Henry is officially three years and three days old. How has this happened? My baby’s feet are slimming down and starting to smell, his hands have lost their pudge, he is pretty much a grown adult. The gist? Time is flying and my baby is getting old.

Despite my internal tears being shed for the manner in which time is just flying by, this birthday has been so exciting. For about a month before Henry’s birthday, he started really getting excited. Asking at bedtime, “when I wake up from this nap, will it be my birthday?” and waking every morning asking, “is today my birthday??” The anticipation was really building.

In pure Melissa/Mark fashion, the night before Henry’s birthday consisted of a ridiculous amount of toy building and house decorating. We ran around like crazy people making sure everything was perfectly placed to give Henry a great birthday surprise when he woke up.

I set my alarm for 615am in hopes of waking up before Henry so I could see his reaction. However, the bugger beat me. At around 6, I heard his tiny voice, “Charlotte, look!!!!!”

I popped up and ran to catch Henry discovering each Thomas the Train decoration, piece by piece. Then the balloons and his GIANT, tablecloth-covered gift.

He was overwhelmed with excitement!

The kiddos played for the next couple hours while I got everything ready for our birthday breakfast. Our favorite little friends (neighbors) were coming over to enjoy a celebratory breakfast and some playtime.

After breakfast, our friends went home and we hopped in the car to go downtown to ride the new streetcar (which we called the train for excitement purposes). We took the “train” to the public market and ate a yummy lunch and ice cream outside, then took the streetcar back to our car. It was a great little adventure!

Then, nap time and a movie night picnic back at the house. We set up the projector and watched about an hour of cars before the tiny tots got bored and we moved on to playing with Henry’s new toys.

All in all, the celebration was great! We had such a happy day. These are the days I want to bottle up and keep perfectly preserved forever.

And, in terms of a Henry update, here are the facts…

Height: 3′ 1″ (39th percentile)

Weight: 33 lbs (65th percentile)

Random tid bits:

• Henry can count to 6 in Spanish (10 with assistance – he has a hard time remembering 7 and 10)
• He can spell his name and knows his birthday
• Henry is incredibly verbal. He speaks just as fluently as his sister, so I won’t bore you with the bazillion words and phrases he has.
• Henry is VERY clumsy and falls often.
• Henry continues to be the snuggliest little dude ever. He is always there for a hug and/or smooch. This morning he randomly told me that “huggies are like snuggles”… true.
• Henry has very dry warm hands. Holding his hand fills my little heart.
• When Henry melts down crying, he often times will say – through heavy sobs – “MAAAMMMMY, I NEED A HUGGY.” Shweetie snuggler.
• Henry is a pretty big manipulator. When he does something naughty and I kneel down to tell him that he cannot do said thing, he cups my face with his warm paws and says, “I’m sorry, mommy. I won’t do it again.” Then, mommy buys Henry a pony.
• Henry has been in a pinching/pretend biting phase with Charlotte. Never too hard, but enough to piss her off. Thankfully he’s still perfect.
• Henry says Charlotte with a hard “CH” sound and refers to her as, “My CHarlotte”
• Henry still naps every day
• Henry LOVES music and sings a lot.
• H has serious passion for baseball and sports in general.
• Henry often times wears his pants, underwear and shirt backwards.
• When Henry rides his tricycle, he reminds me of the intro to the show Bobby’s World.
• Henry insists on sleeping with his door open. Typically with his arms above his head. He’s a light sleeper, so I tend to sneak in for smooches before I go to bed.
• Henry LOVES hard boiled eggs (which he calls hard oiled eggs) and avocado (which he calls “adocado”). He eats like a TANK. It is not uncommon for him to eat multiple bowls of cereal/oatmeal, 1-2 hard boiled eggs, turkey and fruit… ALL of that at one breakfast.
• Henry sometimes sneaks in Charlotte’s room at night because he doesn’t like to be alone.
• Henry always falls asleep gripping some toy… a car, a train, a ring, etc.
• Henry picks out his own clothes and gets dressed by himself every morning. He also puts his shoes on and packs up/unpacks his backpack daily.
• Henry loves trucks and dinosaurs.
• Henry’s little mouth reminds me of my Grandpa Henry.
• Up until about 2 weeks ago, we had Henry on a strict no dairy/no soy/no sunflower oil/no coconut diet to try to help with his chronic loose poops. It stopped helping, so we’ve since lifted the food restrictions. H is now living his best life.
• Henry has a very captivating quality about him. People tend to fall in love with him instantaneously upon meeting him. He has a loud, squeaky voice and speaks very well for his age, which tends to catch the attention of strangers.
• Henry is a boy to love. He is very kind-hearted and the sweetest little guy I’ve ever met. He’s also incredibly bright and perceptive. As a completely unbiased source, you know these things are 100% true.
• Henry is happy.
• Henry smiles with every inch of his body.
• I love my baby.
• Henry looks up to his sister and loves going to the same school as her. Their teachers tell me that they often play together at school… mostly H with C’s friends. They frequently walk around the playground holding hands or with C’s arms around him. Despite his little pinchy/biting phase, they are the best of buds.
• Henry wakes Charlotte up almost every morning. He goes into her room, wakes her and then they play together until their kiddie alarm clock turns green, signaling that they can come out of their rooms.
• At dinner time, Henry rates my meals with a thumbs up, down or sideways.