CHEESE!!!!!!!!

It sounds more like a nasally "neeeeeeze" when Henry says it! :)

BFFs

My besties, Jenni and Emily, along with their kids came to hang out for the day! We had a great time . . . total chaos . . . I LOVED it! :)

Henry received a doctor kit from Jenni and her family for Christmas! He's had a great time playing with it! He turns his head so nicely when I check his ears . . . I wonder how he knows what to do so well?!?!

Mullenbach Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2009- wow, have things changed!
Here's our big boy enjoying his Thanksgiving meal - he enjoyed it immensely!!!

Annual Mullenbach cousin photo shoot. We sure do make cute kids in our family! :)

Henry (13 months), Cara (18 months), Brynn (3 1/2), Aubrey (15 months), Nolan (2)

Winter Fun!

The three of us went out for dinner to celebrate our six-year wedding anniversary on Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day, Tom picked up a sled for Henry and insisted on giving him a ride when we got home from our date. Henry didn't mind the cold night air- he thought the sled was awesome! :) Our daycare providers have told us that Henry loves being outside in the snow . . . as long as he's being pulled in a sled! :)
Henry and his proud papa!

Zoo

Henry and I met our buddy John and his mom, Sue, at the MN Zoo on Wednesday afternoon. To our delightful surprise, the zoo was practically empty! The boys had the run of the place! It was so much fun with them- they are definitely old enough to really get into the animals now. Not only did they enjoy the animals at the zoo, they also enjoyed . . .
the bamboo curtain (John giggled and giggled going back and forth between the curtain!),

the partition poles,

random light switches and . . .

Henry's favorite, the "wet floor" sign (aka, a push toy).

Happy Thanksgiving!

(This is what Henry now does when we ask him to smile!)

We hope you all have a wonderful turkey day! :)

Love from the Parks family ~ Tom, Katie and our little turkey

All the kids are wearing them . . .

Our very trendy friend, Courtney, got Henry these adorable leg-warmers for his birthday. I think they are stinkin' cute . . . Tom doesn't think they belong on boys (but what does he know about fashion?!?!).

Beating the cold weather blues

The weather was in the teens today- too cold to take Henry outside to play. So this cool, clever and creative mom thought shaving cream would be a good alternative . . . and it was, for about three minutes (Henry's attention span these days). Oh well, it was a delightful three minutes!
From shaving cream, we moved on to plastic containers. Who knew they would be so much fun!

Not sure if this picture is cute or creepy!!!

Henry's latest . . .

Henry has always loved books, but he has become obsessed with them as of late. I kid you not, last weekend we read at least 50 books. Of that 50, we read Over the River and Through the Woods probably 25 times- apparently it is his favorite. As you all know, I'm a lover of books myself so I never that I would tire of reading to my little guy. But I found myself saying to Henry, "Let's put the book away and find something else to play with. Oh, look! Here are some trucks . . . "
Yep, still snow on the ground.

So Henry thinks if he opens the door to his little bus, he should be able to go right in. It is HILARIOUS watching him try and fit in the tiny space! :)

Some other new Henry tricks . . .

• says "ba" for ball
• climbs into the bathtub himself (usually fully clothed while I'm gathering everything we need for a bath)
• tries to put on his own diaper
• jumps- well, sort of! :)
• climbs up his play structure and slides down the slide all by his big boy self
• continues to chuck his milk/water cup clear across the room when he's finished with it (I'd take any advice on how to break this habit!!!)
• almost proficient at crawling down the stairs- if only we can get him to turn around before he starts that crawl down!
  

Wedding fun!

My cousin Kyle got married on Saturday to beautiful Aline! We had a great time at their wedding! Here we are looking all spiffy for the big day.
Cool tie, dad!

My favorite dance partner!

First Snow!

Like the true Minnesotans that we are, we bundled up by 8:30 this morning to head out and enjoy the first snowfall of the season! It is GORGEOUS out!
Henry thought the snow was pretty cool . . . for about five minutes. Then he was okay with it as long as I was holding him! We spent more time getting ready to play outside then we actually were out there . . . it was still fun to be out and enjoy the winter wonderland!

Children's Museum

Henry and I took a trip to the Children's Museum with our good buddies, John and Sue. Here are just a few of the highlights!

Henry and John are playing in the "stream" with some sea creatures.

Henry crawling through the "tunnel" the ants built.

Catching his dinner . . .

Henry doing a bit of grocery shopping.

Henry and John jamming out while making a music video!

The favorite of the day:

Water Works

He's baaaaaack!

After a three-week hiatus from being himself (due to his week-long bout with the flu and then his ear infection that wouldn't go away), Henry is officially back! He is so much fun again! Here he is being his big boy self and using a bowl and spoon for the first time! He thought he was pretty cool!
Some of my other favorite Henry-isms as of late:

• says "ba" for bath
• says "sh" for shoe
• says "ch" for choo choo
• says "sh%*" for I'm not sure what but Tom and I get a big kick out of it!
• says "eh" A LOT for things we're not sure what he wants- looking forward to the days when he uses actual words :)
• his walking is turning into running
• climbs in his Cozy Coupe, shuts the door, honks the horn, and puts his hands on the wheel like he's an actual driver (I don't know why, but anytime a baby/toddler dresses like a grown up or does something to mimic a grown up it cracks me up!)
• his favorite "play" activity is digging in the recycling bin
• his favorite outdoor play area is the circle in front of our houses- he loves throwing the rocks and eating the pine cones
• when blowing his nose, he "blows" out of his mouth :)
  
  

Exercise your right to VOTE!

Henry and I exercised our way to Precinct 3 to vote this afternoon . . . I hope you did too! :)