Super-Duper Dino Birthday!

Hank the Hot Rod
Sunday morning around 9:00 Jeremy and I decided to give Henry one of our birthday presents to him early so that he would have some time to play with it. We got him a 4-wheeler hot wheels. It’s fire engine red and called something important like “The Ninja Extreme”. It goes about 2.5 miles per hour on the lower setting and 5 mph on the higher one. (We have it set to the lower). He was so cute when he first saw it. We thought he would be so surprised and excited, but he just ran up to it and got on it and started it right up like he knew what he was doing. He drove up and down the sidewalk for about 40 minutes before I coaxed him in for some hot chocolate to warm up, then he was out for another half hour. I hope the neighbors didn’t mind us riding up and down the street Sunday morning – the little motor is kind of loud. Most everyone that drove by was heading to church, and they know us so they would wave and Henry would wave back just as proud as could be. I held Reesie up to the window so she could see Henry riding on his new toy or “trailer” as he calls it. We don’t have any idea where that comes from. He wanted to ride it later in the evening after dark too, but Jeremy thought ahead and told him that the battery needed to recharge (wink, wink) and that Mom would take him out Monday for a few rides one the battery had more juice.

My Party at Dinosaur Park?
That’s the number one question Henry has been asking me all week. Well, Sunday, I finally got to tell him that, yes, today was indeed his birthday party at the Dinosaur Park. After we spent a good deal of the morning riding on the 4-wheeler, we loaded up and went to Henners’ party at the Dinosaur Park. He had so much fun! All his cousins were there as well as Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. Of course, he was spoiled with tons of goodies and gifts from everyone. After lunch, the kids and some of the brave grown-ups braved the frigid temperatures to go outside and feed the ducks, Henry’s favorite albino trout and visit the other sites in the park. As usual, Henry urged everyone to “run real fast” through the park. His “best friend Lexa” as he calls his older cousin, was so good to run with him through the park and help him and the other small ones on the play ground equipment.

Henry declared it too cold for Reese to go outside to visit the dinosaurs, but that it would warm up at night, so we should bring her back then. He also reminded Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Jake when each of them were holding Reese that Reesie was his sister and that she drank milk, not orange soda. Thanks for the clarification there, buddy!

Workouts, Superheros and Hot Chocolate

Tummy Time is the Right Time
Every day I exercise our little girl with her activity mat, some stretches, some tummy time and finally her massage. Reesie loves to lie on her activity mat and kick the ball I have hanging near her feet. She just wails on that thing! If I move it, she searches for it with her feet until she finds it. She loves to grip it between her feet or ankles and roll it around that way too. However, Reese isn’t as fond of her tummy time. She’s pretty good for the first 3 or 4 minutes. She takes in her new views of the world and gives out a few grunts as she works her head back and forth. But after that, she gets a little frustrated. It’s taking her longer to get frustrated though, which is a great sign!

Spiderman Lives at Our House
The first thing when Henry wakes up he asks for is his milk and his Spiderman suit. If it’s a school day, we make him wait for the Spidey suit until he gets home, but otherwise, the costume is his typical outfit for the day. When he gets home from school, he grabs his suit and asks us to help him put it on. We strip him down and then put it on him. The next few hours are a blur…sometimes Jeremy plays Doc-Oc sometimes I do. Usually Spiderman catches me, Jeremy and Reese in his web, other times he only snares one of the slower cats (Taz or Meesha). A few nights ago, Henry and I were making sugar cookies. I turned my back on him for only a minute and he had the entire Tupperware container on the floor and was rummaging through all the cookies. He didn’t know I was watching him, but I was. Later, I asked Spidey if he knew who had taken one of the cookies covered in red frosting. He told me that it wasn’t him and that he “Could not know” who it was. Hmmmm….I think this picture tells another story!



Christmas Village in a Hurry!
Saturday night, Jeremy and I took Henners to Christmas Village in Ogden. We dropped Reese off at Jeremy’s parents house while the three of us braved the cold temps outside. Henry had a great time, but seemed in a hurry toward the end. He was concerned about leaving Reesie at Grandmas and kept saying, “We got to hurry. We have to get Reesie back with us.” Aww, what a cute big brother! We assured him that she was fine with Grandma Lauri and Grandpa Wayne. So, after covering the Village at record pace, only stopping for hot chocolate which he thought was yu-uh-ummy, we were off to pick up Reese.

There's White Stuff Here!

S-N-O-W
Ding-Dang, did we get snow or what? Tuesday the snow fell pretty consistent here in Davis County. It was like television or movie set snow (light and airy, kind of dry). Reese and I watched it through our big window in the front room. Here are the cute pictures of her enjoying her first snow day.

Then, oh how we were dumped on Friday night! We woke up Saturday morning to the white stuff every where! Henry immediately wanted to go outside to play in the snow. We held him off as long as we could, but at 9:00 am he was out there, bundled up like Randy from A Christmas Story running around with the dogs and me in the snow while Dad worked on the door trim downstairs and listened to Reese sleep.



No Yellow Snow
I know, I know…that old yarn about not eating yellow snow is back. Personally, I think that joke is so played, but you’d be surprised how funny a 2 year-old thinks it is. I originally didn’t tell it to Henry to be funny, but rather to be informational. He started eating the snow and I couldn’t bear the thought of him eating snow that the dogs had done their business in. For the rest of the 45 minutes we were outside Henry alternated between eating clean snow and pointing out where the yellow snow was. I didn’t put captions on the photos below, because there’s just too many to label. But, as always, a picture is worth a thousand words!



Long Winter’s Nap
Whilst (I love that word and love to use it whenever I can) Henners played in the snow, Reesie was getting her nap on. I shot some priceless pictures of the progression of her waking up through all her grunts, groans and stretches until she was fully awake. Later, Reese and Henry played together on her activity mat. Awww.