He speaks!

Henry has always been a bit advanced when it comes to size and physical activity (his mother said, ever so humbly). I think being born at 10 and a half pounds will do that to a person. He can already throw, catch, and kick a ball, use a spoon and a fork, open doors using doorknobs, stack toys/bowls/any item he can get his hands on, and do a lot of other things that don't usually come until 18 months or later.

Verbally however, he is a bit slower. He babbles constantly, but we haven't really heard actual words, other than sounds that occasionally sound like he might be saying something. Until now. The other day, we were on a walk, and we heard a dog barking. Henry stopped, looked toward the noise and said "dog". He did the same thing every time a dog walked by. It was very deliberate -- not at all one of those, "did he really say what I heard, or was that just a coincidental noise?" situations. Now every time we see/hear a dog, he says it. One of his favorite things to do is hold Albee's leash on our walks. He'll walk along and alternately say "dog" and make kissing noises (who knows why). It's stinkin adorable. Especially when he wears his Cubs track suit.

Today, we were getting ready to go outside and Henry picked up one of his shoes and said, "shoe." Then when I put them on his feet, he'd walk around and bend down every so often, touching his shoe and saying, "shoe". Again, very deliberate and clearly associated with an object.

I love that he is starting to talk. Especially since he's getting really frustrated with his inability to communicate. Plus, he babbles so much, I always want to know what he is saying. With all of his inflections, facial expressions and wild arm gestures, it sounds quite interesting.

Ben's adventure

Ben spent last week in Ukraine working on a movie. I know what you're thinking--doesn't he work for an accounting firm? (Actually if you know that, that's impressive because I have a hard time explaining what he does). Our brother in law is making a movie set in Russia, and Ben went over with them to help translate/find locations/basically do anything an English speaking person has difficulty doing in a Russian speaking country. It was originally supposed to be in Russia, but because of the difficulty of getting visas they went to Ukraine instead. He was kept very busy and had a lot of fun.

A view of Kiev

On his way back, he had an extra long layover in Amsterdam, so he got to spend the day exploring the city. He sat in a cafe, met some artists, wandered around, had some cheese, got mistaken for a native Dutchman, and bought me some tulips. These are some of my favorite pictures.

I must say, that while I love my job of being a mom, I'm ready for my solo vacation. This year alone, Ben has been to Amsterdam, Kiev and Disneyworld. Lucky duck. So now it's my turn. I'm thinking spa resort in Palm Springs? Or maybe villa in Italy.

Emerson Albion Wadsworth

So... we got a dog. Never thought I would say those words. And it was my idea. He's a cute little guy, not at all what we were expecting to get. He's already really well behaved and house trained, which is a bonus. His name was Bernie, but since that's Ben and Henry's middle name, not to mention Ben's grandpa's name, we decided to switch it. We've been calling him Albee. Ben hasn't quite decided what he wants that to be short for though. He likes long, distinct names. His favorite name is probably Emerson Albion Wadsworth. Quite a classy name. 

While I'm still on the fence about how I feel about dogs, there are quite a few nice things about having one. First of all, it Henry someone to play with. Though Henry is still warming up to him. Second, it gives us an excuse to get out of the house and go on long walks. Which I love to do, but laziness can be a strong deterrent. And third, it's nice to have a companion when Ben is gone or working late nights. As long as Albee isn't barking, I know there's not a creeper in the house. All good things.

Visit

I feel like I've been a bit wordy lately, so I'll keep this post about my family's visit mostly visual.

We went on walks to the library and around the neighborhood.

There was a high level of Cheez-it consumption in the car. Most of it was done by a rather short person.

We played with Geo Trax

Lots and lots of Geo Trax

We spent time at the park, enjoying the slightly warmer weather

After ignoring me for most of the week, as he tends to do when other people are around, Henry finally snuggled with me the last night my parents were here

Growth

I'm going to share a little secret. Being a mother is hard. And a child's discovery of temper tantrums does not make it any easier. Try as I might not to encourage them, Henry still seems to find them effective. It's hard to find motherhood rewarding when your only companion for most of the day isn't being nice to you. I've really been discouraged lately.

Yesterday, though, Henry did two wonderful things that made up for all of the tantrums. Ben and I have been wanting to see Life of Pi, which is playing in the theater in our park, but I was a bit anxious about taking Henry. We went last night, and Henry was perfect. He sat in our laps the whole time, occasionally talking to the screen, but being extremely well behaved. Many people in the theater commented on it. It felt good to know that our son doesn't have to constantly be running around to be happy.

The second thing happened as we were getting him ready for bed. We knelt down on the floor for a prayer, like we do every night, and Ben said fold your arms. And guess what Henry did--he folded his arms! That made me so happy I could barely say the prayer. The thing about being a mom is day after day you try to teach your children things, but sometimes it seems like it's just not getting through. Seeing my son kneeling next to his dad, folding his arms for prayer, was one of the most rewarding things I've ever seen. It's good to know we're doing something right.

So Henry, thank you for helping me realize that I am not a bad mom.

Slam dunk

No surprise that our child is good at sports. Or that he celebrates the way he does.

Grosse

Yet again, we have moved. It seems to happen pretty frequently. I suppose it's this phase of life where (if you're like us) you don't really have solid plans further than a year or two out. We loved our apartment, but we're ready for a bit more outdoors space. Hello yard and safe neighborhoods for me to walk around in. Not to mention hard wood floors and wood burning fireplace. And bigger kitchen.

The house itself is much larger than we need. But we didn't choose it out of greediness--it's owned by a couple who used to be in our branch and don't want to sell the house with the market this low, so instead they are renting it to us for far less than it is worth. Score. It's a very charming, older house, as you can see.

I have to point out my cleverness in the title. The town we live in is called Grosse Pointe. Plus, grosse is a French word meaning "large" (or "fat" or "pregnant", but neither of those apply here). So there is double meaning, because our house is large and in Grosse Pointe. I chuckle at my cleverness, but I suppose if you have to explain it, it's not really clever.