On Sunday, mama and Bubba had a special afternoon out that included supper at McDonald's and a trip to the movie theater. They went to see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Good thing movie are loud and there were only 4 other people in the theater, because Henry spent a lot of time asking questions and loudly saying "That's a Pteranodon! A T.Rex! An Ankylosaurus!" He had a great time, even if the T.Rex scenes were a little scary and he spent most of the movie on mama's lap and visibly trembled three times.
While they were out living it up, papa and I headed to the Castle Park. I threw rocks.
Climbed slides.
Ran away quickly.
Spun gears.
Gave attitude.
And in general, had a pretty good time.
Take a closer look and you can see two skeeter bites on my forehead and one on my eyelid. There are about 15 on my legs.
Thanks for taking me to the park, papa! I was so tired from playing, I didn't wake up when Henry had a few midnight disturbances. He says he doesn't remember, but we think he was probably having dino-induced dreams.
On Saturday, Gracie held a great party to celebrate her 4th birthday. We hoped to get better pictures, but someone (Henry) woke up from his nap still very tired after a long week of no naps and spent most of the party drowning in a sea of unbearable whine.
There was a pinata that everyone took a swing at (except Henry, who cried that he wanted a turn then refused to take one).
I spent my time playing in the water table and getting eaten alive by bugs.
Grace had the coolest birthday cake. Mama's best memory of her birthdays as a little girl involve beautiful barbie cakes like this. She was very pleased to see this cake.
There were five older kids and three little brothers and sisters running around. It was a mad house. Henry, of course, didn't handle it well, and spent the whole party demanding that mama stay with him at all times.
Here's the big moment.
I didn't mess with the big kids' table. I found this Bumbo seat in the corner of the kitchen floor, climbed in and proceeded to eat 4 slices of watermelon.
Audrey held out for some strawberry cake.
Later, the rest of the kids cleared out and we stuck around to pay for a little while.
Henry finally stopped whining and started having fun. He decorated his balloon with a sticker face then teased me with it.
Finally I got one of my own.
Gracie's grandpa showed me how to bounce the balloon and I had a good time trying it on my own.
Lately, there is only one place I want to be: at the table. It's always covered in fun stuff, like craft and art supplies, or toys I'm not supposed to be touching. Plus, everyone else is always sitting up there. So every time someone forgets to push a chair in, I head straight over and climb up to see what kind of trouble I can cause.
On Friday, mama let me stay up there and play in the crayon box and the pony beads because she was trying to paint with Henry. And that is trouble enough without a screaming 17 month old who wants to get her way.
Henry was working on a special present for his best bud Gracie.
Mama was a little stressed because the art project required 18 different paint color changes, juggling two picture frames and a hair dryer that Henry insisted on using to help speed the drying process. And it just occured to her today that she just should have put down an old table cloth.
Once I started trying to eat the beads (I swear I played appropriately with them for a half hour), I was banished to my high chair to play with my little people.
Here's the finished project. One for Grace and one for Henry.
This weekend, mama was talking to Henry about how he was going to a new school at our new house. He explained that he didn't need a new school because he already has a school. Mama said that his school was going to be too far away. Henry thought about it and replied, "But Gracie won't be at my new school." This alone is what is really tearing mama up about moving. We have some really good friends here in Winston and we're going to miss them a lot.
Mama tried to liquidate a few art projects last week, but Henry found them in the trash can before she was able to sneak them out and restored them to the table. The snake- which periodically gets a little more color.
And this cool 3D Car Movie poster. Henry colored it all by himself then shellacked it with the glitter paint brush that was included in the kit. The glitter glue is about an inch thick and permanently sticky. Thank goodness Henry saved it.
Here's a video of me feeding myself with a spoon- sort of. Check out those looks I give mama when she has the gall to suggest eating with my spoon instead of my fingers.
We didn't know what an accomplished guitarist papa was until he started playing a family favorite. Henry sang and I danced. Put mama on the spoons and we've got a family band.
Henry has lately become very aware of music. Though we have some CDs of indie artists singing kids songs in a fashion tolerable for adults, we spend most of our time listening to music that mama and papa want to hear. Henry surprised mama yesterday by singing the full chorus to the song "Spaceman" by a band called the Killers. Don't worry, despite their deplorable band name, the song isn't inappropriate, although mama and papa will be screening their music from now on. Henry can also sing "Yellow Submarine" and "Ring of Fire." He learned "Ring of Fire" at school during circus week. Didn't you know Johnny Cash was singing about baby lions jumping through flaming hoops? Hopefully mama can get a video of it soon, because it is pretty cute.
UPDATE: Mama here. I didn't want to admit it, but we found this picture of me at one year, and there's really no denying that June and I are related. Check it out:
Papa here. I took the following picture of June just this evening and was struck by what I perceived to be the strong resemblance between the Bug and a certain other Mme. Turner. For her part, Mama is skeptical. What does everyone think, particularly those who know what Becky looked like as a similarly-aged stinker? Grandma Seibert--whaddya think?
While they were out living it up, papa and I headed to the Castle Park. I threw rocks.
