2 Years, 11 Months

It's time again for (drumroll) Jack and Henry!

Headed off to preschool... they pick their clothes and, on this particular morning, selected their hairstyles: 

The boys still prefer to stay home and play with Kasey rather than going to school, but they always come home from school happy and having positive things to say about their day.

Daddy Time!

On Father's Day, Steve is smothered with love (and pillows and towels and stuffed animals):

Father's Day trolley trip, Jack scouts the path with his "binoculars":

Steve is building a raised garden bed in the sunniest section of our front yard. We've been frustrated by the formlessness of and lack of purpose for that part of the yard, so hopefully we'll be able to grow something interesting and/or tasty.

Jack helps pound in rebar to stabilize the corner blocks:

Henry's turn:

More on that project as it progresses.

In another exciting development this past month, when our van went in for service, the loaner vehicle Steve brought home was a ridiculously gigantic Ram 2500 diesel truck. The boys thought it was great fun and called it a "monster truck," which I felt was accurate.

Scoping out the inside (Jack in Mom's sunglasses and Henry in Mom's regular glasses):

Letting the wind blow in their hair as they ride in the bed of the (stationary) "monster truck":

Reading Time!
The boys have a large selection of books, but their favorite subject matter is definitely trucks and other vehicles. Following are just cute pictures of them and their books.

Bubble Time!
I've been really happy with the little bubble wands I bought. The boys love bubbles, but aren't really coordinated enough to blow many bubbles themselves; the wands allow essentially endless bubble creation... and extinction.

Battle cry of the bubble Henry:

Henry Time!
It's always a good time for a Henry.

Who, me?

Dancing in the park:

Henry often requests to listen to music and loves to dance.

Selfie at the snack table:

Happy, happy Henry!

Henry is a joyful, sweet, sensitive little dude. He's recently taken up asking "how are you doing today, Mommy/Daddy?" and being very concerned about getting a positive answer.

This past month, the boys tried buttermilk for the first time. Jack didn't care for it, but Henry declared it "tastes like candy!" and drank four small glasses before Mom cut him off. Mama's boy; I've always liked buttermilk.

Henry's hairstyle acquired from the girls at preschool:

Construction Henry's work is never done. At least he can sing while he works. Right now he especially likes the alphabet song and twinkle twinkle little star.

A rare blog appearance from Kasey!

 

Kasey had the honor (maybe stretching that word a bit) of going with me to take the boys to their first dental appointments. Henry got a yellow balloon, a rubber duck and a happy meal out of the deal (Jack got similar treatment but we didn't get good pictures). 

Jack Time!
We're fairly certain that Jack has known for a long time now how to operate our baby gates. However, the gates are designed to require some force to operate them (lifting up and out against some spring resistance) so small children can't physically open or close them, even if they know how. Jack has always been surprisingly strong, and just recently realized he's strong enough to operate the gates. So much for being able to sit down while they play in a contained area... sigh...

Jack can be very amiable and cooperative, often giving up toys for Henry to play with, for instance. But he can be an obstinate little fellow. In a recent... discussion... with Steve about his activities, Jack shouted, "Don't say no to me! Say no to yourself, Dada!" Very compelling. 

I know, right?

When Daddy asks you to smile for a picture, but you choose passive resistance:

From the doctor's appointments Jack has had regarding the lump in his chest, he's been raking in the prizes. From his initial ultrasound back in December, he got some stickers. From his primary care doctor he got a pink rubber duck (his selection from the awesome bin of ducks). From the MRI, he got a red wind-up car. But apparently the pediatric surgeon's office is where they keep the really good loot; he got a stuffed koala (which he selected from an office chair full of stuffed animals that was wheeled in for him to make his choice).

Jack lets his new friend try on his hat:

After two ultrasounds and an MRI, there is still some disagreement among the involved physicians as to what exactly Jack's lump is. One doctor said developmental venous anomaly (DVA) a.k.a. venous angioma. Another doctor says it's actually a venous malformation. Either way, the pediatric surgeon thinks it's small and localized enough that it's worth taking a shot with surgery to remove the whole thing, hopefully preventing further growth and entanglement with the surrounding tissue. There's also an outside chance that the lump is not what it appears to be, and taking it out will allow for a biopsy to make sure nothing dangerous is lurking inside. The procedure is slated to happen in early September.

Jack believes he should be able to take this bike home from our local bike shop.

I'm inclined to agree. We'll see what materializes for the boys' third birthday next month.

Cool Jack:

Outing Time!
We were very pleased to be invited over for dinner by our friends Jack and Lucy. With the tight schedule we keep the boys on (for our own sanity) we don't tend to have meals away from home, so it was a fun change of pace. Jack and Lucy's two boys, Alex and Anthony, were very generous in sharing their awesome toys with our boys.

Jack contemplates if their generosity will extend to letting him steal their giant stuffed monkey, while Henry happily plays with a dump truck in the background:

Jack wails on the toy saxophone:

The boys also got out to the local children's museum. 

Jack embellishes the letters Mom painted (with water) for him: 

 

Jack in deep contemplation as he works on his "computer" (toy cash register):

We even went out for breakfast once this past month! Friend Cassy was in town so we hit up local haunt Zachary's for some coloring and conversation (primarily about coloring):

Onward we go, to our final month of having two-year-olds.