Happy Birthday Henry!

Today our little man turns four years old! We are celebrating at home with just the family today and Henry will have a party with all of his friends tomorrow. (That mess you see in front of him in the picture is a waffle cake with strawberry filling and whipped cream frosting that Henry had for breakfast today - it was a hit!!)

Following are a few things you should know about Henry:

*Henry is obsessed with DVD's! He carries them around, organizes them and talks about them constantly. He does like to watch them, of course, but mostly he likes to just have them around - I think. Favorites right now are Toy Story 3, Ice Age and Thomas the Tank.
*Henry is really getting into playing with his trains (the same ones he has had for at least a couple of years - he is finally noticing them!).
*Henry is a planner! He asks us all the time what we are doing tomorrow - and the next day - and the next day. The hard part is that he doesn't really understand time yet. It can make for very frustrating conversations!
*Henry likes to eat mac and cheese, chicken fingers, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pizza - that's IT! One of my goals for 2011 is to get this boy to eat vegetables!
*Henry can write his name! He is very proud of this - as he should be!
*Henry is a sweet, considerate, loving and very thoughtful boy - her brought me these flowers today on his birthday! I think we'll keep him!

Happy Birthday Henry!

Ready for bed

Every now and then I decide that I need a new picture of all four kids together. (This usually happens when I have bought matching outfits, or in this case pyjamams, for them.) It doesn't happen more often because, quite honestly, it is a lot of work trying to get a decent picture of all four at the same time. This is the best we could do today. Sorry James, this time it was your turn to have a funny facial expression :)
The kids had just taken their baths (together - the bathtub was very crowded!) and put on fresh, matching pyjamas - how is a mother to resist that photo op? Now they are all tucked into their beds for the night. Life is pretty sweet!

Fall Fun

Bathing Beauties

Fun weekend

This blog has turned into a strictly "report on the goings on with our children" blog, which wasn't my original intention. With 4 kids though, I'm not sure it could be anything else!
Anyway, here is a rare picture of Dan and I. We went to a wedding this past weekend and had a great time. We had never been to a Pakistani wedding before so we really enjoyed learning about their customs and eating their amazing food! I couldn't even begin to tell you what most of the food we ate was but it was delicious! I also loved looking at the traditional clothing worn by most of the wedding guests. It was all golden, embellished and beautiful! One custom that I didn't know about until after the wedding was that the bride is not allowed to smile during the ceremony. We were all wondering why she looked so angry and made so many funny faces - she was trying not to smile! I was relieved to learn this because it looked to me like she was upset about getting married...

Two Teeth!

Back to School 2010 Part II

Yesterday it was Henry's turn to have his first day of school. He is now going to the same preschool Emma went to last year. At first Henry was a little confused about going to "Emma's school" but I think it has finally sunk in that this is now "Henry's school".

Henry loved it! He was happy when I left and happy when I picked him up. I peeked in the little window in the door and saw him sitting in the circle, singing along with the teacher (even though I am sure he didn't know the words to the song - Henry is very good at making up his own words to songs!)

Today, when Emma left on the bus, Henry was very disappointed that he couldn't go to school too - he has to wait for tomorrow...a good sign, no?

Grandparents, don't be alarmed...

These were taken at State Fair - Emma and Henry had so much fun! I almost wanted to try it myself...

Back to School 2010

Today was a big day! Emma had her first day of kindergarten! I have been much more nervous than Emma has been about this milestone I think. My first baby is very ready for school. The main reason I have been nervous is that kindergarten where we live means that she goes to school 8 hours a day, 5 days a week...that's a huge change from last year's preschool hours...2.5 hours, 3 days a week. I worry that Emma will be totally exhausted at the end of each school day. Of course, Emma is not the only little girl to have gone through this so I am sure she will be fine, just like all the other kids are fine!

The second reason I have been nervous has to do with the big yellow school bus. This is the same bus Emma has been so excited about taking all summer long. I had a sneaking suspicion that she would have a hard time getting on that bus when it came down to it...unfortunately I was right. Emma completely refused to get on the bus - the bus driver even got out of the bus to try and convince her. Emma is very stubborn. She would not get on. My only other option was to drive her to school. Thank goodness Nancy and Eileen were helping out with the other children...it would have been much harder if I had to pack everyone up in the car... Anyway, that ends today's drama. When Emma got to school she happily got in line with her class and casually waived goodbye to me with a smile on her face. It was wonderful and sad at the same time. My baby is growing up!

Last night we had a little back to school party to celebrate the new year. Henry doesn't start preschool for another 2 weeks but he didn't seem to mind. They loved the funny eyeglass straws and made quite a mess trying to make them work. We gave Emma roller skates, which she has been asking for forever, and Henry a baseball glove and ball. The dinner was topped off with raspberry cream cake - yummy! It was a great way to mark this big occasion in our childrens' lives.

Starting Solids!

First of all, saying that Anna and James have started eating solid food is actually a complete lie...they are eating very runny rice cereal with mashed banana at the moment...

However, eating rice cereal with mashed banana is a huge step in the process of moving the twins toward eating "people food" so I say it counts!

We were very excited to have finally found just the right high chairs and the day of the first meal was a big day at our house. Anna and James were not exactly in on the excitement though their reactions were quite different from one another:

Anna, true to form, became very angry and would have none of it. She is a dramatic little girl that has huge emotions and she was no different on this occasion. She seemed outraged that we dared give her something besides her beloved bottle!

James, even keeled as ever, seemed mostly confused. He seemed to be saying "what am I supposed to do with this?" He wasn't terribly interested but did not fuss. Of course all but maybe 2 drops of cereal ended up dribbling down his chin. James is a messy eater!

This first meal was "enjoyed" a few days ago and since then both babies have made huge strides in their eating. Anna loves her food and is a neat and tidy eater. She happily gobbles up spoonful after spoonful with a minimum of mess. James also loves his food and becomes very excited when he sees his bowl. He has not, however, improved all that much in the neatness department. Good thing those bibs are so big!

One thing is for sure, Anna and James are growing fast! They are already 6 months old!!

Hopefully I will get back to writing a bit with each post - for now all I can seem to manage is uploading a few pictures...

Henry again...

This little boy plays spends his days playing, running, jumping, swimming, talking non-stop, running some more and in general wears himself out. (as seen above - he didn't even make it all the way up on the couch before he fell asleep) He doesn't know how to do anything half way. He can wear his Mamma out too! Then he can do the sweetest things - he often comes up to me and gently strokes my cheeks and gives me a kiss before he runs off to his next adventure. The other day he brought me this, vase and all:

How sweet is that?!

Another quick Henry story: This morning he came down to let us know that a monster had broken his toys overnight. When he went to check on his things and found them all to be ok he said that the monster had put all the toys back and it must have been just a little monster. Henry fully believed that his dream had actually happened.

James and Daddy watching TV

Oh Henry...

Henry has an umbrella so it is ok for him to be out in the rain. (his words)