Our Fish - Henry

Enrolling in swim lessons through our Y is no joke people.  Registration opens at 5am every few months when the new session opens up, and my friend Erin who works there says people are waiting outside and on the phone calling to get enrolled!  So when I waited far too long to sign up, I didn't think I'd be able to get Henry in - but luckily there was a 4:55pm Monday class open.  Turns out my Mondays have been pretty dead lately, so has been no problem to leave a little early to get him there in time.  And I'm so glad we signed up because he LOVES it.  It is so nice how they do it - just three or four kids per teacher.  So they each get their own one on one time with him. 

 

Look at him working on his back float below!

 

 

They work on putting their face in the water a lot, which Henry has no fear of and really never has.  They dive after rings, do a lot of bobs, play games, and just have a lot of fun.  And I've been able to just drop him off and then go run a mile or two, and it has been fabulous!  There are windows up above and I'm able to peek at him every now and then.  I just love it.  And so does he.   

It has been great for us to have an activity to look forward to during this long, cold, winter.  Hopefully I can get him in again next session and he learns enough to move up to the next class!

 

 

Our fish at open swim.  Thank goodness for the fabulous Y we have just down the road from us!

 

Field Trip to Botanical Center

Summers at Kids Company are super fun.  Each Friday the kids get to go on field trips to different parks, and some weeks they get to go on two field trips.  This week was one of those double field trip weeks and it was to the Botanical Center, which happens to be a short drive from my work.  I was fortunate to have a pretty open day on Tuesday, and with my flexible schedule I was able to sneak over and meet Henry.  It makes Henry so happy when I attend, and I love helping out and seeing him interact with all his little friends.  This trip was extra special because Grandma Deaner was in town - so Henry had his mom AND Grandma along!

Check out this adorable Penguin class!

Grandma Deaner came along!

Craft time. 

Checking out the turtles on our scavenger hunt.

Henry and his buddy Cole.

The problem I encounter with attending Henry's field trips is he gets very sad when it is time for him to get back on the bus to head back to school, instead of being able to go with mommy.  So that is one thing I need to work on better, prepping him for mommy's departure.  He told me he wasn't sad for long though and next time (since he of course asks me to come on every trip) he will not be sad, so mommy can come on more trips! 

Henry - Milestone

Last Thursday night I asked Andy to remind me to call the Dr. for Hannah, as she has these small bumps on her legs that need looked at.  Henry was coloring a picture and said 'Mommy, I will remind you'.  He then asked me how to spell Dr.  I told him, and he proceeded to write out each letter as I said them!  I was shocked, as I had no idea that he knew how to write letters like that!  I swear it is like it just happened overnight.  He just learned how to write his name within the past three months I would say, so for him to write out letters on command like that - I had no idea!  So I took a picture of the picture he colored, and then had written out the letters on.  You can see Doctor, Head, Mom, Feet, and Bumps (that one is a little harder to make out, in the upper left hand corner, he ran out of room for the P, so put it before the B).  He only had to ask me to show him how to do a 'M'.  Such a huge milestone!  So proud of my big boy, he has grown by leaps and bounds just in these past few months.   And check out how good he is at coloring!! 



Henry's 4 year old Preschool Pics

A little late - but here are Henry's 4 year old preschool photos from this past fall. 

His right eye is indeed a black eye - he had a little run in with the corner for a board at school a few days before pics.  And this is his current smile.  He does have an cross bite, so not sure if that plays into it - but every time we ask him to smile, this is the face, which is adorable!

Things Henry is doing these days:

Can spell his first and last name

Knows his address

Loves doing puzzles and is great at them

Loves coloring

But what he spends the most of his time doing - playing football.  The second he gets home from school he runs upstairs and changes into his football pants, jersey, football gloves, and helmet.  He would play catch and kick the football off the tee all night if he could.  He is all boy. 



Henry the Pirate

Henry LOVES pirates.  So when we got the July preschool calendar and saw that there was a pirate day, we (mostly me) was so excited to prepare for the big day. 

Our kids have just recently started watching TV the last few months, not because we haven't let them, they just have not been interested and would rather play in our playroom.  So when I discovered the show Jake and the Neverland Pirates, I knew Henry would be in love.  At Target the other day, I couldn't pass up the little Jake pirate doll.  So for pirate day, we made an outfit from stuff we found around the house and tried to make Henry look like Jake. 

Time got away from us, and we were scrambling at the last minute to get his outfit together.  So we cut the sleeves on a white undershirt and colored an 'X' on it, cut a red onesie to make his headband, and pulled out his black vest from Danielle's wedding.  He also got to bring his sword.  He loved the outfit and was so excited to tell his teachers all about it. 

Our Pirate Henry.

The actual Jake the Pirate:

What an easy project at home that made Henry so happy and excited to show off to his friends.  And not too bad for mommy at 7am on a Monday morning.