Friday

The celebration hasn't stopped yet. Last night we went to the Hill's house for a Christmas party. It's clear that Henry had fun because it's ten after eight, and he is still in bed sleeping!! This is a first for him.
The kids were making sugar cube houses, but Henry was more interested in eating the sugar and candy than making a house so he didn't stay at that activity for too long. It was outside to play, then Santa came. Henry wouldn't go to Santa so Mark went with him...very cute! Apparently it snowed while the kids were meeting Santa. Henry saw the other kids throwing snow and without hesitation, he grabbed a snowball and threw it right at me and laughed SO hard when it hit. After that, we sang a few carols before going home. Henry actually fell asleep on the piano bench while Amy was playing...it was adorable! I don't know how he kept from falling off the bench.
It was a great night!

Henry's adoption day.

One year ago today, Henry's 23 year old birthmother lovingly placed him into our arms to take home as our son. We remember so well the emotions of that special day and will be forever grateful to her for her unselfishness and true love of Henry.

The first time we saw his beautiful face:

Happy Birthday!!

It's hard to believe that our baby Henry is now two years old! We had a fun celebration last night with about 25 friends and neighbors stopping over to wish Henry a happy birthday, including his buddies Justin, Madison and Kelly. At first when people came through the door, Henry would go over, look up, and wave "hi". He gave out a few welcome hugs, too! And when folks left he gave hugs, kisses and high fives. He looked so grown up doing this.

Henry loved playing with his balloons before the party got started. After he played with his cake, (I don't think he actually ate any of it, except for the red Elmo candy on top)he opened his presents and didn't stop playing until nine o'clock. Henry would open a present and play with it for quite some time before moving on to the next gift. We had to draw him away from the toy to open the next one. The toys are SO cool...he got a cake that has lights for candles that can be blown out, a remote control car, a Nascar car the moves after you add (pretend)fuel, an arcade ball game that you can climb into, books, pjs, an etch-a-sketch, tools,... just to name a few.









Henry's friend, Justin




Henry's friends Kelly and Madison



Henry with his good friend, Stephanie


Henry, you are a sweetie, and we love you VERY much! You continue to warm our hearts. You bring me flowers from our garden. Everyday you pick up the silk poinsettia plants that are under our Christmas tree and bring them to me. I give you a big hug and you always hug back saying "awww". After you use your potty chair, which is about once a day on the average, we walk to get your m and ms. I let you take two out of the bowl and in the past week you now give one to me. In fact, you share all of your food even if no one asks for any.
You like to have your sleeves down, not rolled up, unless you are washing your hands. Your favorite shows are Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer.
You are 35.5 inches tall (75th percentile) and weigh 25 pounds (10th percentile). You love letters and shapes, you love to run in the leaves and listen to them make crunching noises, and you love visiting Dada at work. You play in your room each night before you climb into your bed to fall asleep. You are able to build tall lego towers and when they fall over, you laugh. You continue to take most things in stride with your fantastic sense of humor. Your favorite foods right now are noodles and apples. You mean the world to us, Henry! Happy 2nd Birthday!

what's going on these days...

Henry had his first big fall the other day. We were getting ready to color on the big table, and he reached for the paper on the table. However, the paper was hanging over the edge of the table and so he slipped and scraped his cheek. Lots of tears, poor guy.


I pulled out another gift from Grace, Charlie and Jack...refrigerator magnet letters. Henry was thrilled. He saw the pile on the floor and after I showed him how they stick to the refrigerator, he brought them over one at a time. He loves learning letters...is very proud when he finds ms, bs and os.




He discovered the silk poinsettia plants that were next to the Christmas tree. He picked them up and presented them to me as if they were a gift from him. He knows that his mama likes to get flowers!



We've been having lots of rain, which means lots of snow in the mountains. Here was the view from our yard after the storm earlier this week.


Here are some shots from today.




I wonder if anyone else thinks it's interesting that Henry's favorite breakfast food lately has been noodles. When we were in Vietnam this was quite common! I sat next to a Chinese guy on one of our flights last summer. He said that his tastes are drawn toward rice, noodles and vegetables. He heard that tastes are genetic. I wonder!



It's Dec. 13 in Vietnam right now...the day we received our official US approval to adopt Henry.

looking back...

It was a year ago, today, that we packed our bags and flew to Vietnam to meet and bring home Henry. Hard to believe how quickly the time has gone.

5 AM

Yes....we are up at 5 AM today!! It's almost predictable because he was an angel yesterday. He tends to adjust his behavior on alternate days lately. Thank God that he loves Dora and there is an hour Christmas special on right now!
Yesterday he was SO good. He slept until 7, went to the nursery at church and did great. He ate a huge lunch and took a long nap (so I too could nap). After that, we colored, he played in his room by himself, read books with us, and was just content with his toys and his day. He wanted to eat dinner at the table with us so we put him on the phone book, gave him a place mat and he started eating. He got up a few times and we kept telling him if he doesn't stay in the seat he'll have to go into the high chair. Well....he got up again and we put him into his chair. He protested (this was his low moment of the day). He stayed there about 5 minutes and we gave him another chance. He said he understood the rules and it seemed he did! He stayed there until we were finished. He even colored for awhile while Mark finished eating. He was fairly squirmy at bedtime and played in his room for over an hour, but he finally fell asleep and when we checked on him a few hours later, he hadn't changed positions.
So I'm not surprised we're up early. It's raining so our day will likely be long because we'll be indoors for most of it. Although, he does love his rain gear. I'll try to get more shots of him today. Here are a few from the weekend:
This is the car that Charlie gave him after the gingerbread house decorating party. He LOVES it so much...he slept with it last night.


On Saturday we received a big box and wagon full (including the wagon) of toys from Charlie, Jack and Grace. They have outgrown them and will be perfect for Henry. He now has (or will have on his birthday in a few weeks) a tricycle with helmet, a drum, xylophone, pogo stick (not quite ready for that one yet) just to name a few.
So nice!! Henry is giving each of them a new Target gift card for Christmas so they can replenish their toy supply!

I'm not really sure what this photo is about because he wasn't scared...it just looks like he is. Funny!



Well....we're off to continue our very long day!

party time

Henry went to his first crafting party today. Our friend and neighbor, Cathy, invited us to her annual gingerbread house decorating party. It was loads of fun. I had preassembled the house with the glue gun to ensure a successful beginning. After I got all the icing in place, Henry eagerly began decorating the house. He didn't even eat one piece of candy the whole time, even after seeing the other kids putting piece after piece into their mouths. It was lots of fun! Henry has so much fun playing with the older kids. They all adore each other.