Henry moments

Caught a few Henry moments with my phone this month, that were too cute to forget:

Lowes: Henry favorite place on Earth. But only when they have the Xmas decorations on display. We spent a hour in one aisle during one of our many visits.

After playing hard at Sammie's 3rd birthday party.

Kid loves this car ramp and power wheels.

Was cooking dinner one night and found Henry sitting on the couch, reading a book. Swoon!

What, you don't color with your mittens and Santa hat on?

Loves the chalkboard and brick

Sitting on the roof of the suburban, courtesy of grandpa henry.

Coloring

Visit with Santa

This is the second year Henry sat with Santa. He was slightly afraid of him last year... this year, the poor kid was terrified. Horrified! It was hilarious. Of course we made him sit there so they could keep snapping off pictures of the kid in sheer panic. Now, when we mention "Henry, do you want to sit on Santa's lap, he violently shakes his head no and almost starts to shake and cry. When we are at the mall and we see Santa, even if we are on the second floor, looking down on the big guy in red, Henry still latches on to our legs, begs to be picked up and whines/cries.

It made for a great picture and we'll do it again next year. A good laugh is worth my child's mental health.

Crazy Grandpa

When grandpa and grandma Holzapfel come to town, Henry barley takes a breath. It is intense, non-stop fun the entire time.... most of this comes from Grandpa Henry, but Grandma Donna can hold her own, too. (The cousins call Granpda Herny "Crazy Uncle Henry", if that says anything). One of Henry's favorite games this visit was running through the house playing hide-and-seek. Grandpa found the hiding place of all hiding places and little Henry was stumped... and we're still stumped on how Grandpa managed to get into the hiding place!

These games filled the house with screeches and laughter - we made a lot of memories and I plan on never forgetting them and never letting Henry forget them either. The kid is so lucky to have such amazing grandparents.

The Faces of Henry

Henry can be expressionless, stoic - especially when he's around other people. Other times, he can be a total, insane, screeching maniac - usually when he's around the people he is most comfortable with. We got a few shots of the little guy and his different faces.

Shrek

We introduced Henry to Shrek over the Thanksgiving holiday.... in retrospect, it was a huge mistake. The only thing the kids wants to do is watch Shrek. He isn't talking yet, so he signs everything (making up his own signs, nothing offical) - as soon as we get him out of his crib in the morning he pulls his ear (the sign for Shrek). He continues this all day - even when Shrek is on.

Grandpa's Helper

While Grandpa and Grandma Holzapfel were up for their 10 day visit, they did a lot of work around the house - from painting, hanging shelves, to mopping the floors a half-dozen times (grandpa has a slight case of OCD), to changing the elements in the water heater. After 29 years with Grandpa Holzapfel, I know the guy needs to keep busy - luckily, this new house of ours is a never ending list of "to-dos", so he'll be eternally busy when visiting and I'll be eternally grateful both my parents' help (free help!).

Henry was always wanting to be around his grandpa and wanted to do whatever grandpa was doing. And when the kid sees you do something he never forgets! For example, Grandpa and Grandma never really showed Henry how to paint, but he caught on seeing them do so much of it - after they left he found a roller and a paint dish and started to paint the closet doors - luckily they were free of paint! (During on afternoon of painting when we were "taking turns" watching the little guy, Henry found a can of paint, with the lid loosely attached, and in an effort to help, proceeded to carry it down the tile hallway (and it was heavy!). Grandma caught him and calmly took it from him so she wouldn't startle him and cause him to drop it make a mess I don't even want to think about!)

Grandpa and Henry hung the new shelves in the closet. Grandpa taught Henry how to use a hammer and a screw driver. He was so proud of his work!

Project complete - he looks thrilled!

Thanksgiving 2010

The holiday season was always one of my favorite times of year, but with my little man, it has so much more meaning. And now that he gets excited about things - the decorations in the stores, in the house, etc. it's just flat out awesome.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our new house. We spent the day preparing the food and watching this winter's first snow flurries. We had 11 adults and one handsome little boy as our guests: Grandpa and Grandpa Holzapfel and Garlits, GG, Uncle Dale, Aunt Beps, and Mr. and Mrs. Lawless (Alisabeth's parents). We had more food than we knew what to do with - as we always do - and everything tasted so good, we all ate way more and were on the verge of misery afterwards. Henry sat at his high-chair, at the decorated and food filled table, and enjoyed his feast. He ate much faster than everyone else, so we bribed him with some chocolate pudding and turkey leg to keep him in his seat a little longer so we could go back for seconds (ok, maybe thirds!).

the men watching football - Henry likes it up-side-down.Pictures before dinnerBrian's big job on thanksgiving day - carving the turkey. He takes a lot of pride in his work and always does such a great job!The party!