An Overdue Update

I haven't been very good at updating this blog lately, but it isn't because I have nothing to say. On the contrary: Henry amazes me constantly.


His speech has improved considerably in the past few months, to the point that he's telling me, when he doesn't want to do something, "I too tired, so Mommy do it." He does have one verbal quirk, though, which is that he mixes up "me" and "you." I suppose it's understandable since we say, "Give the book to me" and "Here's a sandwich for you" that he would think he is "you" and the other person is "me."

The other day, for the first time, he expressed love for me. "I love Mommy," he said, repeating the sentence two more times. And then: "I love me."


His curiosity has expanded along with his vocabulary. He is constantly asking, "What this is?" or "What that mean?" When we read to him he wants to know what the words on the page say. He notices every little detail about everything, and sometimes, honestly, I have no idea what something is called. We've made many trips to the computer recently to consult Google.


Did you know that the device mounted on the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles from the track is called a cow catcher or a pilot? Yeah, I didn't either, up until a few weeks ago. Now I don't know how I ever got along without that particular piece of knowledge.


Speaking of trains, Henry is crazy about them. I've been doing my best to facilitate his interest by checking out every storybook involving trains from our library. It's amazing to watch him absorbing the information in the books, and I'll admit to having fun learning along with him. When it warms up around here I hope to find an old-time steam engine to take him on.


Henry likes lighthouses, too, and after checking out a book on them from the library we took him to a lighthouse museum not far from our house. Daddy carried him nearly to the top (the last stretch involved a metal ladder, which will have to wait until he's older) and after we came back down, he tried to follow another group back into the lighthouse.


He also likes to draw, going through way too much paper, making train tracks and who-knows-what-else and then dropping the paper to the floor. He also "writes" his name, making a perfectly legible "H" and then several lines after it. I've written his name out for him many times in an attempt to get him to copy it, but he just tells me, "Already wrote 'Henry.'" That's good enough for me. It will come when he's ready.


He has one more obsession, which when he's much older he will not appreciate me discussing, and that is what we call "Baby Discovery Time." When he gets too quiet I can almost guarantee he's got his diaper and pants down, checking things out. It is his body, so we try to let him do his thing when we can. But Lord I'll be happy when he learns a little modesty.