you're so vain

I haven't had a tan since the summer of 2007.  After that I decided that wrinkles and skin cancer really aren't my thing, and I "vowed" to always wear plenty of sunscreen and never get sunburned again.  Even on a beach trip in 2009, I stayed as white as I possibly could.

Fast forward to this year, when I went walking with one of my friends - ahem, you know who you are - and she started laughing at me because my legs were so white.  So since then, I've been trying to wear shorts and get outside more. 

But today my vanity got the best of me, and I went to the pool to lay out.  I only put sunscreen on my face, neck, chest and hands (the places where the sun can really do/has already done some aging damage).


Now I am very pink.  Fortunately my shoulders were somehow been spared.  And fortunately it's not as bad as the some of the sunburns I got in my younger, dumber years that forced me to cry myself to sleep at night. 

Once every four years is an improvement though.  At least I have that.  My dermatologist would not be proud.

a picture is worth a thousand words...

These can supplement the last couple of updates. I'm sure that one day every single post will not be Henry-centric.

This is the cracker incident I mentioned previously...

Standing alone, clapping - most likely for himself. :)

He loves the slide from Nana and Paw Paw...

Climbing in the rocking chair with the remote control. :)
 

This video was probably taken about 4 weeks ago.

a little Hank update

I keep thinking about my first year as a parent, and how much of a typical first time parent I was - thinking my kid would do everything earlier or better than every other kid out there- only to come to each milestone EXACTLY at the "average" time.

Henry is now about 14.5 months, and he has just started taking a few steps here and there!  Today was the most - about four consecutive steps.  A physical therapist friend in my Bible Study said that 15 months was average to start walking, so once again, Henry hits the average mark!

It also occurred to me today that my sweet boy forgot how to drink through a straw.  He used to be able to do it.  But now he just pokes the back of his throat with the straw, bites the straw - totally doesn't get it.

The only thing that Henry probably does really early is talk.  He says and repeats so many words.  I am his official translator because most people don't get "glasses" when they hear the sound "yayes."  They definitely don't get "phone" when they hear the sound "ho."

Anyway, mainly just for my benefit and the benefit of the grandparents and great grandparents who read this blog, I want to list some of the stuff he is doing and saying.

-He climbs on furniture and can get down the right way.
-He has learned to climb into the glider and start rocking.  He also likes to sit in the glider and point the remote control at the TV, which I promise he learned from his daddy.
-He slam dunks ("DA-DU") his basketball, which he LOVES.
-He LOVES to read.  He grabs book after book and crawls into our laps with them saying "booh, booh."
-He thinks DVDs are books and gets really upset when we cannot read them.
-He still loves to do the laundry ("the dark").
-Loves to turn off light switches.
-LOVES to look at himself in the mirror.  (Also something he learned from his daddy. ;) jk)
-He likes to sing.  His teachers at church have told us that he sings along when they sing to him, and we have a couple of CDs in my car that he will sing to.  (This he probably does actually get from Matt.)
-He still won't really feed himself - much more interested in playing with his food.  So if we put one bite in his mouth at a time, he eats.  But if we put his food on his plate, he plays with it, drops it on the floor, etc.  The other day I gave him two crackers, and the next thing I knew, the crumbs were all over his hair, his shirt, the floor... we need a roomba!
-He can do the following animal noises - cow, dog, duck, monkey, lion, frog, sheep and we are working on pig, but for some reason oink oink is pretty tough for the dude.
-And, he tries to say his name.  So if we ask him "Henry, what's your name?" He says, "Hahee." (Very difficult to understand, and he only cooperates abut 25% of the time.)

Here are a list of his words.  (Like I said, he repeats tons of words, so this is just off the top of my head... and I am not going to write them in Henry language.  And I will try not to repeat from last time.)
-Jesus!
-book
-necklace
-glasses
-water
-eggs
-strawberry
-Elmo
-horse
-bar (like for granola bar)
-grass
-potty
-light
-dark (for laundry)
-cheese
-juice
-toes
-this
-pig
-basketball
-slam dunk
-phone
-diaper
-butt (yes, I am responsible for teaching him that.)
-belly button
-eyes
-nose
-mouth (he can also point to all of those)
-bath
-boo boo
-bear
-Bennett and Peter (his cousins... although his "Peter" really isn't intelligible)
-Pops
-Boss
-Mimi
-Honey
-Aunt Brooke
-and I haven't heard him, but my in-laws promise that he has attempted to say Mary, Maddie and Mitchell (the aunts and uncles that are still living at home w/ them)

(Disclaimer: I am trying to teach him all the other family members who don't live here - both who they are and how to say their names, but that's a little harder.)

I'm SURE I am forgetting some, but BY FAR, Henry's FAVORITE word is "NO."  He's really good at that one, and since he doesn't really understand how to answer "yes," the answer to every question is "no."  He also adds the head shake for emphasis.


Henry, do you want to go on a walk?
Nuh.
Do you want ice cream?
Nuh.
Did you have fun swimming today?
Nuh.
Do you want Daddy to hold you?
Nuh... and on and on.


The only question we have never had a "NO" response to is, "Do you want to take a bath?"


I think that's it for now.

Now or Never

That's my new motto.  Or it was this morning at 5:30 AM when I thought it would be a good idea to go to spin class with all the crazy spinsters.  But while I was peddling on that bike after no sleep and after not having set foot in a spin class since summer of '09, the song "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones came into my head.  (Yes, I had to look up the artist. Yes, I only know two lines in the whole song.)  And I began to think deep thoughts about how, really, all we have is right now, the present moment.  That's something I need to remember more often because, you see... I tend to be a procrastinator.  LATER is like my favorite word.

Later I will...
get back in cardiovascular shape
clean up dinner
make friends with my neighbors
try to resolve my problems
finish my 10000 scrapbooks
be a part of solving the world's problems
give more energy to seeking the Lord
put forth effort in important relationships
share the gospel with people that don't know God
eat healthy
save more money
give more money

But right now, let me eat cookies, watch Seinfeld, leave the house a mess, go straight into my garage so I don't have to talk to my neighbors... You get the idea.

But right now is all I have.  God gives us the joy of His presence one moment at a time.  He gives us help and grace in the present moment to do the things that He has created us to do in that moment.  Right now is all the time that I am given.  Tomorrow does not yet exist and may never come.  So really, it is now or never.  Don't laugh... it's true.

Thanks for letting me share my spin-class-induced thoughts.

can't eat, can't sleep...

Lest you begin to think I am depressed or something, I'll let you know that one of those statements is totally false.  I can always eat.  So, even if I was depressed, that statement would not be true.

In fact, I am trying to think if there has ever been a single time in my life when I did not feel like eating... perhaps... and that's a BIG perhaps, in the middle of a violent stomach virus, or one time when I had the flu.  That's really it.

Actually, I can think of maybe two or three instances where I was too excited to eat... like at the beginning of my relationship with Matt and at some best friends' weddings.  But not my own wedding - no way.  All day long everyone was telling me how important it was for me to eat.  I guess they were all afraid I would pass out or something.  So no worries.  I ate plenty on my wedding day.

Did I ever tell you guys that my sister and I went to Starbucks on the way to the church on my wedding day?  (I know what you're thinking. "Of course you did.")  Unfortunately, I wasn't in my dress yet, but I definitely had my veil on.  Awesome = yes.  That was back when I still ordered Mocha Fraps.  Now I just get plain, old, boring but highly caffeinated coffee.

I don't know if this is obvious, but I am just rambling tonight.

Another time you'd think that you might be too excited to eat is right after you have a child, but not me.  I think the first thing I did was order hospital food after Henry was born.  And then the next morning I had two breakfasts and a VENTI Starbucks coffee.  Hospital food is actually really good.  Yes, I had caffeine when I was nursing... Henry would have had withdrawals if I didn't.  Okay I'm totally jk.

What time is it?  I am exhausted and not making sense... so back to trying to fall asleep it is.  My poor baby has a cough - also not making it easy to fall asleep.  Look at that sweet, chubby face.

 

Nighty night!!