More time with BIG cousin Gabe

Despite the 2 year age difference, these boys get along so well. This trip form the Bystrak clan was the most fun one yet. Henry is old enough to communicate with his big boy cousin, so they had a great time. Can't wait until we can go down to San Diego to visit them.
 We are so excited for them to live on the West Coast.

Potty Trained Big Boy

 

The scowl is because he wants to take the picture, but I love this picture. He is growing up so fast.  Just two months after his second birthday he is officially potty trained. No accidents in 2 weeks. We are so proud of him. He woke up one moring and decided he wanted to go "pee pee on the potty" and we haven't stopeed since. He walks around in his underwear a lot these days. He loves to wear his rain boots, because he can put them on himself.

H

 Its all about tools these days. Anywhere he goes in the house, he has to have his tools. He brings his bag and hat everywhere fixing everything as he goes. He will hop into his little car and say "Bye Mom and Dad. I'm going to work at the construction site." Silly Boy.

He LOVES his blankie. I hope we never lose this thing, because I don't know what we would do.

He likes to stit on the rocking chair on the front porch. He watches the cars, trucks, and people go by.

Birthday Party

Pre party- Nana helped me gather all sorts of tractor decorations,
and even made Mr. H a fabulous cake.

What a party! I didn't quite realize how many of our friends have kids until now. We are so blessed to have so many great families in our lives. Our place was packed with a gaggle of little kids.  It was so much fun to watch them all run around (I'm sure also a little overwhelming for some of the guests). Birthday parties are so much fun =).

Henry is 2 years old... WHAT!?!

He got a bike for his birthday.
As you can tell by the lack of light outside, our boy is an early riser.
More often than not we are up before the sun comes up.
Granted, it's winter, so the sun doesn't come up until ~730.

We spent his actual birthday at the fire station.
He had so much fun that he now asks to go almost everyday.

Best Buds!

My little man is 2!!! I can hardly believe it. I feel like he turned 2 and knew it. He talks and acts like such a big boy. He tells me all about everything he sees and everything he does (in detail). Its amazing how much he has grown in the last couple of months, physically and mentally. He has such a extensive grasp on what is going on around him (we better watch out what we do and say).
He grows out of his clothes every couple of weeks. I keep waiting for him to slow down, but it doesn't happen. He is 39lbs and 39in (115 percentile). He is a big boy in every sense of the word.
I love his little personality. He loves to be "funny" and "silly". He loves to play toys, read stories, play trains and cars, go "running" and walking, play basketball and on the playground, and most of all play outside (which is difficult considering its January). He is rarely cranky and super fun to be around. He can be a little sassy       vk

Christmas Time!

First big boy hot cocoa

First time seeing this strange thing called snow.

Wearing dads new chefs hat m                

 

This Christmas was easily my best one yet. Henry was old enough to understand and it was magical for us all. He saw snow for the first time and was really scared... but got over that really quick and wouldn't go inside even if he was a human popsicle. We started the season by going downtown to see the Christmas tree and santa. Henry has his first wintertime hot chocolate. We went to Hood River on the perfect weekend and got to watch the snow fall all day long. Then we spent Christmas in the winter wonderland of sunriver. I think we all felt like kids there. We went to a "breakfast with santa" (and gingerbread men, elves, etc.). We went on a beautiful sleigh ride through the snow covered forest. We played in the snow for hours. And best of all, spent quality time as a family (not thinking about all the things going on at home). Definitely the perfect Christmas. I love this time of year.

23 months

I seriously can't get over how handsome he is...

Looking at the ads the day after thanksgiving. We are excited for Christmas!

We finally had some family photos taken and I'm glad we did. Its so nice to have some professional photos to remember this amazing time of our lives. Our boy is almost 2 and you can tell. He's starting to act like such a big boy. Can't wait to see what next year has in store.