Strawberries!

This afternoon Henry and I went outside to check on the garden. We discovered four ripe red strawberries on our plants (and many partially ripe ones I had to stop him from picking as well). Henry and I picked them, washed them and ate them. I explained that we would share them and that we would each eat two. Henry chose the two large ones and gave me the puny (though very delicious) ones. Then when my back was turned he ate one of mine as well.

According to him, he is still a "good share-er".

Don't think he'll really be workin' on a railroad

Here's another song from a fever-ish day. Though i can't blame the distraction and "being funny" on the illness - that's just Henry. This is his favorite song and featured in his favorite Mickey Mouse cartoon.

A Happy Birthday Song for Granny

The amazing thing about this song is that he is singing it with 102 fever and a mouthful of grapes. I'd like to see a toddler American Idol please.

Happy Birthday Granny!

Recent Pics

These are from a fairly recent trip to the Point Defiance Zoo. You can see that he gets his love of ice cream honestly.



Riding the merry-go-round....

I think this was supposed to be a sea anemone or something like that. Can't remember why it was near the meerkats exhibit though.... Henry just liked having something to climb on.

Power of Positive Visualization

So after being at home for five days with a sick toddler (according to the CDC it is unlikely, though not impossible to get Hand Foot and Mouth disease more than once - this is the third time for Henry, so maybe it's a charm), I am looking for positive things to focus upon. Not feeling great combined with usual toddler behavior has produced a very cranky Henry and a just about as crabby Mommy.

So here are some more upbeat things to think about...

A list of Henry's current (at that means for the moment) favorites:

Cartoon:
Mickey's Choo-Choo (on Youtube, one of the first Mickey cartoons in black and white). I actually like these cartoons for the music and the low-tech but very creative appeal. Of course at some point we'll need to talk about gender roles and racial stereotypes, but for now, we both love them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvZdUlbTs6U

Books:
The Bear's Picnic (a Bernstein Bears book).
Henry really enjoys getting books as gifts and last year his Grandma and Grandpa Kinney signed him up for a Scholastic BookClub. He especially likes the Bernstein Bears. The young bear is always "Henry Bear" and the adult male bear is usually "Pops". That would be really charming except that Pops is always making mistakes and getting himself into trouble. I think that Henry has a career in casting :)

When Sophie Gets Angry, Really Really Angry by Molly Bang.
Thanks to our friend Susan for recommending this book about a little girl and how she works with her anger. It is a nightly read in our house and i do think is allowing Henry to think more concretely about alternatives to "bamming" when upset. Although his favorite part is still yelling "PA-BAM!!!" when Sophie slams the door. Oh well.

Hippo Hop by Christine Westcott
This is one of those 50 cent paperbacks i picked up at Goodwill one day just because i liked the jazz-scat like prose and the illustrations. Henry pulled it out of the pile a few days ago and started requesting it. It is really cute and introduced him to a few instruments (and animals) with which he was unfamiliar.

Favorite Songs
Well i wish i could say that henry has been open to liking Mommy's music but so far no luck. Occasionally he'll like dancing to something upbeat like MIA or the Ting-Tings but mainly it's, "No music for Mommy, no music for Henry". I think the problem is twofold: I don't play enough of my own music around the house and i know every bleeding children's song by heart given a long history in Girl Scouts.

Now i'm glad to have that talent. I've shocked and amazed many a child by joining in on a song they thought only they, or their teachers, knew. I love singing with Henry and introducing songs from my childhood. I love that he knows more songs by heart than probably any other child in Seattle. BUT. There are only so many times you can sing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" without wanting to rock in a corner.

A wonderful woman at work gave us a bunch of the Wee Sing books that she had sitting around from when her kids were younger and wanted to listen to something other than the Jonas Brothers and High School Musical 3. I know most of the songs in these books already which i made the mistake of demonstrating to Henry. So now at bedtime, his choice of "books" is to grab one of the Wee Sing songbooks and ask for unlimited renditions. We now have a "three songs you're out" rule at bedtime. I did order the CDs to accompany those books from the library in the hopes that he will just be happy to listen to them on his own. So far he prefers my singing. At least the kid knows talent. Here are some of the most requested (or those he sings on his own):

I've been working on the railroad (also on the Mickey Mouse Choo Choo episode)

Do your ears hang low (also because the ice cream truck in our neighborhood plays this one incessantly and at warp speed)

I stuck my head in a little skunk's hole (well which kid wouldn't like that - plus it's the theme of the Curious George Camps book)

Favorite Food
Well, he hasn't really wanted to eat much in the past five days. I freaked out today when he pulled off his pjs and i could count his ribs with the naked eye. One thing he will always eat though....

POPSICLES. We make them at home and also sometimes buy super yummy locally made ones at the Vietnamese market near our house. They are the Car-ems brand and have a coconut milk base and interesting flavors. He likes the tropical (pineapple/mango). They are decadent and have a lot of fat and fairly low sugar - perfect for a kid who won't eat much of anything else. Today we are going to buy some full fat icecream to supplement his diet. I wish I could do the same....

Pictures from a June trip to Olympia

A couple weeks ago we went south to visit our friends the Sledges in Olympia WA. One of our favorite things to do there, in addition to hanging out and having great times with the gang, is to visit the Farmer's Market.

Henry LOVES the bread sticks. Yes they are as big as he is.

Jessica and her boys, Henry and Xander. I love that kid. And Henry too! :)


When we got back home, Henry wanted to lay in the yard and look at the dandelions. In trying to explain the difference between a flower and a weed, i realized that there really isn't one. Henry explained it best with "Mommy likes flowers, she doesn't like weeds". That is all there is to it.

Love is not the same as Like

So i've been getting alot of guff because i've been quite negligent in my blog posting. Point taken.

So here are some recent stories about Henry and our new raised garden.

Henry loves the backyard and the garden. Henry especially loves "helping" in the garden. Helping is comprised of a number of activities involving "digging" (flinging rocks around with his shovel and occasionally crushing the tender life from a new planting), watering (drowning) the plants and harvesting (ripping leaves, buds and anything else green from the garden). Between Henry, the slugs and the caterpillars I am quite surprised that any fruits of our labor end up on the table at all.

And Henry LLLLOOOOOVVVVEEESSS anything we pick from the garden.

If you haven't figured it out by now, Henry's favorite word du jour is "LLLOOOOVVVEEE" as in "I LLLOOOOVVVEEEE (fill in the blank)". It is very cute but not very accurate.

Tonight we harvested a big colander of lettuce for a salad. Now Henry does not like salad as far as i know but according to him he LLLOOOOVVEEES lettuce. So i put two very small pieces of lettuce on his plate with his dinner.

"What's this?" ask Henry as he points skeptically at the lettuce.
"That's the lettuce we picked. You said you love lettuce."
"That's lettuce? Lettuce is green and mommy and henry picked it?"
"Yes"
"Henry love lettuce?"
"That's what you said"
Henry holds the lettuce somewhere in the vicinity of his mouth, probably closer to his chin.
"I no like lettuce"
"Henry, you didn't even try it. Take a bite."
"I LICKED lettuce and I don't LIKE it"
"Well eat some of your avocado and then you can eat the lettuce"
Later i return to the table and the lettuce is gone.
"Henry you ate your lettuce!"
"No, Buster ate lettuce. Buster LLLOOOOOVVVEEESS lettuce".


They say it takes thirty tastes of something for a child to have a chance of liking it. The lettuce does not stand a chance.

Sunday was a big day part 3

After all that bubble blowing and letter writing, you would think the kid would take a break and just go veg out someplace. But no. While we were doing yard work, Henry went into the shop on his own and got on the tall trike that Becky and Scott gave him. So Kate brought it out for him.

Now understand that Henry has never really mastered pedaling anything before, and certainly not a tall trike. But he took to it like a fish to water. The steering still needs some work though. I sense lots of crashes in our future. Especially because his FAVORITE thing to do is go off steps.

Sunday was a big day part 2

In addition to writing the letter H, Sunday was Henry's first time blowing bubbles on his own. Usually he either blows too hard, in the wrong place or sucks in - none of these approaches leading to the desired outcome of bubbles. Sunday changed all that.



Of course the best thing about bubbles is destroying them - so there was a lot of kicking, punching, clapping and stomping bubbles as well.

Sunday was a big day part 1

For the last couple weeks Henry has been waking up during the night more than usual, not eating and has been crabby with a capital "c". We wondered, "is he still sick?". "Is there something wrong with him?" "Is it just the terrible 2 and a halfs?"

We should have remembered that everytime this happens it means a big developmental spurt is on its way.

The spurt (with a capital S) arrived Sunday.

First, Henry wrote his first "H" (which he knows is for Henry) WITHOUT any guidance or help from adults. He knows M is for Mommy and Mama too but hasn't mastered the writing yet.

What the pho?

Henry: "Henry want noodle soup for lunch" (yes he still uses the third person part of the time which is further confused by the fact that he talks about Henry the train from Thomas all the time. So Henry could be the train or himself. I just smile and nod).

Mommy: "OK, Mommy will make you some chicken noodle soup" Mommy opens can, "makes" soup and calls him in for lunch.

Henry: Looks at bowl, looks at Mama and starts screaming. "NNNOOOOOOO! Henry want NOODLE SOUP".

Mommy: "Henry that IS noodle soup"

Henry: "NOOOOO! Noodle soup at restaurant. Henry no like basil. Henry no like beansprouts!!"

Mommy: The lightbulb. "Oh you want pho. Henry, we don't have any pho."

Henry: "Mommy and Henry go to restaurant, get noodle soup".

Mommy: "No"

Henry: Runs from room crying and screaming. Never does eat soup.

Lesson of the day: Noodle soup = pho. No substitues allowed.

Toddler therapy

So Kate was home sick with the crud yesterday and given that it was a Tuesday, Henry and I were home too. When Henry woke up i explained that Mama was sick and that we needed to be nice to her today. Henry said, "I want to go give Mama hug". So we tromped upstairs where Kate was already up and coughing in bed. Henry gave her a hug and cuddled with her under her blankets.

Later, while Kate was on the couch, Henry went to help her by "hugging all the sick out". Then more cuddling ensued. He also wanted to make Mama tea, drink his own milk tea (which is steamed milk with honey) and read Mama stories.

How come when I am sick his favorite thing to do is jump on my head?

Day Two: More Pee Pee

Day Two of active potty training brought more pee in the potty, on the potty and on the couch.

Really, can you expect more from a toddler than from a college student?

What is this strange being?

Henry and I had some visitors last week - Susan and Baby Maya!

Unfortunately any child younger than Henry will always be "Baby [insert name here]". This will work out fine if Maya turns out to be a child actress, hooker or someone who wears tinfoil hats and talks to god in the airwaves. Not so good to have "Judge Baby Maya" (although she could have her own midday show with that title) or "President Baby Maya".

Clare, we have the same problems with you, so start considering your career moves carefully.

Henry was very excited for our visitors. Especially when he realized that there would be no competition over toys. His hopeful prediction of the pre-visit morning, "Maya NO play with Henry trains" became a reality and all was peaceful in the land.

Maya wasn't quite so sure about Henry for the first bit. Here is a photo essay on "Baby Meets Toddler".

What is THAT and why is he in my personal space?

I'm not so sure about this guy. But I do like the airplane he gave me.

What is he saying? Something about cars...or trains...or giraffes? I'll just pretend like I'm into it.

OK, working a little harder to entertain me. I'm starting to like this kid.

Yeah I know you want a cute picture of the two of us, but I'm not sure you've earned it yet.

Where did he go? That kid's OK.

I just realized that those same captions may come into play in Maya's teenage years. (sorry Susan :)

We had a great time and thank you again to Susan and Maya for trekking it all the way down here from Bham.

Henry goes pee-pee in the potty!

Henry has been sitting on the potty (a duck shaped ring that fits on our toilet) for a couple days now. We've been trying to get him interested for awhile but he's always resisted. Until I introduced the concept of looking at a book while on the potty. Now you can't get him off it until he's read the book at least twice.

But until this morning, here is how things have usually worked.

Mommy "Henry you're dry - how about we go try and pee on the potty".
Henry "Read book, Henry read book on potty!"
Henry sits on potty. Henry reads book. Henry does not pee.

Henry "Henry all done. Henry pee-peed in potty!"
Mommy "Well, you SAT on the potty Henry. You didn't pee-pee."
Henry (very definately) "Henry PEE PEE in potty"
Impasse.

But this morning, he was dry when he woke up and we ran for the potty. Got the book, sat down and actually started peeing.

Mommy "Henry, look! You're going pee-pee in the potty!"
Henry (looking down) "Henry penis pee-pee?!" (looks a little shocked at this turn of events)
Mommy "Yes Henry penis goes pee-pee in the potty. Good job buddy!"

Naked child running through the house shouting "Henry penis pee-pee in potty!!!"

Henry also told me this morning that in Mexico he will go pee pee on the potty but NOT on the beach. I'm sure all the other vacationers will appreciate this resolution.

Henry's New Video Obsession

I'm not sure if youtube is a blessing or a curse when it comes to Henry's love for videos. On the plus side, you have lots of options and it's free. On the downside, i can't even check my email now without relentless badgering for "Kitty one, Kitty one". Though I have to say that i love this animation from Italy almost as much as he does.

Mio Mao is an Italian cartoon about the adventures of two cats in their garden. The set up is almost always the same so after seeing one you know what to expect from other episodes.

Here's a link to one episode, though there seem to be kagillions of them available on youtube. Haven't found any place to buy them - seem to be only available in Italy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeQtqcvY4Yc

If that doesn't work, go to youtube.com and search "mio mao squirrel".
-

So much for creativity.

Mommy learns that toddlers are very literal.

Duets.

More singing. This time with Mommy. Henry says "this goes out to all the ladies in my life...granny, grandma and aunt margaret. oh and mommy and mama too."

Itsy-Bitsy Spider: Toddler Remix. With pacifier.

Henry had lots of fun singing with Uncle Tim and Grandma in California.

My Favorite Picture from the California Trip

This is Kate's family on the steps of her childhood home. Ann has just realized she has curlers in her hair. Henry has just seen Grandma's reaction.
I think this is the cutest picture in the world. And in case anyone is upset that i posted it, I asked Kate if it was OK and she said yes. So blame her :)

Henry's Hollow Leg

My blogging about our trip to California to see Kate's family has run into some difficulty in formatting. So these posts aren't in the intended order but, whatever, maybe i'm just trying to be postmodern (or maybe i'm just technically challenged). Regardless, when last we looked in upon young Henry, he was with his Mama and Mommy visiting Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Tim in southern California.
If you know me or any of the Young kin, then you know we like to eat. And when we travel we like to eat every meal like it is our last.
Obviously, Henry is a Young.
Here is a snapshot of Henry's cullinary journey in Southern California.

We begin in the San Gabriel Valley at a dim sum place called 888 Seafood. Henry loves dim sum but his favorite item is humbao which are baked buns filled with bbq pork. He ate three in one sitting.

Then he named himself "Henry HumBao Face". And did humbao cheers with Uncle Tim.

And Mama.

When your belly is filled with salty, savory foods like dim sum, you must follow up with something sweet. Luckily, Alhambra is home to a handmade ice cream place named Fosselman's. They have been supplying restaurants, and hungry kids, with ice cream since the 1930s.

Henry is all about supporting local businesses. Especially when they serve mango ice cream.

This is your toddler. This is your toddler on pork buns and an adult sized scoop of ice cream. Be very afraid.

Claremont is a very cute college town (home to the Claremont Colleges). We always stop at Some Crust Bakery during our visit. This was the first time Henry picked his own treat.
Of course it was the largest, most frosting-est cookie in the joint.
Happy Valentine's Day Henry!

But he let Mommy have a bite. Just a tiny bite mind you.

A little known fact about the area known as the San Gabriel Valley (which stretches from east of LA to west of Claremont): There are more Chinese people per capita in the SGV than anywhere outside of China. Thus this is one of the best places for Chinese food in the US.
This makes Jessica very excited but also a little stressed. If you only get one or two meals out in the SGV during a visit, you need to make them count. So I spend hours interacting with other foodies on chowhound.com in prep for a visit. My goal is to find one new place to try that will blow me away.
This trips visit was to the "something, something, something (in Chinese) Noodle House." They have a very small menu but are known for two things: their dumplings and steamed buns (bao) that are made entirely to order. You place your order and the folks behind the counter press the dough, fill them, steam them and bring them to your table. So i dragged the Kinney family along on my quest for the perfect dumpling.

We were the only white folks in the place which was a good sign. And the place (by the time we left) was PACKED. Another good sign.

Of course, I ordered WAAAYYY too much food for four adults and one toddler. But at $4 a plate, i think i could splurge.

Here are the noodle soups and scallion pancakes.

And here are the buns and dumplings.

Henry LOVED the noodles and our new game "noodle race". It's kind of a Chinese noodle adaptation of the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp. But instead of kissing, you try to slurp more of the noodle, thus besting your contender. Henry is the King of the Noodle Race.

He beat Mama.

And he beat Mommy (but mainly because i couldn't stop laughing). Seriously, I schooled that boy on slurping. Ain't no toddler gonna slurp faster than the Mommy.

Henry loved the noodles so much that he was still trying to shove them in his mouth as we left. Much to the amusement of the other patrons.

We don't have pictures of all the raspberry sorbet Henry ate at Grandma and Grandpa's or the mexican feast we had at Uncle Tim's. Needless to say the diet began the minute we returned to Seattle.

Huntington Gardens Survives Toddler Visit

One of our favorite outings when we visit Kate's family is to go to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. The grounds are immense and include a Chinese and a Japanese Garden. Some of you will recognize the gardens (especially the koi ponds) in pictures from the past two years' family calenders. We are all about tradition and will be dragging him to Huntington for years to come (bribing him as the teen years arrive I am sure).

Henry loves nature of course and calmly sits back admiring the beauty surrounding him.
Right.
Henry loves to fully interact with nature - climbing it, trying to jump in it, pulling it off stems and branches.... Mommy spent a lot of her time yelling "Look with your EYES" and "THIS way, THIS way".
Sorry plants. Sorry flowers. Sorry birds and fish. Hope you've recovered.

Although thwarted from jumping in ponds and waterfalls, Henry did enjoy splashing in puddles.

Uncle Tim was able to join us at the Gardens!

Mommy and Henry took their yearly picture in the Chinese Garden at the arch. Yes people, this is as good as it gets with a toddler. It's our "rocker" look.

Henry and Mama hid in a large grove of bamboo but Mommy found them. Mommy ALWAYS finds you.

Henry is still fascinated with the koi. We had to pick out our favorite ones. Henry's favorite was the biggest one of course. We had to explain that we couldn't take them home. This was the first of many conversations about why we will never have certain animals as pets.

Here are "the boys" at the garden taking a little break. Look who's ready to go!

Queen of the Flannel Board

For those of you who don't know, Kate's mom Ann is an ex-elementary school teacher (actually pretty much everyone in her family has been, or is currently, involved in the teaching business).
She still has many preschool tricks up her sleeve!

Grandma introduced Henry to his new love, the flannel board, during our trip.

And better yet, she packed up all the flannel stories and sent them to us here in Seattle. Henry showed off his new aquisition to his friends this morning. He was very directive in how to do the stories the "right" way.

Thanks Grandma!!

California Dreaming

We went to California in February to visit Grandma and Grandpa (Kate's parents) in Claremont. The weather was good for the most part (better than Seattle anyway) and we were able to spend a lot of time outdoors.

Here is Henry and Grandpa looking at horses at a local park.

Henry loved all the outdoor climbing and scrambling.

Of course you need some time to relax on the patio as well.

Henry was pretty pleased to learn "thumbs up" from Mama. And to "climb" a tree.

Every morning Grandpa feeds the squirrels in the back yard. Henry wanted to get in on the action. I think the squirrels had to go on a diet after we left.

Yes, Henry picked his own orange off a tree in the backyard. We ate it and Henry declared it "delicious".

More to come...