Standing and Even Dancing

Lately, Henry has been pulling up on everything and doing that little shuffle-sideways-walk that looks so cute and makes us all aware of how quickly he is going to be walking.

Here he is pulling up on the screen door.

You might notice our new screen door. Actually, we just had a handyman out to fix all of the wood on our front door area. Check out how bad it was last year. $2200 just to get a new door, screen door, and replace all of the rotted wood. Ahh, the joys of home ownership. Anyway, we're loving the new door. Henry spends half of his days looking out (or in, in this case).

We also had this handyman build a special wood thingie (she said with her highly technical vocabulary) to hold a gate securely. Henry can now dance with joy, and we can let him, without worrying about him climbing the stairs.

For some reason, he loves to wiggle his butt and shake the bars of the gate. I've caught him doing this (gleefully, each time) at least four times in the last two days. 

Dancing on the Dishwasher

My boys require very little urging to shake their respective groove things (or would it be a collective groove thing?). In any case, I guess watching daddy do dishes inspired some serious happy dancing.

Nick and Henry are certainly happy little guys. I remember Nick used to love to pull up on that dishwasher. Now Henry is doing the exact same thing. Observe and behold the dancing sensation:

I need to remember this video the next time I'm in a bad mood. How can anyone feel sad after watching this?

Banana Pancakes for Dinner

Every once in awhile, it's kind of nice to have breakfast for dinner. Tonight, I made banana pancakes, along with scrambled eggs and bacon. Just the kind of dinner that works on a cold winter night.

I let Henry try one, cut into small bites, of course. The doctor says that he is old enough to eat little bites of food. Henry heartily agrees!

He ended up eating nearly an entire pancake. Henry's joy over every bite makes me smile. It also made me enjoy my pancakes even more.

Nick liked the pancakes, too. He was sneaking bites while I was still at the frying pan. Then he danced for Henry's dinnertime entertainment.

I hear that snow is coming again tomorrow. I'm glad I'll have some leftover banana pancakes to fortify me against the windchill and the snowy weather. 

Nick's Dance Moves

On Friday we had our new TV hooked up, and the Dish Network technician set us up with some great channels. One of the things I like best is all of the Sirius radio channels. I'm usually too lazy to hunt for cds, but I will turn on the radio for some jazz, classical, or rock any day of the week.

Nick loves to dance, and today he was inspired by some Latin beats. Below you can see him dancing with a penguin friend. You can also get a sneak peak at our new living room. I'm not quite ready to reveal all of the changes, but you can see the dresser that I bought instead of an entertainment center, along with Greg's Christmas present-a new hdtv set.

I think Nick is almost waltzing to this music. 

Sometimes when Nick dances he just spins in circles, but I asked him to move his feet and show Henry (who was sitting in my lap) how to dance. He showed me, but at one point, check out what he did to show Henry how to move his baby feet.

Perhaps I should teach Nick some different kinds of dances. The boy needs a lot of exercise.  :)

Swingin' and Dancin'

Greg found our baby swing in the basement this morning. We have the deluxe version. It has a mobile, a vibrating seat, and multiple swing speeds. It plays classical music, nature sounds, white noise, or a mother's heartbeat. Henry is very cool with the swing.

It was way too hot to take the kids outside today. It was 96 degrees and humid, with a heat index well over 100. We had to find other ways to entertain the boys. For Henry, the swing was enough.

He looks so little buckled into the swing. Nick was even smaller, but he outgrew the swing in just a few months. It's crazy to think Henry will be too big for this swing, probably before the year is out.

My younger son has the strangest facial expressions. He's a very serious baby, but sometimes his expression almost seems to be mocking us. Is this perhaps a sneer?

Poor Nick didn't get to swing today. No park for him--we didn't want anyone to overheat. Nick goes nuts when he can't run around outside. He was generally well-behaved today, but it was clear that he was ready to explode with energy, much like the illegal fireworks our neighbors procure and use improperly every July.

Observe his energy, and you will feel exhausted just from watching.

I'm not sure if you can hear it in the background, but Nick has his little drum playing music in the background. Lately, he likes to set this toy to "Spanish" and attempt to copy their words. That is the gibberish you hear him saying as he frantically dances and spins. Oh, and lest you think that this was a momentary burst of energy, please know that Nick danced like this for nearly 45 minutes.

Nick is not the only one who got some exercise today. Henry was practicing his baby push-ups. He can stay up for longer and longer periods, and he always wants to look into my eyes.

Greg thinks his eyes will be green. As he grows, though, I'm thinking Henry will have blue eyes, even though his daddy says it isn't fair that both of our kids have my eyes. I suppose time will tell.

He is definitely getting stronger. I've been giving Henry lots of tummy time to practice. 



An Evening on the Riverwalk, Part One

On Friday, just for a change, Greg and I took Nick out to dinner and to the Riverwalk. We had dinner at Ted's Montana Grill, and enjoyed buffalo burgers and fries. Nick's favorite part was the shake. He shared a chocolate shake with Greg, and it was all he could talk about. "I eat my shake now?"

I love the buffalo burgers there--I've been craving meat lately, and a medium-rare buffalo burger is about the best kind of protein I can imagine.

After dinner, we walked around a bit and saw the sights. It was a lovely, warm night. We haven't had many of those this spring, so it was pretty crowded. There was a guitar player on the sidewalk, and Nick loved dancing to the music. We practically had to drag the boy away. I think we're going to be shelling out for music lessons in a few years. Nick was asking for a guitar repeatedly.

I love the way that toddlers dance. They're completely un-selfconscious, in a way that most people can only be after they've had a few drinks. Nick dances with such joy.  :)

More tomorrow. . .