Skiing with the Nugget

We got to take a little ski trip up to Blue Hills to get her back up on the slopes this past Sunday.  Our time on the slopes was limited to one trip last year due to limited snow and my ruptured achilles.  After a few trips up and down the magic carpet she said she was ready for a snack and I thought that we were going to have to pack it up and head home.  She got her energy back and we ended up spending another 90 minutes up and down the bunny hill and we had such a great time.  I wanted to end on the big bunny hill and every time we got to the bottom she said 'just one more time?'.  How could I resist - we skied it 5 more times and then headed home. 

Story Time with Henry

Because he loves and needs mama so much, I typically put the Nugget to bed while mama is putting Henry to bed.  For the past couple of weeks I have been able to read him his stories and spend some good 1:1 time with him before bed.  He instructs "follow me" and waves his arm leading me into "mama and daddy's bed".  We read stories together and I get some great cuddles.  He loves "Good Night, Good Night Construction Site" and "Smash, Mash, Crash".  I get peppered with questions on each of these books every night - same questions and I know they are coming, but I love to answer them.  Henry gives me a sly grin when asking them because he has heard the answers so many times and he knows what's coming.  By the way, in the construction site book he is the cement mixer, I am the bulldozer, mama is the excavator and Liana is the dump truck.  Various friends including AJ and Blair alternate for the crane truck spot :-)

He's All Boy

Henry is definitely all boy and we have experienced a bit of a difference (other than the obvious) between him and his big sister, the Nugget.

Henry LOVES to play with trucks, cars and trains and he innately knows how to make the vrooommm sounds and make the sounds of lasers and crashing cars.  He jumps and runs and climbs on everything.  He is super coordinated and drop kicks any type of ball with ease (lefty, too) and he has a pretty good arm for a little guy.  He can ride his bike and his mickey car and steers really well.

He has been into "Toy Story" big time - getting a slinky dog, Buzz and Woody for Christmas.  He just got Toy Story bed sheets and curtains and he is beside himself.  Imagine sleeping with all of those hard plastic toys and not getting hurt somehow! 

No Help Me

Henry is not quite 2.5 which means he is in the independent stage. When it comes time to make a smoothie, make a baba, get dressed, climb in or out of his crib, etc. - 'no help me'. We know he needs his independence but we also know we are going to be cleaning up spilled smoothie (check), giving hugs when he bumps his lip on his crib (check) and dealing with frustration as he tries to put on his own shoes (check).With all of his independence he still relies heavily on his mama - when he is sad or hurt or even if she just leaves the room for a few minutes he will run around frantically saying "I need mama". He'll outgrow it one of these days?