The Christmas Story

Henry was in his preschool's Christmas play. He was one of the kings..the one that brought gold to Jesus. When given the choice he said that it had to be gold! (He loves things that are golden). The play was adorable!

Henry had is 5 year old doctor appointment today! All is great! He weighs 43.5 lbs (50-75th percentile) and is 44.5 inches tall (75th percentile). We are counting the days until we head to WI for Christmas! Today he said,"two more sunrises!" Love it!

FIVE YEARS OLD!!!

Wow...where did the past four years go? Happy Birthday, Henry! We sure did celebrate your birthday this year: treats at school, a party with 15 friends at Kid Concepts, and a party at home (because we had to break a pinata!). Each celebration was so much fun!

Henry had a nice visit with Santa! He asked for a Lego Passenger Train...we'll see!

We invited our friends who adopted kids from Vietnam for a gingerbread house decorating party. It's great to watch them play as if not one day has gone by since they've last seen each other! Kids are amazing!

Disneyland!!!

Our little pilgrim!

Henry loves to play games on my iPhone! Cut the Rope, Train and Car games, Angry Birds (when we let him)! He's been limited to an hour a day...otherwise he'd want to play nonstop!

Henry asked to be a train again this year for Halloween...he was Henry from Thomas and Friends. Mark was the coal car and I was the conductor...so much fun! He absolutely adores his teacher, Miss Sharon! She was a princess this year!

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch finding the right pumpkin!

Henry, you continue to be pure joy for all of us! You are growing like crazy and changing all the time! Your strong personality along with your compassion for others is such a blessing! We love you!

4 years 10 months

I've been doing a better job of writing down the latest "Henryisms"...he really is something! By far, my favorite has to be this: The other night Henry got out of bed and came into the living room and said, "It's been a long time since Nana and Papa came to visit. Do you remember when they surprised me with those french fries? It was a special day. Can they come back and visit?" I told him that Nana could come but that Papa was in Heaven. He said, "Oh yea...I forgot." After a pause, he continued with this: "I want to mail a letter to Papa...a heart...I want it to say thank you. I asked him what he was saying thank you for...he said, "I don't know...just thank you! We can put it in the mailbox and leave the door open. A special wind will come and take it to him in Heaven." Amazing! ~ Henry is planning a pizza party...the kind where pizza gets delivered...with the family when we are home for Chrismas this year. He is planning the games! ~ "very"... "I very like it...I very like to play trains" ~ Henry still says it's "mines" not mine. ~ Says "na ma stay"...he does yoga in rm. 6 at school during their large motor activity time...he says that rm. 6 is boring cuz they don't have any toys. ~ When Henry gets hot from playing hard he says, "I'm unheated...I need to be unheated" After working in his construction site he said "A worked is always ready for a cold drink" ~ Henry often askes "oneday can we..." The latest was to go on a dinosaur bone dig...I said yes... "Mom...if you find one, show me and I'll let you know if it's a tail...it could just be a rock!" "but Mom, where will we put the bones when we get home?" ~ Henry can work my laptop without a mouse...he can use the mousepad on the keyboard to navigate through DisneyJr... ~ His favorite job at school is to be class leader. ~ Henry still loves to play trains and cars. He is starting to get into pirates. He loves to build with Lego. He loves to watch Charlie Brown movies. Snoopy is his favorite...he always lets us know when there are more than one Woodstock in any scene. ~ Henry started playing Battleship...thinks the line "you sunk my battleship" is hilarious. ~ "I haven't seen this in YEARS" ~ "Something smells...it must be a giant that didn't take a bath" ~ "The Milky Way is my favorite way" ~ The other day in the car I was talking about Henry's great qualities...he interrupts me and says, "Mom...you are just talking to yourself!" ~ Henry offers encouragement to others by saying things like, "c'mon...you can do it...just stick with it" and "it's nice to see you." He likes to stop by one of his friends houses when we walk past just to say "hi" Henry still LOVES to play soccer!

We love you SO much, Henry!!

Has it really been 6 months?

I cannot believe it has been such a long time since I have posted anything! Henry has grown and changed in so many ways. April:Papa and Nana, Aunt Kit, Aunt Margot, and Aunt Jan came to visit in late March/early April to help us during my foot surgery and recovery. Henry had a blast!

On the 28th of April we got a call from my mom that my dad, Henry's papa, had died. We were all in shock and headed to Milwaukee for the funeral. Henry is still processing what happened. He thinks that Papa is in heaven playing golf and throwing the tennis ball to our dog Cody. Henry walked up to the open casket shortly before the funeral and said "bye, Papa, I'll see you later." Henry sat next to me during the mass...he really seemed to understand the intensity of the day. We miss Papa very much!

May: May seemed to have very many four year old birthday parties! Here is Henry with his choice of face painting at one of them. The parties usually have a face painter, balloon maker, bounce houses...

June: Henry had a fantastic year in preschool this past year. He said good-bye to Ms. Rosio and Ms. Alexis. Next year...onto room 7!! Henry is feeling very excited about this move!

We went to Wisconsin June 19 to spend time with family. The Rogall side of the family got together the last week. Henry had fun with his cousins Brian, Alex, Jack, Isla, and Leah.

July: The Wiedenmann side of the family gathered together in Milwaukee for a reunion. Henry went on his first brewery tour, discovered a talent in the game ladderball, and literally sat under the fireworks at his very first big firework show.

A few days after the fourth we were down by the lake. Henry and his dad were walking on the rocks and when coming back over to the sidewalk, Henry took a fall. (I can't believe I actually captured it on film!)

The part we can't figure out is that when he fell, he landed on his left arm...the one that Mark is holding during the fall... Turns out Henry broke his arm. He had a greenstick fracture that required surgery a few days later. Talk about a trooper! Not one complaint from this little guy!

Henry had a chance to meet and play with Violet, Ella's sister. Ella was adopted from Vietnam not long before Henry was. It's always fun to see them!

August: Growing, growing, growing! I was rubbing Henry's feet tonight and noticed that the skin was rubbing off...he says," yes...skin comes off cuz I'm growing into new skin!" The other night he was struggling with a task. I asked, "Who believes in you?" Henry said, "God, you and Dad. So right, Henry!

So now it's September... Henry is playing soccer again and is in room 7 with Ms. Sharon! He LOVES her and his new classroom. I'm starting the Kindergarten application for Chadwick...hard to believe! I am going to write down all the adorable things I hear Henry say during the next month!