we told him he had to put it back on at each house if he wanted candy. He thought it was pretty cool that everybody was giving him candy just for saying "trick-or-treat." Mom and Dad liked getting to meet some neighbors. October 31st might be my favorite new day.

He had his 2-year check-up on November 2nd. He did not enjoy that all. I think he must have remembered getting shots before, because he was pretty upset. Luckily, Mom had planned ahead and brought a Halloween sucker, which he got right after his shots, and was fine once he had that. He's still a giant, weighing in at 36 lbs and a height of 36", which puts him over the 95th percentile for both.

-Aaron

Wii & TV

Henry loves to play the Wii. He asks to play either by saying "box?" (which means he wants to play Wii Sports) or "drive?" (which means Mario Kart). It's a little scary how proficient he's gotten at it. He can maneuver his way around menus to get to exactly what he wants. I'm a little embarrassed to say he actually beat me at boxing once when I was trying my hardest. I probably give in to letting him play too much...but at least he's jumping around and somewhat active while he plays, as opposed to just vegging out to the TV. Of course, we like to veg out sometimes too. His favorite shows right now are Little Einsteins on Disney, and Yo Gabba Gabba! on DVDs from the library or online. Dad thinks Yo Gabba Gabba! is pretty awesome too. Toodee is very clearly Henry's favorite character on Yo Gabba Gabba!

Toilet Training

Hello all, sorry we've been totally ignoring this blog.

Henry has never shown any interest in learning to use the toilet. He's never cared about having a dirty diaper, and would happily sit in a big load of poop all day if we let him. But Laura and I are definitely ready for him to learn to use the toilet. So we started putting him on his little toilet every night as part of his bedtime routine about a week ago. The first few nights he fought it, and cried, and we'd only make him stay on it for a short time. After a couple nights, he was used to it and sat there happily for a bit. On Monday the 7th, we could tell that he was really concentrating on trying to actually go to the bathroom, but nothing happened. The next night, he made his concentrating face again, and made his first pee in the toilet. Laura and I of course made a big deal out of it, which made him excited. Unfortunately, four days later, he hasn't had a second successful stay on the toilet. But now he loves to sit on it, and I pretty much have to force him to get off after awhile. I should probably read up on toilet training, 'cause I really have no idea if there are things I should be doing differently. I bet a consistent schedule of several times on the toilet throughout the day would be a good idea. If anybody has any tips, we'd love to hear them!

-Aaron