Henry Rocks Out

Henry has had a superb Christmas- complete with "starring" in a Christmas play, mastering his first set of drums, and experiencing the whole Santa thing for the first time. We've had a great time with both of our families and really enjoyed our first Christmas with Henry where he's really gotten into it. The photos and videos are as follows:

1) First photo: This is Henry dancing by himself on the make-shift stage before his school manger-scene play began.

2) Second photo: This is Henry crawling underneath the white satin blanket that was under the baby jesus - yes, he crawled under it and started wearing it like a cape.

3) Third photo: This is Henry wearing Baby Jesus' blanket and acting like he's the star of the play.

4) Henry helps give toys to some other kids for Christmas with his grandparents and the Paks.

5) 3-d glasses are cool

6) Henry gets some drums and a new lunchbox from Santa

7) Henry cruises in his new 3-wheeler.

8) I just had to include this: Random cowboy riding a longhorn steer while talking on a cell phone in front of the Bandera courthouse - taken from my car window. Only in Texas....



9) First video: Henry discovers his drum set. Here is a transcript:
(what 2 year old knows that a drum set isn't complete without a hi-hat? He's such a character!)

Dad: Ok henry come see if santa brought you anything.
Henry: Hehehehe (excited laughter)
Mom: Did santa bring that to you?
Dad: Santa brought you your very own drum set
Henry: That’s why I’m so excited
Henry: What are these?
Dad: Those are your drumsticks
Henry: But what are these drums called?
Dad: This is called a tom, and this is called a snare drum and this is a crash symbol.
Henry: But where is the hi-hat??
Dad: There’s no hi-hat with this one. This one has a crash symbol, you can use that like a hi-hat.
Henry: But crash symbols are not hi-hats. Drum sets have to have a hi-hat drum.

Etc etc etc.
Pretty funny! Once he got over the apparently critical lack of a hi-hat, he got into them (see next video!)




10) Second video: henry rocks out

Preparing for Santa

Henry has been getting ready for Christmas. He's been decorating ginger bread cookies, putting ornaments on the tree, and singing lots of Christmas songs. At the store the other day, there was a picture of Santa on a sale sign. Henry said, "mommy, is that man coming to town?" Yes, I replied, yes! Henry wants a drum set from Santa and is very good at pin-pointing exactly which drums are in any song that comes on. "Here's where they play the high-hat mommy." "I want to listen to that tom-tom song." "Now there are no drums... but, now there are three drums." I have to say, it's pretty impressive.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks. There are a few shots of him putting together a snow ball in the back yard with the dusting of snow we had last week.

A very happy (and a little redneck) thanksgiving

We all enjoyed visiting Henry's Uncle Shannon's ranches in west Texas for our Thanksgiving. Henry saw lots of animals (both alive and dead) including big horned sheep, many elk, several deer, one dead coyote and the partial spray of a skunk on his dog Sophie. He dined on turkey and ham. He rode around in many types of all-terrain vehicles. He played with his cousins Thomas and Erik. And, enjoyed dinner under an "antler chandelier." All in all, it was very fun and I know he will never forget it. Here are a few shots from the occasion.

The cat in the hen house

Henry's cat Fiorella wanders into enemy territory. The chickens, whom Henry has named "Turtle Jack" "Cookie Jim" "Verna Ray" and "Junior" are all wondering why she is there and when she will leave.

I AM A ROBOT

Henry was a cute little home-made robot for halloween and really enjoyed some trick or treating for the first time. He would say "I am a robot. Trick or treat" in a little robot voice. Pretty funny. Our friends Shelley, Jason and their 10 month old Truman were in town which made it all the more fun. Here are some photos:



Here he is in live-action:

Gearing up for Halloween

We've been in an autumn state of mind lately. Lots of playing outside (with our new chickens), going to a butterfly garden to see the Monarchs, and cruising a pumpkin patch with Henry's classmates. Here are a few shots of the boy in full fall action...

August & September

Henry has of course been very busy! We took a trip to Waco to visit his friends Eli and Milo, his dad made him a banana leaf outfit, spent time with Grandmom and Granddad Burdett, and also went on a fun boat trip for his Grandmom Jan's birthday. Here are some photos:

Fun Summertime

Henry has been very very active. He's really into letters and numbers and is becoming interested in spelling. He's also really into diving for rocks in the pool (and is quite good at it) and loves play-do. A few quick stories for you:

Henry went over to the chalkboard one morning this week and without prompting or anyone looking, he wrote the letter H! Then for the rest of the morning he kept describing how he did it: "First I drew this line over here, then I drew this other line over here and then I drew this line across. And, then it was an H!" It was so cute. He was so proud of himself.

Henry's favorite song is "Ode to LRC" by Band of Horses. It's one of our favorite songs too, but for weeks now it's the only thing we're allowed to listen to in the car - he likes it over and over and over. And, he knows all of the words.

Henry (as you'll see in the pictures below) had some alone time in his room the other day. When he came out he was so happy with himself and he said "Mommy, look! I put stickers on my boobies!" So funny!

Then the other day he got kind of serious and he said "Daddy, did you know that when you go to the restaurant there is a man there and he will give us tacos?"

Other photos: Henry striking a pose with Eliana; having bbq with friends including his aunt bliss; playing with Everett; riding daddy's shoulders; singing songs with great grandmom; getting art lessons at bolm studios (now called "BigMedium") ; hanging out shirtless at bigmedium (after having spilled gatorade all over his shirt); ben auctioning art; Clyde's first art show; Hank passed out in the car; wearing stickers, wearing playdough art, imitating sophie, and his first letter.

Summertime fun

Henry has been having a good time. He is a big fan of Barton Springs. And, has been enjoying learning to swim in some swim lessons with his friends. Also, he had a great time at his dad's cousin Shane's wedding. Here are some photos from the last few weeks:

Putt Putt, Colorado & Pony Rides

Henry has had more firsts this past month. We tried to introduce him to putt-putt, but he was more interested in climbing the course obstacles than anything else. We then ventured to Colorado for a quick trip. First we stopped off south of Denver to visit Shelley and Jason and meet their new baby Truman- who was super cute! Then, we joined Ben's family in Estes Park for James Rider's wedding. It was so beautiful. Henry got to play in the Rocky Mountain National Park and ride on a pony. He had a blast and we did too. Here are some shots. (You can click on the slideshow controls to move from photo to photo, or click on the photo itself to navigate to larger photos.)

April and May! And a New Way of Viewing Hank!

Hunting Eggs, Flying Kites, Going on Hikes, and Driving Tractors

Henry has been super busy this month. He enjoyed attending the Austin Kite Festival with his dad, going hiking with his new friend Jacob, driving a tractor with his g-daddy B., and much much more. He can pretty much say anything that comes to his mind. He thinks the words "gof" and "gak" are hilarious and he substitutes them for everything and laughs. He loves cleaning and helping out around the house (a trait from his mom), and likes cooking and knowing all of the words to tons of songs (thanks to his dad). Henry's Easter was lots of fun. He didn't have tons of respect for the hard-boiled eggs though. He thought is was fun to smash them, over and over and over.


preparation for the big hunt:

the day begins with 3-piece suit w/ short pants:












Hiking with Jacob:



On the ranch with G-daddy B:





Fiorella, super-cat:


Kite festival and playing with friends:

HENRY IS TWO!

Henry celebrated his second birthday in style! He played his heart out with about 15 of his little friends at his party. He was very excited to be the center of attention, and his friends and he had a blast running around together.

Thanks to all of Henry's family and friends for making it a very special birthday!

Here are some photos and videos from the day (plus some from the previous weeks).

Hank is a new kid every day...

I guess every parent at some point thinks that they are the first to be amazed and astounded by their kid and that their kid is the most brilliant human that ever walked on the planet. Henry comes out with this stuff that just proves that he is taking it all in and he totally gets it. Today we passed a Honda Element and Henry said that it was Minsok's car and then that it was David's car. Yes, Minsok and David both drive Elements. I just can't believe he knows this stuff. Right now he's really into playing with rocks (encouraged by his grandmom's rock collection), being "tall" (which means that he climbs on top of everything he can to get as tall as possible), and drawing with chalk. Today he climbed up on top of a big rock and said "WE HAVE LIFTOFF!" He cracks us up. Here are some shots from the last couple of weeks.