Leaning Tower and an Art Project

This what Henry did all by himself while I was getting ready this morning. Before you jump to conclusions and assume it took me an hour to get ready - we're talking about a 5 minute shower!


Pretty impressive, huh?


Just when I thought it couldn't get any taller....I did have to pick him up so that he could put the last 2 blocks on, but I didn't do anything else.

Why I Was Never an Art Teacher...

On Tuesday, I thought I would make use of a book I bought awhile ago (The Toddler's Busy Book) and try to do something creative with Henry. You know, give him a chance to let his artist talents show. The project involved dipping cooked noodles in corn syrup laced with food coloring, placing them on a tray, letting them dry and wah-la, you have a beautiful mobile that you can hang from a ribbon.

What did Henry do?

Yep, that's right. He ate the art supplies! Just another reason why I would never make it as an art teacher! Next time I will plan ahead for "art" projects...and avoid the projects using cooked noodles!

M-I-N-E!

Well, it has begun. We are officially in the "MINE" stage. It started last Sunday on the way to church. From his car seat behind me, Henry would brightly call, "Mommy..." Then he would hold out his cup to me. When I would move to take it for him, he would quickly pull it back, tucking it under his arm while saying, "MINE!" Of course, each time he added a cute laugh afterwards. Now, everything is "Mine!"

Here are some pictures from this week.


We've been scraping one of the front columns in order to repaint it. Henry likes to dig through Nate's toolbox, pull out some scraping tools and go to work on the column. Here he is with tool in hand.


Scraping...


Eating an Icee with Daddy on the porch.

My Uncle Dave gave me some tomato plants early in the summer. They were probably 4 inches tall when I planted them. This is what one of them looked like this week. Crazy! Henry likes to pick tomatoes and eat them.

Goofy.

State Fair & 'Smores

We had a fun time in "The Cities" this weekend. We spent awhile at the MN State Fair with Patrick, Mary, and Addie. After a quick rest, we headed over to spend the evening with John, Jessica, and Josie. It's fun to watch Henry interacting and learning how to play WITH other kids. We're so thankful our friends have sweet little girls!


Josie is puckering up to give Henry a 'Smore Smooch!


Josie and Henry enjoying their treats. I love how Henry is watching Josie eat her 'Smore - he went for the pure chocolate (I wonder who he learned that from...)


Sticky, yummy treats

Henry trying out a 4-Wheeler at the Fair. He quickly informed Nate that he wanted to be on this alone and instructed Nate to try out the 4-wheeler next door. He's making "Vroom" noises as he test drives.

On the Carousel with Daddy. We weren't going to go on any rides, but he really wanted to ride the "Neighs."

Licking the sugar off of a mini donut. Yum!

Time to break for a snack: Addie is chewing on a cell phone, Henry opted for a little cheese on a stick. On a personal note, the cheese on a stick was rather repulsive. I wouldn't recommend it. Silly me, I thought it would be just cheese on a stick. When they handed it to me I thought: I didn't order a corn dog! It was like a corn dog on the outside with melted American Cheese on the inside - Yuck! Henry thought it was delicious.

Random Pics from this Week

He blinked and then ran, so this is the only shot I got! He saw me using the oven mitts and wanted to use them too.


One of the guys - watching dad play a video game while snacking on Uncle Jeff's pizza.



This is our attempt at not being over-taken by toys. We spent $60 and I feel like we completely redecorated our living room! Bonus: I haven't stepped on a single Matchbox car all week.

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Henry relaxing in his Lightening McQueen underoos. He's such a little man sometimes! No, he isn't potty trained yet but he sure likes to wear underwear and sit on the toilet! One day...

Hanging out with Boppa and the Aunties

Last Friday, Henry had an eye appt with Aunt Erin so we were able to spend the evening with everybody (minus Grandma who was in Rochester for BSF).


Aunt Erin picked up some frozen yogurt for Henry. For some reason he enjoyed eating it without using his hands or a spoon. He put one leg up on the back of the chair and licked the yogurt!


Taking a break...


A new approach

Yum!

Working on Megan's car in the garage with Boppa.

Hmm, let's see what happens when I do this...

The hands of a true mechanic.

Making a malt with Aunt Megan. I'm training him to start scooping for me.

Enjoying the malt he "helped" make (he got a little side-tracked on step 1. After scooping ice cream he moved on to eating the ice cream instead of going on to the next steps with Aunt Megan).

Summer Treat and a New Skill

The Vacuum Whisperer: Henry loves to sit on and ride the vacuum.


We had sweet corn for supper the other night. Too bad he didn't like it, huh?

Visiting Great-Grandma Berg

Last week Henry and I did some traveling so Nate could get some stuff done around the house. Henry had his 2 year pictures taken on Thursday morning - that's another story (I thought we were going to leave without any pictures!). We had a quick visit with Mary and Addie before naptime.

We drove to Great-Grandma Berg's that evening with Grandma and Grandpa Leverentz. Henry was a happy camper because Grandpa set up the DVD player in the car so he could watch "Cars." Henry wanted to play Doctor with his doctor kit which lead to the discovery that he has 3 molars coming in...which might explain why he was crabby while trying to take pictures!

Henry ate at Borgen's for the first time (great mac and cheese) where he enjoyed looking at the cookies in the cookie jars and clapping to the live piano music. After supper we were on the road again. We were supposed to have a get together on Saturday morning but we got rained out. Oh well...

On another note, Henry has revealed a new talent to us. In the past he's had fun playing with the duck call that Nate gave him. On Thursday, as we were leaving the photographer, he suddenly squatted and started making his own duck calls...very loudly! He puts his thumb in his mouth, puts one hand over the other and even tries to move his hands the way Nate does when he uses a duck call. My mom turned to me, "What is he doing?" Since then, he makes duck calls all day long at random moments. I'll try to get a picture of it!

Great Grandma Berg and Henry

Riding the "mo mow" with Boppa at Grandma Berg's. Kind of frightening, but Henry can probably operate a riding mower much better than his mother can. He is rather insistent that HE doing the stearing and speed control! Can't wait for him to turn 16!!

Just a picture of Henry playing T-Ball at home.