Goodbye, 2008!

Henry and Teddy wish everyone a wonderful 2009!
See you next year!













P.S... Thanks to great-grandma Hemmeter and Aunt Barb for the gifts featured in these photos. So cute! Don't you think Teddy and the Octopus share an uncanny resemblance?

One with Nature

Winter in Minnesota means we’re stuck inside most of the time. Which can be a bit difficult with an energetic 2-year-old. So I’m often on the look-out for fun places to visit that are: A) Free or low-cost B) Stroller-accessible and appropriate for Teddy and C) Offer Henry the ability to get his ya-ya’s out. As luck would have it, we found a new place that is fun, free and close to home: the Richardson Nature Center.

Oddly enough, we’ve driven past it hundreds of times, but just never had an excuse to visit until now. It’s a big, beautiful building with animals on display and interactive toys for kids to play with. That afternoon they were holding a “Critter Day” where they brought out the resident snakes, turtles and salamanders for the kids to observe up close.

Henry got to pet a turtle, although he declined to touch the snake. “I scared” is his new big phrase, and I guess the snake kind of freaked him out. He did touch the salamander, though. The nature center folks then fed the turtle some worms, which Henry was excited to watch. He was equally excited to see the snake eat an (already dead) “mousey”… Mommy wasn’t so thrilled to see that.

And Teddy? He just hung out and watched the whole critter show while seated in my lap. I guess one of the advantages to being Number 2 is you get exposed to things a lot earlier than Number 1. He showed his excitement by drooling profusely and trying to suck his thumb.

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!

... And to all a good night!

Love, Henry and Teddy

Bad Santa

Nana was in town last week, so we decided to do a little shopping (of course!).

At the last minute, I decided I wanted to get a shot of the kids with Santa at the mall. Beforehand, I talked to Henry about what we were going to do and that he should tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. We've been pointing out Santa whenever we see him, so he's well aware of Jolly Old Saint Nick.

And probably like every other 2-year-old... he was excited about it at first, but once it was time to take the picture, he freaked.

As you can see...

Santa doesn't look that thrilled, either. And Teddy is kind of zoned out.

I figure that just about every kid has a not-so-happy picture with Santa, so we bought a copy for posterity. I'm sure Henry will get a kick out of it a few years. We've hung the picture in our kitchen and Henry likes to point out Santa and talk about what he wants for Christmas, so it seems like the experience didn't sour him off Santa for life. Maybe next year we'll get a smile?

P.S. Oddly enough, it seems like the Web is full of crying Santa pictures. Here's a cute photo story from the Star Tribune about Santa pictures gone wrong.

Teddy at 4 Months

Happy 4-month birthday, Teddy! He's just getting bigger and bigger every day... the kid is turning into a chunky monkey! For the most part, he's a laid-back little guy with a big smile for everyone (well, except for this picture!).

Teddy had his 4-month appointment last week and he weighs in at 17 pounds and 26 1/8 inches. He weighs exactly the same as Henry did at that age, although he's about an inch shorter. He's also looking more and more like "himself", if that makes sense. He still looks a lot like his big brother, but as he's getting older, he really is coming into his own cute little look.

And, as always, here's Henry at 4 months!

Icky the Snowman

Snow pants and boots and hats - oh my!

Last weekend we dug out all the winter stuff to spend some time outside since it was in the 30s. Which seems downright tropical right now!

Henry helped make his very first snowman. Not the most attractive guy, as you can see, since the snow was pretty dirty at the time. Henry enjoyed putting his baby carrot nose in place and then pushing the snowman over after playtime was over. Adios, snowman.