New Shoes

Over the summer, Henry wore two pairs of "Wee-Squeek" shoes all the time. He loved them. And when you would ask him if his shoes squeaked, he would stomp his feet to show you. But, they were starting to wear and he was starting grow out of his size 5s, so we went shopping for new shoes. At Target, we came across new Toy Story "light up" shoes. Henry spotted them and had to have them. He actually had me put them on him before we left the store! And nothing has changed since then - as soon as he gets up, before diaper change, drink, food... he looks for his shoes and begs for me to put them on. At nap time, I have to convince him to take them off to sleep, promising we'll put them back on when he wakes up. Sometimes, during the day, he wants to take them off, so he can look closely at them and point and laugh at Woody and Buzz and the Three-eyed alien on the back heel. The best $16.99 I have ever spent! I should go back and get size 7, 8, 9.....

After a quick diaper change, Henry put on his shoes and ate his morning snack while watching Hanny Manny.

Dad was in charge of the morning diaper change for this pictures. Henry didn't let him get any further than changing the diaper and insisted the shoes be put on. He ran around like this for a good hour - and yes, it was only 45 degrees outside.

Moo-Cow Tuesday

Almost every Tuesday, Henry and I, and sometimes Brian, go to Chic-fil-a for family night. I start talking about the big cow and the balloons as soon as Henry gets up. By 5:00 he is ready and raring to go to see the cow in person. As embarrassing as it is, the hospitality staff know us by name and "welcome us back" every Tuesday. I am probably way to excited to be there too - but I just love to see Henry's reaction every week when he sees the cow or when the balloon lady makes him a special balloon creation (Elmo, Cookie Monster, a dinosaur). And the icing on the cake is, I don't have to cook OR do the dishes!

I remembered my camera this past week and snapped a few pics of Henry and the cow and Henry anxiously awaiting the balloon lady's creation.

Halloween 2010

I can already tell the holidays are going to get better every year. Last year, Henry was too young to understand, or even recognize, anything different about a "holiday". But this year, as fall rolled in, and the pumpkins, mums, ghosts, skeletons and signs were displayed, he took note. He helped display festive items in our yard and throughout the house and also squealed and/or pointed whenever we would drive or walk past our neighbors houses with ghosts and goblins hanging from their trees.

We did an afternoon at the Sesame Place "Spooktackular" and enjoyed all the decorations. But it didn't have to be that extravagant - we would make special trips to McCafferys, the local grocery store, just to see the decorations and get one of the little plastic skeletons or the local farms to touch all the pumpkins.

One Halloween day, Grandma and Grandpa Garlits came to town to spend the afternoon with us. Dad was eager to carve his pumpkin, together, with Henry. At first, Henry was a little hesitant - who can blame a kid when you pull off the top and this nasty, smelly, chunky orange gut like stuff fall onto the floor!

Uncle Dale and Aunt Alisabeth came over and we had a cider beef stew dinner before we hit the streets. On a full stomach, we suited Henry up in his "Henry the Octopus" costume and Brian, Henry and I went out for Henry's first Trick-or-Treating adventure. We hit 5 houses and called it a night. Henry really wasn't very interested in walking around in his wagon, in the dark. But when we got home and took off his costume and ran around in his diaper while trick or treaters came to the door - he was in heaven!

The Boards - yes, where they filmed Jersey Shore

At the end of summer, Grandpa and Grandma Garlits treated us to an afternoon at the Seaside Heights boards, so Henry could see the ocean one last time and go on some of the rides. Before the big adventure, we ate breakfast at our favorite little "local" joint, right on the boardwalk and with a great ocean view.

We started the "ride" adventure at the Carousel. To say Henry loves himself a carousel would be an understatement - it boarders obsession. Every time he sees one, he points and says "tthhhhssssss", until he goes for a ride. And usually, before the ride even ends, he is signing for "more".

We then took turns on a couple of "kiddie" rides. Henry like them and enjoyed each one, but nothing compares to his love for the carousel.

Off in the distance, a big Sponge Bob Square Pants sign caught Henry's eye. He doesn't watch the cartoon, but someone he has developed a fascination with this yellow square. We had ride tickets left so I asked the attendants if it was suited for a 16 month old. They said, with a heavy Russian accent, "Sure. It's just goes through a bunch of pictures of SpongeBob." I thought, "Great. He'll love it!". They failed to mention that it would be PITCH BLACK and that the pictures of SpongeBob would be lit up by strobe lights and jump out at the roller coaster car as you passed by. Henry was petrified, but there was no turning back. I snapped the below picture on the ride, it doesn't show much, other than how dark it was. And I couldn't do anything but hold him close and laugh at the same time. When the ride was over, which luckily, was only about 30 seconds, I was laughing so hard I was crying. I hope I didn't do the kid any psychological harm.

Before heading back to the car, Grandpa insisted on winning Henry a large Elmo (see the legs hanging down?). Brian got in on the action too. Twenty dollars later, we left with the consolation prize - a small $.25 fish. When will they learn?

Labor Day 2010 (a little late)

During the move, I misplaced my pocket camera. While unpacking and putting things in their place, I found it again and discovered there were several pictures from late summer that I had completely forgotten about and want to make sure remembered!

On Labor day weekend Brian, Henry, Spinner and I went with Uncle Dale and Aunt Alisabeth to Tices Shoal. We anchored our boats and walked over to the ocean - which takes a little effort. You had to wade through waste high water for about 200 feet while trying to not get your beach materials (or diaper bag) wet. Also, Henry had to be carried, since the water would have been over his head. Once on dry land, it's a fun walk along a wooden path through the duns to the beach. Once we arrived at the beach, we had the most wonderful afternoon and the added bonus of the beach practically all to ourselves - Henry loved playing in the sand and the large ocean waves with Uncle Dale. Aunt Beps and I also buried him, waste deep, in the sand. He played there for a good 20 mins - we joked that we should go take a walk and leave him there. There wasn't a chance he could have got out on his own. Don't worry, we didn't leave him!

One each leg of the boat trip, Henry did great... besides one spell of crabbiness we encountered, but he quickly got over it once dad hit the gas and the wind hit his face.