Month Forty-four

Dear Henry,

Your language has exploded this past month. Exploded, I say! It is a kick to hear you try out new words. The current ones you're working on using correctly include: quite, prefer, actually, and...dang, I forgot the last word. If I remember it later, I'll come back and add a postscript to this post. At the same time, you are doing things like adding "-es" and "-ed" to plural and past tense words. For instance, "The sea creature jumpses out of the water!" is something you're likely to say when we're playing sea creatures, which is all the time. (You're obsessed. We easily carried five pounds of seashells home from the Mexico and it would have been a lot more but I convinced you that some of the sea creatures were too sad to come with us to the U.S.) You also say things like "I be'd right back." Awesome.

It looks like we're in for a few months of naked toddler 'round the condo as since our return from the Mexico last month you've taken to shedding your clothes when we're at home or any other house where you feel comfortable. You crawl on all fours and do little kicks and for the life of me I cannot figure out how your brain works. Do you not realize there is an inordinate amount of dog hair on the floor? Speaking of the floor, we converted your bed into a chair and brought out the tent for you to sleep in so now you're technically sleeping in a tent. Or, at least sleeping on your crib mattress on the floor in a tent. I think you find it comforting but, no, this does not help you sleep any easier. Stinker.

Your hair is long and you continue to be mistaken for a girl, although you no longer seem quite as bothered by this as you used to be. You spend so much time crawling around as a sea creature that you've taken to wearing through the knees of your pants. Three pairs to date, Bean. You've been hanging out with your Cousin Mia a lot these past few weeks (a trend I hope continues throughout the summer) and all I can say is that you guys have the most fun together. We know it's time to check up on you when you're both upstairs in her playroom and it has gone suddenly, abnormally, alarmingly quiet. And then we typically find you on Uncle Nick and Aunt Megan's bed. You two must enjoy being up so high. It's not something you get to experience at home since your papa and I have a super low bed.

We've stopped your swim lessons until later this year. I'm hoping the time off resets your button so that when we return you'll enjoy the whole process, not just the stuff that happens once we actually get you into the pool. You had tons of fun in the pool during our trip to the Mexico even trying out swimming all by yourself in the deep end! You were wearing your vest so it was a different experience than what you get at the local pool, well, that, and your mama was in there with you but deep end, kid! You are still running, you still get very extremely excited when you see fire trucks and ambulances and police cars and garbage trucks and recycling trucks. You still love walking the tracks near our house and you are starting to remember details I would have thought wouldn't register. For instance, when we do the tracks in the morning, we typically end up at this little restaurant on 17th and you, my dear, know the name. (It's Lili's Patisserie, in case your mama forgets.) You love pancakes with chocolate chips in them, but you don't like 'em with blueberries cooked in them or with fruit on top.

You've been to three birthday parties in the last month - a dual party for Elise and Nolan, one for your friend, Jackson, and one for your Cousin Gavin and had a blast at each. You went to the first park play date with folks from the school you'll be attending in the fall and met a new friend. You love your friends. You've already decided which friend you're going to marry. You and I were driving by the church up the street when you pointed to it and said, "That's where you got married to papa." To which I replied "Yep!" And then I asked if you are going to get married. You are. And you said something about having four kids but if the first one is as lame a sleeper as you are, you might change your mind.

Love,
Mama